(1) Clothing
Contemporary Japanese clothing can be divided into two categories: traditional clothing, namely kimono and modern clothing. . Now, in daily life, except for some people who specialize in tea ceremony, flower arrangement and other special jobs, the vast majority of Japanese people wear modern clothes most of the time. Traditional kimono dresses are only worn during festivals or certain ceremonies. Only wear it when.
Kimono is also called "clothing", and its meaning can vary greatly depending on the width of the definition. In the narrow sense, "clothing" only refers to "long clothes" (similar to our country's robes), while in the broad sense, it should include "underwear" (underwear), "haori" (short coat), culottes, belts, etc. The colors of men's kimonos are more solemn and monotonous, and they are often decorated with the "family crest" or family crest on the back. Women's kimonos are more colorful than men's kimonos, with a wider obi and a knot that looks like a small baggage. Women's kimonos come in many colors. High-end dresses are made of silk and decorated with embroidery or hand-painted patterns. They are very expensive. This kind of kimono is something we can often see in film, television, and audiovisual media.
(2) Diet
Affected by objective environments such as geography and climate, the eating habits of Japanese people were very different from those of people in mainland China. With the advancement of internationalization and informatization, Japanese people have more and more contacts and interactions with foreigners, and their eating habits have gradually undergone profound changes.
a) Staple food
Currently, rice accounts for about two-thirds of Japanese food consumption, wheat accounts for about one-third, and a small amount of corn and sweet potato wait. Although the Japanese have a short history of eating noodles, they invented "ramen" with unique Japanese characteristics. They also invented the instant noodles that are now popular around the world more than 20 years ago. There are also several staple foods with Japanese characteristics: red bean rice, buckwheat noodles, and Japanese snacks.
b) Non-staple food
The Japanese have a wide variety of non-staple food. The environment of the island country has enabled them to develop the habit of eating fish, shrimp, seaweed and other aquatic products since ancient times. Compared with Chinese food, the main characteristics of Japanese cuisine (Japanese cuisine) are light taste, attention to color and shape, emphasis on retaining natural flavor, and more types of raw food. The most Japanese dishes with Japanese characteristics include sashimi, tempura (soft fried fish, shrimp, vegetables, mushrooms, etc.), sukiyaki (Japanese beef hot pot), sushi (stuffed with sashimi or vegetables, scrambled eggs) rice rolls), miso soup, etc.
c) Beverages
Alcoholic beverages mainly include Japanese sake, foreign wine, and beer.
Sake is a brewed liquor made by fermenting rice. It has a history of more than a thousand years in Japan and is also called "Japanese sake". The alcohol content is low, about 17-18°. There are many kinds.
Foreign wine became popular in Japan mainly after the war, especially after the 1970s. The biggest sales volume is whiskey. The famous whiskey produced in Japan is "Suntory". When Japanese people drink foreign wine, they rarely drink the original juice, and often mix it with ice cubes or ice water.
Beer. Japanese people started drinking beer after the Meiji Restoration, and consumption increased greatly after World War II. Kirin, Asahi, and Sapporo are the three major Japanese beer brands.
Japanese tea
The Japanese have been drinking tea for nearly a thousand years. Its earliest tea species were introduced from China, and the development of its tea-drinking habits was also greatly influenced by China. However, the tea that contemporary Japanese drink is not exactly the same as that in China. It is mainly divided into three types: sencha, matcha and koji tea, which are basically equivalent to Chinese green tea.
(3) Folk houses
Japanese folk houses are mainly divided into three types: one is the traditional house, the so-called "detached house" type house, which is called "one-family house" in Japanese. "type house, the building material of the house is mainly wood, and generally has "earth room", "intermediary room", "bedroom", "bed room", "connection room", "bathroom" and other parts. ; The other is an apartment-style residence, which is called "***tong residence" in Japanese. It is mostly a reinforced concrete structure, and its internal layout is similar to that of our country's apartment-style residences; the other is an old-style apartment-style residence, which in Japanese Known as "long house" type residences, they have a long and narrow appearance and are mostly one- or two-story wooden buildings. They are built by the owner and then rented out to others.
According to Japanese government statistics, as of 1998, there were 43.892 million inhabited residences in Japan, including 25.278 million traditional residences (including 6.286 million one-story residences); 16.458 million apartment-style residences, and "long-term residences". Housing construction" 1.948 million housing units.
(4) Marriage
Although Japanese marriage customs are also influenced by overseas influences, they are more mainly developed gradually based on the traditional customs of their own nation. With the changes of the times, especially the huge social changes in modern times, Japanese marriage customs have also undergone great changes.
According to legal provisions, Japanese people can get married after a man reaches 18 years old and a woman reaches 16 years old. In fact, late marriage has become popular in contemporary Japanese society. In 1990, the age at first marriage was 28.6 for men and 25.9 for women. In 1998, 784,596 couples got married in ***, with a marriage rate of 0.63. The marriage customs of contemporary Japanese people basically belong to the "marriage into marriage", that is, the woman usually marries into the man's family. There are also a few men who marry into the bride's family because there is no suitable heir in the woman's family. The geographical scope has also been expanded than before. Their marriage methods can be roughly divided into two types: "love marriage" and "introduction marriage". However, even if it is a love marriage, it usually takes the form of introduction, that is, there must be an introducer, and it must go through procedures such as blind date, engagement, sending betrothal gifts, holding a wedding ceremony, and a wedding banquet.
In modern Japan, both men and women have equal rights on the issue of divorce. They can divorce by mutual agreement, they can also go through mediation or ruling of the family court, or they can sue to the court and the court will decide the divorce. After World War II, the divorce rate in Japan gradually increased. In 1998, 243,183 couples divorced in Japan, with a divorce rate of 0.194, which was close to one-third of the marriage rate.
(5) Funeral
In short, contemporary Japanese funerals can be roughly divided into Buddhist-style funerals held in temples, Shinto-style funerals held in shrines, and funerals held in churches. There are four types: Christian style and non-religious style held at a funeral ceremony. Funeral methods can be divided into three types: burial, cremation, and wind burial. Modern Japanese mostly use cremation, but after cremation, the ashes must still be buried in the family cemetery. Wind burials only exist in some areas of the southwestern islands such as Okinawa.