The Japanese cultivate sakura, consume tons of rice, make rolls artfully, walk around in kimono and… call bad manners NOT to champ at table. While former facts are strongly associated with the Land of the Rising Sun inhabitants, the latter one isn’t common knowledge. However, aside from unusual protocol, the nation has a dozen distinctives proper to them alone.
Even such eager beavers as the Swiss of the Dutch are in no fit state to compete with sky-high level of pathological work addiction of the Japanese. They always come to the office in advance and prefer to stay two – three hours longer in the evening. Besides, out of three weeks of vacation they are entitled to, they only “serve” one tops. Even local lexicon was recently added with a new word – “karoshi” – that translates as “death of overstrain” – not infrequent for the country. Despite that, here they believe that it is better to die of work than of idleness and boredom.
The Japanese are one of the politest nations. Drivers, when halting at traffic lights, turn off headlights not to blind pedestrians. And in trams and trolleybuses fare takers, before selling tickets, greet everyone loudly and even bow. No wonder there are no obscene words with the most insulting expressions being “idiot” and “fool”.
The summit of indecency for the Japanese is unpacking a gift in the presence of a giver. They normally thank for it and put it aside till the end of the celebration to open later when alone. As to bouquets, their traditions contradict ours, too. Number of flowers is bound to be even.
Speaking of the abovementioned champing. Should you come to visit a Japanese and fail to champ once or twice at table when trying treats, the master will think that the food wasn’t tasty. He can even get offended because of his culinary abilities being unvalued by the guest.
The Japanese are rarely plump although they eat quite a lot and are reputed to be one hell of gastronomists. Traditional issue to discuss during family dinners isn’t how everybody’s day was but peculiarities of dishes cooked instead. When travelling abroad, in a Japanese version of a to-do list number one item will be “Try something delicious”. And when back home, they tell about it as if it was as nearly as the most interesting adventure of the whole trip.
This nation can also compete for the title of the least drinking one. A small tumbler is enough for almost any Japanese to get fairly drunk. They prefer either light plum wine or traditional saké with alcohol contents of no more than 15-17%.
The Japanese are trying not to consume too much chocolate for there is this popular spooky story that because of its excessive consumption one will start bleeding from one’s nose in torrents.
In local restaurants man is primarily ministered to. First his order is taken and drinks served and only then a woman is addressed. In shops it is also customary to greet a stronger sex representative first.
Profession of a school teacher is believed to be male one. Respectively, their pedagogical universities when compared to ours seem some sort of “parallel reality” because 80% of students there are guys.
The Japanese treat their traditions very carefully. People who wear kimono in their everyday life (and, trust us, there are such ones) get discounts in shops and are allowed to use public transport for free. By the way, these privileges apply to tourists in the same outfit as well…
In a local history museum in every country you visit, you will certainly notice similar archaeological finds - fragments of clay products. Pottery, born millennia ago, but “living” even today, can rightfully be considered one of the most tenacious one. The uniqueness of clay was noticed by our distant ancestors who lived in caves ...
There’s hardly anything that compares to bright-starred sky and silence. It is the stars that OUTLOOK want to tell you about or more precisely about the places with the best view on them. In Europe it is recommended to go stargazing not to some place but to… Slovenia. Point is, this small country is one of the cleanest in the world and consequently isn’t that polluted with smog.
Ice cream with a taste of horse meat, pickled insects, fish with deadly venom, etc – Japanese cuisine has things to surprise, amaze and shock you with. And truth be told, enumeration of these dishes doesn’t help my appetite at all. But we are not after exotic stuff. True culinary tourism is an attempt to comprehend mindset and feel national distinctive color through traditional cuisine – not try most exotic dishes.
The first thing every tourist shall learn in a country is a transport system. Very often it seems to be complicated and confusing, and it takes weeks or even months to make head or tail of it. OUTLOOK reader Natalia Usenko visited Japan and is sharing her impressions about the most comfortable and safest transport in the world.
Composers of antiutopias predict hundreds of sorrows to the people of the future who are from times to times forbidden to celebrate weddings, however, it seems, everything is not so terrible. In Chinese province Yun Nan near the foot of Himalayas the matriarch tribe mosuo resides that is not familiar with the concept of marriage at all.
Lighthouse - this word evokes beautiful associations: sea adventures, storms, huge ships. And we do not want to dispel these thoughts, but rather to add fuel to the fire. There is a great amount of them in the world, they are striking by their beauty and inimitable. Today we are sharing with you the quintet of amazing lighthouses!
Austrian tour operators launched an unusual touristic tourdesigned for fans of singing style called yodel. Hikers wander through the Ziller Valley, a broad trail narrows opening the way for only the most avid travellers, then track leads upwards. Tourists look into the interactive station shaped as a giantsonorous walk-in cowbell, then they go around thelargest alpine horn and head to place...
A mini toast, a slice of cheese and a sip of strong coffee. "That is not a buffet!" a waiter will pronounce indignantly, looking at the disgruntled tourist’s face. The generous Ukrainian soul cannot understand how locals manage to eat their full with that. Therefore, before going to a new country, you need to know exactly whether in the evening you should prepare a couple of sandwiches to indulge them in the morning,...
In Japan there is a city with the citizens who trust each other. It seems that they drink water from one source that flows along their houses. As well, they wash hands after the meals in the same places. Satoyama in translation means an ideal place for life in harmony with the nature. It is situated in Northern prefecture Gifu that is isolated from the rest of the world with the mountain tops and rice fields.
The New Year in Ukraine did not always start with a Christmas tree, and instead of Santa Claus and Snow Maiden, guests were waiting fora minx girl - Malanka and motor-boy Vasyl accompanied by the retinue. All the follies were out of hand: the ridiculed riddles carried a sacred content, dictated by the logic of the myth of the duel of spring and winter.
Ice and snow has long been used by artists to create different figures and objects, and only 1960, this age-old skill became a new trend of a land art! The largest number of winter artworks is created during special festivals about which we will tell our readers.
Christmas arrives with a warm overjacket on its shoulders. At night it brings warm light of the first evening star and in the morning it wakes you up with shine of white but warm sun. If my great-grandmonther’s grandmother had been asked about her Christmas feelings, I believe, her words would have been identical to mine. Because together with a bowl of kutia,...
Vitamins, development of resistance to cold, correct day regimen... That's all good and useful, especially when the winter weather swirls in, but sometimes we all have to pamper ourselves and at the same time to be protected against germs and colds. And the best way to do it is to sip some mulled wine.
A little son came to his father and suggested to run away from mom and granny to the North Pole? Now, do not indulge into tragic speeches of severe frosts, pitch darkness of the polar night and hungry polar bears! Give a conspiracy wink to a little brave one, and give him a real man's job for his school winter holidays that is to learn how to build an igloo, night shelter in ever-frost lands.
In those days when the Persian soldiers were second to none, and both the Roman Empire and the Arabian Peninsula were conquered by their power, skilful fingers of winner nation craftswomen created their first masterpiece. The carpet called The Springtime passed into history as the most precious of all time. It symbolized powerful rule of the Persians, and its beauty told about the divine origin of the king Khosrow I.
It is said, the easier it is, the better we feel, however, is it always like that? We know that not all the nations follow this principle. OUTLOOK has found out the strangest, toughest and hard in articulation international languages and would like to share it with the readers.
OUTLOOK often tells about the kitchens of the peoples around the world, but when it comes to Italy, writing about the country should be a crime. Each of its twenty regions has its own culinary world with the subtleties and specialties. Let the title of gastronomic capital of Italy be Bologna, its official capital - Rome, too, has something to boast about. We are telling you what is remarkable about Roman cuisine...
Traditional Japanese kabuki theatre has always been a mystery to the European mentality: only an expert on the culture of the Land of the Rising Sun can understand a play without guide’s tips. The word kabuki is sometimes translated as "the art of singing and dancing". Why not an operetta? The essence of performance is not confined to musical presentation only...
Our "Peruvian cycle" is replenished with the story of the most revered animals in Peru. Being the link between the present and the past, they play an important role in the life of this nation. Wise ancestors of the modern Peruvians, the ancient Incas, were living in harmony with all life that surrounded them.
Do you happen to get hungry? That is great as we go on with our story about the most popular street food from around the world. It’s freshly cooked - fall to, you guys! Let's start with the South Asian countries, namely Singapore - seafood-rich in vitamins and minerals occupy a key place in the diet of residents ...
Even such eager beavers as the Swiss of the Dutch are in no fit state to compete with sky-high level of pathological work addiction of the Japanese. They always come to the office in advance and prefer to stay two – three hours longer in the evening. Besides, out of three weeks of vacation they are entitled to, they only “serve” one tops. Even local lexicon was recently added with a new word – “karoshi” – that translates as “death of overstrain” – not infrequent for the country. Despite that, here they believe that it is better to die of work than of idleness and boredom.
The Japanese are one of the politest nations. Drivers, when halting at traffic lights, turn off headlights not to blind pedestrians. And in trams and trolleybuses fare takers, before selling tickets, greet everyone loudly and even bow. No wonder there are no obscene words with the most insulting expressions being “idiot” and “fool”.
The summit of indecency for the Japanese is unpacking a gift in the presence of a giver. They normally thank for it and put it aside till the end of the celebration to open later when alone. As to bouquets, their traditions contradict ours, too. Number of flowers is bound to be even. 
Speaking of the abovementioned champing. Should you come to visit a Japanese and fail to champ once or twice at table when trying treats, the master will think that the food wasn’t tasty. He can even get offended because of his culinary abilities being unvalued by the guest.
The Japanese are rarely plump although they eat quite a lot and are reputed to be one hell of gastronomists. Traditional issue to discuss during family dinners isn’t how everybody’s day was but peculiarities of dishes cooked instead. When travelling abroad, in a Japanese version of a to-do list number one item will be “Try something delicious”. And when back home, they tell about it as if it was as nearly as the most interesting adventure of the whole trip. 
This nation can also compete for the title of the least drinking one. A small tumbler is enough for almost any Japanese to get fairly drunk. They prefer either light plum wine or traditional saké with alcohol contents of no more than 15-17%.
