Culture, Economy and Society

Culture and Traditions

25 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 25 questions

Which traditional Japanese theatre uses stylised makeup, elaborate costumes and an all-male cast, and is on the UNESCO intangible heritage list?
Which form of theatre, developed by Kan'ami and Zeami in the fourteenth century, uses masks and slow, symbolic movement?
Which Edo-period artist created the woodblock print known as The Great Wave off Kanagawa?
How many syllable units does the traditional haiku have in its three lines?
Which poet from the Edo period perfected the haiku and wrote the travel diary Narrow Road to the Interior?
Which art of preparing and serving powdered green tea was refined in the sixteenth century by Sen no Rikyu?
Which indigenous Japanese religion honours kami, deities of nature, and uses torii gates at its shrines?
Which Buddhist school, brought from China in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, became popular among samurai and emphasises meditation?
Which Japanese sport has wrestlers who try to force an opponent out of a straw-bale ring or make him touch the ground with anything but his feet?
Who founded the judo school called the Kodokan in Tokyo in 1882, adapting older jujutsu techniques?
Which martial art, brought to mainland Japan by Funakoshi Gichin in 1922, originated in Okinawa?
Which novelist, author of Snow Country, was the first Japanese to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1968?
Which three scripts are normally mixed together in written modern Japanese?
Which cartoonist, called the god of manga, created the character Astro Boy in 1952?
Which animation studio, founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, made Spirited Away?
Which traditional garment is a long wrapped robe, closed left side over right and tied with a wide sash called an obi?
Which element of food culture was inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2013?
On which date is Tanabata, the star festival in which people hang wishes on bamboo, celebrated?
Which custom takes place on or around 15 November, when children aged three, five and seven visit a shrine?
Which festival in mid-August welcomes the spirits of ancestors home with lanterns, offerings and bon dances?
Which art of arranging cut flowers and branches according to rules of line and balance developed from Buddhist altar offerings?
Which art repairs broken pottery with lacquer dusted with gold and treats the cracks as part of the object's history?
What is the name for the first shrine or temple visit made in the first days of the new year?
Which city's Gion district is known for geiko and maiko who entertain with dance and conversation?
Which spring custom involves picnics under flowering cherry trees?

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