Japanese government

Akihito picture credit
The Japanese government is a constitutional monarchy, the emperor is very limited; he's only the head of state on diplomatic occasions. The current Emperor's name is Akihito. Power is run by the minister of Japan who is chosen by the Emperor and other members of the Diet who are elected, the Diet consists of house of representatives and Councillors. Japanese government was originally influenced by Chinese law but in the late nineteenth century the judicial system has been based on the civil law of Europe.

physical differences between Japanese and Chinese people

I have no offensive intentions with this post, most American people tend to think and say that all Asians look the same but according to a fellow Chinese citizen they are notable differences between  the two.

Obviously this does not apply to everyone but  most Japanese people tend to have their eyes bending slightly upwards and Chinese people usually have their eyes bending slightly downwards. There is also a difference in their skin tone; generally Japanese people have lighter skin than Chinese people do. In China it is fashionable to have brown highlights, though the Chinese seem to have a darker color than the Japanese do. I thought this was kind of interesting, Ill post a picture soon

刺青

    Tattoo's in Japan, to the Japanese known as Irezumi (入れ墨, 入墨, 紋身, 刺花, 剳青, 黥) have been around since the paleothic period. In Japan this form of permanent drawings on the body are for decorative and spiritual purposes. The pictures you see below are traditional Japanese forms of tattooing which take 3x as much  as regular tattoos in America, tattooing in Japan is a very different dilligent process as you can see the woman tattooing with the hot needle, most people who want great tattoos done travel all the way to Japan because they do such nice work. These Japanese artists take their jobs seriously, they're trained for many years by their master, and often live in the master's house, they practice their tattooing on their own flesh, they even get a new name by their master once they're done with their training, Japanese people with tattoos rarely ever show them which is very interesting. Most people in the United States with sleeves resort to wearing cut off shirts for the rest of their lives. These Japanese tattoos are really awesome looking, I also love how vivid the colors are in the first picture. I look at tattoos much differently now. here's alot of symbolism you might find on Japenese tattoos.

Mythological beasts and monsters: Dragons, Kirin, Baku, Foo Dogs, Hō-ō (鳳凰, Phoenixes)

Animals: Birds, Koi (Carp), Tigers, Snakes

Flowers: Peonies, Cherry Blossoms, Lotuses, Chrysanthemums
Other plants: Bamboo, Maple leaves

Characters from traditional folklore and literature, such as the Suikoden

Images of the "Floating World" inspired by ukiyo-e prints: geisha, samurai

Buddhas and Buddhist deities such as Fudō Myō-ō and Kannon

Shinto kami (deities) such as tengu
Backgrounds: clouds, waves, wind bars.

   wiki symbolism credit
    More credit
   other picture credit
   



nom nom nom

The most delicious confection ever. Mochi or sweet rice cakes are very popular in Japan, I find Mochi very yummy but it's even better in icecream form. It's fluffy sweet, soft dough filled with fruity icecream/ dusted with powder in an circular form. It's really fun to eat and very satisfying as well, you should really try this, I ate eight of them last night, and they never get old. I figured since i'm looking up recipes to make them at home myself, i might as well post them on here. Enjoy.


Things you will need:

• 10 scoops ice cream (flavor of your choice)
• 1 cup glutinous-rice flour (mochiko)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• Corn flour, for dusting
• Glass bowl
• Mixing spoon
• Plastic wrap
• Cutting board
• Airtight container

(1)Soften the ice cream, scoop into 10 round balls, and refreeze until hard.
(2)Combine glutinous rice flour and water in a glass bowl. Mix well to paste, then add sugar and vanilla, mix until dissolved.
(3)Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes. It will be half cooked. Remove and stir well while it's hot.
(4)Cover and return to microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well.
(5)Place plastic wrap over a cutting board. Dust generously with corn flour (this is a must).
(6)Wait for dough to cool. Place onto board and divide into 10 pieces.
(7)Flatten dough with your palm. Wrap each piece of dough around an ice cream ball and refreeze in an airtight container.
mochiiiiiii credit
Mochi recipe credit

Face bank

Face bank video- Watch this
This machine's called the Face bank, is the only coin box that appreciates your money. Wake him up by waving a coin in front of his face and he’ll delightedly gobble up your money. I blogged this gadget because I feel like it was deliberately created to help you save money,why wouldn't you want to keep inserting coins into this unique piggy bank's mouth? Every little kid's going to have his allowance saved up now.
Picture credit

Super cool stuff (Mono no aware)

An utter Japanese theme that I find very fascinating. Basically mono no aware literally means "sensitivity to things" this theme basically describes Japanese culture, alot. The theme states the subjectiveness of beauty, and how it's rather something internal than external, it's found everywhere, in japanese poetry, music, novels, especially films and anime shows which i'll go into further detail later on in my blog postings. (Anime deserves it's own individual post.)
The way that this theme is shown is by giving melancholy settings that actually have affirmative meanings. For eaxmple the Japanese find a fading sound more beautiful than a clear one, a moon partially clouded more alluring than full.
The epitome of this conception of beauty comes from the cherry blossom tree which blossom for a very short time then drop all of their flowers at once, whenever you hear or see a of cherry blossom tree in a piece of writting or film you can infer that it's trying to convey a beauty filled sadness to it.
All of this derives from Zen Buddhist philosophy.
This theme may be interpreted in many different ways, this is merely my perception of it.
Cherry blossom credit