 Railways  Airports  Roads

The Shinkansen, also known as the bullet train, is a series of railway networks connecting the major islands of Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan. They employ the use of high speed electric trains that can attain speeds of up to 186 miles per hour. These trains are among the most popular forms of transportation in Japan and make traveling between islands much faster. In fact, it was estimated that when they switched from normal to high speed networks, the trains saved over 400 million hours of travel for passengers per year, or an estimated $5 billion per year.

Roads and highways span the entire length of the four major islands, though they’ve only been around for about a half a century. Paved construction is difficult in Japan because of the highly mountainous terrain. Never the less, travel by car is still a highly used form of transportation in Japan and Japan has become of the world’s leaders in automobile manufacturing. They are also leading the way to innovative new forms of cars like hybrids to help reduce traffic and pollution.

With Tourism being a booming industry in Japan it’s not a surprise that some the largest international airports are located there. There are over 100 different airports located in Japan, with 4 being major links to other countries around the world. Much of the Japanese airlines is handled by the government, but more recently corporations in the private sector have began playing a larger role in running terminals and airways.

J APANESE C UISINE Japanese meals are mainly comprised of a few staple foods, like rice or noodles, combined with some form of meats or vegetables. It’s typical to see a dish with a mix of fish, meat, rice, and vegetables together. Most meals are either served as soups or as a stir fry. In many cases they also combine sauces like miso or soy to add flavor to the dish. Most Japanese meals are low in fat and high in sodium.

Baseball & Sumo For over a century Baseball has been by far the most popular sport in all of Japan. It was first introduced in the late 19 th century and has grown since. Japan has two professional leagues and there are several teams at the college and high school level. It’s the equivalent to American Football. Sumo wrestling is a Japanese sport that originated in Japan and is only professionally practiced there. The sport has been around for several centuries and has adapted and changed over the years. It also incorporates a large amount of religious traditions and strict rules. Sumo wrestlers live a very structured life and high ranking wrestlers are regarded as celebrities in their society.

Japanese Holidays There are Japanese holidays for nearly every month of the year. Perhaps the most important and highly regarded of these is the Japanese new years, known as Oshogatsu. With the start of each year Japanese families thoroughly clean their houses in order to start the year cleansed and renewed. They also serve special dishes and pass out new years cards. Other important holidays include Green Day, Children’s Day, and Coming-of-Age Day. There are also many Holidays that have been introduced from the West like Christmas and Thanks Giving.