Japan Info

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of China, Korea, and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The kanji characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes identified as the "Land of the Rising Sun". Its capital and largest city is Tokyo. Japan comprises over 3,000 islands, the largest of which are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. Most of the islands are mountainous, many volcanic, including Japan’s highest peak, Mount Fuji. Japan has the world's tenth largest population, with about 128 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents. Archaeological research indicates that people were living on the islands of Japan as early as the upper paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan begins with brief appearances in Chinese history texts from the 1st century CE. Influence from the outside world followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. Thus, its culture today is a mixture of outside influences and internal developments. Since adopting its constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament, the Diet. A great power, Japan is the world's second largest economy by nominal GDP and is a member of the United Nations, G8 and APEC.

History
A Middle Jomon vessel (3000 to 2000 BCE)The first signs of civilization on the Japanese Archipelago appeared around 10,000 BCE with the Jomon culture, characterized by a mesolithic to neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer lifestyle of pit dwelling and a rudimentary form of agriculture. The Jomon people made decorated clay vessels, however, often with plaited patterns. Some of the oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world may be found in Japan. The Yayoi period, starting around the third century BC, introduced new practices, such as wet-rice farming, iron and bronze-making and a new style of pottery, brought by migrants from China or Korea. With the development of Yayoi culture, a predominantly agricultural society emerged in Japan. The Japanese first appear in written history in China’s Book of Han. It is later recorded that in 57 BC, the southern Wa kingdom of Na sent an emissary named Taifu to pay tribute to Emperor Guangwu and received a golden seal. According to China's Records of the Three Kingdoms, the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago in the third century was called Yamataikoku and was ruled by the legendary Queen Himiko. The Great Buddha at Todaiji, Nara, originally cast in 752The Nara period of the eighth century marked the first emergence of a strong central Japanese state, centered around an imperial court in the city of Heijo-kyo, or modern day Nara, which was modeled after Chang'an, the capital of the Tang China. In addition to the continuing adoption of Chinese administrative practices, the Nara period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent written literature with the completion of the massive chronicles Kojiki (The Record of Ancient Matters, 712) and Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan, 720), as well as a further strengthening of Buddhism's influence, culminating in the construction of the Daibutsu at Todaiji in 751. In 784, Emperor Kammu moved the capital to Nagaokakyo for a brief ten-year period, before relocating it to Heian-kyo (modern day Kyoto) in 794, where it remained for more than a millennium. This marked the beginning of the Heian period, when a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged, noted for its art, poetry, and literature. During this time, Lady Murasaki's The Tale of Genji and the lyrics of modern Japan's national anthem, Kimi ga Yo, were written. Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence of a ruling class of warriors, the samurai. In 1185, following the defeat of the rival Taira clan, Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed Shogun and established a base of power in Kamakura. After Yoritomo's death, another warrior clan, the Hojo, came to rule as regents for the shoguns. Zen Buddhism was introduced from China in the Kamakura period (1185-1333) and became popular among the samurai class. The Kamakura shogunate managed to repel Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281, with assistance from a storm that the Japanese interpreted as a kamikaze, or Divine Wind. The Kamakura shogunate was eventually overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo, who was soon himself defeated by Ashikaga Takauji in 1333. The succeeding Ashikaga shogunate failed to manage the feudal warlords (daimyo), and a civil war erupted (the Onin War). One of Japan's Red seal ships (1634), which were used for trade throughout AsiaDuring the 16th century, traders and missionaries from Portugal reached Japan for the first time, initiating the Nanban ("southern barbarian") period of active commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West. Oda Nobunaga conquered numerous other daimyo by using European technology and firearms and had almost unified the nation when he was assassinated in 1582. Toyotomi Hideyoshi succeeded Nobunaga and united the nation in 1590. Hideyoshi invaded Korea twice, but following several defeats by Korean and Ming Chinese forces and Hideyoshi's death, Japanese troops were withdrawn in 1598. After Hideyoshi's death, Tokugawa Ieyasu utilized his position as the regent of Hideyoshi's son Toyotomi Hideyori to gain political and military support. When open war broke out, he defeated rival clans in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Ieyasu was appointed shogun in 1603 and established the Tokugawa shogunate at Edo (modern Tokyo). The Tokugawa shogunate enacted a variety of measures to control the daimyo, among them the sankin-kotai policy. In 1639, the shogunate began the isolationist sakoku ("closed country") policy that spanned the two and a half centuries of tenuous political unity known as the Edo period. The study of Western sciences, known as rangaku, continued during this period through contacts with the Dutch enclave at Dejima in Nagasaki. The Edo period also gave rise to kokugaku, or literally "national studies", the study of Japan by the Japanese themselves. Samurai of the Satsuma clan, during the Boshin War period, circa 1867 - Photograph by Felice BeatoOn March 31, 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry and the "Black Ships" of the United States Navy forced the opening of Japan to the outside world with the Convention of Kanagawa. The Boshin War of 1867-1868 led to the resignation of the shogunate, and the Meiji Restoration established a government centred around the emperor. Japan updated its political, judicial and military institutions by adapting Western examples. A parliamentary system modeled after the British parliament was introduced, with Ito Hirobumi as the first Prime Minister in 1882. Meiji era reforms transformed the Empire of Japan into an industrialized world power that embarked on a number of military conflicts to increase access to natural resources. After victories in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), Japan gained control of Korea, Taiwan and the southern half of Sakhalin. The early twentieth century saw a brief period of "Taisho democracy" overshadowed by the rise of Japanese expansionism and militarization. World War I enabled Japan, which joined the side of the victorious Allies, to expand its influence and territorial holdings. Japan continued its expansionist policy by occupying Manchuria in 1931. As a result of international condemnation for this occupation, Japan resigned from the League of Nations two years later. In 1936, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany, joining the Axis Powers in 1941. The 1945 atomic bombing of NagasakiIn 1937, Japan invaded other parts of China, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), after which the United States placed an oil embargo on Japan. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States naval base in Pearl Harbor and declared war on the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. This act brought the United States into World War II. After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender. The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed on September 2, 1945 (V-J Day). The war cost Japan millions of lives and left much of the country's industry and infrastructure destroyed. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East, was subsequently convened (on May 3, 1946) to prosecute Japanese leaders for crimes against peace and humanity. In 1947, Japan adopted a new pacifist constitution which sought international cooperation and emphasized human rights and democratic practices. Official American occupation lasted until 1952 and Japan was granted membership in the United Nations in 1956. Under a program of aggressive industrial development and with US assistance, Japan achieved spectacular growth to become the second largest economy in the world, with a growth rate averaging 10% for four decades. This ended in the mid-1990s when Japan suffered a major recession.

Geography and climate
Japan is a country of over 3,000 islands extending along the Pacific coast of Asia. The main islands, running from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu (the main island), Shikoku, and Kyushu. The Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa, are a chain of islands south of Kyushu. Together they are often known as the Japanese Archipelago. About 70% to 80% of the country is forested, mountainous, and unsuitable for agricultural, industrial, or residential use. This is due to the generally steep elevations, climate and risk of landslides caused by earthquakes, soft ground and heavy rain. This has resulted in an extremely high population density in the habitable zones that are mainly located in coastal areas. Japan is the thirtieth most densely populated country in the world. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, at the juncture of three tectonic plates, gives Japan frequent low-intensity tremors and occasional volcanic activity. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunamis, occur several times each century. The most recent major quakes are the 2004 Chuetsu Earthquake and the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. Hot springs are numerous and have been developed as resorts. The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate, but varies greatly from north to south. Japan's geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones: Hokkaido: The northernmost zone has a temperate climate with long, cold winters and cool summers. Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snow banks in the winter. Sea of Japan: On Honshu's west coast, the northwest wind in the wintertime brings heavy snowfall. In the summer, the region is cooler than the Pacific area, though it sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures, due to the Föhn wind phenomenon. Central Highland: A typical inland climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter, and between day and night. Precipitation is light. Seto Inland Sea: The mountains of the Chugoku and Shikoku regions shelter the region from the seasonal winds, bringing mild weather throughout the year. Pacific Ocean: The east coast experiences cold winters with little snowfall and hot, humid summers due to the southeast seasonal wind. South-west Islands: The Ryukyu Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very heavy, especially during the rainy season. Typhoons are common. The main rainy season begins in early May in Okinawa, and the stationary rain front responsible for this gradually works its way north until it dissipates in northern Japan before reaching Hokkaido in late July. In most of Honshu, the rainy season begins before the middle of June and lasts about six weeks. In late summer and early autumn, typhoons often bring heavy rain. Japan is home to nine forest ecoregions which reflect the climate and geography of the islands. They range from subtropical moist broadleaf forests in the Ryukyu and Bonin islands, to temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the mild climate regions of the main islands, to temperate coniferous forests in the cold, winter portions of the northern islands.



Demographics
For the most part, Japanese society is linguistically and culturally homogeneous with only small populations of foreign workers, Zainichi Koreans, Japanese Brazilians, and others. Japan also has indigenous minority groups such as the Ainu and Ryukyuans, and social minority groups like the burakumin. Japan has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world, at 81.25 years of age as of 2006.[35] However, the Japanese population is rapidly aging, the effect of a post-war baby boom followed by a decrease in births in the latter part of the 20th century. In 2004, about 19.5% of the population was over the age of 65. Shinto torii at Fushimi Inari-taisha, KyotoThe changes in the demographic structure have created a number of social issues, particularly a potential decline in the workforce population and increases in the cost of social security benefits such as the public pension plan. It is also noted that many Japanese youth are increasingly preferring not to marry or have families as adults. Japan's population is expected to drop to 100 million by 2050 and to 64 million by 2100. Demographers and government planners are currently in a heated debate over how to cope with this problem.[37] Immigration and birth incentives are sometimes suggested as a solution to provide younger workers to support the nation's aging population. Immigration, however, is not popular. About 99% of the population speaks Japanese as their first language. The Ryukyuan languages, also part of the Japonic language family to which Japanese belongs, are spoken in Okinawa, but few children learn these languages. Ainu, the language of the indigenous minority in northern Japan, is moribund, with only a few elderly native speakers remaining in Hokkaido. Most public and private schools require students to take courses in both Japanese and English. The Japanese language is an agglutinative language distinguished by a system of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary which indicate the relative status of speaker and listener. Japanese incorporates many foreign elements. Japanese has borrowed or derived large amounts of vocabulary from Chinese. When non-Chinese foreign words are written in Japanese, they are usually done so in a separate alphabet called katakana. Since the end of World War II, Japanese has also extensively borrowed from English. The writing system uses kanji (Chinese characters) and two sets of kana (syllabaries based on simplified forms of Chinese characters), as well as the Roman alphabet and Arabic numerals. Around 84% of Japanese people profess to believe both Shinto (the indigenous religion of Japan) and Buddhism.[34] Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism from China have significantly influenced Japanese beliefs and mythology. Religion in Japan tends to be syncretic in nature, and this results in a variety of practices, such as parents and children celebrating Shinto rituals, students praying before exams, couples holding a wedding at a Christian church and funerals being held at Buddhist temples. A minority (0.7%) profess to Christianity. In addition, since the mid-19th century, numerous religious sects (Shinshukyo) have emerged in Japan.

Culture
Traditional Japanese arts include crafts (ikebana, origami, ukiyo-e, dolls, lacquerware, pottery), performances (bunraku, dance, kabuki, noh, rakugo), traditions (games, tea ceremony, budo, architecture, gardens, swords) and cuisine. Post-war Japan has been heavily influenced by American and European culture which has led to the evolution of popular band music (called J-Pop). The fusion of traditional woodblock printing and Western art led to the creation of manga, a typically Japanese comic book format that is now popular within and outside Japan. Manga-influenced animation for television and film is called anime. Japanese-made video game consoles have prospered since the 1980s. The earliest works of Japanese literature include two history books the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, and a poetry book Man'yoshu in the eighth century, all written in Chinese characters. In the early days of the Heian period, the system of transcription known as kana (Hiragana and Katakana) was created as phonograms. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest Japanese narrative.[46] An account of Heian court life is given by The Pillow Book written by Sei Shonagon, while The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki is often described as the world's first novel. During the Edo Period, literature became not so much the field of the samurai aristocracy as that of the chonin, the ordinary people. Yomihon, for example, became popular and reveals this profound change in the readership and authorship. The Meiji era saw the decline of traditional literary forms, during which Japanese literature integrated Western influences. Natsume Soseki and Mori Ogai were the first "modern" novelists of Japan, followed by Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Tanizaki Junichiro, Kawabata Yasunari, Mishima Yukio and, more recently, Murakami Haruki. Japan has two Nobel Prize-winning authors Kawabata Yasunari (1968) and Oe Kenzaburo (1994). Japanese music is eclectic, having borrowed instruments, scales, and styles from neighboring cultures. Many instruments, such as the koto, were introduced in the ninth and tenth centuries. The accompanied recitative of the Noh drama dates from the fourteenth century and the popular folk music, with the guitar-like shamisen, from the 16th. Western music, introduced in the late nineteenth century, now forms an integral part of the culture, as evident from the profusion of J-Pop artists. Modern Japanese music generally uses Western instruments, scales and style.

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