Japan - Facts & Figures

1. Japan is located in an area known as 'The Ring of Fire' in the Pacific.
2. Ramen noodles are a popular food in Japan and it is widely believed extensive training is required to make a delicious soup broth. This is the subject of the movies Tampopo (1985) and The Ramen Girl (2008).
3. In mainland of Japan and in Okinawa there are approximately 90 US military bases, 37 which are in Okinawa, occupying 20% of the land size.
4. Japanese celebrate Christmas, but it is more like Valentine's Day in the western world.
5. When you go to a funeral or a wedding you must take a gift of money.
6. Aspiring young Japanese musicians play on street corners and in subway stations hoping to get discovered.
7. The literacy rate in Japan is almost 100%.
8. The bathroom is not where the toilet is found in a Japanese home.
9. Tea is so important in the Japanese diet that there is a famous Japanese proverb which says "If a man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty".
10. Japanese use a lot of fish, beef, pork, chicken and variety of seafood in their cooking. Most of their dishes are mildly spiced, flavored with a variety of soy sauces.
11. Japan's giant company "Nintendo" translates into English as “leave luck to heaven”. The company first started trading in 1889, making Hanafuda, a type of Japanese playing card.
12. Japan has the oldest surviving monarchy in the world. The first historical emperor of Japan was Ojin, reigning from year 270 to 310, and deified as Hachiman. Legend has it that the very first emperor was Jinmu, who would have reigned 1000 years earlier.
13. Japan has the longest reigning monarchy in the world.
14. Many Japanese teachers think that Japanese parents are lazy.
15. Japan currently ranks 8th in HDI (Human Development Index), and is widely known as one of the principals in the world of technology and robotics.
16. Kendo, meaning "The way of the sword’, is Japan’s oldest form of martial arts.
17. Everyone in Japan hangs their clothes outside to dry.
18. Japan is the only major country (let's say with a population of over 5 million) that still hunts whales. Whale meat has been promoted by the government by adding it to public school menus. Dolphin meat is also eaten in Japan (notably in Shizuoka), but in a much smaller quantity.
19. Japan is the only country in the world ever attacked by atomic weapons.
20. The US has almost 90 military bases in Japan.
21. Japanese still rarely use a seatbelt while riding in the backseat of a car.
22. Japan has a high rate of smokers, with almost 60% of the population indulging in smoking.
23. In Japan, flower arranging is an art.
24. Raised floors help indicate when to take off shoes or slippers. At the entrance to a home in Japan, the floor will usually be raised about 6 inches indicating you should take off your shoes and put on slippers. If the house has a tatami mat room its floor may be raised 1-2 inches indicating you should to take off your slippers.
25. In the Japanese language, it is considered rude to say the word "No" directly.
26. Japan has the oldest surviving monarchy, which happens to be the oldest continuous hereditary in the world.
27. In Japan a watermelon costs about 250 - 300 USD and a musk-melon costs around 100 USD.
28. The Japanese language incorporates four different forms of writing.
29. Snowmen in Japan are made of two large snowballs instead of three.
30. Crime is lower in Japan than in most other first world countries.
31. Despite Japan being the world's second largest economy, Japanese people only enjoy the 17th highest GDP per capita, or 24th when adjusted for PPP (2009 data).
32. Japan's male population is 62,165,974 and female is 65,048,525 as of 2008.
33. Approximately 85% of Japanese people have never tasted turkey.
34. Land Size of Japan is 374,744 sq km.
35. The name “Tokyo” when broken down into kanji means “East” and “Capital”.
36. Origami is an ancient Japanese art of paper folding.
37. Inventions falsely attributed to Japan include the Quartz Watch (invented by the Canadian Warren Marrison, but first commercialized by Seiko in 1969), the walkman (Sony, who claimed the invention in 1979, admitted in 2003 that German citizen Andreas Pavel came with the idea 2 years earlier), video games (an invention claimed by both Britain and the USA), mobile phones (invented by AT&T in 1947), or comic books (first published in Europe in the early 1800's).
38. Japanese people, in general, can't drive very well.
39. The Japanese will shop daily for their meat, fish and vegetable requirements, as they like all their food fresh and unpreserved. This is one of the prime reasons that small and medium sized refrigerators are sold the most in Japan.
40. Japanese drive on the left, and have their steering wheels on the right, exactly opposite of what it is in America.
41. While smoking is allowed practically anywhere in Japan, you are not allowed to smoke in local trains. Long distance trains have got designated smoking zones.
42. Raw horse meat is a popular food in Japan.
43. National holiday in Japan is the Birthday of the Emperor, 23 December (1933).
44. Japan has the world’s largest budget in the defense department. And if this wasn't enough to satisfy, this little giant is also an active member of the United Nations, G8 and other “Elite” groups.
45. Instead of “Ohayo Gozaimasu” (good morning), Japanese youngsters often say “Oha!”.
46. Honshu is the largest island, almost 80 percent of the Japanese population lives there.
47. Japan's GDP is $3.567 trillion (2003 est.).
48. Officially the first novel of Japan, The Tale of Genji in 1007 was written by a Japanese woman Murasaki Shikibu.
49. The currency of Japan is Yen (JPY) .
50. Japan's national anthem, Kimi Ga Yo, is the world's oldest anthem, although it was only officially recognised as such in 1999. It is based on a 9th century poem.
51. Sumo wrestlers eat a stew called Chankonabe to fatten up. Many restaurants in the Ryogoku district of Tokyo serve this nabe (Japanese word for stew).
52. Kimigayo, which means "The Emperor's Reign", is Japan’s national anthem. The lyrics are from a 5-line, 31-syllable poem written in the tenth century. The music was composed in 1880 by an Imperial Court musician Hiromori Hayashi and later harmonized according to the Gregorian mode.
53. It is a Japanese custom to remove your shoes before entering a house or other building in Japan. This is because the floors are covered with straw mats which are called tatamis. In order to keep the tatamis clean for sitting upon, the Japanese take their shoes off.
54. In Japan, young women will hand you toilet paper outside of train stations.
55. Japanese constitution has Article 9 which defines renunciation of war.
56. Japan annexed Okinawa and Taiwan in 1895, then Korea in 1910, and kept them as part of the territory of the Japanese Empire until 1945. Okinawa still belongs to Japan.
57. The Japanese love corn, sesame seeds, and mayonnaise on their pizza.
58. It is usually mandatory to give a landlord a gift of money of $1,000-$2000 when moving into his apartment building.
59. In the UK most people judge your expression by the mouth, while in Japan, they judge it by the eyes. That’s why our emotions look like this :o) or :- (And Japanese ones look like this: ^_^ or ;_;).
60. Poorly written English can be found everywhere, including T-shirts and other fashion items.
61. A earth tremor happens in Japan at the least every five minutes.
62. Japan has numerous volcanoes, about Two Hundred, and many earthquakes. In fact, Japan has about three minor earthquakes every day of the year. Japan does have severe earthquakes too, such as the Great Kanto Earthquake that shook the country in 1923. This historic disaster demolished the cities of Tokyo and Yokohama and more than one hundred and twenty thousand lives were lost at that time. Japan is home to ten percent of the world's active volcanoes.
63. Sometimes the trains are so crowded that railway staff are employed to cram passengers inside.
64. Geisha means "Person of the arts" and the first geisha were actually men.
65. The sun is red in Japan and the country itself is referred to by Japanese people as "The land of the rising sun".
66. The Japanese think that Americans eat corn and potatoes every day.
67. On Respect for the Aged Day, tobacco companies will hand out free cigarettes to the elderly outside of train stations and department stores.
68. The “WALK” lights on Japanese street corners make a chirping sound so that the blind can know when to cross the street.
69. Sumo is Japan’s national sport.
70. The world's largest fish market is the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo.
71. There are over 25,000 love hotels in Japan, generating a staggering 4 trillion yen in revenues per year.
72. Japan has the longest life expectancy (82 years) of any advanced country in the world.
73. The prefecture of Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the Japanese capital Tokyo, is the largest metropolitan area in the world.
74. Internet country code of Japan is .jp.
75. The population growth rate is 0.2% (1999 est.), the birth rate is 10.48 births/1,000 population (1999 est.) and death rate is 8.12 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.).
76. Tokyo can choose where to dine from over 200,000 restaurants - a world record.
77. Japan is made up of 6,852 islands, although just four – Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu – make up 97 per cent of the land area.
78. Some of the oldest pottery in the world comes from Japan's Jomon Period (10,000 - 300 BC).
79. You can catch a train to and from Nagoya every 15 minutes. You can catch a subway train every three minutes in Nagoya.
80. Japan experiences around 4 mild earthquakes every day.
81. A prostitute is not looked down upon in Japanese Society.
82. A musk melon (similar to a cantaloupe) can sell for over 31,473 yen ($300.00).
83. 21% of the Japanese population is elderly, the highest proportion in the world.
84. Japan is the largest consumer of timber imported from the Amazon rain forests.
85. Tea is served with practically all meals.
86. Karate was developed in Okinawa because the Chinese conquerors of the island prohibited the use of weapons by the Okinawans.
87. In Japan, if you want to buy a Coca-Cola can from a vending machine, it would cost more than a dollar.
88. There are 54 pagodas in Japan. The official top three pagodas are those of the Daigo-ji Temple in Kyo-to, the Ho-ryu-ji Temple in Nara, and the Ruriko-ji Temple in Yamaguchi.
89. At McDonalds the hamburgers are the same size as in America, but the drink sizes are one size smaller.
90. More than 70% of Japan consists of mountains, including more than 200 volcanoes.
91. Japanese TV programs and mass media are funded by American companies, such as Aflac. Aflac duck is one of America's Favorite Advertising icons.
92. Japan is a heavily entertainment-based society, with probably more restaurants, cafés, bars, clubs, karaoke, game centres, manga cafés, massage parlours and relaxation centres per square kilometer than anywhere else on earth.
93. It is nearly impossible to become a naturalized citizen of Japan.
94. Japan won her Independence in 660 BC (founded by Emperor Jimmu).
95. Japan's biggest export "Sony" was founded in 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). This was cumbersome so in 1955 co-founder Akio Morita came up with Sony, which combined sonus, Latin for sound, with Sonny, an American term of endearment for a little boy. Sony’s products would, he claimed, combine excellent sound and small size.
96. After breaking up with their boyfriends, Japanese girls usually cut their hair.
97. Japanese food is considered the healthiest food in the world.
98. A top Sumo wrestler is more popular than any other celebrity in Japan.
99. There’s no such thing as central heat and air in Japan.
100. The green traffic light in Japan is called "Blue".
101. One US dollar is approximately 120 yen.
102. Golden Retrievers are the most popular pets in Japan.
103. Men shave their heads as a form of apology to someone, in Japan.
104. A traditional Japanese breakfast is steamed rice topped with natto (fermented soy beans).
105. Highways in Japan span an astounding total of 1.16 million km.
106. Apart from the four main islands, Japan is composed of over 3,000 smaller isles.
107. Animated Japanese films and television shows (i.e. Anime) account for 60% of the world’s animation-based entertainment. So successful is animation in Japan, that there are almost 130 voice-acting schools in the country.
108. Some traditional Japanese companies conduct a morning exercise session for the workers to prepare them for the day's work.
109. Japan's most famous contributions to modern technology are the VHS tape (developed by JVC in 1976), the Compact Disk and the CD-ROM (both developed by Sony in collaboration with the Dutch company Philips).
110. One of the major attractions in Tokyo is participating in a Shinto wedding at Meiji Jingu Shrine.
111. Okinawa has more people over 100 years old per 100,000 populations than anywhere else in the world.
112. Sushi which is popular worldwide is a Japanese delicacy of rice and fish dipped in vinegar, wrapped in seaweed.
113. Gas station attendants will bow as the car pulls out of the station.
114. It is socially acceptable to pick your nose in public and urinate at the side of the road, but you cannot blow your nose in public.
115. In Japanese, the word for “wrong” and “different” are the same.
116. There are vending machines in Japan that dispense beer.
117. Never stick your chopsticks upright in your rice. This is an old Japanese custom and is what is done when food is offered to the dead. When it is not an offering it is considered to be a very ill omen.
118. Noh, an ancient and very popular type of Japanese theatre can last for up to eight hours.
119. The international phone code of Japan is 81.
120. English is the only foreign language taught in public Japanese schools.
121. Japanese firms serve alcohol to the employees in the evening after 6 pm.
122. Miso soup is an all time favorite and could be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Its main ingredients are a soybean paste dissolved in a seaweed stock.
123. Mount Koya, a World Heritage Site south of Osaka, is home to Okunoin, Japan’s largest and most famous cemetery. Japanese dignitaries are buried here but many of the biggest tombs belong to companies such as Panasonic and Toyota and were built to house their loyal workers. One pesticide company has even erected a shrine to termites.
124. It will always take one to two hours for a pizza to be delivered.
125. Chazuke used to be a typical dish of the lower classes in the Edo era. People would add green tea on a bowl of cold rice in chaya (teahouse) along the road. This was considered a full meal by those who couldn't afford fish or even vegetables.
126. In Japan, McDonalds employees will run outside to give you your drive-thru order.
127. Japan has the second lowest homicide rate in the world, but is also home to the extremely spooky suicide forest, Aokigahara.
128. Slippers are never worn while sitting on the tatami to have your meals.
129. Japan has the world's largest sex industry.
130. Japan has a very successful football (soccer) team. They have won the Asian Cup three times.
131. There are four different writing systems in Japan - Romaji, Katakana, Hiragana and Kanji.
132. In Japan you eat your soup with chopsticks.
133. The major imports to Japan are fossil fuels, food (mainly beef), chemicals, textiles, machinery and equipment.
134. It is considered inappropriate behavior in Japan to blow your nose in public or tear gift wrappings, although you can smoke almost anywhere you want.
135. Karaoke is extremely popular in Japan. It is now the most widely practiced cultural activity!
136. Fortune cookies are not a Chinese invention, but a Japanese one going back to 19th-century Kyo-to and linked to the tradition of omikuji. Fortune cookies have since become very popular in the USA, especially in Chinese restaurants, hence its false association with China.
137. Japan’s unemployment rate is less than 4%.
138. Prolific Japanese film-maker Takahi Miike made up to 50 films in a decade during the peak of his career.
139. Slippers are worn in the house, never shoes.
140. Apparantely the Japanese word for four and death are the same.
141. Japanese is the only language in the world which has a word for "death from overwork" termed Karoshi.
142. Japan's giant company "Canon" was first called Kwanon after the Buddhist goddess. The name was changed to entice foreign markets when the company began its roll-out of 35mm cameras in 1935.
143. Haiku is Japanese poetry consisting of only 3 lines.
144. Japan is likewise known to have attained the following feats: the third largest purchasing power, the fourth world’s largest exporter and the world’s sixth in terms of imports.
145. Popular Japanese bands are: Glay, Smap, Hana Hana, Shingo Mama, The Yellow Monkey, Luna Sea, Whiteberry, Arc~en~Ceil, Da Pump, Kinki Kids, etc…
146. The main religions of Japan are Shinto and Buddhism. A common saying here is, "We live as Shintos and die as Buddhists."
147. In Japan, a night at the movies will cost you $18 per person.
148. Local calls in Japan are charged by the minute.
149. Japan does not have atomic weapons. USA, France, China, India, Russia, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Israel and possibly North Korea have atomic weapons.
150. Japan is in Eastern Asia, an island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula.
151. Japan has 29,751 km of coastlines, the 6th longest of any country.
152. Japan's population is 11 times more densely settled than the USA, a density comparable to that of the states of New Jersey or Rhode Island.
153. Restaurants in Japan (including many fast-food places) give you moist towels or wipes before or with your meal.
154. Although Japan is one of the most densely populated countries on Earth, it is remarkably green – more than 80 per cent of it is forest.
155. The Ainu, the original inhabitants of Japan, are related to the people of Siberia.
156. Baseball is the most popular spectator sport in Japan.
157. There is a vending machine almost in every corner of its cities, where you can get beer, cigarettes, newspapers and cold drinks.
158. "Korede iinoda" is a popular Japanese phrase. It means in English "Everything is going to be all right". It was written by manga artist Akatsuka, in "Tensai Bakabon". It is usually respected as a phrase of peace.
159. Many Japanese women dye their hair brown.
160. Streets in Japan usually don’t have names.
161. Soccer is now big in Japan. Japanese fans sent a 1,000-name petition to their FA demanding the sacking of coach Takeshi Okada. He was boss for Japan’s 1998 campaign but was dismissed after they scored only one goal in three dismal defeats.
162. Mount Fuji (3,776 m) is the 4th most prominent peak in Asia outside the Himalayan range (the three others are in Indonesia and Malaysia).
163. Japan has the world’s second biggest economy (GDP in 2008 was US$4.9 trillion).
164. Japanese department stores are usually multiple stories, with a grocery store on the bottom, clothes and bedding in the middle, and restaurants on the top.
165. Japan is the origin of world famous cartoons including Manga and Dragon Ballz.
166. Over 99% of the population speaks Japanese as their first language.
167. The old Japanese language was a blend of ancient Korean and Ainu language. Since the 6th century, Chinese characters (and the words that go with them) were imported into the language, and now amount to about half of the vocabulary in Japanese.
168. Mount Fuji is a sacred mountain for the Japanese. Pilgrimages are made to the mountain every year.
169. Japanese people take a hot bath every night. Some do not have showers installed in their bathrooms.
170. Many women wear platform shoes that are 4 to 6 inches high.
171. Japan is called the Land of the Rising Sun.
172. Japan is the largest automobile producer in the world, and Toyota, Honda and Mitsubushi come from Japan.
173. It is not uncommon to pay $2 for a single apple.
174. Japan's climate and weather varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north.
175. Japan is the most vulnerable nation to earthquakes amongst all the regions of the world. Each year about 1500 earthquakes are recorded in Japan.
176. Japan's population is 127,333,002 (July 2004 est.).
177. The islands of Japan are actually the exposed tops of huge undersea ridges. These ridges rise up out of the Pacific Ocean. Because of this, more than eighty percent of the land is rugged mountains and hills.
178. Japanese people live in average 4 years longer than US citizens, 3 years longer than the Germans, the Belgians or the Brits, 2 years more than the Italians and 1 year longer than the French.
179. Compulsory English lessons start from the first grade of elementary school in Japan.
180. Firearms are almost non-existent in the hands of civilians in Japan. The process of obtaining licence of firearm is lengthy. Crimes committed by using firearms are very rare.
181. In Japan, when you move into an apartment, you have to bring your own light fixtures.
182. Japanese sleep on their way home on the subway and the train.
183. In Japan, Ally Mc Beal is called “Ally My Love” because McBeal when said in a Japanese dialect sounds like McBeer.
184. Japan has produced 15 Nobel laureates (in chemistry, medicine and physics), 3 Fields medalists and one Gauss Prize laureate.
185. Rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner along with tea for lunches and dinners is a common Japanese diet habit.
186. When you use the restroom in some one's home, you should put on special bathroom slippers so as not to contaminate the rest of the home.
187. The traditional dress of Japan, worn by both men and women, is known as ’Kimono’.
188. Japan was granted membership to the United Nations in 1956.
189. Japanese people call their country Nippon or Nihon, which means Land of the Rising Sun. Before this it was Wa which means harmony.
190. The first extensive use of the rickshaw for transportation started in Japan from the 1870's. It later spread to the rest of East Asia and South Asia, where the motorized version is still very popular. The rickshaw is, however, not a Japanese invention.
191. The Japanese Prime Minister is elected by the legislature, not the people.
192. Karaoke was invented in Japan in 1971 by Daisuke Inoue, a Japanese drummer.
193. In ancient Japan, small eyes, a round puffy face, and plump body were considered attractive features.
194. Japanese people 'slurp' their food, which is considered as a sign of tasty food. If you don't do it in Japan, it may disappoint your host.
195. In Japan, you can buy batteries, beer, wine, condoms, cigarettes, comic books, hot dogs, light bulbs, and used women's underwear from vending machines.
196. A Japanese man is considered to be entering into the phase of old age by the time he reaches sixty years of age. This is commemorated with a special ceremony. The man wears a special red kimono. The red kimono means that he no longer has the responsibilities of being a mature adult.
197. It is considered rude to show signs of affection toward a loved one in public.
198. Japanese do not submerge themselves into the bath tub and then lather. They soap outside the tub and rinse it off. Only then do they submerge themselves neck deep into the hot water to refresh and relax.
199. There are no 24 hour ATMs in Japan (closed on holidays and many only open during normal bank hours).
200. Japanese agricultural products include rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit, pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs, and fish.
201. Japan is often seen in the West as an overcrowded country. Yet, it ranks only 18th worldwide in terms of population density, behind such countries as Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Bangladesh, the Netherlands and Belgium.
202. Japan is the 10th most populous country in the world. It's population is equal to the United Kingdom, France and Denmark combined.
203. Japan is the 60th largest country in the world (out of over 200) in terms of land area. It is 25 times smaller than the USA or People's Republic of China, but is slightly bigger than Germany, 3 times larger than England, and close to 10 times more spacious than the Netherlands.
204. Tokyo's Haneda Airport is the busiest airport by passenger traffic in Asia, and the fourth busiest in the world.
205. Japan's main industries are motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, and processed foods.
206. Restaurants in Tokyo were awarded twice more Michelin stars than those in Paris, making it the culinary capital of the world.
207. Mt. Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan, is an active volcano.
208. Head of State of Japan is Emperor Akihito (Since 7th January 1989).
209. There is no need to send invitations to weddings, funerals, and the like as they are community events which are shared by all in Japanese villages. All of the village women prepare food and the entire village either mourns or congratulates the newly-wed couple.
210. Japan's national flag is called the Hinomaru. The flag has a red circle against a white background. This red circle symbolizes the rising sun. The Japanese deity "Amaterasu Omikami" is a sun goddess. "Nippon", Japan's name in Japanese, means "origin of the sun".
211. The top two universities in Japan are the University of Tokyo and Keio University.
212. About a quarter of the electricity needs of Japan are supplied by nuclear power.
213. Japanese salad has corn in it.
214. Although Tokyo was destroyed in firebombing during the World War two, there are no popular movies about bombings on Japan. The Grave of Fireflies is only a film depicting realistically a firebombing of a Japanese city. New York has been frozen, destroyed, bombed, meteoritized several times in American films.
215. Many toilets in Japan have a built-in bidet system for spraying your backside.
216. Japanese junior high school students do not need to pass any of their classes to graduate. Education only through junior high school is compulsory.
217. The Japanese know more about American politics than Americans do.
218. Pokemon is not popular in Japan.
219. Japan's literacy rate is almost 100%.
220. Mount Everest’s oldest climber was Japanese, Mr. Yuichiro Miura at 70 years old. The old man reached the summit, by the way.
221. Students in elementary school in Japan wear yellow caps.
222. The popular cartoon on television sets in India "Shin Chan" comes from Japan.
223. Japan has 28 National Parks and 55 Quasi-National Parks
224. Coffee is very popular and Japan imports approximately 85% of Jamaica's annual coffee production.
225. Most of the 128 million Japanese live in cities and almost a quarter of them in Tokyo, the world’s largest metropolitan district.
226. The most popular pizza toppings in Japan are squid and seaweed.
227. Genetic studies have revealed that approximately 60% of Japanese gene pool comes from Korea and China, and 40% from the Stone Age inhabitants of Japan, the Jomon people (from whom the modern Ainu of the direct descendants). Nevertheless a northern Han Chinese from Beijing is genetically closer to Japanese than to a southern Han Chinese from Canton.
228. Japan's capital city is Tokyo.
229. The Japanese commonly refer to their country as Nihon Koku, Nippon Koku or Nihon or Nippon. These names translate to mean "The Sources of the Sun" or "Land of the Rising Sun."
230. Ovens are not very common in Japanese kitchens, but most households own a rice cooker.
231. Christianity comprises less than 10% of the Japanese population.
232. In Japan, the teachers move from class to class and the students stay in one room.
233. The Japanese eat with chopsticks known as Hashi.
234. Japan has roughly 200 volcanoes each year.
235. There are about 1,500 sake ("rice wine") breweries in Japan.
236. Japan is about the size of California and has half the population of the entire United States.
237. The term karaoke means "empty orchestra" in Japanese.
238. Japanese soccer team are nicknamed "The Blue Samurai". Their kit has a hidden background of leaves – a reference to Samurai code Bushido, whose name translates as ‘hidden leaves’.
239. In Japan many people wear uniforms i.e. bank tellers, grocery store clerks, postal workers…
240. In Japan, fair skin is regarded as beautiful.
241. In Japan you will find cars by the names of "It's", "Let's", "Sunny", "Perky", "Gloria", "Move", "Toppo", "Lepo" and "Dump".
242. The infant mortality rate is low in Japan, it is 4.07 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.).
243. In a Sumo training "stable" the junior rikishi Sumo wrestlers must wash and bathe their senior sumo wrestlers and make sure their hard to reach places are clean.
244. Tokyo has had 24 recorded instances of people either killed or receiving serious skull fractures while bowing to each other with the traditional Japanese greeting.
245. 10% of the world's volcanoes are in Japan. Among them, 108 have erupted in the last 10,000 years, 50 in the last 100 years, and 36 are currently active.
246. Japan is the world's 2nd country with the most vehicles per square kilometers after the Netherlands, and just before Belgium.
247. In Japan you can buy canned coffee, hot or cold, in vending machines.
248. Vandalism is almost non-existent in Japan.
249. Junior High and High School students wear uniforms in Japan.
250. There are more brothels and porn movies made in Japan than any other country.