NIPPON no Mame-Chishiki

Hikifuda (pulling tickets) were advertising leaflets produced for promotional purposes from the Edo period to the Taisho period. The word "hiki" means to attract customers, and the word "fuda" means a piece of paper. At the beginning of the Edo period, hikifuda were simple one- or two-color prints, but as commercial activity became more active in the latter half of the Edo period, colorful prints such as ukiyoe also appeared. Printing methods also evolved with the times, including woodblock printing, lithography, copperplate printing, and the earliest forms of movable type printing, and the number of flyers also increased. As commerce became more active, "sales slogans" - the forerunners of "catch copy" - began to be created, and a style of advertising that appealed through words and visuals was born. The Japanese word for flyer is "chirashi", which comes from the Japanese word "makichirashi", which means to scatter fliers aro...

It is said that the first person to drink beer in Japan was either the 8th Shogun of the Edo period, Tokugawa Yoshimune, or the doctor Sugita Gempaku, who was active at the same time. In 1724, a delegation from the Netherlands sent beer to the Shogun Yoshimune, as recorded in the annals of the time. The beer also made its way into the hands of the general public, and was drunk by Sugita Gempaku. Although the shogun Yoshimune did not leave any comments on the beer, Sugita Gempaku did. According to his comments, he thought the beer was "exceptionally bad" and "had no taste", and that it was not delicious. Later, in the late Edo period, beer began to be imported from the Netherlands and America. In addition, in the Meiji period, Japan's first brewery, "Japan Brewery", was established. During the Meiji era, beer production began in Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido and other places, and at one time there were over 100 breweries, causing a boom in local and craft beer...

 Sumo is one of Japan's traditional martial arts and fighting techniques, and its origins lie in rituals and festivals at shrines. The earliest record of sumo in Japan appears in the Kojiki, a book of Japanese mythology, and tells of a battle between the gods Takeminakata and Takemikazuchi. It is written that sumo between human beings was held in 23 BC. From the Nara period, there was also a sumo event called Sumahino-sechie, in which sumo was performed in the imperial court in front of the emperor. Sumo only became a form of entertainment in the Edo period. There are said to be three types of sumo: professional sumo, known as "osumo"; amateur sumo, which is performed by students and corporate teams; and sumo performed as an offering at shrines and festivals. As all of these forms of sumo originated as Shinto rituals performed for the gods, they place more importance on etiquette and manners than other sports. The ritual of the sumo wrestlers clapping their hands together...

 The word "Ghibli" refers to the wind that blows over the Sahara Desert, and it is also the name of an Italian airplane. The name was chosen by director Hayao Miyazaki, who loves airplanes. Studio Ghibli was established in 1984 following the success of the animated film "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind", and has since produced many hit films, including "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Princess Mononoke". Last year, in 2024, Studio Ghibli became the first Japanese company to be awarded the Palme d'Or Honorary Award at the Cannes Film Festival, alongside film director George Lucas, and this also made headlines in Japan. In Japan, Studio Ghibli's works have long been popular anime, but in places like America, the stories were changed without permission, or the films were drastically shortened and shown without permission, and pirated copies were also circulating, so the reputation was not very good. However, from around 2020, the films began to ...

 Awamori is one of the representative liquors of Okinawa. It is a type of shochu made from rice, and its origins are in Thailand in Southeast Asia. Awamori   It is a drink unique to Okinawa that has been passed down since the days of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and is the oldest distilled spirit in Japan. Awamori differs from ordinary shochu in that it is made using Thai indica rice and black koji. https://okinawa-awamori.or.jp/ When awamori is aged, the harshness of the alcohol mellows and it becomes more delicious. This is called koshū (or kōshū / old sake). Awamori continues to mature even after it has been bottled, so you can buy it from a shop and then let it mature at home. In the past, there were times when awamori that had been shipped outside Okinawa Prefecture was returned because it had not sold, but because everyone in Okinawa knew that awamori became more delicious as it matured, they happily accepted the returns. Nowadays, as more people have learned about the aging proc...

Convenience stores originally came about in America. It is said that the prototype of the convenience store was a shop that sold ice in Texas in 1927, about 100 years ago, which was open for longer than usual during the busy summer season, the store was open from 7am to 11pm, and it is said that this is the prototype of the convenience store. This store was named "Seven-Eleven" after its opening hours, and it was developed into a chain store. Around the same time, in Ohio, a shop called Lawson Milk, which sold milk, began selling bread and other daily necessities, and began expanding as a chain. As you can tell from the names, these shops came to Japan and became the forerunners of the current Seven-Eleven and Lawson. LAWSON Family Mart Seven Eleven Daily Yamazaki   It is said that the first convenience store in Japan was opened in Tajimi Station, Gifu Prefecture, in 1962. After that, in 1973, FamilyMart, the first convenience store in Japan, opened in Saitama Prefecture, and...

 Yakisoba can be made with just a single iron plate, and is a food that is popular in homes, shops, and food stalls. Yakisoba The origins of yakisoba are not certain, but it is said that it began around 1918 in the Asakusa area of Tokyo, about 100 years ago. At this time, the new seasoning "Worcestershire sauce" appeared, and in addition to yakisoba, "noseyaki" (the precursor to okonomiyaki) and other dishes were also born. In addition, cheap meals called "issen yoshoku" (one-sen Western food) became popular. At the time, it seems that anything seasoned with Worcestershire sauce was considered to be "Western food". Japanese 'Worcester sauce'  Yakisoba became as popular as it is now around 1955, when Chinese noodle factories started to appear all over Japan. At that time, Nissin Foods released a bagged Chinese noodle product called "Nissin Yakisoba", which became a hit. Later, Toyo Suisan released a product called "Yakisoba ...