Trends in Japan

A furoshiki is a Japanese square cloth used to wrap, carry, and store things. It is a traditional item, with its origins said to date back to the Nara period (around 700 AD). The name, which translates literally to “bath sheet,” comes from the fact that people would use them in public baths to wrap and carry around their clothes. However, the uses of furoshiki are wide-ranging and have continued to evolve throughout the ages.

Japan is a largely mountainous country, and with its abundant rainfall, most of those mountains are covered in forests. Against this backdrop, it is no wonder that the Japanese people have a long and rich history of utilizing and innovating with trees. From grand historical architecture to beautiful traditional handicrafts, there are many well-known examples of the use of wood in Japanese culture. But today we are going to look at a more unassuming use of wood: sumi.

Japan has long been famous for its world-class customer service. Rooted in a culture that values hospitality and attention to detail, Japanese consumer-facing businesses go above and beyond in their care for the customer. Let’s take a look at the modern customer service experience in Japan and some of the things that set it apart.

Japan has many traditional sweets, called wagashi, and one such sweet is yokan. Yokan is a jelly confection usually made with adzuki beans and sold in small rectangular blocks. Though it has been around for centuries, lots of interesting new varieties of yokan are being developed lately, including yokan with unusual ingredients and yokan local to different regions of Japan. Additionally, in recent years yokan has been attracting new attention for its potential as an emergency food as well as other uses. Let’s look at the past, present, and future of this tasty Japanese treat.