Ten things you never knew about... Japan

By William Hartson
23 December 2008
The Daily Express

Today is the 75th birthday of Emperor Akihito of Japan.

1. Japan is currently the world's only country ruled over by an Emperor.

2. Lost property on public transport in Tokyo, Japan, in 1979 included 17 goldfish bowls, complete with fish.

3. In 1995, Japanese psychologists reported that they had trained pigeons to tell the difference between paintings by Picasso and Monet but they could not tell a Renoir from a Cézanne.

4. In 2005, researchers in Spain showed that rats can be trained to distinguish Japanese from Dutch.

5. The Japanese spend more on books per head than any other nation.

6. Japanese chopsticks are usually tapered or pointed at the eating end; Chinese chopsticks tend to be longer with a blunt or square end.

7. Japanese etiquette strongly forbids licking the ends of chopsticks, a piece of rudeness known as 'neburibashi'.

8. Other Japanese taboos regarding chopsticks include waving them indecisively over your food (mayoibashi) and stuffing more food into a mouth that is already full (komibashi).

9. In the Middle Ages Japanese women painted their teeth black to look more beautiful.

10. The Japanese for 'foxtrot' is fokkusutorotto and the Japanese for Mickey Mouse is Mikki Ma-u-su.