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Japan (Nippon/Nihon 日 (sun) 本 (root/origin), literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated between the
Pacific Ocean and east of the Korean peninsula. Its name, often translated as "The Land of the Rising Sun," comes from China and refers to Japan's eastward position relative to the Asian continent. Before Japan had relations with China,
it was known as Yamato (大和). Wa (倭) was a name early China used to refer
to Japan, around the time of the Three Kingdoms
Period.
Japan comprises a chain of islands, the largest of which are, from south to north, Kyushu (九州), Shikoku
(四国), Honshu (本州, the largest island), and
Hokkaido (北海道).
The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon and
Nihon. They are both written the same in Japanese. The Japanese name Nippon is used for most official purposes,
including money, stamps, and international sporting events. Nihon is a more casual term used in Japan. For
example, Japanese people call themselves Nihonjin and their language Nihongo: literally "Japan People" and
"Japan Language" respectively. In Japan today, Nippon has more of a nationalistic role, and is used more by the elderly, while
Nihon is a casual term, and is used by the majority of the Japanese population.
The English word for Japan came to the west from early trade
routes. The early Mandarin Chinese word for Japan
was recorded by Marco Polo as Cipangu. However, the Cantonese word for Japan, form which the word Japan was probably originally
born, is Jatbun. In Malay the Cantonese word became
Japang and was thus encountered by Portuguese traders in Malacca in the 16th century. It is
thought the Portuguese traders were the first to bring the word to Europe. It was first
recorded in English in 1577 spelled Giapan.
In English, the official title of the country is simply "Japan". Previously, the full title had been the "Empire of Japan" but
this was changed after the adoption of the post-war constitution. The official Japanese title is Nihonkoku
(日本国), literally "State of Japan."
History
Main article: History of Japan
Archeological research indicates that Japan had already been occupied by early humans at least 500,000 years ago, during the
Lower Paleolithic period. Over repeated ice-ages during the last million
years, Japan was regularly connected by land bridges to the Asian mainland (by Sakhalin to the North, and probably Kyushu to the South), facilitating
migrations of humans, animals and plants to the Japanese archipelago from the
area that is now China and Korea.
With the end of the last ice age and general warming, the Jomon culture emerged around 11,000 BC, characterized by a mesolithic to neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer lifestyle and the manufacture of the earliest known pottery in the World. It is thought that Jomon
populations were the ancestors of the Proto-Japanese and today's Ainu.
The start of the Yayoi period around 300 BC marked the influx from the Asian mainland of new technologies such as
rice-farming, as well as rather massive migrations from various part of Asia like Korea
and China, especially around Beijing and
Shanghai, and from the South by marine route. However, several recent studies have
pointed out that Yayoi period is 500 to 600 longer than previously believed making massive immigrations uneeded to explain the
increase in population.
According to traditional Japanese mythology, Japan was founded in the 7th century BC by the ancestral Emperor Jimmu. During the 5th and 6th centuries, the Chinese writing system and Buddhism were introduced
with other Chinese cultures first via the Korean peninsula and later directly from China.
The emperors were the nominal rulers, but actual power was usually held by powerful court nobles, regents, or shoguns (military governors).
Ancient political structure held that, once battles between rivals were finished, the victorious Shogun would migrate to the
capital Heian (fully Heian-kyo-to, 'kyo-to' meaning capital city, and the full name now
shortened to the suffix, 'Kyoto') to rule under the grace of the Emperor. However, in the
year 1185, general Minamoto no Yoritomo was the first to break this tradition, refusing to relocate and subsequently
holding power in Kamakura, just south of present-day Yokohama. While this Kamakura
Shogunate was somewhat stable, Japan soon fell into warring factions and suffered through what became known as the Warring
States or Sengoku Period. In the year 1600, at the Battle of Sekigahara, Shogun
Tokugawa Ieyasu either co-opted or defeated his enemies and formed
the Tokugawa Shogunate in the small fishing village of Edo (formerly transcribed as 'Yeddo'), what is now known as Tokyo (eastern capital).
Since the last half of the 16th century, traders from Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and England, arrived, as did Christian missionaries. During the first part of the 17th century, Japan's shogunate suspected that Catholic missionaries were actually forerunners of a
military conquest by Iberian powers and ultimately barred all relations with the Europeans except for severely restricted
contacts with Protestant Dutch merchants at Dejima off Nagasaki, though Chinese ships were permitted to enter Nagasaki and Korean envoys to proceed to the capital. This
isolation lasted for 251 years, until Commodore Matthew Perry forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854.
Within several years, renewed contact with the West profoundly altered Japanese society. Following the 1867-1868 Boshin War the shogunate was forced to resign, and the emperor was restored to power.
The Meiji Restoration of 1868 initiated many reforms. The feudal system was abolished and
numerous Western institutions were adopted, including a Western legal system and government, along with other economic, social
and military reforms that transformed the Empire of Japan into a
world power. As results of Sino-Japanese war and Russo-Japanese war, Japan acquired Taiwan and Sakhalin, and later annexed Korea in 1910.
The early 20th century saw Japan come under increasing influence of an
expansionist military, leading to the invasion of Manchuria, a second Sino-Japanese War (1937). Japan allied with Germany and Italy and formed the Axis Pact. Japanese leaders felt it was necessary to attack the US naval base in Pearl Harbor (1941) to ensure Japanese
supremacy in the Pacific. However, the entry of the United States into
World War II would slowly tilt the balance in the Pacific against the
Japanese. After a long Pacific campaign, Japan lost Okinawa in the Ryukyu islands and was pushed back to the four main
islands. The United States made fierce attacks on Tokyo, Osaka, and other cities by strategic bombing, and Hiroshima and Nagasaki with two atomic bombs. Japan
eventually agreed to an unconditional surrender to the United States on
August 15, 1945.
A defeated post-war Japan remained under US occupation until 1952, whereafter it
embarked on a remarkable economic recovery that returned prosperity to the islands. The success of 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games is
regarded as many as the sign that Japan had finally regained its national status. The Ryukyu islands remained under US occupation until 1972 to stabilize East Asia, and a major military presence remains there to this day. Such return included
the disputed Senkaku Islands, which claimed by both Mainland China and Taiwan. The
Soviet Union seized the Kuril
islands north of Hokkaido at the end of WWII, and despite the collapse of the Soviet state and friendly relations between
countries, Russia has refused to return these islands. Japan also has territorial
dispute over the Liancourt Rocks which South Korea has occupied against
Japanese protests.
Politics
Main article: Politics of Japan
Japan is generally considered a constitutional
monarchy with a bicameral parliament, the Kokkai or Diet. A few Japanese scholars, however, argue that Japan is a republic. Japan has a royal family led by an Emperor, but under the current constitution he holds no power at all, not even emergency reserve powers. The executive branch is responsible to the Diet, consisting of a Cabinet composed of a Prime Minister and ministers of state, all of whom must be civilians. The Prime Minister must be a
member of the Diet and is designated by his colleagues. The Prime Minister has the power to appoint and remove ministers, a
majority of whom must be Diet members. At least half of the ministers of the entire cabinet must be members of the Upper or Lower
Houses. Sovereignty, previously embodied in the Emperor, is vested in the Japanese people by the Constitution, and the Emperor is defined as the symbol of national integration.
The legislative branch consists of a House of Parliament
(Shugi-in) containing 480 seats, elected by popular vote every four years, and a House of Councillors
(Sangi-in) of 247 seats, whose popularly elected members serve six-year terms. Each house contains officials elected
either directly or proportionally by party. There is universal adult suffrage with a secret ballot for all elective offices.
Prefectures
Main article: Prefectures of Japan
Japan is subdivided into 47 prefectures (ordered by ISO 3166-2):
The order of this list is from the north to the south, which is commonly accepted in Japan.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Japan
Japan, a country of islands, extends along the eastern or Pacific
coast of Asia. The main islands, running from north to south, are Karafuto (Japanese: 1679-1875), Hokkaido, Honshu (or the mainland), Shikoku, and Kyushu. Mairuppo in the disputed Kuril Islands (Hepburn: Chishima
Rettō, Japanese: 千島列島) is over
800km to the northeast of Hokkaido; Naha on
Okinawa in the Ryukyu archipelago is over
600 km to the southwest of Kyushu. In addition, about 3,000 smaller islands may be counted in the full extent of the archipelago that comprises greater Japan. About 73% of the country is mountainous,
with a chain running through each of the main islands. Japan's highest mountain is the famous Mount Fuji at 3,776 m. Oyakobayama, at the northern end of the Kuril Islands, is a snow-clad peak (2337 m) rising directly out of the sea.
Since so little flat area exists, many hills and mountainsides are cultivated all the way to the summits. As Japan is situated
in a volcanic zone along the Pacific deeps, frequent low intensity earth tremors
and occasional volcanic activity are felt throughout the islands. Destructive earthquakes occur several times a century, often resulting in tsunamis. Hot springs are numerous and have been developed as resorts.
The Japanese Archipelago extends from north to south
along the eastern coast of the Eurasian Continent, the western shore of the Pacific Ocean. Japan is a temperate region with four distinct seasons, but
because of its great length from north to south, its climate varies from region to region: the far north is very cold in the
winter, while the far south is subtropical. The climate is also affected by the seasonal winds blown from the continent to the
ocean in winters and vice versa in summers.
Late June and early July are a rainy season (except in Hokkaido and islands to the north), as a seasonal rain front or baiu zensen
(梅雨前線) stays above Japan. In the late summer and early autumn, typhoons develop from tropical
depressions generated near the equator, and track from the southwest to the northeast, often bringing heavy rain.
Japan's varied geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones.
- Hokkaido: Belonging to the cool temperate zone, Hokkaido has long, cold winters
and cool summers. The Kuril Islands are fogbound. Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snowbanks in the winter.
- Sea of Japan: The northwest wind in the wintertime brings heavy
snowfall. In summers, the region is less hot than the Pacific area, but it sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures due
to the Foehn wind phenomenon.
- Central Highland (Chuo-kochi): A typical inland climate, with
large temperature differences between summers and winters and between days and nights. Precipitation is not large throughout a
year.
- Seto Inland Sea (Setonaikai): The mountains in Chugoku and Shikoku regions block the seasonal
winds and bring mild climate and many fine days throughout a year.
- Pacific Ocean: Experiences cold winters with little snowfall and hot, humid summers due to the southeast seasonal wind.
- Nansei-shoto (Ryukyu) or Southwest Islands: Has a subtropical climate with warm
winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very heavy, especially during the rainy season, and also due to typhoons.
Politically and culturally, Japan is commonly divided into ten regions. From north to south, these are Karafuto, Hokkaido and Chishima, Tohoku region, Hokuriku region, Kanto
region, Chubu region, Kinki region (commonly called Kansai), Chugoku region, Shikoku
region, Kyushu region, and Okinawa, the main island in the Ryukyu Islands.
Japan has outstanding territorial disputes over the Kuril Islands and
Sakhalin or Karafuto, occupied by
Russia, as well as the Liancourt Rocks (Jp. Takeshima),
claimed by Korea. The Senkaku Islands are claimed by China and Taiwan
as "Diaoyutai".
Economy
Main article: Economy of Japan
Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, emphasis on education and a comparatively
small defense allocation (1% of GDP) have helped Japan
advance with extraordinary speed to become one of the largest economic powers in the world along with the US and EU.
Notable characteristics of the economy include the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in
closely-knit groups called keiretsu; the powerful enterprise unions and
shunto; and the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of
the urban labour force. Most of the these features are now eroding, however, and the economy is currently characterized by
stagnation.
Industry, the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The much smaller
agricultural sector is highly subsidised and protected, with crop yields
among the highest in the world. Considerable efforts are expended on developing a better tasting fruits and vegetables and while
pricey even by high cost of living in Japan, best products are really the best (if you're willing to spend $20 for a single
Japanese pear). Usually self-sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its
requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest
fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth had been
spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s largely because of the after effects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and
contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government
efforts to revive economic growth have met with little success and were further hampered in 2000-2001 by the slowing of the US and Asian economies.
The crowding of habitable land area and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems as is rising cost of the
health care. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength, with Japan
possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots". Recently, the focus has also been on the Anime and other contemporary
arts.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Japan
Japanese society is known to be ethnically and linguistically very homogeneous, with small populations of primarily North and
South Koreans (1 million), Okinawan (1.5 million), Chinese and Taiwanese (0.5 million), Filipinos (0.5 million), and Brazilians (250,000), as well as the indigenous Ainu minority in Hokkaido. 99% of the population
speaks Japanese as their first language.
The Japanese population is one of the most rapidly aging on Earth. Fertility rates dropped in the wake of World War II, and
dropped again in the mid-1970's, as more women remained in the workplace and refused to get married. Japan now also has the
highest life expectancy in the world. By 2007, when Japan's population growth is expected to stop completely, over 20% of the population will be over the age
of 65. Japanese government planners are currently in a heated debate over how to cope with this problem. [1]
Most Japanese people profess to not believe in any particular religion. Many people, especially those in younger generations,
claim to feel that religion is something to stay clear from, pointing out historical reasons such as the role that the nationally
enforced Shinto played in World War II, and more recently Aum Shinrikyo and its actions. However, Shinto and Buddhist teachings are deeply entangled in the
everyday life of Japanese. Often, it is so deep that it takes someone from outside to point it out.
See also: Religions of Japan
Culture
Main article: Culture of Japan
Japanese culture consists of the interaction between a strong original Jomon culture
and subsequent influences from the rest of the world. China and Korea were first mostly influential, starting with the
development of the Yayoi culture from around 300BC. Classical Greek and Indian cultural
traditions, combined into Greco-Buddhism, influenced the arts and
religions of Japan from the 6th century AD, culminating with the introduction of Mahayana Buddhism. From the 16th century onward, European influence
prevailed, with American influences becoming predominant following the end of WWII.
Japan developed a unique original culture, in its arts (ikebana, origami, ukiyo-e), crafts (dolls,
lacquerware, pottery), performances (bunraku, dance, kabuki, noh, raku-go), and traditions (games, onsen, sento, tea ceremony), as well as a unique cuisine.
Today, Japan is one of the world's largest exporters of popular culture. Japanese cartoons, comic books, fashion,
films, literature, and music have gained popularity
around the world, especially in the other countries of Asia.
See also: Katana, Japanese clothing, Japanese Festivals,
Japanese New Year, Japanese Sports, Japanese
television programs, Tourism in Japan, Japanese media
Further Reading
- Conrad Totman, 2000. 'A History of Modern Japan. Blackwell Publishers.'
- C.H. Kwan. 2001. 'Yen Bloc: Toward Economic Integration in Asia.' Brookings Institution Press.
- Bernson, Mary Hammond and Elaine Magnusson, eds. MODERN JAPAN: AN IDEA BOOK FOR K-12 TEACHERS. MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
RESOURCE SERIES. Olympia, WA: Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1984. ED 252 486.
- Cogan, John J. and Donald O. Schneider, eds. PERSPECTIVES ON JAPAN: A GUIDE FOR TEACHERS. Washington, DC: National Council
for the Social Studies, 1983. ED 236 090.
- EAST MEETS WEST: MUTUAL IMAGES. Stanford, CA: California Center for Research in International Studies, l980. ED 196 765.
- Kaderabeck, Leslie. THE JAPANESE AUTOMOBILE WORKER: A MICROCOSM OF JAPAN'S SUCCESS. 1985. ED 263 041.
- Murphy, Carole. A STEP BY STEP GUIDE FOR PLANNING A JAPANESE CULTURAL FESTIVAL. 1983. ED 238 748.
- Wojtan, Linda S. FREE RESOURCES FOR TEACHING ABOUT JAPAN. Bloomington, IN: Midwest Program for Teaching about Japan, Indiana
University, 1986. ED 270 3891.
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