Mount Fuji, or as known in Japan, Fujisan (富士山), as seen from a location near Kofu.

This section is for those who have an interest in life in Japan.  Please realize that I am neither a "Japan scholar", nor an anthropologist.  I live in a somewhat rural area of Japan, which is very flat, but surrounded by high mountains, known as the Japan Alps.  There is quite a bit of agriculture in this area, and that is a big part of the life here.

Those who live inTokyo or Osaka or other big cities would of course have a very different view of life in Japan.  Those who read my notes here should bear in mind that it is only one little part of the many faces of Japan.  Japan is full of tradition and technology, strongly indigenous culture, and many "borrowed" foreign  ideas.  It has dense urban populations, and quite rural areas.  Japan is an island nation, which fact has various results in the culture, such as a strong connection to the sea and the things of the sea, and also a natural boundary with the outside, that encourages indigenuity and uniqueness.  The Japanese language also forms quite a cultural boundary, and it helps to protect and ensure continuity of the rich Japanese culture and ways of thought.

Articles in this section include:

Dancing in the Streets!

Rice Planting Time  Page 1 and Page 2.

 Shoveling the Street