Japan, one life at a time: culture guides
Short guides to parts of Japanese life that people around the world search for, from yankee culture to sumo. Each one explains the history and the real numbers, then lets you live that life in a free simulator.
Culture
Working in anime and manga in Japan: animator pay, hours and the comics marketWhat Japanese animators earn and how long they work, according to industry surveys, how big the comics market is, and how the simulator models the path from assistant or in-betweener to hit series or director.
Teaching English in Japan on the JET Programme: ALT numbers, pay and contract lengthHow many ALTs the JET Programme places, which countries they come from, first-year pay and the five-year maximum, and what the simulator assumes about life after JET.
Studying in Japan as an international student: numbers, work rules and staying after graduationHow many international students are in Japan and where they come from, the 28-hour part-time work limit, how many graduates find jobs in Japan, and the rules for permanent residency and naturalization.
How to become a sumo wrestler in Japan, and what the life is really likeRequirements to join a sumo stable, the ranking pyramid, why most wrestlers are never paid a salary, and what happens after retirement, with official figures from the Japan Sumo Association.
Japanese yankee and bōsōzoku culture: a short history with real numbersWhere the word "yankee" comes from in Japan, how bōsōzoku biker gangs peaked at 42,510 members in 1982 and shrank to a few thousand, the laws that changed them, and what yankee culture looks like today.
History
Oda Nobunaga: a timeline of his life from Okehazama to Honnō-jiThe life of Oda Nobunaga, from becoming head of his clan to the Battle of Okehazama, his march on Kyoto, Nagashino, Azuchi Castle, free markets and his death at Honnō-ji, based on Japanese reference dictionaries.- Tokugawa Ieyasu: from hostage to shogun, a timeline of his lifeThe life of Tokugawa Ieyasu, from his years as a hostage of the Imagawa clan to independence, defeat at Mikatagahara, moving to Edo, Sekigahara, becoming shogun and the Siege of Osaka, based on Japanese reference dictionaries.
- Tokyo time machine: the city through the ages, from before Edo to ReiwaEdo in Musashi province, Ōta Dōkan’s castle, Tokugawa Ieyasu’s arrival, the Great Fire of Meireki, the renaming to Tokyo, the 1923 earthquake, the 1945 air raid, the 1964 Olympics, the bubble, the sarin attack and Tokyo 2020.