One thing that Japan borrowed from China is the Chinese language. Japanese nobles women wrote in the Chinese language. They also had confucianism introduced to them from China. Confucianism was a way of thought in China. People in Japan started to follow the rules of confucianism. So far that is only the language and a philosophy that Japan borrowed from China.
Religion was another thing that Japan also borrowed. The religion they borrowed from China was Buddhism. Japanese nobles especially were Buddhist. They meditated and were very good buddhists as they thought. Poor people didn't have the time to meditate, so they chanted while they were at work. Those are the things that Japan borrowed from China.