Cultural Coherence and Diversity

Japanese culture is rich and diverse, dating back to 10,000 BC when the Jomon people first settled in Japan. 

LANGUAGE

Japanese is the official and primary language of Japan. It is also used by most Japanese immigrant communities around the globe.  It is said that the Japanese language derived from the Chinese language. Japanese is written with a combination of three scripts: hiragana, derived from the Chinese cursive script, katakana, derived as a shorthand from Chinese characters, and kanji, introduced from China. The Latin alphabet, rōmaji, is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, and when inputting Japanese into a computer. The Hindu-Arabic numerals are generally used for numbers, but traditional Sino-Japanese numerals are also common.

CLOTHING

Traditional Japanese clothing distinguishes Japan from all other countries around the world. The famous worldwide clothing of Japan is the kimono. Kimonos are the traditional garments of Japan. Men mainly wear darker or more muted colors, while women tend to wear bright or pastel colors. Younger women often wear kimonos with complicated abstract or floral patterns.Most Japanese men only wear the kimono at home or in a much laid back environment, however it is acceptable for a man to wear the kimono when he is entertaining guests in his home.Happi is another type of traditional clothing. A happi is a straight sleeved coat that is typically imprinted with the family crest, and was a common coat for firefighters to wear.
    

CUISINE
The typical  food in Japan consist of a bowl of rice, miso soup, vegetables, and fish or meat. Noodles can also be a substitute for rice in a meal. Japan is also famous for their seafood such as fish, octopus, squid, eel, and shellfish. You will see those kinds of seafood from sushi to tempura. 

DIVERSITY
Japan is a very diverse country. About 1.6% of legal residents are from foreign nations. The majority of foreigners are either from China or Korea. 


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Japan#Japanese_language
http://www.japan-zone.com/culture/food.shtml
http://img.alibaba.com/photo/51950516/Japanese_Kimono.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_Japan