Ethnicity
The ethnicity of the Japanese people, along with their physical characteristics, have made them unique. Japanese people are stereotypically, but truthfully, described by having small, slanted eyes, light skin, and black hair. Before the Meiji era, when Japanese culture slightly assimilated into western influence, the country remained ethnically homogeneous. However, it has been changing in recent years due to industrialization and high technology business, which invite many immigrants to participate in their economy. This has not altered much of the ethnicity ratio because the largest minority, Koreans, consist only 0.5% of the total population, showing how ethnically homogeneous the people are. In addition to the traditional Japanese ethnicity in mainland Japan, there still remain some populations of indigenous tribes in smaller islands. For example, the Ainu ethnicity people reside on the Northern Island of Hokkaido and they are the second-biggest minority. They still look similar to Japanese, but have a few physical characteristics that make them different. These people are often discriminated for their minority state, and the government of Emperor Meiji took over this region in the 19th century. Their culture is to eat healthy off of a special diet and they also consume a lot of fish.
Religion
Japanese culture consists of three main religions that are commonly practiced by almost everyone in the country. Shintoism is the most ancient one of the three and grew from the prehistoric belief of worshipping certain inanimate objects such as mountains, trees, rock, rivers, plants, wind, rain, etc. Women in this cultural religion are expected to have special communicating skills with these inanimate objects called "Kami" in Japanese. Kami is named after the ancestor of the head of an ancient clan called "Amaterasu". This religion contains many shrines that are essential for the identity of this religion. They are created in places of natural beauty for religious regions and they have to face the South or East direction for auspicious purposes. The North or West directions are considered inauspicious. In Japanese culture, followers of Shintoism usually have a small shrine located in each family's house to worship in. Confucianism is another religion practiced by a few people in the Japanese culture. This was actually introduced to the Japanese culture from Chinese culture and focuses on the teachings of social etiquette rather than gods. Confucius of China came to Japan and introduced it to the culture in Japan. The Japanese people have adopted this religion to enhance moral qualities even though it is more associated with the Chinese culture. Not only is this religion implemented in families, but also prevails in companies where the Japanese base their propriety on Confucian teachings. Despite the popularity of these cultures in ancient times, the population of Shintoism and Confucianism believers have declined as a result of the increase in the universalizing religion of Buddhism. Buddhism was founded in present-day Nepal by Siddhartha Gautama in 563 B.C. This later started to diffuse to China and then Japan in 6th century A.D. There are 2 branches of Buddhism and they are "Theravada" and "Mahayana". This can be additionally divided into sects and the sect of "Tendai", from the Mahayana branch, and it is the most common sect in Japanese culture. Tendai was introduced by a month named Saicho in Japan and it means to seek "to reconcile contradictory means of salvation". It teaches that reality can be experienced in 3000 ways although it is really just one path. Furthermore, it teaches that mystery lies in the universe and is expressed in symbols and rituals. One of the most important facets of Buddhism in Japan has been meditation, also known as Zen Buddhism. Zen Buddhism is a skill that is passed down through many generations and it not only links with religion, but also many aspects of Japanese culture like martial arts, ceremonies, and gardens. It also follows the eightfold path, with is the path of moral qualities that one has go through to achieve "Nirvana", or "the state of complete redemption". The early literature In Japan has been influenced by religion because it gave rise to writing certain holy books and also tales/fables about legends. For example, there is a legend on the holiday "Kinryu-no-Mai" about two brothers meeting a dragon and being blessed with the dragon's head (later discussed in tab "Food, Holidays, and Music"). These legends later formed the basis of the religion and helped keep written records of the progress of the religion. As a whole, Shintoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism have represented the history and national pride of Japan.
Left: Symbol for Shintoism
Middle: Symbol for Confucianism
Right: Symbol for the eightfold path of Buddhism
Middle: Symbol for Confucianism
Right: Symbol for the eightfold path of Buddhism
Language
Like religion, The Chinese culture had a major impact on the Japanese language. However, they slightly differ because the Chinese use symbols and ideograms while the Japanese use a phonetic system, similar to western languages. This is what makes the Japanese language distinct and part of their own unique culture. The Japanese language, and essentially, the Chinese language took thousands of years to develop because it contains such complex symbols that are put together to form words. Additionally, Japanese also use certain symbols that reflect their cultural traditions. For example, " ^.^ " means a girl is smiling because it is extremely impolite for a girl to bare her teeth in a grin in Japanese culture. Japan's language has been the basis of its literature. The amazing works independent of Chinese works have expanded the amount of writings and the written history of the country, and gave rise to famous writers such as Mori Ogai and Haruki Murakami. In relation to other languages, Japanese is very unique mostly because of its geographic structure of an island so it developed independently from other languages.