Please note that the following is a basic observational piece by one of our writers and does not represent the opinions of Shinohan as a whole.
A Japan 101 for those who literally know nothing about it
First of all, when in Japan, do as the Japanese do and pronounce the name of the country as Nihon, although Nippon is also correct. Japan is home to the greatest entertainment corporations worldwide. Your television from Sony, your console from Nintendo, or even your car from Mitsubishi, all those are Japanese companies.
The most interesting place in Japan is of course, Tokyo. Tokyo is a very unique place on our planet, as gourmands, fashion fanatics and even those with special fetishes will find their niches catered to somewhere between the city’s areas of Shibuya, Ginza and Shinjuku. Although Shibuya and Ginza are very well known places even outside of Japan, Shinjuku is probably the most famous place inside of Tokyo. Shinjuku offers you all sorts of entertainments by day and night, as well as endless opportunities to throw your money around. Arcades, games shops, anime and manga outlets, department stores and so many more Japanese gaming and anime and manga options that you can get lost in a shopping spree quite easily if you are into this kind of stuff. After all, Tokyo has a lot more to offer than just Otaku fun and Maid Cafes!
Japanese food is also renowned around the world. The most famous Japanese dish, of course, has to be sushi – a serving of raw fish on rice. Most people who have never had sushi are sure that there is no way non-Japanese people should eat raw fish. But sushi, as well as sashimi, is something that you have to try. It is delicious, you do not need to go to Japan for this, all you will have to do is find out where your nearest Japanese restaurant is. It might be at pricier than you would expect, but it is worth every penny that you are paying for it. Of course if you generally do not like fish, chances are that you will not like either sushi or sashimi.
Japan has of course more to offer than just those two side dishes. Noodles like ramen and soba are very popular, which offer a cheaper side of eating in Japan and could be compared to your cup noodles over here. [No it cannot, cup noodles is a sad mockery of ramen – an equivalent would be like takeaway food or any of the junk that you normally eat.] Like western cuisine, rice and bread are the common food examples.
