GENERAL INFORMATION • Full name: Japan • Population: 126.9 million (UN, 2010) • Capital: Tokyo • Major language: Japanese. Some English is spoken in Tokyo and other large cities but is less usual in rural areas. • Major religions: Shintoism and Buddhism (most Japanese follow both religions, although religion does not play a major everyday role in most Japanese lives, with frequent temple visits being more usually attributed to tourism). There is a Christian minority. • Time: GMT + 9 (if it’s midnight here, it’s 8am in Japan: when you go to sleep, they are going to work!). • Flag: (it is known as Hinomaru, 日の丸, "sun disc")the white part stands for peace and honesty, the red one for hardiness, bravery, strength and valour) Yukio Hatoyama Emperor Akihito and his wife • Monetary unit: yen • Economy: Japan has the world's third-largest economy (main exports: vehicles, computer parts, chemicals, scientific instruments and watches) • International dialling code: +81 (if you want to call to Japan) • Government: constitutional monarchy. • Head of state: Emperor Akihito (he succeeded his father, Hirohito, in 1989. Under the 1947 constitution, Japan's emperors have a purely ceremonial role). • Prime minister: Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama since 2009.
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GENERAL INFORMATION
• Full name: Japan
• Population: 126.9 million (UN, 2010)
• Capital: Tokyo
• Major language: Japanese. Some English is
spoken in Tokyo and other large cities but is
less usual in rural areas.
• Major religions: Shintoism and Buddhism
(most Japanese follow both religions,
although religion does not play a major
everyday role in most Japanese lives, with
frequent temple visits being more usually
attributed to tourism). There is a Christian
minority.
• Time: GMT + 9 (if it’s midnight here, it’s
8am in Japan: when you go to sleep, they
are going to work!).
• Flag:
(it is known as Hinomaru, 日の丸,
"sun disc")the white part stands for
peace and honesty, the red one for
hardiness, bravery, strength and
valour)
Yukio Hatoyama
Emperor Akihito and his wife
• Monetary unit: yen
• Economy: Japan has the world's third-largest
economy (main exports: vehicles, computer
parts, chemicals, scientific instruments and
watches)
• International dialling code: +81 (if you want to
call to Japan)
• Government: constitutional monarchy.
• Head of state: Emperor Akihito (he succeeded
his father, Hirohito, in 1989. Under the 1947
constitution, Japan's emperors have a purely
ceremonial role).
• Prime minister: Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
since 2009.
GEOGRAPHY AND WEATHER
Japan is situated in the
PACIFIC OCEAN. Japan's
"mainland" consists of
four primary islands:
Hokkaido, Honshu,
Shikoku, and Kyushu.
HOKKAIDO is in the
northeast and the home
of the island's capital city
of Sapporo.
SHIKOKU and KYUSHU are in the south
(Kyushu is in the extreme southwest
and Shikoku is to its east). Besides
these four islands, Japan includes
2,000 additional smaller islands.
HONSHU is the largest island and is
economically and culturally the most
important of the four major islands, the
Japanese core area which includes Tokyo and
Osaka-Kyoto. Honshu is the world's seventh
largest island.
Much of the archipelago is MOUNTAINOUS and
only a small percentage of land is available for
agriculture and development. Thus large areas
remain forested while TOWNS AND CITIES tend
to be densely populated.
The climate varies from one island to another.
Except for the Hokkaido area and
the subtropical Okinawa region, the
weather in Japan is mostly
TEMPERATE, with FOUR SEASONS.
Winters are cool and sunny in the
south, cold and sunny around Tokyo
(which occasionally has snow), and
very cold around Hokkaido, which is
covered in SNOW for up to four
months a year. Summer, between
June and September, ranges from
warm to very hot, while spring and
autumn are generally mild
throughout the country. RAIN falls
throughout the year but June and
early July is the main rainy season.
Hokkaido, however, is much drier
than the Tokyo area. Rainfall is
intermittent with sunshine.
TYPHOONS are only likely to occur
in September or October but rarely
last more than a day.
HISTORY
In the FEUDAL ERA (12th-19th century), a new ruling class of
warriors emerged: the SAMURAI (not to be confused with the
NINJAS who did not have rules of honour as strict as the
samurai). One of the most famous and successful samurai, ODA
NOBUNAGA, conquered numerous other warlords and had
ALMOST UNIFIED JAPAN when he was assassinated in 1582.
TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI succeeded him and UNITED THE LAND in
1590 but OPEN WAR broke out following his death.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Tokugawa Ieyasu
TOKUGAWA IEYASU defeated all rival clans in the Battle of
Sekigahara in 1600 and was appointed SHOGUN (= ruler of Japan).
The Tokugawa shogunate began the ISOLATIONIST SAKOKU (=
locked country) POLICY that spanned the two and a half centuries of
tenuous political unity known as the EDO PERIOD.
In 1854, the US Navy forced the opening of Japan to the outside
world. Ensuing economic and political crises led to the BOSHIN
WAR and the establishment of a CENTRALIZED STATE unified
under the name of the EMPEROR (MEIJI RESTORATION).
Emperor Kōmei
Japan farm in the 19th
century
The Meiji Restoration transformed Japan into an
INDUSTRIALIZED WORLD POWER that embarked on a
number of MILITARY CONFLICTS to expand the nation's
sphere of influence, including two Sino-Japanese Wars
(1894-1895 and 1937-1945) and the Russo-Japanese War
(1904-1905).
On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked the US naval base in PEARL
HARBOR. This act brought the USA into WWII and, on 8
December, the USA, UK and Netherlands declared war on
Japan. After the devastating atomic bombings of HIROSHIMA
and NAGASAKI in 1945, Japan surrendered on 15 August. The
war cost Japan millions of lives and left much of the country's
industry and infrastructure destroyed.
Hiroshima atomic
bombing
Eitai Bridge, Tokyo
Japan later achieved exceptional growth to become one of the
world's most powerful economies. In August 2009, Yukio
Hatoyama led the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the main
opposition party, to victory and became Prime Minister,
defeating the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),
which had been in power almost continually since 1955.
FOOD and DRINKS
Japanese sushi
National specialties:
• TERIYAKI (marinated beef/chicken/fish seared on a hot
plate).
• TEMPURA (deep-fried seafood and vegetables).
• SUSHI (slices of raw seafood placed on light and vinegary
rice balls).
• SASHIMI (slices of raw seafood dipped in soy sauce).
• RAME, SOBA and UDON (varieties of noodles, which can
be served hot or cold, in soups or dry).
National drinks (legal drinking age: 20):
• GREEN TEA is extremely popular. The quality
of the tea varies greatly from houjicha (a
common brown-colored tea) to matcha (a
bitter green tea used in tea ceremonies).
• SAKE (rice wine served hot or cold).
• SHOCHU (strong vodka-like spirit usually
mixed with soft drinks to make cocktails).
• Popular brands of BEER are Asahi, Kirin,
Sapporo and Suntory.
→There are no licensing hours. Drinking is
subject to long-standing rituals of politeness.
The host will pour a drink for the visitor, and
will insist on the visitor's glass being full. It is
bad manners for a visitor to pour one for him
or herself.
Japanese tea ceremony
TOURISM
What you can see in Japan: the Japanese society is a blend of TRADITION and
MODERNITY. As a tourist you can enjoy these two aspects travelling across the
country.
Osaka
Main cities: Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka-Kobe, Sendai, Sapporo,
Nagano (it hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics), Nagoya, Hiroshima,
Nagasaki.
Modern tourism: skyscrapers and plazas, stadiums, aquariums,
festivals, cuisine.
Natural parks and landscapes: mountains
(Japan’s highest mountain is Mount Fuji),
lakes, volcan crates, active volcanoes,
swamps (=pantano), jungle and rare wildlife,
islands, beaches, coral reefs, whirlpools
(remolinos), gardens, whales and dolphins
watching, sand-dunes, hot-sand saunas,
caves, forests…
Japanese garden
Japanese doll
History tourism: museums, craft cities and galleries (pottery,