CULTURE

Kitamakura: Why You Never Sleep Facing North in Japan — and 5 More Sleep Superstitions

Why is sleeping with your head facing north bad in Japan? The kitamakura taboo — and Japan's other sleep legends, explained.

Recommended Halloween Events for 2023

Halloween Events

Rakugo: Japan’s 350-Year-Old Art of Comic Storytelling

What is rakugo? Japan's one-person comic storytelling art — famous stories, where to see it in Tokyo, and how to enjoy it without Japanese.

Guide to Maneki-Neko (The Beckoning Cat)

The Beckoning Cat

The Perfect Way to Enjoy Sake at Home and Its Pairing

Enjoy Sake More!

Origami: Art Born from a Single Sheet of Paper

Origami

Japanese Temples: Temple Manners and Worship Method

Japanese Temples

How to Worship at a Japanese Shrine: Etiquette, Step by Step

Japan has roughly 80,000 shrines. You have heard of about six of them. This is how to walk into any of the rest without getting it wrong — the gate, the water, the bow, the clap, and the small country shrine where nobody is watching.

How Japanese People Sleep: Futon, the River Character, and Why the Floor Is Not a Compromise

There is no official Japanese sleeping position. What is different is the surface, the pillow, and who is in the room: a futon on tatami, a buckwheat pillow, and a family lying in the shape of the character for river. Here is how it actually works, and how to sleep on a futon well.

Shinigami: The Rakugo Story Behind Descending Stories, Explained

Shinigami is the rakugo piece at the heart of Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju - a man is taught to fake miracle cures by the god of death, then shown a cave where every human life burns as a candle. Full plot, the spell, the endings, and where it came from.

How Many Rakugo Stories Are There? A Guide to the Seven You Should Hear First

Nobody keeps an official register of rakugo stories — estimates run from a few hundred to well over eight hundred. This guide explains how a rakugo story is built, then walks through seven classics, plot and punchline included, so you know what you are listening to.

Why Do Japanese People Line Up So Perfectly?

— A Culture of Awareness of Others, “Group and Order,” and Beautiful Chaos

What Is Yokai?

— Japanese Imagination Living with the Unseen —

Why Do Japanese People Bow So Often?

The Structure of Bowing and “The Language of the Body”

CULTURE

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