Japan

Japan

   The culture of Japan has evolved greatly over the past thousand years, from which combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America. After several waves of immigration from the continent and nearby Pacific islands, the inhabitants of Japan experienced a long period of relative isolation from the outside world during the Tokugawa shogunate until the arrival of "The Black Ships" and the Meiji period.

Language

The Japanese language is very important and had played a significant role in the Japanese culture. It’s spoken by over 130 million people in Japan. It is known as agglutinative language and is a member of Japonic language family. It is distinguished by a complex system of honorific reflecting the nature of Japanese society.

It’s written in a combination of three scripts: the Chinese characters that are called ‘’kanji’’ (漢字) and two syllabic scripts made up of modified Chinese characters. Although the Latin alphabet is used in the modern Japanese. Before and during World War II, when Japan occupied Korea, Taiwan, parts of China, the Philippines, and various Pacific islands, locals in those countries were forced to learn Japanese in empire-building programs. As a result, many elderly people in these countries can speak Japanese in addition to the local language.

Gardens

Gardens and the garden architecture is very important in Japan. It has been influenced alot by historical and religious backgrounds. in traditional Japanese style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks. It is also a very popular tourist attraction, each year over thousandths of people from different countries come to visit.

You can find more information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Japan