Japan is an island country in East
Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of
China, Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in
the north to the East China Sea in the south. The characters
that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan
is sometimes identified as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan comprises over three thousand islands, the largest of
which are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, together
accounting for 97% of land area. Most of the islands are
mountainous, many volcanic; for example, Japan’s highest peak,
Mount Fuji, is a volcano. Japan has the world's tenth largest
population, with about 128 million people. The Greater Tokyo
Area, which includes the capital city of Tokyo and several
surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the
world, with over 30 million residents.
Geography and climate:
Japan is a country of over three thousand islands extending
along the Pacific coast of Asia. The main islands, running from
north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu (the main island), Shikoku
and Kyushu. The Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa, are a chain
of islands south of Kyushu. Together they are often known as the
Japanese Archipelago.
About 70% to 80% of the country is forested, mountainous, and
unsuitable for agricultural, industrial, or residential use.
This is because of the generally steep elevations, climate and
risk of landslides caused by earthquakes, soft ground and heavy
rain. This has resulted in an extremely high population density
in the habitable zones that are mainly located in coastal areas.
Japan is the thirtieth most densely populated country in the
world.
Economy
Close government-industry
cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology,
and a comparatively small defense allocation have helped Japan
become the second largest economy in the world, after the United
States, at around US$4.5 trillion in terms of nominal GDP and
third after the United States and China in terms of purchasing
power parity.
Japan is home to the world's largest bank, the Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group, which has roughly US$1.7 trillion in assets;
the world's largest postal savings system; and the largest
holder of personal savings, Japan Post, holding personal savings
valued at around US$3.3 trillion. It is home to the world's
second largest stock exchange, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with a
market capitalization of over 549.7 trillion Yen as of December
2006. It is also home to some of the largest financial services
companies, business groups and banks. For instance several large
keiretsus (business groups) and multinational companies such as
Sony, Sumitomo, Mitsubishi and Toyota own billion- and
trillion-dollar operating banks, investment groups and/or
financial services such as Sumitomo Bank, Fuji Bank, Mitsubishi
Bank, Toyota Financial Services and Sony Financial Holdings.
Science and technology
Japan is a leading nation in the fields of scientific research,
technology, machinery and medical research. Nearly 700,000
researchers share a US$130 billion research and development
budget, the third largest in the world.
Some of Japan's more important technological contributions are
found in the fields of electronics, automobiles, machinery,
industrial robotics, optics, chemicals, semiconductors and
metals. Japan leads the world in robotics, possessing more than
half (402,200 of 742,500) of the world's industrial robots used
for manufacturing. It also produced QRIO, ASIMO and Aibo. Japan
is the world's largest producer of automobiles and home to six
of the world's fifteen largest automobile manufacturers and
seven of the world's twenty largest semiconductor sales leaders.
Culture and recreation
Japanese culture has evolved greatly over the years, from the
country's original Jomon culture to its contemporary culture,
which combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America.
Traditional Japanese arts include crafts (ikebana, origami,
ukiyo-e, dolls, lacquerware, pottery), performances (bunraku,
dance, kabuki, noh, rakugo), traditions (games, tea ceremony,
budo, architecture, gardens, swords) and cuisine. The fusion of
traditional woodblock printing and Western art led to the
creation of manga, a typically Japanese comic book format that
is now popular within and outside Japan. Manga-influenced
animation for television and film is called anime. Japanese-made
video game consoles have prospered since the 1980s.
