Japanese samurai in armour, 1860s.
Photograph by Felice Beato

Bushido (武士道, Bushidō),, meaning "way of the warrior", is a Japanese code of conduct and a way of life, loosely analogous to the European concept of chivalry. Bushido developed between the 11th to 14th centuries as set forth by numerous translated documents dating from the 12th to 16th centuries (as mentioned below). According to the Japanese dictionary Shogakukan Kokugo Daijiten, "Bushido is defined as a unique philosophy (ronri) that spread through the warrior class from the Muromachi (chusei) period."

The core tenets of Bushido date from as early as the 12th century as demonstrated by the earliest translations of Japanese literature and warrior house codes. Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, Bushido became formalized into Japanese Feudal Law.

Inazo Nitobe, in his book Bushido: The Soul of Japan, described it in this way. "...Bushido, then, is the code of moral principles which the samurai were required or instructed to observe... More frequently it is a code unuttered and unwritten... It was an organic growth of decades and centuries of military career."

Seven virtues
    * 義 – Gi – Rectitude
    * 勇 – Yū – Courage
    * 仁 – Jin – Benevolence
    * 礼 – Rei – Respect
    * 誠 – Makoto or 信 - Shin– Honesty
    * 名誉 – Meiyo – Honor, Glory
    * 忠義 – Chūgi – Loyalty
 -Translations from: Random House's Japanese-English, English-Japanese Dictionary

Others that are sometimes added to these:
    * 孝 - Kō - Filial piety
    * 智 - Chi - Wisdom
    * 悌 - Tei - Care for the aged

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushido

The Japanese tea ceremony (茶道, chadō, or sadō, or chanoyu - "the way of tea") is a traditional ritual based on Taoism (Daoism) and influenced by Zen Buddhism in which powdered green tea, or matcha (抹茶), is ceremonially prepared by a skilled practitioner and served to a small group of guests in a tranquil setting.

The pronunciation sadō is preferred by some schools, including Omotesenke and the Mushanokōjisenke,^[1] while the pronunciation chadō is preferred by others, including Urasenke.^[2

Cha-no-yu (literally "hot water for tea") usually refers to either a single ceremony or ritual, while cha-ji or chakai (literally "tea meeting") refers to a full tea ceremony with kaiseki (a light meal), usucha (thin tea) and koicha (thick tea), lasting approximately four hours.

Since a tea practitioner must be familiar with the production and types of tea, with kimono, calligraphy, flower arranging, ceramics, incense and a wide range of other disciplines and traditional arts in addition to his or her school's tea practices, the study of the tea ceremony takes many years and often lasts a lifetime. ^[3] Even to participate as a guest in a formal tea ceremony requires knowledge of the prescribed gestures and phrases, the proper way to take tea and sweets, and general deportment in the tea room.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chado

Ikebana (生け花, Ikebana^? "arranged flower"^[1]) is the Japanese art of flower arrangement, also known as kadō (華道, kadō^? the "way of flowers").

In contrast to the massing of blooms typical of flower arrangement in western countries, Japanese flower arrangement is based on the line of twigs and/or leaves, filled in with a small number of blooms. The container is also a key element of the composition. The structure of a Japanese flower arrangement is based on a scalene triangle delineated by three main points, usually twigs, considered in some schools to symbolize heaven, earth, and man.

Ikebana, one of the traditional arts of Japan, has been practiced for more than 600 years. It developed from the Buddhist ritual of offering flowers to the spirits of the dead. By the middle of the fifteenth century, with the emergence of the first classical styles, Ikebana achieved the status of an art form independent of its religious origins, though it continued to retain strong symbolic and philosophical overtones. The first teachers and students were priests and members of the nobility. However, as time passed, many different schools arose, styles changed, and Ikebana came to be practiced at all levels of Japanese society.

According to Mandarax,the most beautiful flower arrangements have one, two, or at the most three, elements. In arrangements of three elements, all three might be the same, or two of the three might be he same, but all three should never be different. Ikebana is said to be as easily codified as the practice of modern medicine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikebana

Origami ( 折り紙, origami) (from ori meaning "folding", and kami meaning "paper") is the art of paper folding. The goal of this art is to create a given result using geometric folds and crease patterns. Origami refers to all types of paper folding, even those of non-Japanese origin.Origami only uses a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper, whose sides may be different colors, and usually proceed without cutting the paper. Contrary to most popular belief, traditional Japanese origami, which has been practiced since the Edo era (1603-1867), has often been less strict about these conventions, sometimes cutting the paper during the creation of the design (Kirigami) or starting with a rectangular, circular, triangular or other non-square sheets of paper.Although some historians argue that Origami originated in China, it is generally accepted that its actual development as an art form occurred in Japan. Origami was mostly a traditional art for the amusement of children until Akira Yoshizawa spurred a renaissance of the art form with his new advancements, including wet-folding and the Yoshizawa-Randlett system of diagramming. In the 1960s the art of origami began to spread out, first with modular origami and then with various movements developing, including the kirikomi, purist and pureland schools of thought.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origami