The end of December and the beginning of January are the busiest times for the Japan Post, the Japanese post office. The Japanese have a custom of sending New Year‘s Day postcards (年賀状, nengajÅ) to their friends and relatives. It is similar to the Western custom of sending Christmas cards.
The Sheep (未) (also known as Ram or Goat) is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.
Cosplay (コスプレ, kosupure), a contraction of the English words “costume” and “play”, is a Japanese subculture centered on dressing as characters from manga, anime, tokusatsu, and video games, and, less commonly, Japanese live action television shows, fantasy movies, or Japanese pop music bands. However, in some circles, “cosplay” has been expanded to mean simply wearing a costume.
The oxygen bar is a trend among night clubs that started in the late 1990s. Patrons inhale 50-99% oxygen from filtered or bottled air through a tube for 1-20 minutes, typically paying dollars per minute (the composition of the atmosphere we normally breathe is 78% nitrogen (N2), 21% oxygen (O2), and less than 1% of other gases and particulate matter).
“She Blinded Me With Science” is a New Wave song by British musician Thomas Dolby, released in 1983. It first appeared on the album The Golden Age of Wireless. It is a quirky, playful synth-pop number built around bouncy synthesizer hooks, but occasionally ventures into darker interludes meant to evoke early Hollywood mad scientist films such as Frankenstein.
A host club is similar to a hostess bar, except that female customers pay for male company. Host clubs are typically found in more populated areas of Japan, and are famed for being numerous in Tokyo districts such as KabukichÅ, and Osaka’s Umeda and Namba.
A Bhikkhuni is a fully ordained female Buddhist monastic. Male monastics are called Bhikkhus. Both Bhikkunis and Bhikkhus live by the vinaya. Bhikkhunis hold 311 vows. Bhikkhuni orders enjoy a broad basis in Mahayana countries like Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Traditional dolls in Japan are known by the name of ‘ningyÅ’, which means ‘human figure’ in Japanese. Some experts see a continuity in the making of human images by the ancient Jomon culture in Japan (8000-200 B.C.E.) and in the Haniwa funerary figures of the subsequent Kofun culture. Expert Alan Pate notes that temple records refer to the making of a grass doll to be blessed and thrown into the river at Ise Shrine in 3 B.C.; the custom was probably even more ancient, but it is at the root of the modern Doll Festival or Hina Matsuri.
By popularizing the idea of a quick restaurant meal, [James L.] Watson’s study [published in Golden Arches East (Stanford University Press, 1998)] suggests, McDonald’s led to the easing or elimination of various taboos, such as eating while walking in Japan. McDonald’s also flattens the social strata during dining — there is no problem of losing face for certain customers (who might be embarrassed when someone else ordered a more expensive item in a restaurant); the food at McDonald’s is all similarly priced.
A drive-through or drive-thru is a business, most commonly a restaurant, that serves customers who pull up in their vehicles. Orders are taken and goods or services are provided using a window or microphone, while the customers remain in their vehicles. The format was first pioneered in the United States in the 1940s but has since spread worldwide.
Pajamas (US) or pyjamas (Commonwealth), sometimes shortened to PJs, jammies, or jam-jams, are several related types of clothing originating from South Asia.