An onsen (温泉) is a term for hot springs in the Japanese language, though the term is often used to describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs. Onsen come in many types and shapes, including outdoor (露天風呂 or 野天風呂 roten-buro or noten-buro) and indoor baths.
Jigokudani Monkey Park (地獄谷野猿公苑 Jigokudani Yaen Kōen) is in Yamanouchi, Shimotakai District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The name Jigokudani, meaning “Hell’s Valley”, is due to the steam and boiling water that bubbles out of small crevices in the frozen ground, surrounded by steep cliffs and formidably cold and hostile forests. It is famous for its large population of wild Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata), more commonly referred to as Snow Monkeys, that go to the valley during the winter, foraging elsewhere in the national park during the warmer months.
The Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata), historically known as saru (“monkey”), but now known as Nihonzaru (Nihon “Japan” + saru) to distinguish it from other primates, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species native to Japan. It is also sometimes known as the snow monkey from the fact that it lives in areas where snow covers the ground for months each year—no primate, with the exception of humans, is more northern-living, nor lives in a colder climate.
Udon (饂飩 （うどん）, Udon) is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle popular in Japanese cuisine. Sanuki (讃岐) udon is a thick and rather stiff type [of undon] from Kagawa Prefecture.
Pankun, (sometimes spelled pan-kun) is a young chimpanzee in Japan often featured on the NTV television show “Tensai! Shimura Doubutsu-en” (“天才！志村動物園”, lit. “Genius! Shimura Zoo”) and the TBS program “Doubutsu Kisou Tengai!” (“動物園奇想天外!”, lit. “Unbelievable Animals!”). Most of the segments feature him and his bulldog friend, James, embarking on a variety of “human” tasks, like buying groceries, planting a rice paddy, or catching insects.
Momofuku Ando (安藤 百福, Andō Momofuku), (March 5, 1910 – January 5, 2007) was the Taiwanese Japanese founder and chairman of Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd., and the inventor of world’s first instant noodles and cup noodles. He was dubbed as Mr. Noodle and The Noodle Papa.
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of the elephant family and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair.
TOTO Ltd. (TOTO株式会社, Tōtō Kabushiki-gaisha) was founded in 1917. It is a company based in Kitakyushu, Japan, and Japan’s largest manufacturer of flush toilets. The company invented and patented the Washlet.
The modern toilet in Japan, in English sometimes called Super Toilet, and commonly known in Japanese as Washlet (ウォシュレット, Washlet) or as warm-water cleaning toilet seat (温水洗浄便座, onsui senjō benza) is one of the most advanced type of toilet worldwide, showing a dazzling array of features.
Dramatic Prairie Dog — A brief GIF turned into a video from the website 4chan.org of a standing prairie dog turning its head suddenly toward the camera, with a quick zoom-in on its face. The clip was excerpted from an 2001 appearance by J-pop group MiniMoni on the Japanese TV show Hello! Morning. Various spoofs have been made of the prairie dog in different situations.
Mini Moni (ミニモニ。, Mini Moni also known as Minimoni., mini-moni., etc.) was a subgroup of J-pop girl group Morning Musume. They were one of Morning Musume’s most popular subgroups for their entire existence, because of the combination of their outrageous music videos and live performances, their vocal harmonies, and their widely varied musical styles.
The prairie dog (Cynomys) is a small, burrowing rodent native to the grasslands of North America. On average, this stout-bodied rodent will grow to be between 12 and 16 inches (30 and 40 cm) long, including its short tail. They are found in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In the United States, prairie dogs are primarily found west of the Mississippi River, though they have also been introduced in a few eastern locales.
Dalmatians are famed for their intelligence, independence, and survival instincts. In general they have good memories and are usally kind natured (individual specimens may vary). Originally bred to defend carriages and horses, these dogs can become territorial if not properly raised.
A bicycle, or bike, is a pedal-driven, human-powered [or dog-powered] vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other.
Assistant Language Teacher, often abbreviated to ALT, is a term that was created by the Japanese Ministry of Education at the time of the creation of the JET Programme as a translation of the term (外国語指導助手）”gaikokugo shido joshu” or literally “foreign language instruction assistant.” It is used primarily by the Japanese Ministry of Education, local Boards of Education (BOEs) and schools to refer to native language speakers who assist teaching languages in elementary, junior high and high schools in Japan.
The [Roppongi] area features numerous bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and other forms of entertainment including hostess clubs and cabarets. Among the Western expatriate community, it tends to be favoured by business people and financial workers as well as off-duty military.
Kyoto (京都市, Kyōto-shi) listen is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.
Traditionally, [geisha] began their training at a very young age. Although some girls were sold to geisha houses (“okiya”) as children, this was not common practice in reputable districts. Daughters of geisha were often brought up as geisha themselves, usually as the successor (“atotori” meaning heir) or daughter-role (“musume-bun”) to the okiya.
Sentō (銭湯, Sentō) is a type of Japanese communal bath house where customers pay for entrance. Traditionally these bath houses have been quite utilitarian, with one large room separating the sexes by a tall barrier, and on both sides, usually a minimum of lined up faucets and a single large bath for the already washed bathers to sit in among others. Since the second half of the 20th century, these communal bath houses have been decreasing in numbers as more and more Japanese residences now have bathrooms.
At the wall on the far end of the [bathing] room is usually a large picture for decoration. Most often this is Mt. Fuji … but it may be a general Japanese landscape, a (faux) European landscape, a river or ocean scene.
The Japanese Bobtail is a breed of cat with an unusual ‘bobbed’ tail more closely resembling the tail of a rabbit than that of an ordinary feline. The short tail is caused by the expression of a recessive gene. Thus, so long as both parents are bobtails, all kittens born to a litter will have bobtails as well. Unlike the Manx and other cat breeds, where genetic disorders are common to tailless or stumpy-tails, no such problem exists with the Japanese Bobtail.
Duct tape, in the USA, is a strong, fabric-based, multi-purpose pressure-sensitive adhesive tape. It is generally silver or black in color but many other colors, like transparent, have recently become available. Duct tape is usually 1.88 inches (48 mm) wide. It was originally developed during World War II in 1942 as a waterproof sealing tape for ammunition cases.
Tug of war, tug o’ war, or tug war, also known as rope pulling, is a sport that directly pits two teams against each other in a test of strength.
Orangutans are the most arboreal of the great apes, spending nearly all of their time in the trees, making a new nest in the trees every night. Today they are only found in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, but fossils have been found in Java, Vietnam and China. Adult males are about 4.5 ft (1.4 m) tall and up to 180 lb (82 kg) in weight. Mature males are distinguished by prominent cheek pads.
The negative effects of the sumo lifestyle become dangerously apparent later in life. Sumo wrestlers have a life expectancy of between 60 and 65, more than 10 years less than the average Japanese male. They often develop diabetes and high blood pressure, and are prone to heart attacks. The excessive intake of alcohol leads to liver problems and the stress on their joints causes arthritis. Recently, the standards of weight gain are becoming less strict, in an effort to improve the overall health of the wrestlers. Average height of sumo wrestlers are around 183 cm.
