What do you notice about Japan from this Google Earth image?
Jan 07, 2016
What do you notice about Japan from this Google Earth image?
What do you notice most about Japan from this
map?
http://www.bugbog.com/maps/asia/japan_map.html
The Impact of Physical Geography
on Culturehttp://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/image/Japan.GIF
Japan is much
smaller than the United States.
http://www.international.ucla.edu/eas/japan/geography/overlay1.htm
Japan is slightly
smaller than California, but it has
almost 3 x as many people.
Japan 128 millionCalifornia 38 million
http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/English/campus/img/map_japan-nagoya.jpghttp://www.smgov.net/farmers_market/images/california%20map.jpg
Forested mountains cover over 65% of the
land.
http://www.international.ucla.edu/eas/japan/geography/popmap1.gif http://www.maps.com/ref_map.aspx?pid=12106
What do you notice when you compare these two maps?
What unique challenges do you think Japan faces in dealing with such a high population density?
http://www.johnnyjet.com/images/PicForNewsletterJapan2005KyotoKiyomizuderaTempleStreetUp.JPG
How might high population density and limited land affect Japan’s:
• transportation
• agriculture
• architecture
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arrowsican/401855032/
Mass transportation moves large numbers of people.http://www.flickr.com/photos/iidesne/1665204886/
http://ozymandias.com/ftpimages/FuninJapanNowwithPictures_1298E/IMAGE_0712.jpg
They have many
subways. . .
. . .and busses.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26217373@N00/1489025344/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/webmikey/256650089/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marley1/1434516269/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/msimantov/374383690/
Even then, they have lots of cars on the roads.
And they have creative
ways to
http://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/130905968/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meckleychina/355627389/
provide parking spaces.
http://picasaweb.google.com/richworkhardman/PhotoSOfJapan/photo#5060930666112892770
J.Hall, Tokyo, 12 July 2010
J.Hall, Kyoto, 16 July 2010
Bicycles are very popular, since they
are easy to maneuver on
crowded streets.
They even have bicycle parking lots.
This one is at a subway station.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samwilkins/173305585/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tokyololas/1422936985/
J.Hall, Kyoto, 17 July 2010
They are also very cautious about spreading germs. If you’re sick, you’re expected to wear a mask.
J.Hall, Tokyo, 10 July 2011
J.Hall, Tokyo, 12 July 2010
J.Hall, Kyoto, 17 July 2010Convenience Store
Agriculture is important in
Japan.
But often fields are on
mountainsides.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arrowsican/1530394309/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pauldavidson/33038678/
Stair-steps were cut into the mountainsides years ago to allow terraced fields.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethany_ng/1468992530/http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethany_ng/1469448849/
architecture
http://www.flickr.com/photos/annamatic3000/134919276/
Limited land means land is
very expensive. So most people
don’t have yards.
Which is Oklahoma City?Which is Osaka, Japan?
Why do you suppose so many Japanese homes have limited amounts of furniture?
This is a main room. It may be used as a living room, dining room, and bedroom.
http://www.kyotojp.com/living2.JPG
J.Hall, Nara, 15 July 2010 Traditional style hotel in Nara, Japan
Why is a “futon” bed a good choice for a small home?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/courtneyistre/39198683/
Japan: 170 square feetGeography Alive! (Palo Alto, California: Teachers’ Curriculum Institute),
2006, p.447
U.S: 721 square feet of living space per person
(U.S.Department of Energy, http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2004/01/Understanding-Poverty-in-America
)
As in big cities around the world,
the Japanese build to get more use out of limited land.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cloganese/241165650/
UP
A “capsule hotel”! Each capsule is a 1-person room.
They even have TVs!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/de-boo/39307484/
http://www.yesicanusechopsticks.com/larrygreg/capsule%202.jpg
Sweet dreams. . .
http://www.traveladdicts.connectfree.co.uk/Japan/Images/Capsule_hotel_with_open_curtain.jpg
In 1994, Japan opened Kansai International Airport in Osaka Bay. It is built on an
artificial island.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Kansai_closeup.jpg
The first built a “sea wall” and then filled it in using dirt from 3 nearby
mountains.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xY5eBHkJ1mWt189xDc2VMg
http://mapsget.com/wp-content/thumbnails/2346.jpg
http://www.wonderfulinfo.com/amazing/kansaiairport/
http://mrkellysclass.net/Japan/Images/our_trip_detailed/Osaka-Airport-aerial-view.jpg
It is sinking 2-3 centimeters per year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0A9-oUoMug