Land of the Rising Sun
• Angulo, Fernando • Salinas, Diego
7th Grade Trinity School 2014
Angulo-Salinas Salinas
JAPAN Land of the Rising Sun Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, Ocean it lies to the east of theSea of Japan, China, China North Korea, South Korea and Russia,, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", origin", which is why Japan is often referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun". Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelag o of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Ky ushu, and Shikoku, which together comprise about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Due to its location in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan is substantially prone to earthquakes and tsunami, having the highest natural disaster risk in thedeveloped developed world. world Japan has the world's tenth-largest largest population, population with over 126 million people. Honsh큰's Honsh Greater Tokyo Area,, which includes the de facto capital of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents. Japan is a member of the UN, the G7, the G8, the G20. A major economic great power, Japan is a developed country and has the world's third-largest largest economy by nominal GDP and the world's fourth-largest fourth economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the world's fourth-largest largest exporter and fourth-largest importer.. Although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, war, it maintains a modern military with the world's eighth largest rgest military budget, budget used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan ranks high in metrics of prosperity prosperi such as the Human Development Index, Index with Japanese women enjoying the highest life expectancy of any country in the world and the infant mortality rate being the third lowest lowes globally.
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Map
Flag
Imperial Seal
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History Around 300 BC, the Yayoi people began to enter the Japanese islands The Yayoi period,, starting around 500 BC, saw the introduction of practices like wet-rice wet farming, a new style of pottery, and metallurgy, metallurgy introduced from China and Korea. Buddhism was first introduced to Japan from Baekje of Korea,, but the subsequent development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily influenced by China. Despite early resistance, ance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class and gained widespread acceptance beginning in the Asuka period (592–710) The Nara period (710–784) (710 784) of the 8th century marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state, centered on an imperial court in Heijō-kyō (modern Nara). ). The Nara period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent literature as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired art and architecture In 784, Emperor Kammu moved the capital from Nara to Nagaoka-kyō Nagaoka before relocating it to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto)) in 794. This marked the beginning of the Heian period (794–1185), 1185), during which a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged, noted for its art, poetry and prose.
Feudal era Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence and dominance of a ruling class of warriors, the samurai. In 1185, following the defeat of the Taira clan in the Genpei war, sung in the epic Tale of Heike,, samurai Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed shogun and established a base of power in Kamakura. After his death, the Hōjō ō ō clan came to power as regents for the shoguns. During the 16th century, traders and Jesuit missionaries from Portugal reached Japan for the first time, initiating direct commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West.
Modern era On March 31, 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry and the "Black Black Ships" Ships of the United States Navy forced the opening of Japan to the outside world with the Convention of Kanagawa.. Subsequent similar treaties with Western countries in theBakumatsu theBakumatsu period brought economic and political crises. The early 20th century saw a brief period of "Taishō " democracy"" overshadowed by increasing expansionism and militarization. World War I enabled Japan, on the side of the victorious Allies, to widen its influence and territorial holdings. holdings. It continued its expansionist policy by occupying Manchuria in 1931; as a result of international condemnation of this occupation,, Japan resigned from the League of Nations two years later. In 1936, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany, Germany and the 1940 Tripartite Pact made it one of the Axis Powers. In 1941, Japan negotiated the Soviet– Japanese Neutrality Pact.
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Angulo-Salinas Salinas In 1940, the Empire then invaded French Indochina,, after which the United States placed an oil embargo on Japan. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor and declared war, bringing the US into World War II. After the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender on August 15. The war cost Japan and the rest of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Co Sphere millions of lives and left much of the nation's industry and infrastructure destroyed. In 1947, Japan adopted a new constitution emphasizing liberal democratic practices. The Allied occupation ended with theTreaty the of San Francisco in 1952 and Japan was granted membership in the United Nations in 1956. Japan later achieved rapid growth to become the second-largest second economy in the world, until surpassed by China in 2010. This ended in the mid-1990s 1990s when Japan suffered a major recession.. In the beginning of the 21st century, positive growth has signaled a gradual economic recovery.[52] On March 11, 2011, Japan suffered the strongest earthquake in its recorded history; history this triggered gered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster,, one of the worst disasters in the history of nuclear power. power
Government Japan is a constitutional the Emperor is very limited.
monarchy where
the
power
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As a ceremonial figurehead, he is defined by the constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." Power is held chiefly by the Prime Minister and other elected members of the Diet, while sovereignty soverei is vested in the Japanese people. eople. Akihito is the current Emperor of Japan; Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan, Japan stands as next in line to the throne.
Geography Japan has a total of 6,852 islands extending along the Pacific coast of East Asia. The country, including all of the islands it controls, lies between latitudes 24째 and 46째N, and longitudes 122째 and 146째E. The main islands, from n orth to south, areHokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. The Ryukyu Islands,, which includesOkinawa, includes are a chain to the south of Kyushu. Together they are often known as theJapanese the Archipelago. About 73 percent of Japan is forested, mountainous, and unsuitable for agricultural,industrial, or residential use. As a result, the habitable zones, mainly located
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Angulo-Salinas Salinas in coastal areas, have extremely high population densities. Japan is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The islands of Japan are located in a volcanic zone. Japan has 108 active volcanoes, and due to its location in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan is substantially prone to earthquakes and tsunami, having the highest natural disaster risk in the developed world.
Climate The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate,, but varies greatly from north to south. The average winter temperature in Japan is 5.1 °C (41.2 °F) and the average summer temperature is 25.2 °C (77.4 °F). [83] The highest temperature ever measured in Japan—40.9 °C (105.6 °F) —was — recorded on August 16, 2007.
Biodiversity Japan has nine forest ecoregions which reflect the climate and geography of the islands. Japan has over 90,000 species of wildlife,, including the brown bear, the Japanese macaque,, the Japanese raccoon dog, and the Japanese giant salamander. salamander A large network of national parks has been established to protect important areas of flora and fauna as well as thirty-seven thirty Ramsar wetland sites. Four sites have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for their outstanding natural value.
Economy Many of today's enterprises were founded at the time, and Japan emerged as the most developed nation in Asia. The period of overall real economic growth from the 1960s to the 1980s has been called the Japanese post-war economic miracle:: it averaged 7.5 percent in the 1960s and 1970s, and 3.2 percent in the 1980s and early 1990s. As of 2012, Japan is the third largest national economy in the world, after the United States and China, in terms of nominal GDP, and the fourth largest national economy in the world, after the United States, China and India, in terms of purchasing power parity. As of December 2013, Japan's public debt was more than 200 percent of its annual gross domestic product, the second largest of any nation in the world.
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Imports and Exports Japan's exports amounted to US$4,210 per capita in 2005. As of 2012, Japan's main export markets were China (18.1 percent), the United States (17.8 percent), South Korea (7.7 percent), Thailand (5.5 percent) and Hong Kong (5.1 percent). Its main exports are transportation equipment, motor vehicles, electronics, electrical machinery and chemicals. Japan's main import markets as of 2012 were China (21.3 percent), the US (8.8 percent), Australia (6.4 percent), Saudi Arabia (6.2 percent), United Arab Emirates (5.0 percent), South Korea (4.6 percent) and Qatar(4.0 (4.0 percent). Japan's main imports are a machinery and equipment, fossil fuels,, foodstuffs (in particular beef), chemicals, textiles and raw materials for its industries.
Science and technology Japan is a leading nation in scientific research, particularly technology, machinery and biomedical research.. Nearly 700,000 researchers share a US$130 billion research and development budget, the third largest in the world. Japan is a world leader in fundamental scientific research,, having produced sixteen Nobel laureates in either physics, chemistry or medicine. Some of Japan's more prominent technological contributions are in the fields of electronics, automobiles, machinery, earthquake engineering, industrial robotics, robot optics, chemicals, semiconductors and metals. Japan leads the world in robotics production and use, possessing more than half (402,200 of 742,500) of the world's industrial robots. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is Japan's space agency; agency it conducts space, planetary, and aviation research, and leads development of rockets and satellites. It is a participant in the International Space Station: Station the Japanese Experiment Module (Kibo) was added to the station during Space Shuttle assembly flights in 2008.
Infrastructure As of 2011, 46.1 percent of energy in Japan was produced from petroleum, 21.3 percent from coal, 21.4 percent from natural gas, 4.0 percent from nuclear power, power and 3.3 percent from hydropower. Its 1.2 million kilometers of paved road are the main means of transportation. A single network of high-speed, speed, divided, limited-access limited toll roads connects major cities and is operated by toll-collecting collecting enterprises. Dozens of Japanese railway companies compete in regional and loca local passenger transportation markets. Some 250 high-speed high Shinkansen trains connect major cities and Japanese trains are known for their safety and punctuality.
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Angulo-Salinas Salinas There are 173 airports in Japan; the largest domestic airport, Haneda Airport, is Asia's second-busiest busiest airport. airport The largest international gateways are Narita International Airport, Kansai International Airport and Chūbu Centrair International national Airport. Airport Nagoya Port is the country's largest and busiest port, accounting for 10 percent of Japan's trade value.
Demographics Japan's population is estimated at around 127.3 million, with 80% of the population living on Honshū.. Japanese society is linguistically and culturally homogeneous, homogen composed of 98.5% ethnic Japanese, with small populations of foreign workers Japan has the second longest overall life expectancy at birth of any country in the world: 83.5 .5 years for persons born in the period 2010–2015. 2010 The Japanese population is rapidly aging as a result of a post–World War II baby boom followed by a decrease in birth rates. In 2012, about 24.1 percent of the population was over 65, and the proportion is i projected to rise to almost 40 percent by 2050.
Religion Japan enjoys full religious freedom based on Article 20 of its Constitution.. Upper estimates suggest that 84–96 percent of the Japanese population subscribe to Buddhism or Shinto, including a large number of followers of a syncretism of both religions.
Languages More than 99 percent of the population speaks Japanese as their first language. Japanese is an agglutinative language distinguished by a system of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary indicating the relative status of speaker and listener. Japanese writing uses kanji (Chinese characters)) and two sets of kana (syllabaries based on simplified Chinese characters), ), as well as the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals
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Education Primary schools, secondary schools and universities were introduced in 1872 as a result of the Meiji Restoration. Since 1947, compulsory education in Japan comprises elementary and middle school,, which together last for nine years (from age 6 to age 15). Almost all children continue their education at a three-year three seniorhigh school,, and, according to the MEXT, as of 2005 about 75.9 percent of high school graduates attended a university, junior college, trade school, or other higher education institution. The two top-ranking ranking universities in Japan are the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University.
Health In Japan, health care is provided by national and local governments. Payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal health insurance insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee. People without insurance through employers can participate in a national health insurance program administered by local governments.
Culture Japanese culture has evolved greatly from its origins. Contemporary culture combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America. Traditional Japanese arts include crafts such as ceramics, ceramics textiles, lacquerware, swords and dolls;; performances performance of bunraku, kabuki, noh, dance, dance and rakugo;; and other practices, the thetea ceremony, ikebana, martial arts, arts calligraphy, origami, onsen, Geisha and games. games
Cuisine Japanese cuisine is based on combining staple foods,, typically Japanese rice or noodles,, with a soup and okazu — dishes made from fish,, vegetable, tofu and the like – to add flavor to the staple food. In the early modern era ingredients such as red meats that had previously not been widely used in Japan were introduced. Japanese cuisine is known for its emphasis on seasonality of food, quality of ingredients ingre and presentation. Japanese cuisine offers a vast array of regional specialties that use traditional recipes and local ingredients.
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Sports Traditionally, sumo is considered Japan's national sport. Japanese martial arts such as judo, karate and kendo are also widely practiced and enjoyed by spectators in the country. After the Meiji Restoration, many Western sports were introduced in Japan and began to spread through the education system. Japan hosted the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964.. Japan has hosted the Winter Olympics twice: twice:Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998. Tokyo will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, Olympics making Tokyo the first Asian city to host the Olympics twice. Japan is the most successful Asian Rugby Union country, winning the Asian Five Nations a record 6 times and winning the newly formed IRB Pacific Nations Cup in 2011. Japan will host the 2019 IRB Rugby World Cup. Baseball is currently the most popular spectator sport in the country. Japan's top professional league, Nippon Professional Baseball, Baseball, was established in 1936. The Japan national football team represents Japan in association football and is operated by the Japan Football Association Associa (JFA), the governing body for association football in Japan. Japan Their head coach is Javier Aguirre. Aguirre Japan is one of the most successful football teams in Asia,, having qualified for the last five consecutive FIFA World Cups. Cups Japan is the only team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa AmĂŠrica,, having been invited in both 1999 and 2011. However, Japan declined their invitation on May 16, 2011 after events related with the TĹ?hoku earthquake and difficulty to release some Japanese players from European teams to play as a replacement.
Japanese clothing The Japanese typically wear two types of clothing. In modern Japan, clothing is typically divided into western clothing and Japanese clothing. While the traditional ethnic garments of Japan are still in use, they are mainly worn for ceremonies and special events, events funerals, coming-of-age age ceremonies (seijin ( shiki), and festivals.. Western clothing is worn often in day-to-day day life. e. While the westernization of fashions has continued at a rapid pace, the kimono still lives on within the Japanese culture.
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Japanese clothing consisted entirely of a great variety of kimono. kimono They first appeared in the Jomon period, with no distinction between male and female. After Japan opened up for trading with the outside world, other options started to come in. The kimono was originally iginally for the men and the elderly of the household but a group of women that called themselves Wan Ko Bee rose up against the system and started wearing them. Figuring they were much more practical, all women started wearing them, turning a new leaf for the Japanese.
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webgraphy Japan. Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan
Japan economy. Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_economy
Japan National Football team. Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_national_football_team#FIFA_World_Cup
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