I’ve always loved Japan and I think it’s time for me to share the reasons why. They have such a wonderfully, weird culture which attracts millions of tourists every year. Here are a few reasons why Japanese culture is gloriously bizarre:
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Animal Islands
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Rabbit Island: Okunoshima is a small island located in Japan’s Inland Sea that has become popular due to its adorable population -thousands of rabbits! Sources say that they were brought during World War II, when the island and the rabbits were sadly used to test the effects of poisonous gas. Thankfully, since then these wonderful creatures live in a predator-free environment, where they can roam free and be loved and admired by thousands.
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Deer Island: Itsukushima, an island that’s also located in Japan’s Inland Sea, commonly referred to as Miyajima -which means Shrine Island in Japanese. According to local folklore, the deer were considered sacred messengers from the gods. Until 1637, killing one was punishable by death. They’re still protected by Japanese law today, but not quite that harshly. In most places, deer are difficult to approach, running away when you get close to them. The Miyajima deer are different. You can easily pet them or feed them!
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Cat Island: Probably the most famous out of the 3, Tashirojima is an island located in the Pacific Ocean where thousands of cats reside. It’s said that they were brought there because the island was big on silk production, so they were a great, natural form of pest control. Unfortunately though, they didn’t castrate any of them and so they started mating and that’s how we ended up with this magical island. Most of the cats are super friendly and are free to go wherever they want. There are humans residing in it, of course, but most of them are old, which makes many wonder who will take care of the cats after they’re gone. *cries while watching cute cat videos*
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Kanamara Matsuri
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Japan’s famous “Festival of the Steel Phallus”. That’s right, once a year during the Spring, people go to Kawasaki Japan to be a part of the celebration of the penis and fertility. This tradition started all because of a legend that a woman’s vagina was cursed by a “hungry and sharp-toothed demon” -the result being her first two husband were both castrated on their wedding night. So what does a gal with a penis eating vagina do? She calls her local blacksmith, of course, who creates a metal penis to break the demon’s teeth and shrine was built in it’s honour. Nowadays, however, the festival is geared towards raising awareness about safe sex and fundraising for HIV prevention.
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Weird Cafes
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Cat Cafe: Sadly, because most Japanese people live in tiny apartments where there’s really not much space, having a pet is less than ideal. It’s from this issue that cat cafes were born. They’re essentially small shops where people can enjoy a hot cup of tea/coffee and hang these adorable creatures. This way, they get their dose of feline affection without having to own one.
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Maid Cafe: Although, not all cafes are as cute since there are also Maid cafes. If eating cute cupcakes and teddy-shaped ice cream sundaes by in maid outfits, then you can find a few places like these in Akihabara.
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Cuddle Cafe: Also called Soine-ya -which stands for “sleep together shop”- allows men to sleep next to a woman for a fee. With the first one opening 3 years ago, cuddle cafes have a strict no-sexual-requests rule -for obvious reasons-, but for a small extra fee you can stare into each other’s eyes, or if you’re looking for something more intimate, you can stroke their hair for 3 minutes. Hey, to each its own I guess.
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Bunny Cafe: In the city of Tokyo you’ll find a multiple floor cafe full of different breeds of rabbits, all waiting to be cuddled. How it works is: you wash your hands first -safety first, people-, then you choose your fave rabbit and carry it in a basket to your seat and for the price of $30/hour you get to spend some top notch quality time with these cute fellas.
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Child Janitors
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Pretty self-explanatory. In Japan, you won’t find a single janitor in schools, since kids are required to spend time cleaning the school and this is actually incorporated in their schedules. A few times a week, a group has to get together and clean an area that’s assigned to them. This is proven to help children and teenagers with handling responsibility and, of course, it helps with organization. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be too keen on having to spend all that extra time in school.
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Hotels
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Love Hotels: More of a short-stay type of hotels, love hotels are designed for couples who are looking to spend some quality time in a spacious, premium room. They usually offer two different rooms: rest and overnight stays. They can be found near train stations or highways. And while the cheapest love hotel is pretty basic, the more expensive ones offer extravagantly decorated rooms, often with bizarre themes and costumes for hire. *Wink, wink*
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Capsule Hotels: Originated in Osaka, this type of hotel features small “capsules” designed for basic overnight accommodation and they’re super budget friendly.
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Mr. Kanso
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An incredibly popular Japanese restaurant, Mr. Kanso is a restaurant that only serves canned food. Instead of providing a menu, people have the opportunity to select their meal from the shelves that decorate the walls.
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KFC and Christmas
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Although it’s not considered a national holiday, Christmas is super popular in Japan, being celebrated by a large number of people. During this holiday, KFC outlets became popular for foreigners in Japan, since they didn’t know where they could find a whole chicken or turkey during this time of the year. KFC noticed this demand and came up with a highly successful marketing strategy and now eating KFC is a Christmas tradition in Japan. They even suggest that you make orders up to two months in advance, due to the high demand!
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Vending Machines
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I know this one doesn’t sound that exciting, but man oh, man are vending machines eccentric in Japan. Not only can they be found in a wide range of places, from Ancient Temples to train stations and even Mount Fuji. But, they also feature an interesting range of products: live lobster, toys, packaged fruit, ramen, cars and probably their most known item, used underwear.
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