IN-DEPTH Japan

“The Land of the Rising Sun”

Japan holds 123.4 million people across four main islands — Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku — stretching 3,000 kilometres from the subarctic north to the subtropical south. The country sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire. It has around 111 active volcanoes and experiences roughly 1,500 earthquakes a year. Consequently, Japanese architecture, engineering, and urban planning are built around seismic reality in ways few other countries have had to develop. Buildings sway rather than crack. Foundations are engineered to absorb lateral movement. The infrastructure that looks permanent is designed to flex.

Mount Fuji rises 3,776 metres above sea level — the highest point in Japan and one of the most climbed mountains in the world. Around 300,000 people summit it each year, most in July and August during the official climbing season. The Japanese Alps run down the spine of Honshu. Furthermore, Okinawa — 1,600 kilometres southwest of Tokyo — sits in the subtropics, with coral reefs, clear water, and one of the highest life expectancies of any region on earth. The Okinawan diet and pace of life have been studied extensively as contributing factors. The island consistently produces an unusually high number of centenarians relative to its population.

History

Japan’s recorded history runs to the 3rd century AD. The feudal period — spanning roughly the 12th to 19th centuries — produced the samurai class, the shogunate system of military government, and a culture of craft precision that persists today. Specifically, when the Meiji Restoration ended feudal rule in 1868, Japan industrialised faster than any nation before it — moving from feudal agriculture to a modern industrial economy within a single generation. The country emerged as a major world power by the early 20th century.

The post-war recovery after 1945 produced one of the most studied economic transformations in history. Japan became the world’s second-largest economy by 1968 — a position it held until China overtook it in 2010. Toyota, Sony, Nintendo, Canon, and Honda all emerged from this period. Additionally, the Shinkansen bullet train — first launched in 1964 for the Tokyo Olympics — now runs at 300 km/h across a network covering most of the country. It has carried over 10 billion passengers with zero fatalities from derailments or collisions. The punctuality standard on the Shinkansen is an average delay of under one minute. Delays of more than five minutes trigger a formal public apology from the operator.

Culture

Japanese culture operates on precision and consideration at every level. The concept of monozukuri — the art of making things — runs through manufacturing, cooking, music, and design equally. Furthermore, ikigai — a reason for being — shapes how many Japanese people approach work and daily life. Neither concept translates cleanly into English, which is partly why both have spread globally without losing their Japanese framing.

The Roppongi district in Tokyo holds more contemporary art galleries per square kilometre than almost anywhere in Asia. Kyoto holds 1,600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines — the highest concentration of UNESCO World Heritage sites in Japan. In short, the country contains both the most wired city on earth and some of the most intact pre-industrial architecture anywhere in the world. Nijo Castle in Kyoto was built in 1603 and still stands largely intact. Its uguisubari — nightingale floors — were engineered to chirp underfoot so that no one could move through the corridors unheard. The floor boards were deliberately fitted to produce sound when pressure was applied, serving as an early security system against assassins.

Food

Japan holds more Michelin stars than any other country — over 400 in Tokyo alone, more than Paris and New York combined. The dining range runs from omakase sushi — chef-selected, seasonal, built around whatever arrived that morning — to ramen shops open until 3am serving bowls that have been in development for decades. Consequently, Japanese food culture is not defined by a single register. It runs from extreme precision at the high end to extreme comfort at the street level, and takes both equally seriously.

The excellence of Japanese kitchen knives traces directly to the samurai tradition. When the Meiji government abolished the samurai class in 1876, master metalworkers redirected their craft from forging katanas to producing blades for the kitchen. Specifically, the angles, steel types, and sharpening methods developed for swords transferred directly to knives — which is why Japanese kitchen knives are sharpened on one side and outperform Western double-bevel blades for precision cuts. A quality Japanese knife is sharpened to an angle between 10 and 15 degrees. A standard Western knife runs between 20 and 25. The difference in cutting performance is immediate and significant.

Episode

Ninja Floors? Unlocking the Secrets

The NAO Podcast Japan episode covers the samurai-to-kitchen-knife story in full, alongside the nightingale floors of Nijo Castle. Additionally, the episode covers the discipline behind silk kimono weaving, traditional folk music, and what the team found in Japan that does not appear in guidebooks. The conversation moves between ancient craft traditions and the logic of a country that has consistently turned precision into export — from swords to cars to cameras to video games.

Recipe

Francesco’s Creative Sushi

Francesco takes the Japanese sushi framework and pushes it outward. He respects the foundation — the precision of the rice, the quality of the fish, the balance of the bite. However, he builds on top of it with combinations like Pizza Sushi and Fruit Sushi — mango, smoked salmon, and whipped cream in the same roll. The philosophy is consistent with what Japan itself has always done — take an existing form, master it completely, then extend it in a direction nobody expected. The results sit at the edge of what the tradition allows and what global flavour logic suggests. Watch the kitchen episode to see how it comes together.