Japan (Nippon/Nihon, literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido, Honshu (the largest island), Shikoku, and Kyushu. A number of smaller islands immediately surround these four, as well as one outlying group of small islands well to the south in Okinawa..

History

Prehistory

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 of new technologies such as rice farming and irrigation, brought by migrants from Korea, China, and other parts of Asia.

Classical Era

According to traditional Japanese mythology, Japan was founded in the 7th century BC by the ancestral Emperor Jimmu, who started a line of emperors that were the nominal rulers of Japan for most of its history (although actual power was usually held by powerful court nobles, regents, or shoguns).

Recorded Japanese history began in the 5th and 6th centuries CE, when the Chinese writing system, Buddhism, and other Chinese culture was introduced by Korea. The Nara period of the 8th century marked the first strong Japanese state centered around an imperial court in the city of Heijokyo (now Nara). The imperial court later moved to Heiankyo (now Kyoto), starting a "golden age" of classical Japanese culture called the Heian period.

Medieval Era

Japan's medieval era was characterized by the emergence of a ruling class of warriors called samurai. In the year 1185, general Minamoto no Yoritomo was the first to break the tradition of ruling alongside the Emperor in Kyoto, 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.

During the 16th century, traders and missionaries from Europe reached Japan for the first time, initiating the "Nanban" ("Southern barbarian") period of active commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West. Around the same time, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, established increasingly strong control over the warring states of Japan. Tokugawa finally reunified the country by defeating his enemies at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, moving the capital to Edo (now Tokyo) and starting the Tokugawa shogunate.

The Tokugawa shogunate, suspicious of the influence of Catholic missonaries, barred all relations with Europeans except for severely restricted contacts with Dutch Merchants at the island of Dejima. This period of isolation lasted for two and a half centuries, a time of tenuous political unity known as the Edo period, considered to be the height of Japan's medieval culture.

Modern Era

In 1854, U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa. The perceived weakness of the shogunate led many samurai to revolt, leading to the Boshin War of 1867-68. The shogunate was forced to resign, and the Meiji Restoration returned the Emperor to power. Japan adopted numerous Western institutions in the Meiji period, including a modern government, legal system, and military. These reforms transformed the Empire of Japan into a world power which defeated China in the Sino-Japanese War and Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. By 1910, Japan controlled Taiwan, half of Sakhalin, and Korea.

The early 20th century saw a brief period of "Taisho democracy" overshadowed by the rise of Japanese expansionism, leading to the invasion of Manchuria and the second Sino-Japanese War (1937). In 1941, Japan attacked the United States naval base in Pearl Harbor, bringing the two countries into World War II. After a long campaign in the Pacific Ocean, Japan lost its initial territorial gains, and the United States moved into range to begin strategic bombing of Tokyo, Osaka, and other cities. Japan surrendered following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, and lost all of its colonies in Asia and the Pacific.

Japan remained under US occupation until 1952. During that time, it adopted a new constitution that established the country as a pacifist constitutional monarchy. After the occupation, under a program of aggressive industrial development, protectionism, and deferral of strategic defense to the United States, Japan's gross national product rose to become the second-highest in the world. Despite a major stock market crash in 1989, from which the country never fully recovered, Japan remains a global economic power and has recently begun to re-emerge as a strategic power, lending non-combat support to the Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Politics

The Diet

Japan is generally considered to be a constitutional monarchy. The "highest organ of state power" is its bicameral parliament, the Kokkai or "Diet." The Diet consists of a House of Representatives (Lower House or Shugi-in) containing 480 seats, elected by popular vote every four years, and a House of Councillors (Upper House or Sangi-in) of 247 seats, whose popularly elected members serve six-year terms. There is universal adult (over 20 years old) suffrage with a secret ballot for all elective offices.

The Cabinet is composed of a Prime Minister and ministers of state, and is responsible to the Diet. 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. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been in power since 1955, except for a short-lived coalition government formed from its opposition parties in 1993; the largest opposition party is the Democratic Party of Japan.

The Imperial Household

Japan's head of state is the Emperor, but under the current constitution he performs only ceremonial duties and holds no real power, not even emergency reserve powers. Sovereignty, previously embodied in the Emperor, is vested in the Japanese people by the Constitution, and the Emperor is defined as the symbol of the State and of national unity.

Akihito is the current and 125th Emperor of Japan. He assumed the throne after the death of his father, Hirohito, on January 7, 1989, formally becoming the 125th Japanese monarch on November 12, 1990. His son, Crown Prince Naruhito, married a commoner, Masako Owada, and the couple gave birth to a girl, Princess Aiko. Succession is currently limited by law to males: since there are no male heirs from either son of the former Emperor Hirohito, the continuity of the Chrysanthemum throne is perceived to be in jeopardy. As a result, there has been recent public discussion about allowing succession through females. Such a change would be a boon to the Crown Princess Masako whose mental and physical health has deteriorated under the pressure from the Imperial Household to bear a male child.

Geography

Japan, a country of islands, extends along the eastern or Pacific coast of Asia. The main islands, running from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu (or the mainland), Shikoku, and Kyushu. 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: the highest mountain, Mount Fuji, has a height of 3,776 m. Since flat land is limited, many hills and mountainsides are cultivated all the way to the summits, and major cities have developed on every sizable plain.

Japan is situated in a volcanic zone on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Frequent low intensity earth tremors and occasional volcanic activity are felt throughout the islands. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunamis, occur several times a century: the most recent was the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. Hot springs are numerous and have been developed as resorts.

Climate

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), as a seasonal rain front or baiu zensen 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: Hokkaido has a temperate climate with long, cold winters and cool summers. 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 cooler than the Pacific area, but it sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures due to the Foehn wind phenomenon.
Central Highlands (Chuo-kochi): A typical inland climate, with large temperature differences between summers and winters and between days and nights. Precipitation is light.
Seto Inland Sea (Seto-naikai): The mountains of the Chugoku and Shikoku regions block the seasonal winds, bringing mild weather throughout the 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. Typhoons are common.

Prefectures and regions

The Local Government Law of Japan divides the country into 47 prefectures, which carry out administrative duties independently of the central government. From north to south (as listed in ISO 3166-2), these are:

Hokkaido
Aomori
Iwate
Miyagi
Akita
Yamagata
Fukushima
Ibaraki
Tochigi
Gunma
Saitama
Chiba
Tokyo
Kanagawa
Niigata
Toyama
Ishikawa
Fukui
Yamanashi
Nagano
Gifu
Shizuoka
Aichi
Mie
Shiga
Kyoto
Osaka
Hyogo
Nara
Wakayama
Tottori
Shimane
Okayama
Hiroshima
Yamaguchi
Tokushima
Kagawa
Ehime
Kochi
Fukuoka
Saga
Nagasaki
Kumamoto
Oita
Miyazaki
Kagoshima
Okinawa

Japan is also commonly divided into nine regions. From north to south, these are Hokkaido, Tohoku region, Kanto region, Chubu region, Kinki region (commonly called Kansai), Chugoku region, Shikoku, Kyushu, and the Ryukyu Islands.

Territorial disputes

Japan has outstanding territorial disputes over the southern four islands of the Kuril Islands, administered by Russia, as well as the Liancourt Rocks (Kr. Dokdo, Jp. Takeshima), occupied by South Korea. The Senkaku Islands (Chinese Diaoyutai) are claimed by China and Taiwan.

Economy

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. 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.

Distinguishing characteristics of the Japanese economy include the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and banks in closely-knit groups called keiretsu; the powerful enterprise unions and shunto; cozy relations with government bureaucrats, and the guarantee of lifetime employment (shushin koyo) in big corporations and highly unionized blue-collar factories. Recently, Japanese companies have begun to abandon these norms in an attempt to increase profitability.

The government of Junichiro Koizumi has enacted or attempted to pass (sometimes with failure) major privatization and foreign-investment laws intended to help stimulate Japan's dormant economy. While some of these laws have been enacted, the economy has yet to respond, and Japan's aging population is expected to place further strain on the economy in the near future.

Agricultural sector

Japan's small agricultural sector is highly subsidised and protected, with government regulations that favor small-scale cultivation instead of large-scale agriculture as practiced in North America. Imported rice, the most protected crop, is subject to tariffs of 490% and restricted to a quota of only 3% of the total rice market. Although Japan is usually self-sufficient in rice (except for its use in making rice crackers and processed foods), the country must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops, and relies on imports for its supply of meat. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch, prompting some claims that Japan's fishing is leading to overdepletion in fish stocks such as tuna. Japan has also sparked controversy by supporting quasi-commercial whaling.

Industrial sector

Industry, one-third of Japan's GDP, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. Internationally, Japan is best known for its automotive and electronics industries, as the home of big manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, Matsushita, Sony, Nissan, and Toshiba. Japan also holds a large market share in high-technology industries such as semiconductors, industrial chemicals, machine tools, and (in recent years) aerospace. Construction has long been one of Japan's largest industries, with the help of multi-billion-dollar government contracts in the civil sector. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength, with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots."

Service sector

Japan's service sector accounts for about two-thirds of its total economic output. Banking, insurance, real estate, retailing, transportation, and telecommunications are all major industries. The Koizumi government is attempting to privatize Japan Post, one of the country's largest private banking and insurance institutions, by 2007.

Demographics

Japanese society is 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.

Japanese citizenship is conferred on an infant when a family member registers the infant's birth in the family registry held by a neighborhood ward office. Simply being born in Japan does not assure citizenship. Monolingual Japanese-speaking minorities often reside in Japan for generations under permanent residency status without acquiring citizenship in their country of birth. People of Japanese hertitage returning to Japan from overseas have citizenship if their birth in a foreign country was registered on their behalf by a family member. Sometimes these returnees are not considered truely Japanese and sometimes suspected of being a descent of old feudal Burakumin "unclean" caste, a group of people known to have immigrated to South American countries, and subject to discrimination.

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-1970s, as more women have remained in the workplace and chosen not 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. The changes in the demographic structure have created a number of social issues, particularly potential decline in workforces and increase in the cost of social securities like public pension plan. Japanese government planners are currently in a heated debate over how to cope with this problem. Immigration and birth incentives are sometimes suggested as a possible solution to provide younger workers to support the graying society. Immigration is not publically popular as recent increased crime rates are often attributed to foreigners living in Japan.

Japanese people usually have indifferent feelings regarding religion and see it as something cultural or traditional; such attitude is pervasive in East Asia. When asked to identify their religion, most Japanese people would profess to believe in Buddhism, merely because their family has belonged to some sect of Buddhism. Shinto, though it originated in Japan, is hardly practiced today and its teachings are known only among a few scholars. Many practices that Buddhism and Shinto teach remain largely as customs, like manners for wedding ceremony. A minority profess to Christianity, Shamanism, and New Religions such as Soka Gakkai, some of which are related to Buddhism.

Education

literacy rate: 99.8%(1990),100.0%(2000)
compulsory education:9years(From 6 years old to 15 years old)
A high school ratio of students going on to higher schools is about 96%.

Culture

Japanese culture has evolved greatly over the years, from the country's original Jomon culture to its contemporary hybrid culture, which combines a number of influences from Europe, America, and East Asia.

Historically, 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. In the premodern era, 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, gardens, swords), as well as a unique cuisine.

From the mid-19th century onward, European influence prevailed, with American influences becoming predominant following the end of World War II. This influence is apparent in Japan's contemporary popular culture, which combines Asian and European influences in its cartoons, comic books, fashion, films, literature, television, video games, and music. Today, Japan is a major exporter of such culture, which has gained popularity around the world, particularly in the other countries of East Asia. Traditional and modern Japanese culture have attracted many devotees in Europe and the Americas as well.

Names of Japan

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. See Nihon and Nippon for more of this.

Both Nippon and Nihon literally mean "The Land of the Rising Sun." This nomenclature comes from imperial correspondence with China and refers to Japan's eastward position relative to the Asian continent. Before Japan had relations with China, it was known as Yamato. Wa was a name early China used to refer to Japan, around the time of the Three Kingdoms Period.

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, from 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 Nipponkoku or Nihonkoku, literally "State of Japan.".