Q. Why do Japanese women cover their mouth with their hand when they laugh? Answer: From way back, not baring one’s teeth in front of others when laughing and not opening one’s mouth wide and showing the inside of the mouth was one of the decorums of etiquette strictly observed by women. It was strictly […]
Q. Why are the hands clapped when praying at shrines (Shintoism) and placed together when praying at temples (Buddhism)? Answer: The reading of the kanji to clap one’s hands is hakushu. This kanji can also be read as kashiwade meaning to clap one’s hands in prayer at a Shinto shrine. It is said that in […]
Q. Why do cars keep to the left side of the street and pedestrians to the right? Answer: Japan joined the Convention on Road Traffic in 1967 in which vehicles of all member nations were driven on the left hand side of the road. Railroads were being laid one after another since the laying of […]
