Take a look at Japan – Land of the Rising Sun

BACKGROUND
Japan is one of the world’s strongest, yet small countries that has made a name for itself. Like many other countries, Japan has a rich history dating back to 10,000BC thanks to the discovery of Japanese art. From this time period, great emperors, empresses, samurai, ninjas, and frightening warlords have gone through many obstacles to become a world power. One of Japan’s most life-changing events happened in the 1600s. During this time Japan was secluded from any foreign affairs. Tokugawa Ieyasu was the last great shogun of Edo (Tokyo), Japan. His clan ruled over Japan as a military power for over 200 years. However, its seclusion came to a halt when Commodore Perry, a former American general made the Tokugawa family an offer they could not refuse to re-think their “no foreign affairs” policy. As time progressed since the incursion of western culture in Japan, western lifestyle began to affect Japanese clothing, technology, and their military. This then progressed to Japan becoming involved in recent wars such as the Sino-Japanese War, Russo- Japanese War, and lastly, World War II. Since Japan’s defeat in WWII, they have turned their efforts on building a strong economy. They remain one of the world’s top economic powers to date.

GOVERNMENT
Japan, today, has a constitutional monarchy since May 3, 1947. Similar to England’s government, it has a parliamentary process to their system. Since anyone can remember, Japan has always had an emperor. Unfortunately, the emperor has not always been the true power of Japan. Prior to the 16th century, Japan had many emperors as the true power of THE COUNTRY. However, Japan was then unified by three shoguns, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu. After their rule, the Meiji era started, which began the start of parliamentary rule. Post Meiji era events gave way to the development of the constitution. Like its western counterparts, Japan has a legislative, executive, and judiciary branch. The Legislative branch is run by a group called the Diet. The Executive branch has a group called the Cabinet which is headed by the Prime Minister. Finally, in the Judiciary branch, there resides a Supreme Court. The emperor still exists in Japanese society, but, he has no power. Today he remains as a figure head for the country.

DEMOGRAPHICS
Japan is located in Southeast of Korea. It is an island as well as its own country. Its geographic location is 36 00 N, 138 00 E. It is compared to the state of California in size. It has four main islands, Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Also the Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa, are currently apart of Japan. The climate of Japan can be compared to Michigan weather, experiencing four seasons of summer, winter, spring, and autumn. Its terrain is mostly mountain and rugged. It’s most famous mountain is Mount Fuji. In 2003, Japan calculated their total land area dedicated to agriculture, which was 25,920 sq km. The most widely consumed food in Japan is fish. Therefore, the fishing industry has progressed into an oceanic giant in Japan as well as other parts of Asia.

PEOPLE
Japan has a population of 127, 288, 416 people. Their native language is Japanese. The people in this country have been noted to have some of the world’s oldest living people. Japan’s life expectancy for men is usually around 78 years of age, while the women live to be around 85 years old. Their age longevity is due to their health conscious habits of eating natural and essential foods for the development of prolonging a healthy life. However, recently, there is a higher percentage of deaths than births in Japan. Japan is not only a home to the natives, but to Koreans, Chinese, and some of the western cultures like Brazil and America. Some of the reasons for Japan’s diversity is due to education and/or work. Most Japanese people spend fifteen years in school.

Additionally, Japan is home to several religions. Buddhism has been strong in Japan as well as other parts of Asian culture since the 6th century; however, Shintoism is Japan’s national religion. It dates from prehistoric times, which was created to have a reverence for nature. Many of their gods are figures of animals, such as a fox or bear. The Japanese word for god is “kami.” One important fact is that Japan’s first emperor was said to be the offspring of the sun goddess. There is a small percentage of Christianity in Japan as well, mostly Catholic or Protestant Christians.
CULTURE
Japanese culture is very fluid and can be seen from the way they dress to how they celebrate holidays. Japan is home of the kimono. It is a beautiful robe like gown for men and women. It is their traditional dress, but since the introduction of western style in the 1800s, Japanese people adopted the suit and tie attire for businessmen. Japanese usually wear their kimonos on special occasions, like festivals, weddings, and funerals. However, some older generation women wear their kimonos everywhere they go, such women like Geishas. Traditional weddings will have women wearing kimonos but it does not exclude the possibility of a bride wanting to be wed in a western style wedding. One of Japan’s most famous festivals is the annual cherry blossom festival which occurs in the spring time. Music is another area which displays Japan’s artistic culture. Lots of traditional Japanese music features instruments like the koto, similar to a harp. This instrument was designed in the form of crouching dragons and holding thirteen strings. One of Japan’s traditional dances is called Bon Odori. It is a dance where everyone that participates dances around a figure in a full revolution. Other dances occur with particular fashions all over Japan. It is also important to know that every city has its own customs and traditions.

LANGUAGE
Japanese people speak Japanese. The language consists of three different alphabets: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Hiragana is used for native words in Japan. Katakana is used for any foreign word to Japanese, such as American words. Kanji is the integration of Chinese characters with Japanese. All three of these alphabets are merged together in everyday literatures, signs, and messages. The streets of Japan are full of kanji characters and in recent years, some Rominaization (American) letters. Besides the alphabet, there are several ways to communicate with each other. There is a language for family members, peers, teachers to students, elderly to youth and youth to elderly, and also a business language.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
Business in Japan has greatly progressed over the years in technology. Japan does business with the U.S. as well as parts of Asia. Its currency is called yen. Today, with the existence of the GDP (gross domestic product), Japan has become the second strongest global economic power. This is because of their closely knits groups called keiretsus. However, it is interesting to note that Japan’s industrial sector is extremely dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. In the agricultural sector, rice is usually one of Japan’s most import foods. Because fish is widely consumed in Japan, it maintains one of the world’s largest fishing fleets and brings in about 15% of the world’s supply of fish. The push for Japan railways, such as the Shinkansen “bullet train,” also added to their strong economic standing.