Natural whetstones are very precious.  Yōzō Tsuchihashi (土橋要造) is the last miner / artisan family still producing natural whetstones in Japan.  Mining whetstone is dangerous to one’s health.  In fact Yōzō’s father died from pneumoconiosis.  Once artificial whetstones became available, most natural whetstone mining was discontinued.  But traditional Japanese cutting implements, including swords, and wood-working tools such as  those used to produce Buddhist statues require delicate sharpening techniques that are best obtained using natural whetstone.  Artificial whetstones cannot meet this refined standard of work.  Mining whetstone is a tough job, but Yōzō says he wants to continue working as long as possible.

Japanese whisky, Yamazaki, is well-known around the world.  Especially, “Yamazaki 55 year old” is known as a rare and most valuable Japanese whisky.  100 bottles of Yamazaki 55 were sold on June 30, 2020 for $31,000 USD each.  They were sold by lottery, and only to residents of Japan.  Furthermore applicants were required to write three essays to discourage people from buying a bottle only to resell it.  Still, more than 200,000 people applied.  Later in 2020 one of these bottles was sold in Hong Kong by auction by one of those 100 lottery winners for about $800,000 USD and another one was sold in NY by another auction for $600,000 USD in 2022.

Chōzuya is a hand and mouth cleansing spot in a Shinto shrine or a Buddhist temple.  Usually it is placed near the entrance.  Due to the COVID pandemic, it may be still off-limits depending on the shrine or temple.  A chōzuya is a place to purify yourself and we use it prior to visiting the main hall to pray to a God or Buddha.

The government in Japan has decided to lower the age for becoming an adult.  Currently the age is 20, but starting 4/1/22 it will be 18.  However, there are still some things that you are not allowed to do until you are 20, so the law will be a bit confusing.  You still must be 20 to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, gamble, etc.  But now at 18 you will be allowed to sign a legal contract for housing, opening a credit card, purchasing a mobile phone, etc. without your parents’ agreement.  Until now men had to be 20 and women 16 to get married, but now that age will change to 18 for both men and women.  Another change will mean bad news for young people who hold dual citizenship.  Currently you have until age 22 to decide if you want to keep your Japanese nationality, but starting 4/1/22 you will have to decide this by age 20.  Lastly, what will happen to the coming-of-age ceremony?  It seems like it will depend on the area you live in.  Some areas are thinking about changing the name “coming of age” to “20-year-old gathering”.

Temples are for Buddhism, whereas Shintō shrines honor Shintō deity.  Japanese people often say that you can make a wish at a shrine but not at a temple.  Actually, strictly speaking, it depends on the temple’s denomination.  For example, temples of the Jodo‐shin and Zen Buddhist sects are not places where you go to make a wish, but there are many other Buddhist sects where making a wish is fine.  In fact, many esoteric Buddhist temples will offer up special prayer ceremonies for you just as Shinto shrines do.  The most popular shrines and temples for hatsumōde (please click here for details) in the Tokyo area are 1. the Meiji Shrine, 2. the Narita-san Temple, and 3. the Kawasaki-Daishi Temple.

The beautiful Tokyo Tower was designed by Tachū Naitō (1886 – 1970).  Tachū Naitō is well-known for designing earthquake-resistant structures.  When the Great Kanto Earthquake struck Tokyo in 1923, both the Industrial Bank of Japan building and the Kabuki theater building survived, whereas many other buildings around them were destroyed.  Tachū Naitō was the one who designed both of these buildings.

The number of railway lines in Tokyo is the highest in the world.  There are 42 Japan Railway lines, 91 private lines and 15 subway lines in Tokyo.  The average number of riders is forty million per day, and there are 655 train stations in Tokyo.  Wow! .  It is also known as the most punctual system in the world.  They make an announcement and apologize even when they are running behind their schedule by only 20 seconds.

Hideki Matsuyama (age 29) became the first Japanese professional golfer to win Masters.

On 4/11/2021 he won a men’s major golf championship, the 2021 Masters Tournament.  Congratulations!

Ramune is a carbonated soft drink in a unique glass bottle (please click here for more details).  More than 50% of all the ramune in Japan is produced in Ōsaka.  They are making the ramune bottles the traditional way.  It is not easy to make those bottles since it requires accuracy and careful inspections.  Ramune is popular in many foreign countries, but instead of producing them in factories outside of Japan, ramune is produced in Japan according to each countries’ food regulations and then exported to 44 countries.

Besides the original and other traditional flavors, they are now making many odd playful flavors, such as kimchi, curry, stew, cream of corn soup, etc.  The president of a major ramune production company says that there were flavors that they had to stop producing due to various reasons.  For example, eggplant flavor cost too much to make, and onion flavor made workers cry too much while making it.  lol

A kappa is a yōkai in Japanese folklore.  The oldest writing about Kappa appears in a dictionary that was first made in 1444.  It’s supposed to have a child-sized body and look like a frog or a turtle with a plate on its head.  It lives in a river or a swamp and it likes wrestling with people who pass by. If you win against a kappa, then the kappa will always be compliant to you, but if the kappa wins, he may pull you under the water.  It keeps water in the plate on its head, and it is said that it will die if the plate gets broken or dried out. The kappa is said to be especially fond of cucumbers, so the sushi roll with cucumber is known as a Kappa Roll because of this fact.

About 500 years ago, Goshuin already existed.  It is believed that back then a Goshuin was an official stamp that was used at shinto shrines and temples, and that it was also an official stamp used by the shogun and daimyo.  By sometime during the edo era the system had changed though, and common visitors can now receive goshuin for a small fee. To those visitors a goshuin was like an amulet blessed by the holy spirit that they received and treated with gratitude and respect.  In Japan today, there are many people especially women who collect goshuin. Here are some things that you should keep in mind if you want to receive goshuin. 1. You should purchase a goshuin-cho. This is a notebook to receive a goshuin. 2. If you are planning on receiving goshuin from both shrines and temples, you should have a separate goshuin-cho for each.  You should not mix shrines and temples. 3. You should properly pray first before you ask for a goshuin. 4. This is not just a hobby or pastime. It is believed that the spirit of god or Buddha is always present in Goshuin. So treat them with respect. There are some shrines and temples that no longer give away goshuin due to the bad manners of the visitors. Some goshuin look so cute, and I can understand that people want to collect them as a hobby, but please understand the true meaning of goshuin.