Japan (Nihon or Nippon, which means origin of the sun). Japan is sometimes referred to in English as The land of the rising sun. It's beauty, mystery and history has captured the hearts of millions throughout the world. The Japan of today is nothing like it was less than 100 years ago. The cities of Japan today is almost just like any major city in the modern world. They are palgued with housing, traffic, pollution, etc. just like the rest us every day.

First a little Demographics.... The islands of Japan lie in the same latitude as does the East Coast of the United States. It is a country about the size of California, yet has a population of about 123 million (about half the US population). It stretches in an arc 3,800 kilometers long, ranging from 20 degrees, 25 minutes to 45 degrees, 33 minutes north latitude. Japan's total area of 377,819 square kilometers is one twenty-fifth that of the United States and represents less than 0.3% of the world's land area.
Japan consists of four main islands--Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku (from largest to smallest)--a number of island chains, and thousands of smaller islands. Honshu accounts for over 60% of the total area.
Mountains dominate Japan's landscape, covering 75 to 80 percent of the country. At one time, the mountains were barriers to transportation, hindering national integration and limiting the economic development of isolated areas. However, with the development of tunnels, bridges, and air transportation in the modern era, the mountains are no longer formidable barriers. The Japanese have long celebrated the beauty of their mountains in art and literature, and today many mountain areas are preserved in national parks. But, Japan is subject to natural disasters as earthquakes, tidal waves and volcanoes. Geologically speaking, it is an unstable land mass.
Japan's complex topography provides the land with beautiful and at times dramatic scenery--snow-fed mountain lakes, rocky gorges and turbulent rivers, rugged peaks, and graceful waterfalls. They are a constant source of inspiration and pleasure to Japanese and foreign visitors alike.

The Island...According to legend, the Japanese islands were created by gods, who dipped a jeweled spear into a muddy sea and formed solid earth from its droplets. The real scientific explanation is colliding tectonic plates lifting and warping the earth's crust, causing volcanic eruptions that pushed the mountains above the surface of the sea. Those forces that created the Japanese islands are still at work today. Earthquakes occur regularly in Japan and the largest earthquakes in the 20th century have been the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, in which more than 140,000 people died in the Tokyo-Yokohama area, and the 1995 earthquake in Kobe that killed more than 6,400 people. The Kobe quake also caused massive damage to buildings, highways, and other infrastructure in Kobe and its vicinity. An earthquake centered offshore may cause a deadly tidal wave called a tsunami. Earthquakes pose such danger to the country that Japan has become a world leader in earthquake prediction, earthquake-proof construction techniques, and disaster preparedness by both civil defense forces and the general public.

Honshu is the largest of the Japanese islands, followed by Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Together the four main islands make up about 95 percent of Japan's territory. More than 3,000 smaller islands constitute the remaining 5 percent. At their greatest length from the northeast to southwest, the main islands stretch about 1,900 km (about 1,200 mi) and span 1,500 km (900 mi) from east to west.

Japan's four main islands are separated by narrow straits: Tsugaru Strait lies between Hokkaido and Honshu, and the narrow Kammon Strait lies between Honshu and Kyushu. The Inland Sea (Seto Naikai), an arm of the Pacific Ocean, lies between Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. The sea holds more than 1,000 islands and has two principal access channels, Kii Channel on the east and Bungo Strait on the west.

Japan also includes some distant island groups. The Ryukyu Islands (Nansei Shoto), made up of the Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima island chains, which extend southwest from Kyushu for 1,200 km (700 mi). The Izu Islands, the Bonin Islands, (Ogasawara Shoto), and the Volcano Islands (Kazan Retto) extend south from Tokyo for 1,100 km (700 mi). There are also, several islands north of Hokkaido. These include the two southernmost Kuril Islands, Ostrov Iturup (Etorofu-jima) and Ostrov Kunashir (Kunashiri-jima), as well as Shikotan and the Habomai island group.

Plants and Animals...Would you believe that more than 17,000 species of flowering and nonflowering plants are found in Japan, and many are cultivated widely. In April, Azaleas color the Japanese hills, and at the beginning of May, the tree peony, one of the most popular cultivated flowers, blossoms. The lotus blooms in August, and in November the blooming of the chrysanthemum, the national flower of Japan.

Various types of seaweed grow naturally or are cultivated in offshore waters, adding variety to the Japanese diet. The most common varieties of edible seaweed are laver (a purple form of red algae also known as nori), kelp (a large, leafy brown algae also called kombu), and wakame (a large brown algae).

The forests cover about 67 percent of Japan's land area. The forests are concentrated on mountain slopes, where trees are important in soil and water conservation. Tree types vary with latitude and elevation. In Hokkaido, spruce, larch, and northern fir are most common, along with alder, poplar, and beech trees. Central Honshu's more temperate climate supports beech, willows, and chestnuts. In Shikoku, Kyushu, and the warmer parts of Honshu, subtropical trees such as camphors and banyans thrive. The southern areas also have thick stands of bamboo. Japanese cedars and cypresses are found throughout wide areas of the country and are prized for their wood. Cultivated tree species include fruit trees bearing peaches, plums, pears, oranges, and cherries; mulberry trees for silk production; and lacquer trees, from which the resins used to produce lacquer are derived. Potted miniaturized trees called bonsai are popular among hobbyist gardeners in Japan and are a highly evolved art form.

Japanese animal life includes at least 140 species of mammals; 450 species of birds; and a wide variety of reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Mammals include wild boar, deer, rabbits and hares, squirrels, and various species of bear. Foxes and badgers also are numerous and, according to traditional beliefs, possess supernatural powers. The only primate mammal in Japan is the Japanese macaque, a red-faced monkey found throughout Honshu. The most common birds are sparrows, house swallows, and thrushes. Water birds are common as well, including cranes, herons, swans, storks, cormorants, and ducks. The waters off Japan abound with fish and other marine life, particularly at around 36º N latitude, where the cold Oyashio and warm Kuroshio currents meet and create ideal conditions for larger species.

Weather...The islands of Japan lie in the temperate zone and at the northeastern end of the monsoon area that reaches from Japan through the Korean Peninsula, China, and Southeast Asia to as far as India. The climate is generally mild, though it varies considerably from place to place, largely due to the continental air currents from the northwest that dominate the winter weather and the oceanic air currents from the southeast that prevail in the summer months.

There are four distinct seasons in most parts of Japan. Summer begins around the middle of July. It is extremely hot and humid with high temperatures that can go up to 100F (38C). Also be aware that typhoon season is in August and September. Summer is preceded by a rainy season that usually lasts for about a month, except in Hokkaido, the northernmost major island, where there is no rainy season at all.

Winters tend to be mild on the Pacific side, with many sunny days, while the Sea of Japan side tends to be overcast. The mountainous interior area is one of the snowiest regions in the world. Hokkaido is also characterized by fairly severe winters. Both of these regions provide superb sites for winter sports.

Spring and autumn are the best seasons of the year, with balmy days and sunshine across the country, although early autumn brings typhoons, which may strike inland with their torrential rains and violent winds. Rainfall is abundant, ranging from 1,000 millimeters to 2,500 millimeters a year.

The combination of plentiful rainfall and a temperate climate in most parts of the islands produces rich forests and luxurious vegetation throughout the countryside.

Major cities....Tokyo, earlier called Edo, is the nations's capitol and one of the world's largest populous metropolitian areas, with over 12 million inhabitants It is located at almost the same latitude as Los Angeles. The city enjoys a relatively mild winter with low humidity and occasional snow, in contrast to the high temperatures and humidity of the summer months. In addition to being the center of government, Tokyo is Japan's principal commercial center, home to most of the country's largest corporations, banks, and other businesses. It is also a leading center of manufacturing, higher education, and communications.

Japan's second largest city is Yokohama, located near Tokyo in Kanagawa Prefecture. Originally a small fishing village, the settlement became a major port and international trade center after it was opened to foreign commerce in 1859. It grew quickly and continues to be Japan's largest port, a busy commercial center, and along with Tokyo and neighboring Kawasaki, a hub of Japan's preeminent Keihin Industrial Zone (an area of industrial concentration).

The third largest city in the country is Osaka. Even in Japan's feudal era, Osaka was an important commercial center and castle town, and it was known as Japan's kitchen because of its role in warehousing rice for the nation. Today it is the leading financial center of western Japan and the principal city of the Hanshin Industrial Zone.

Most of these major cities are crowded into a relatively small area of land along the Pacific coast of Honshu, between Tokyo and Kobe. This heavily urbanized strip is known as the Tokaido Megalopolis, named for a historic highway that connected Tokyo with Kyoto. The cities are now interconnected by expressways and Japan's high-speed Shinkansen railway.

The dominant religions in Japan are Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto is native to Japan. Generally translated as the Way of the Gods, Shinto is a mixture of religious beliefs and practices, and its roots date back to prehistory. It was first mentioned in 720 in the Nihon shoki, Japan's earliest historical chronicle. Unlike most major world religions, Shinto has no organized body of teachings, no recognized historical founder, and no moral code. Instead, it focuses on worship of nature, ancestors, and sacred spirits or gods that personify aspects of the natural world.

Buddhism originated in India, arriving in Japan in the 6th century by way of China and Korea. In the centuries that followed, numerous Buddhist sects took root in Japan, among them Zen Buddhism. Zen was introduced from China in the 12th century and quickly became popular among the dominant warrior class under the rule of Japan's first shogunate (military government), the Kamakura. Today the largest Buddhist sect in Japan is the Nichiren school.

Shinto and Buddhism have been intertwined in Japanese society for centuries, and about 85 percent of the population identify themselves as members of one or both of these religions. Indeed, most Japanese blend the two, preferring attendance at Shinto shrines for some events such as New Year's Day, wedding ceremonies, and the official start of adulthood at age 20 and Buddhist ceremonies for other events, most notably Obon (a midsummer celebration honoring ancestral spirits) and funerals. Confucianism and Daoism, which came to Japan from China by way of Korea, have also profoundly influenced Japanese religious life.

More than 20 million Japanese are members of various shinko shukyo, or new religions. The largest of these are Soka Gakkai and Rissho Koseikai, offshoots of Nichiren Buddhism, and Tenrikyo, an offshoot of Shinto. Most of the new religions were founded by charismatic leaders who have claimed profound spiritual or supernatural experiences and expect considerable devotion and sacrifices from members. Although it is very small in comparison to other religions, one of Japan's new religions, Aum Shinrikyo, gained considerable notoriety when some of its members released nerve gas into the Tokyo subway system in 1995, killing 12 people and injuring more than 5,000.

Japan also has a significant minority of Christians, estimated at about 1 million. Portuguese and Spanish missionaries introduced Christianity to Japan in the 16th century. The religion made strong inroads there until the Japanese government banned it as a potential threat to the country's political sovereignty from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century. Today, about two-thirds of Japan's Christians are Protestants, and about one-third are Roman Catholics. Small communities of followers of other world faiths live in Japan as well.

Coal deposits in Hokkaido and Kyushu are more abundant but are generally low grade, costly to mine, and inconveniently located with respect to major cities and industrial areas (the areas of highest demand). Japan does have abundant water and hydroelectric potential, however, and as a result the country has developed one of the world's largest hydroelectric industries. Japan is also short on metal and mineral resources. It was once a leading producer of copper, but its great mines at Ashio in central Honshu and Besshi on Shikoku have been depleted and are now closed. Reserves of iron, lead, zinc, bauxite, and other ores are negligible.

While the country is heavily forested, its demand for lumber, pulp, paper, and other wood products exceeds domestic production. Some forests in Hokkaido and northern Honshu have been logged excessively, causing local environmental problems. Japan is blessed with bountiful coastal waters that provide the nation with fish and other marine foods. However, demand is so large that local resources must be supplemented with fish caught by Japanese vessels in distant seas, as well as with imports. Japan's crop yields per land area sown are among the highest in the world, and the country produces more than 60 percent of its food.

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