14,125 islands—new count, same coastline

Japan’s island total jumped to 14,125 after a digital recount. No new territory—just higher-resolution mapping and a clear rule: natural landmasses with ≥100 m coastline; artificial islands excluded. The figure is dramatic yet leaves maritime boundaries untouched. It’s a reminder that measurement shapes perception: textbooks and trivia can lag until a new method sharpens the picture. The breakdown is eye-opening—prefectures like Nagasaki and Hokkaidō alone contribute four-digit island counts. For travelers, only a fraction is inhabited; access is about ferries and weather, not big numbers. The map just got denser; the sea didn’t.

Emoji, 1999 → now in MoMA

Before Unicode went global, Shigetaka Kurita designed 176 emoji at NTT DoCoMo in 1999—12×12 pixels, six colors, built for tiny screens and character limits. In 2016 the MoMA added the set to its permanent collection: everyday interface as design history. They weren’t jokes; they were information shortcuts—weather, places, moods—yet they exported cultural cues worldwide. That we can now write whole messages in icons traces back to this constraint-driven idea. Seeing them in a museum isn’t “texts = art”; it’s “design shapes communication,” and those crunchy pixels tell the origin story.

Why “green” is called “blue”

Japanese speakers often call the green light ao (“blue”) due to historical color categories where ao overlapped with midori. When modern traffic standards arrived, the wording stuck. In 1973 a cabinet order nudged signals toward a bluish green—still legally green, visibly teal-ish—so everyday speech didn’t feel wrong. The bulb is green; the lens and perception can skew blue-green; the label remains ao shingō. It’s a neat case of language coloring reality—literally.

Christmas = KFC—how it stuck

Christmas in Japan is secular but ritualized: KFC buckets, often pre-ordered weeks ahead. The tradition traces to a 1974 nationwide campaign (“Kentucky for Christmas”). With turkey scarce, fried chicken filled the gap, and the idea became habit. Today KFC and media cite roughly 3–4 million families each season; exact counts vary, but the queues don’t. It’s a case study in a global brand localizing into tradition, complete with a Santa-styled Colonel. Visiting in late December? It’s less fast food than logistics—book ahead.

1. Tokyo’s bullet trains measure delays in seconds, not minutes.

2. The world’s shortest escalator in Kawasaki climbs 83.4 cm.

3. Square watermelons are décor—unripe, pricey, and photogenic.

4. Capsule hotels launched in 1979 (Osaka)—sleep like a book.

5. Conveyor-belt sushi has looped since 1958—you stay put.