9 Facts about Japan

1. In Japanese, the name “Japan” is Nihon or Nippon, which means “Land of the Rising Sun.” It was once believed that Japan was the first country to see the sun rise in the East in the morning.
2. Japan consists of over 6,800 islands.
3. Japan has more than 3,000 McDonald’s restaurants, the largest number in any country outside the U.S.
4. Each spring, Japan has a festival that celebrates both the penis and female fertility called Kanamara Matsuri, or “Festival of the Steel Phallus.”
5. The world’s shortest escalator is in the basement of More’s department store in Kawasaki, Japan; it has only 5 steps and is 32.8 inches (83.3 cm) high.
6. Women in ancient Japan blackened their teeth with dye as white teeth were considered ugly. This practice, called ohaguro, continued until the late 1800s.
7. Haiku poetry, which was invented in Japan, consists of only three lines and is the world’s shortest poetic form.
8. Ninety percent of all mobile phones sold in Japan are waterproof because youth like to use them even while showering.
9. The biggest Japanese community outside of Japan is in Brazil.