10 most difficult Far East riddles

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.

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

Beijing is located in northern China. Its name, which means "Northern Capital", was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming Dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing (the "Southern Capital").

Iaido is associated with the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the sword from its scabbard or saya, striking or cutting an opponent, removing blood from the blade, and then replacing the sword in the scabbard. There are no fights in iaido. It should not be confused with kendo, where bamboo sticks and protective clothing is used for fighting competitions.

The aftermath of World War II left Korea partitioned along the 38th parallel, with the north under Soviet occupation and the south under US occupation. The Korean War broke out when Soviet-backed North Korea invaded South Korea, though neither side gained much territory as a result.

Tokyo has numerous outlying islands, which extend as far as 1850 km from central Tokyo. Because of the islands' distance from the administrative headquarters of the metropolitan government in Shinjuku, local offices administer them.

Shanghai is the largest city by population in the People's Republic of China. It is located in the delta of the Yangtze.

There are two major styles of doboks (taekwondo uniforms). One is similar to karate (crossover jacket), while the other, with V-neck jacket (pictured) is typical to taekwondo only.

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.

Words "four" and "Death" have very similar pronunciation in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese. In East Asia many buildings do not have a 4th floor. Some high-rise residential buildings omit all floor numbers with "4", e.g., 4, 14, 24, 34 and all 40–49 floors.