Best of Japan

In many aspects, Japanese people are experts in adopting and modifying tendencies or ideas from other countries to make them fit their taste, which usually tends to be a better, much more detailed, and sophisticated version than the original. A good example of this skill can be found in the Japanese language and belief systems. Japanese is a three-code system language, comprised of kanji, katakana, and hiragana. Although Japanese has no genealogical relationship with Chinese, it makes extensive use of Chinese characters, or kanji (漢字), in its writing system and a large portion of its vocabulary is borrowed from Chinese. Along with kanji, the Japanese writing system primarily uses two syllabic or moraic scripts, hiragana (ひらがな or 平仮名) and katakana (カタカナ or 片仮名). Latin script is used in a limited way, such as for imported acronyms, and the numeral system uses mostly Arabic numerals, alongside traditional Chinese numerals. Another example, Japan’s most practiced religions and philosophies are Shintoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Shinto is the only original religion in Japan and it is deeply rooted in the way of Japanese life. In the other hand, Japanese Buddhist and Confucianism traditions are deeply related to those of Korea and China. Though Buddhism originated in India, it was seen by Japanese as a Chinese religion, and as such was one of a number of “Chinese things” that they adopted to achieve recognition, especially by China, as a civilized country. Through emulating powerful China, Japan hoped it too could become powerful.