Japanese refers to anything relating to Japan, an island nation in East Asia. When you describe something as Japanese, you're connecting it to this country, its people, their language, or their culture.

The Japanese people have created distinctive traditions over thousands of years. Japanese architecture features elegant wooden temples with curved roofs. Japanese gardens arrange rocks, water, and plants to create peaceful spaces for reflection. Traditional Japanese clothing includes the kimono, a robe-like garment wrapped and tied with a wide belt called an obi.

Japan has given the world martial arts like judo and karate, paper-folding art called origami, and the ancient strategy game Go. Japanese cuisine includes foods like sushi, ramen noodles, and tempura. Modern Japan has become famous for technology, animated films and shows called anime, and creative video games.

The Japanese language uses three different writing systems: kanji (characters borrowed from China centuries ago) and two phonetic alphabets called hiragana and katakana. Japanese is written vertically in traditional texts, reading from top to bottom and right to left, though modern Japanese can also be written horizontally like English.

When someone says they're learning Japanese, eating Japanese food, or reading Japanese literature, they're engaging with one aspect of this rich culture that blends ancient traditions with cutting-edge innovation.