Religion

The main religion of Japan is Shintoism, it's been around since the prehistorical times. Another popular religion is Buddhism.



Shintoism rules:
i) Do not transgress the will of the gods.

ii) Do not forget your obligations to ancestors.

iii) Do not offend by violating the decrees of the State.

iv) Do not forget the profound goodness of the, gods, through which calamity and misfortunes are averted and sickness is healed.

v) Do not forget that the world is one great family.

vi) Do not forget the limitations of your own person.

vii) Do not become angry even though others become angry.

viii) Do not be sluggish in your work.

ix) Do not bring blame to the teaching.

x) Do not be carried away by foreign teachings.

Shintoism has many gods. The "main" god is the sun god-Anaterasu-omi Kami


The above is buddha, this is who the buddhists worship.

Buddhism is both a religion and a philosophy combining many traditions, beleifs, and practices. It is thought that budha was born 563 BCE. he was born in Lumbini, and raised in Kapilavastu. Both these towns are in what is now called Nepal. They believe in karma.Buddhism is a very very detailed religion.

Art

Ancient Japanese art covered a variety of things. There was pottery, painting, sculpture, watercolour, and lots of other stuff. The 7th and 8th centries AD are when they first are discovering the japananese art. Until about 15 AD, religious and secular art were the most popular kinds of art.
Japanese writing was always done with a brush instead of a pen. because of the familiarity of the brush, it helped them with the painting. During the Edo period, a new type of art was introduced. During this period the religion started to decline. Scultpure was wrapped around religion, so the amount of sculptures also started to decline.

Martial Arts

There were three words originally to describe martial arts.
budō (meaning martial way)
bujutsu (no translation)
bugei (meaning martial art)

A common Japanese martial art, even to do this day, is karate. Karate means open handed. In karate you move up belt rankings. They are tournaments. These tournaments consist of forms (cuta) and sparring. In sparring you fight with the other person. Karate can be done without weapons, note the word open handed, but can also be done with weapons. Traditionally however, it is just done with your empty hands.

Another popular style was jujitsu. It is a 3000 year old martial art. Jujitsu is a blend of empty handed defence and offence aswell as bone setting and healing techniques.
A form of Jujitsu is Ninjitsu. Ninjitsu means the act of invisibility.
A ninja was someone who was a spy. They were taught the art Ninjitsu. Today, anyone who practices ninjitsu is considered a ninja. A ninja must consist of three things:
1)a hunter
2)a wizard
3)a warrior.
A ninja can be both male or female.

Home Sweet Home

To the right is a picture of a pit dwelling house. In ancient Japan was two popular types of houses. A pit dwelling house and a raised house.
A pit dwelling house is a house in the ground. It is started by digging a hole, and then columns are insterted inside of it. A roof is made out of poles and mud. It is then covered with a type of earthy covering. A typical enterance would be through the roof. A ladder would come from the opening and onto the floor. During the winter these homes were warm, and during the summer they were cool. The pit houses were rather comfortable, but were only lived in for around 10 years before they became unsafe, at this point they would have to be abandoned.

The main purposed of a raised house was to store food so that the food wouldn't be spoiled from the heat and humidity. Yes, they were raised off of the ground.

We get dressed in the morning...So did they!

In ancient japan they didn't necessarily wear komonos. They wore a dress that resembled something of the Chinese culture. Women used to wear a dress type thing called a Hakema. They soon went to an ankle length robe. During this time the woman also experimented with wearing things on their heads...ie a viel or a hat.
Most of the clothes in Ancient clothes were robe type things with patterns. These patterns would often symbolize religion.
Heavier clothing (robes) were often worn only by the emporer. THey would be embroidered with dragons.
Another common outfit for the woman was the cheongsam. The cheongsam was a tight fitting dress that had a high neck. It had slits all the way up the sides and a closed collar.

Way Back When...

Not many people in Japan were still using stone tools and getting there food by hunting. This was before 200s BC. Once the 200s BC arrived, things changed a wee bit more. Kyushu, Japan's major island,a new culture started. The Japanese began to use iron, bronze, tool-making, and wet-rice agriculture. This new culture brought people with it. These people were migrating to Japan. It is thought they probabaly came from Korea.
This was happening about the time of Augustus Caesar. During this time they reached a plain called the Kanto Plain. They raised horses and cows, as well as hunting fish and growing rice. Due to the amount of food being produced, many people started to come to Japan.

Hungry? Let's discuss food!

Even to today, a very popular Japenese dish has been rice. yum.
Some popular rice dishes are: Sushi, Domburi, Onigiri, Kare Raisu, Fried Rice, Chazuke, and Kayu.

Fish (or other types of sea creatures turned into food) were also commonly used. Two main dishes were/are: Sashimi and Yakizakana.

Ok, let's keep going. Now, noodles. Those were popular too. Especially the traditional kind. Soba, Udon, Ramen, Somen, and Yakisoba are all noodle dishes.

Ok, Nabe dishes (quick translation here, I had no idea what Nabe is so I dont really expect anybody else to either. Nabe is also known as a hotpot dish. It's normally prepared right at the table inside a hot pot.This includes vegetables, mushrooms, seafood, and/or meat.)The common Nabe dishes are: Oden, Sukiyaki, Shabu-Shabu, and Chanko Nabe.

Meat dishes (there are only 2 in this category..don't even worry about it!)
Yakitori and Tonkatsu. Whoops, sorry, I lied, there are 3. Nikujaga is the 3rd.

Soya Beans (here's a fun fact for you and completly un-related...I don't drink milk. Instead, I drink soy, rice, and almond milk. I first started drinking soy and I had no idea there was such thing as soy beans...not really sure where I thought the soy came from..just kinda thought it existed. ANYWAY)..dishes for soy beans: Yudofu, Agedashi Tofu, and Miso Soup.

OKAY TWO MORE:
SECOND LAST:
Yoshoku Dishes...these are dishes that had once started out as more so a western dish, and Japan completely Japanized it. Korokee, Omuraisu, Hayashi Raisu, and Hamubagu (yes, Hamubagu does have to do with a hamburger)

OKAY LAST ONE!!
Random dishes that just aren't special enough to fit into a category...(kidding dishes...don't feel heartbroken...)
Tempura, Okonomiyaki, Monjayaki, Gyoza, Chawanmushi,and Tsukemono!
DONE :D

(btw, I can't guarantee that all of these were in Ancient Japan...but some were for sure...)