JULY 2000 QUESTIONS
- (Justine Osborne, Australia)
Could we have some information on the Japanese team going to the
2000 Sydney Olympics?
There will be 260 Japanese athletes competing at the Sydney Olympics.
Among those hotly tipped for medals are the judoka, including Ryoko
Tamura. She has won four consecutive world championships. Japan
also has a good chance of gold in the women's marathon, with Naoko
Takahashi leading a strong trio of runners. Japan's baseball team
will be vying for a medal with the help of some pro players, including
superstar pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. Hopes are also high that the
young Japanese soccer team will perform well. More on Japan's olympians
can be found at our sister site Trends
in Japan.
- (Nicolas Nelson, California, U.S.A.)
What time is it in Japan if it's 10:00 pm in San Diego, California,
U.S.A.?
In summer, when it's 10:00 pm in San Diego, it's 2:00 pm the next
day in Japan. In winter, when it's 10:00 pm in San Diego, it's 3:00
pm the next day in Japan. Japan Standard Time is nine hours ahead
of Greenwich Mean Time. Unlike the United States, Europe, and many
other countries, however, Japan does not use Daylight Saving Time,
so the time difference with those countries gets one hour shorter
in summer. Confused? Well, recently the Japanese government has been
thinking of introducing DST. That would make the time difference the
same all year round.
- (No Name)
Did Japanese women used to paint their teeth black?
Yes, until the nineteenth century some Japanese women used to dye
their teeth black as part of their makeup. This was called ohaguro
(black teeth). It was thought that black teeth made a woman look beautiful.
The dye was made by soaking iron in tea or sake (rice wine)
until the liquid turned black. Unfortunately the dye sometimes contained
lead, which can make people sick or even kill them. Ohaguro
has a long history but was most popular in around the 1700s. It continued
until the late 1800s. In 1873, the Empress of Japan appeared in public
with her own white teeth showing, and it seems that other women copied
her. This may have been how teeth blackening died out. Click on Blackened
Teeth for a painting of nineteenth-century women putting on various
kinds of makeup.
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