Houshi Ryokan was founded around 1,300 years ago and it has always been managed by the same family since then.

It is the oldest still running family business in the world.

This ryokan (a traditional japanese style hotel) was built over a natural hot spring in Awazu in central Japan in the year 718. Until 2011, it held the record for being the oldest hotel in the world.
Houshi Ryokan has been visited by the Japanese Imperial Family and countless great artists over the centuries. Its buildings were destroyed by natural disasters many times, but the family has always rebuilt. The garden as well as some parts of the hotel are over 400 years old.

Houshi means buddhist priest. It is the name of the family as well as of the hotel.

The concept of Uchi Soto is one of the most unique aspects of Japanese culture. This concept is the key to understanding Japanese society and it explains why Japanese people behave the way they do and how they view foreigners in Japan.

So what is Uchi Soto? Uchi (内) literally means home, while Soto (外) refers to outside. The core concept revolves around the idea of dividing people into two groups, a in-group and an out-group.

Your family and close friends are considered uchi (in-group), as well as your co-workers and superiors at work. However, your clients are always considered “soto” (out-group).

When speaking with someone from an out-group it is important that the out-group be honored, and the in-group humbled. This is done through the use of Japanese honorific language (“keigo”). Although many young people don’t embrace this tradition as much as the older generations does, uchi/soto is still the big part of the foundation of Japanese business culture. (...)

Japanese people love to ask the question: “What’s your blood type?” Is that because they are concerned about your health? Are they worried that you might need a blood transfusion? No! It is because many of them believe that blood type determines your personality.

Growing up in Japan, I had never questioned the theory of blood type because everyone including teachers, parents, friends and even potential employers have asked my blood type. Certain blood types are more favourable and some of my friends have even lied to employers about their blood type to try and secure the job.

My blood type is AB, which is the least common in Japan and we are the most discriminated against in Japan. We are odd, eccentric, unpredictable and we are not worried what other people think of us. I don’t remember how many times my classmates asked my blood type and many of them said to me: “I can see that you are AB.”

It may be a surprise to many westerners but many dating agencies in Japan encourage subscribers to list their blood type on their online profiles. I don’t think I would be very comfortable with this idea because my blood type may drive many potential partners away! (...)

A Japanese man set himself on fire in Tokyo on Sunday after giving a speech opposing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to reform the country’s pacifist constitution, police and reports said.

The middle-aged man doused himself in what appeared to be petrol before setting himself alight outside the main train station in Shinjuku, one of Tokyo’s busiest shopping and entertainment districts, the Metropolitan Police Department said.

The man was taken to hospital with burns and his condition was not immediately known, police added, without giving further details.

Such incidents are extremely rare in Japan.

The Jiji Press news agency reported that the man, presumed to be in his 50s or 60s, climbed the frame of a pedestrian bridge and spoke through a megaphone for about an hour against Abe’s drive to expand the use of Japan’s military.

Photos on Twitter showed the man dressed in a dark suit and tie. Two plastic bottles were beside him.

The premier is pushing to reinterpret Japan’s strict pacifist constitution to allow its well-equipped armed forces to fight in defense of an ally, something currently prohibited.

Social networks were abuzz with reports and photos about the fire which happened in front of several passers-by.

Nonsense, I have been told that it is all under control when I tried to report this so I think we are going to be fine and there is no danger. 

Also on CounterSpin: CNN will air a pro-nuclear documentary on November 7. Pandora's Promise has been described by the New York Times as being "as stacked as advocate movies get…a parade of like-minded nuclear-power advocates who assure us that everything will be all right." Why would a news channel air propaganda? The group Beyond Nuclear has been fact-checking Pandora’s Promise's claims; we'll talk to the group’s founder, Linda Gunter.

An operation with potentially "apocalyptic" consequences is expected to begin in a little over two weeks from now - "as early as November 8" - at Fukushima's damaged and sinking Reactor 4, when plant operator TEPCO will attempt to remove over 1300 spent fuel rods holding the radiation equivalent of 14,000 Hiroshima bombs from a spent fuel storage tank perched on the reactor's upper floor.

While the Reactor 4 building itself did not suffer a meltdown, it did suffer a hydrogen explosion, is now tipping and sinking and has zero ability to withstand another seismic event. (...)