Fast Facts
Japan is divided into this many prefectures.
What is 47?
These are Japan's four main islands.
What are Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, Kyūshū?
Hiragana and katakana together are known by this general term.
What is Kana / 仮名?
This is the Japanese art of flower arrangement.
What is Ikebana (生花)?
This fermented soybean dish is famous for its sticky texture and strong smell.
What is Nattō / 納豆?
This Meiji-era poet helped popularize baseball in Japan and even used 野球 as a pen name before it became the standard Japanese word for baseball.
Who is 正岡子規 (Masaoka Shiki)?
This is Japan's longest river.
What is the Shinano River / 信濃川?
This word describes the system of polite and honorific Japanese speech.
What is Keigo / 敬語?
This author wrote The Tale of Genji.
Who is Murasaki Shikibu / 紫式部?
This broth, commonly made with kombu and bonito flakes, is a foundation of Japanese cooking.
What is Dashi / 出汁?
The current Japanese era, beginning in 2019, has this name.
What is Reiwa / 令和?
Japan's largest lake is located in this prefecture.
What is Shiga Prefecture / 滋賀県?
Chinese-derived and native-Japanese readings of kanji are called these two things.
What are On'yomi and kun'yomi / 音読み・訓読み?
Noh performances are traditionally paired with this comedic theater form.
What is Kyōgen / 狂言?
Osaka and Hiroshima are both famous for regional versions of this savory pancake-like dish.
What is Okonomiyaki / お好み焼き?
Before becoming Tokyo, the city was known by this name.
Edo / 江戸
This strait separates Honshu and Hokkaido.
What is the Tsugaru Strait / 津軽海峡?
This sound change, common in compounds, turns a voiceless consonant into a voiced one, as in 手紙 + 箱 → 手紙箱（てがみばこ）.
What is Sequential Voicing 連濁（れんだく)?
This Edo-period artist created The Great Wave off Kanagawa.
Who is Katsushika Hokusai / 葛飾北斎?
This traditional multi-course cuisine emphasizes seasonality, presentation, and balance.
What is Kaiseki / 懐石・会席料理?
This Tokugawa policy required many daimyō to alternate their residence between their domains and Edo.
What is Sankin-kōtai / 参勤交代
In 794, Japan's imperial capital was moved to this city, then called Heian-kyō.
What is Kyoto / 京都?
In Classical Japanese, this conjugation class includes verbs such as 書く, whose bases follow か・き・く・く・け・け.
What is 四段活用（よだんかつよう)?
This aesthetic concept values imperfection, impermanence, and simplicity.
What is Wabi-sabi / 侘び寂び?
This style of vegetarian cuisine developed in Japanese Buddhist temples.
What is Shōjin ryōri / 精進料理?