introducing hapani
our hapani candles are inspired by the land of the rising sun: the islands of japan, where ancient traditions are intertwined with modern life as if that was the way it had always been. home to an eclectic culture of food, art, performance, technology, and martial arts japan has a long and proud history dating back thousands of years.
arashiyama bamboo forest in sagano, kyōto
photo by Daniel Peckham is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
whilst there are five main islands - hokkaidō, honshū (the "mainland"), shikoku, kyūshū, and okinawa - japan is actually made up of 6,852 islands covering 377,975 square kilometres (145,937 square miles). over 125.5 million people call japan home, making it the eleventh most-populous country in the world, with almost a third living in the greater tokyo area alone. the current japanese empire began in 1868 but the country has been a unified force since the 4th century. prior to the opening of trade with the western world in 1854 japan had lived under an isolationist policy called sakoku for 265 years where relations and trade between japan and other countries were severely limited, and nearly all foreign nationals were banned from entering japan whilst common japanese people were kept from leaving the country.
the country entered a turbulent period from the 1920s where a number of radical nationalist groups emerged and saw an escalation in the 1930s and 1940s following the invasion of manchuria in china and french indochina (today's vietnam, cambodia, and laos), leading to japan entering world war ii on the side of the axis powers. following the atomic bombings of the cities of hiroshima and nagasaki japan surrendered unconditionally, ending the war in 1945.
shibuya crossing, tokyo
photo by MD111 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
following on from the war japan entered a period of reconstruction, liberal trade, and economic prosperity leading it to become the world's second largest economy by the 1990s. despite all this growth and development traditional japanese culture has continued to survive and even thrive into the 21st century. shinto and buddhism, both dating back to the 6th century, are still the primary religions of japan. japanese art forms such as calligraphy (shūji), painting, paper folding (origami), and flower arrangement (ikebana) continue to thrive today after centuries of practice. food has both continued in its traditional form and evolved with modern and futuristic flavours and techniques, and is popular worldwide.
also having a large impact across the planet is japanese popular culture. think anime, manga, video games, music, mascots (kawaii), sticker booths (purikura), and of course the cultural meccas of harijuku, ginza, odaiba, shinjuku and shibuya. street fashion in japan is huge - and that's no understatement - with a wide range from traditional kimono to the school-style kogal to the sweet girl lolita to the spectaular kei styles.
today japan is a diverse nation of rugged mountains, wild forests, and urban jungles inhabited by a cultural melting pot of traditional customs and modern life.
