If there’s one thing we love more than apps, it’s different cultures. We have a tonne of language games helping people learn languages from all over the world. In this series, we look at some of the locations that fascinated us so much that we created language games for them. They are helpful for students, teachers, and travellers. Last week, we looked at Turkey. This week, let’s take a look at Japan.
Japan is an island country in East Asia which is located in the Pacific Ocean. It is called the “Land of the Rising Sun”. Aside from Anime and Origami, there are many fascinating facts about Japan that you’ll be surprised to know. Here are some of them:
- Square watermelons are grown in Japan so they can fit more compactly in fridges and cutting will be easy. It was invented by the graphic designer Tomoyuki Ono in 1978 which was also patented in the US.
- In Japan, they are so fond of using mobile phones in the shower so they came out with a solution to avoid water damages and made mobile phones waterproof. According to statistics, 90% of mobile phones in Japan are waterproof.
- Japanese can sleep on the job and it’s acceptable. They call it “Inemuri” which literally means “sleeping while present”. A committed and hardworking employee spends more time working and do not sleep enough at home that he/she needs to do Inemuri while on duty.
- On December 16, 1997, 685 kids were rushed to hospitals after an intense Pokemon episode that caused dizziness, vomiting and seizures. The episode has certain repetitive visual effects which induced photosensitive epileptic seizures. The incident was referred to as the “Pokemon Shock” .
- The Gate Tower Building is a 16-storey office building in Osaka, Japan where a highway passes through it. The owner didn’t agree to sell his land so it ended up to a road-combined building.
- Japanese use more paper for comics than for toilet paper. They are crazy about Manga, that’s why in Japan, people of all ages read it. Manga in Japan refers to both comics and cartooning but when Manga is used outside Japan, it refers to comics originally published in Japan.
- Japan has been developing Maglev Technology Trains which use magnetic levitation that makes it float above the train tracks. They broke the world maglev speed record in April 2015 with a train travelling at the speed of 603 km/h (375 mph).
I bet you’re now thinking of travelling to Japan because of those interesting facts. And there’s more! But before you go, make sure to bring the right kind of clothes based on the season they have during the time you plan to go there. You can also read more about their culture, their way of life and some Japanese phrases so you can enjoy more of your trip.
A language learning app like Learn Japanese Bubble Bath can help you learn Japanese words and phrases so you can speak in the native tongue and make your stay in Japan meaningful. After all, being able to understand each other can open doors to friendships and other opportunities.
ありがとうございました！さようなら！ Arigatōgozaimashita! Sayōnara!
Photo credits:
- Square watermelon:
By Flickr user laughlin from Tokyo, Japan (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
- Gate Tower Building
By ignis (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
- Maglev Train
By Saruno Hirobano (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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