JAPAN SAQ (SELDOM ASKED QUESTIONS)

[Kire]

Q. What does the name of the famous hamburger chain, 'MOS Burger' mean?
A. The 'MOS' in 'MOS burger stands for 'Mountain, Ocean, Sun'. According to the official MOS Burger web site, the mountain, ocean, and sun in the name symbolise the company's "infinite love" of both humankind and nature. MOS Burger's love of people and nature is "Grand and noble like a mountain", "Possessed of a spirit as deep and wide as the ocean", and filled with a "passion that, like the heat of the sun, never burns out."And you thought you were just getting a hamburger. If you can read Japanese, check out the MOS Burger Home Page at: http://www.mos.co.jp/united/index.htm

Q. How come Japanese people slurp Japanese and Chinese noodles but not spaghetti?
A. Jens Jenson was kind enough to write and inform us that:
1) Noodles (SOBA and RAMEN) should be eaten while VERY hot in order to get the full flavour. When slurping, Japanese
people take in a lot of air to cool the noodles just before swallowing them. This makes the famous"slurping sound".
2) Soba noodles in cold broth and nothing else, is considered to be such a simple taste, that in order to get the full experience,
one should use all ones senses while eating them. Hence the slurping sound will "activate" your hearing and make the
flavour come out. (Tasting, smelling, watching, feeling should be obvious..)

Q. Who are the people on Japanese money?
A. Unlike most countries, Japan does not put its emperors and politicians on its currency. The woman on the 5000 yen note is a famous author named Ichiyo Higuchi (1872-1896), who is considered to be Japan's first professional female writer. The man on the 1000 yen note is Hideyo Noguchi (1876-1928), a scientist who did important research on snake venom, smallpox and yellow-fever, and also isolated the bacteria that causes syphillis. The woman on the 5000 yen note is a famous author named Ichiyo Higuchi (1872-1896), who is considered to be Japan's first professional female writer. Professor Yukichi Fukuzawa, the founder of Keio University, one of Japan's top schools, is on the 10 000.

More: http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~edjacob/saq.html