Until the current solar calendar was adopted in 1872, life in Japan was based on the "lunar solar calendar" . While this is a calendar created principally on the phases of the moon, it aligns the four seasons brought by the sun and is generally called the lunar or old calendar. Thus, between the era of the old calendar and now there is a difference of nearly one month, and some regions still carry out such events as those of New Year and the A HREF="nenc3.htm#Bon Festival">Bon Festival based on the old calendar. Also, to express the changes of seasons on the calendar, there are 24 occasions such as the setting in of spring, summer solstice and the period of lesser cold, based on these, the Japanese change attire and prepare to greet the seasons. The six days that determine good fortune - days of good and bad luck - are repeated every six days, and the Japanese people set dates for weddings and funerals in accordance with them.
Inkan is a small cylindrical object, 1~2 cm in diameter and 5~6 cm in length, with one's name in stylized Chinese characters carved into the surface of one end. It is usually made of wood but ivory and crystal are also used. One sticks the carved surface into a red ink pad, then presses it on paper.
In Europe and North America, a person's signature is regarded as important, but in Japan the inkan is in place of the signature. One's registered legal seal is proof for public documents, confirming a person's intentions and identity, and is recorded at city hall. Because of its importance, it has a symbolic meaning, and there are many persons who pay close attention to its size and who have it made out of high-quality material. Meanwhile, apart from this, there are inkan for informal use called personal seals or signets.
On a meishi, one's full name, company name, job title, company address, phone number and so on are printed. Business intercourses in Japan begin with the exchange of business cards.
Besides their convenience when one wants to make contact, they are indispensable for confirming the other party's company, position and rank. Recently, there are even computer software to create data bases from the information on meishi, and personal information such as hobby can be input .
In the past, most meishi came in a standard design, but recently, to enhance individual appeal, meishi with all sorts of elaborate designs on quality paper, in color and layout have come to be used.
Traditional Japanese houses are made of wood, with floors raised 30-40 cm off the ground and covered with flooring rush mats. They have a structure that fits the hot, humid summer season. Until the 1960s, high-rise apartments built with ferroconcrete were limited to only a few areas. However, groups of high-rise apartments, known as danchi, had to be built for the concentration of population in cities and for making the most of limited land; at present, high-rise apartments, including those that have been privately built, can be seen all over the country. In contrast to wooden houses, high-rise apartments are tightly sealed, so air conditioning has become indispensable equipment. The numbers of rooms with flooring rush mats and rooms with floors are half and half; as rooms with flooring rush mats become more and more scarce, traditional Japanese customs are also starting to fade away.
Danchi is systematically built groups of mid-sized to high-rise apartment. It has been built to counter the vast lack of housing in cities, where the population is concentrated. It is built with an overall living environment in mind, taking into account the necessary public facilities for the residents, but a number of problems surfaced, such as the small living space, the various consequences of living in a high-rise, and friction with people living in existing residential areas nearby.
Because the urban residential problem remains unresolved, the exceedingly large numbers of people hope to get into danchi, so the tenants are determined by lottery. Recently, however, small danchi that are far from the heart of the city are being shunned.
Chonaikai are self-governing organizations of local residents. In the Second World War, they functioned as militaristic organizations in direct contact with the people and hence were abolished after the war; but they were independently reorganized to manage distribution and other systems and continue to exist. They are not legally constituted organizations and are run by fees collected from the membership.
The current work of chonaikai principally concerns disaster and crime prevention and sanitation, and they fulfill a role in the substructure of regional administrations. Information is collected in folders called circular notices and passed around each household, and is also notified on bulletin boards on streets.
Moreover, the chonaikai manages most of the activities for the common benefit, such as cleaning garbage collection sites.
Kaku-kazoku, a term used in cultural anthropology, means the immediate family of husband, wife and children only, and it is widely used as a key word when considering social issues in Japan. In the period of high economic growth centered in the 1960s, because there were numerous young people who came alone from outlying regions and made their families in urban areas, kaku-kazoku inevitably increased. In addition, with the shortage of residence in which large families could live together, people could not help becoming kaku-kazoku. On one hand, kaku-kazoku was called the new family, and took the lead in culture and manners as driving force of the consumer society, it has, on the other hand, created the conditions that isolate the old people left behind.
This refers to public bathhouses that one uses for a fee. They go far back in history to the Edo Period(1603-1867). Edo(present-day Tokyo) in the first half of the eighteenth century had a population that exceeded 1,000,000 and featured the functions of a large city. Sento flourished as public facilities necessary for a city and as places of social exchange for local residents. Sento scenes are often portrayed in the comic books and ukiyoe of the Edo Period. Even after modernization, sento were very necessary and a lot of people used them, but after the period of high economic growth most homes came with baths and apartments with baths increased; thus, sento suddenly decreased in number. Today, sento, their survival at risk, are undergoing transformation with the installment of saunas and health equipment.
For a long time, Japanese society has seen academic background as important. When job hunting, importance is attached to the name of one›“ university, and the power relationships of university factions are frequently influential on personnel in the organization. Because academic background is regarded as more important than actual ability, there are many abuses; recently, people of talent are being widely sought after without emphasizing academic background. This is happening to the extent that the Prime Minister himself, because there are so many Tokyo University graduates at high levels in the bureaucracy, has directed that more graduates of other universities be accepted.
Shushoku-katsudo for university and junior college students begins a little before the beginning of the final year of school. After first reading company guides and obtaining information on the businesses, they select their desired places by attending company information meetings and making company visits. If they are successful at a written examination and interviews, they will then receive an informal decision that is an unofficial notice of employment. Most students obtain their place of employment by the end of summer vacation.