japan-talk.com

XE8Pr TIL in 1860 a group of 76 Samurai went on a diplomatic tour of the United States. They were the toast of New York.
mxBNR TIL buffets are called "vikings" in Japan. This is because a Japanese restaurant manager went to Sweden and liked smörgåsbords so much he copied the idea at his restaurant. This Swedish word was too hard to pronounce in Japanese, so the word "vikings" was used instead after a employee suggested it.
6EnV8 TIL about 'bureiko', the Japanese system by which employees can tell their boss what they really think about their work and jobs, without any negative consequences.