REASONS THAT JAPAN IS A STRANGE AND INTERESTING PLACE

KONGO GUMI WAS THE WORLD'S OLDEST

CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING COMPANY

(OVER 1,400 YEARS!). IT WAS STARTED IN

578 AD AND CONTINUED UP UNTIL 2006

WHEN IT WAS ABSORBED BY TAKAMATSU

THERE'S AN ISLAND IN JAPAN THAT IS FULL OF RABBITS.

AN INCREASINGLY POPULAR DESTINATION FOR

TOURISTS, RABBIT ISLAND IS HOME TO HUNDREDS

OF FRIENDLY WILD BUNNIES. THEY APPROACH

TOURISTS IN LARGE GROUPS TO SCAVENGE FOR

FOOD AND VISITORS ARE MORE THAN WILLING TO

GET ON THE GROUND AND ALLOW THE RABBITS

TO CRAWL ALL OVER THEM. CUTE!

FARMERS IN JAPAN GROW SQUARE WATERMELONS

SO THAT THEY ARE EASIER TO STORE

THE BIRTH RATE IN JAPAN IS SO LOW THAT ADULT

DIAPER SALES ARE HIGHER THAN BABY DIAPER SALES

MASABUMI HOSONO, A JAPANESE CITIZEN WHO

SURVIVED THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC, WAS

LABELLED A COWARD IN JAPAN BECAUSE HE

DIDN'T GO DOWN WITH THE REST OF

THE PASSENGERS

JAPAN HAS CAT CAFES WHERE YOU CAN GO AND

DRINK COFFEE WHILE HANGING OUT WITH CATS

SLEEPING ON THE JOB IN JAPAN IS SEEN AS

ACCEPTABLE BECAUSE IT IS A SIGN OF WORKING HARD.

SOME COMPANIES EVEN ALLOW EMPLOYEES TO TAKE

30-­MINUTE SIESTAS ANY TIME BETWEEN 1PM AND 4PM.

THIS PRACTICE IS CALLED INEMURI AND "IS

CONSIDERED THE PRESERVE OF EMPLOYEES

EXHAUSTED BY THEIR COMMITMENT TO HARD WORK,

RATHER THAN A SIGN OF INDOLENCE"

LATE NIGHT DANCING WAS ILLEGAL IN JAPAN

UNTIL 2015

IN JAPAN, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS CLEAN THE

SCHOOL TOGETHER. SO THERE ARE NO JANITORS