Japanese culture and tradition abounds with a lot of customs. The Japanese traditional dress itself speaks a lot about its rich heritage. Songs are mostly in poem form and the pitch and tone is clearly typical about Japanese culture. Though western influence is also seen in many traditional functions, folk songs are not totally erased from the culture. Hangasa Ondo which is the typical straw hat song has a definite inclusion of the folk dance Hanagasa Odori. Artificial bright coloured flowers are adorned on the straw hat and men and women dance to the tunes of Ha Yassho Makkasho. This talks about the maturity of rice and fruits.
The Sakura or the Cherry blossom song is famous of all other folk songs. The meaning of the song describes elaborately the beauty of the blossom referring it to a mist or clouds. It talks about the fragrance and the melody actually brings the fragrance of the blossom close to you. The ondo style of Tanko Bushi is a typical folk song of the Japanese. This is a necessity for the Bon dance which actually puts forth the nuances as per working in the mines.
Weddings in Japan have a festive touch. Japan is also a land of Sumo wrestlers, Kimono wearing and Geisha entertainers who depict the Japanese art. The court music is the Gagaku. The chorus song or the flute playing and drums is typical of the Nogaku with the No performance. Shakuhachi is the instrumental music played with a 55 cm long flute and is very melodious.
The sports at Japan or the matsuri is a very elaborate festival. There are kasa dancers who peform dance around mikoshi which is high on energy with clockwise circular motions. The hats again are important and throwing the hat is remarkably noticed. This is known as the Yagibushi. The horse herding song or the Minyo is also a part of the folk tradition.
Music pieces also include the Aidu Otsue, Sado Okesa and the Soran Bushi. There are other numbers in folk music of Japan like to OWase Bushi, Hokkai Bon Uta and the Sansa Shigure. There are many patrons of art who are keeping the traditional folk music in customs alive and western music with its hip hop, jazz, techno and metal also constitutes J pop culture.
Japanese culture is also about martial arts, tea drinking and the preparation is an art by itself. The religion and culture is traditional with the weddings and ceremonies followed by the calendar. There are annual events all through the year that remarkably displays all the art of Japan.