Meditation

Buddhism came to Japan from India, via China. Mediation is used in Hinduism and other religious traditions too. In Japan sitting down, folding your legs and letting your scattered thoughts go is known as zazen.

This is surely a valuable activity not only for Japan but for the entire world. Try to forget the terrible pain in your legs, keep going expecting nothing to happen and no progress to be made and if you're lucky you might achieve a stillness of mind.

Sazuki Roshi a Buddhist monk was told by his master in Japan to spread the teaching abroad. Not speaking any English didn't deter him as he began meditation classes in the back of a small grocery store in San Francisco in the 1960's.