At 3,776 meters, Mt. Fuji is the highest independent mountain in Japan. With its graceful appearance, Mt. Fuji has enchanted and inspired not only Japanese but also such world-renowned artists as Van Gogh and Claude Monet. What fascinates people about Mt. Fuji? It cannot be the height, as there are many higher mountains around the globe. “Why is it shaped like that?” “What does it look like on the other side?” wonders a boy on a train whose eyes are riveted on Mt. Fuji, which may be the most imagination-evoking mountain in the world.

Another classical music/dance/theater of Japan with a history of over 400 years. All Kabuki characters, including women, are played by male actors. Kabuki is also one of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritages. Kabuki is regularly performed at Kabuki-za theatre in Ginza, Tokyo, as well as in certain venues in Kyoto and Osaka. The word “kabuki” is derived from a verb “kabuku” which means to “be in the forefront of fashion” or “go out of the ordinary.” The Super Kabuki II, which premiered in 2015, was based on a popular manga “One Piece” and was very successful. It was indeed on the cutting edge of fashion!

A form of Buddhist meditation, where a practitioner sits on a small pillow (“zafu”), keeping the spine straight. Zazen is becoming a popular activity among foreign tourists for its mindfulness effect. It is similar to but different from yoga or Pilates. With eyes half open, you sit, doing nothing but facing the self. “I’ve never imagined emptying the mind can be so hard... Actually, I’m getting hungry... What’s for dinner...” Whack! I got slapped on the shoulder by the priest with a wooden stick as if he could read my mind.

A Japanese noodle dish in hot soup that originates from China and has evolved on its own into large varieties with different types of noodles, toppings, and soup. Tens of thousands of rāmen restaurants are scattered across Japan. Rāmen is now a soul food for Japanese people, and there are even journalists specializing in writing articles about rāmen. “Let’s finish with rāmen!” is a common suggestion after drinking alcohol. Martin, who professes himself to be Japanese at heart, still has a hard time understanding this. “Why do they always have room for rāmen after drinking and eating so much?” he wonders.

A traditional martial art imbued with many ritual elements. It is a national sport of Japan, in which two rikishi (wrestlers) with magé (hair topknot) wearing nothing but mawashi (belt/loincloth) attempt to force each other out of a 4.55 m-diameter dohyō (circular ring) or to touch the ground. Today, quite a few rikishi are from overseas, and many sumo fans, including Paul McCartney, are non-Japanese. Most rikishi weigh over 100 kg, but smaller rikishi can outsmart those weighing twice as much. Taro, a small-figured boy, loves to watch sumō. He gets inspired and encouraged by watching rikishi whether they win or lose.

An urban park in Hiroshima built for people to pray for world peace near the epicenter of the a-bomb strike on August 6, 1945. The park contains the World Heritage Site “A-Bomb Dome (Genbaku Dome),” the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims, the Peace Memorial Museum, and other facilities that preserve and convey the tragic legacy. If you walk around the park, you will see thousands of orizuru (folded origami cranes) everywhere. Orizuru became a symbol of peace after the death of a girl who was exposed to radiation at the age of two and kept folding cranes in hopes of recovery. Even today, the park receives more than 10 million orizuru (weighing about 10 tons) annually from all over Japan and the world, four of which in 2016 were folded by the then U.S. President Obama – an epoch-making event to be remembered by history.