Random fun facts:
beef tongue is a popular flavour of ice cream in Tokyo
Wasabi infused kit kat candy bars are sold in Japan
the word "sushi" means vinegar rice or sticky rice
Tokyo was once a small fishing village named Edo
more pets live in Japan then children
In 2012 more then 50,000 people in Japan were at least 100 years old
More then 90% of mobile phones in Japan are waterproof
Japan has about 5.52 million vending machines
In Japan, 685 kids were rushed to the hospital in 1997 after a crazy pokemon episode that caused dizziness, vomiting and seizures
more then 42 billion chopsticks are used every year in Japan
Black cats are considered good luck in Japan
KFC is the typical feast for Christmas eve in Japan
in Japan more paper is used for comics and manga then for toilet paper
Norway introduced salmon sushi to Japan in the 1980s
Most of the streets in Japan have no name
Japan has over 70 flavours of Fanta
a snoopy museum opened in 2016
In Japan there are crane games with ramen in it
Most dogs in Japan are Akita or Shiba
There is no tipping in Japan
you can only get free wifi in Japan at 7-11 or starbucks
Japanese live an average of 4 years longer then americans
A very popular food in Japan is raw horse meat
Sushi used to be eaten as street food
Japan is the most expensive place in the world to live
During WW2 Japan bombed China with fleas infected with the Bubonic plague.
Japan and Russia still haven't signed a peace treaty to end WW2 due to the Kuril Islands dispute.
The number of Chinese killed by the Japanese in greater than the number of Jews killed by Germans in the Holocaust. During WW2, Japan received Jewish refugees and rejected the resulting Nazi German protests. During WW2, a Japanese Consul saved 6,000 Jews from the Holocaust by writing them all Visas to Japan even after the government told him not to.
A Japanese man survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings during WW2.
After the attack on Pearl Harborduring WW2, Canada declared war on Japan before the U.S. did.
During WW2, the Japanese invaded Alaska, and more Americans were killed or wounded defending Alaska than at Pearl Harbor. A Japanese pilot who attacked a town in Oregon during WW2 returned years later to present his family's 400-year-old sword as a symbol of regret.
Japan's melons are very expensive. One can go up for $400.
Tokyo, capital of Japan, handles more than 2000 tonnes of fish every day, making it the world's largest fish market.
Japan has made a total of 19 Nobel Prize winners since 1949.
The liberal, cosmopolitan 1920s gave way to a revival of Japan’s military traditions in the 1930s, leading directly to imperial aggression and Japan’s entrance into World War II. During that conflict, Japanese soldiers brought antique samurai swords into battle and made suicidal “banzai” attacks according to the bushido principle of death before dishonor or defeat.
Sumo is Japan's national sport.
There are over 200 volcanoes in Japan.
Japanese people live an average of four years longer than Americans.