Far East questions

The Aokigahara forest has a historical reputation as a home to yūrei: ghosts of the dead in Japanese mythology. In recent years, Aokigahara has become internationally known as "the Suicide Forest", one of the world's most prevalent suicide sites, and signs at the head of some trails urge suicidal visitors to think of their families and contact a suicide prevention association.

The year isn't 2018. The North Korean or Juche calendar was adopted in 1997 and begins with the year of Kim Il-sung's birth (1912 – or Juche 1 to North Koreans). Which means 2018 in Pyongyang is actually Juche 107.

Kim Il-sung gained military and political education in the USSR. During World War II, he served in the Red Army, commanding a division of Koreans. He was undoubtedly the weakest educated leader in the entire Eastern bloc.

Watermelons in the shape of cubes have undeniable utility values - they are much better suited to a small refrigerator and are easier to transport. However, limiting their shape during growth causes that watermelons grow much smaller. That's why they cost about 3 times more than a regular watermelon and are sold mainly as a curiosity - for example for a gift.

Bushidō ("the way of warriors") is a Japanese collective term for the many codes of honour and ideals that dictated the samurai way of life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry in Europe.

Qinling Panda - Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis is the only subspecies of the giant Panda. Brown and white Qinling Pandas they are usually smaller and live only in the mountains Qinling in Shaanxi province. There have been only 7 documented brown Pandas in the last 25 years, among about 300 Qinling Pandas living in the wild.

The ninjatō or shinobigatana, are allegedly the preferred weapon that the Shinobi of feudal Japan carried. It is portrayed by modern ninjutsu practitioners as the weapon of the ninja, and is prominently featured in popular culture. Replicas of this sword have also been prominently on display at the Ninja Museum of Igaryu located in Iga

The Arch of Reunification is a sculptural arch located south of Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It was opened in August 2001 to commemorate Korean reunification proposals put forward by Kim Il-sung.

Fishing with cormorants is a very old and popular practice in Japan and China. Today more oriented towards tourism. In Gifu, Japan, Japanese cormorant (P. capillatus) is used; Chinese fishermen often use the big cormorants (P. carbo). Anthracnose (anhinga), related to cormorants, are also used for this fishing technique.

Karate developed from the indigenous martial arts of Ryukyu Islands (today Japanese) under the influence of Chinese martial arts. The Ryukyu Kingdom was an independent kingdom from the 15th to 19th century, and despite its small size, the kingdom played a central role in the maritime trade networks of medieval East Asia. Until the 19th century, it has had much more in common with China, than with Japan.