Geography and Climate
The land of the rising sun is an archipelago of nearly 7,000 islands in Eastern Asia. The island nation lies in the Pacific Ocean east of the Sea of Japan, China, the Korean Peninsula and Russia. The country stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. Japan is an isolated island nation in the middle of the Sea of Japan and the North Pacific Ocean. Just a bit smaller than California, Japan’s land area makes it the sixty-second largest country in the world.
Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, Japan’s four largest islands, represent 97 percent of the country’s land area. Nearly three-fourths of the country is forested and mountainous and not habitable. Most of Japan’s population centers are in its coastal areas, which have made the nation one of the most densely populated in the world. Fujiyama, or Mount Fuji, is Japan’s highest mountain, reaching an elevation over 12,000 feet.
Japan is in the Japan Standard Time (JST) zone, which is 17 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time (PST). There is no daylight saving time in Japan.
Japan’s climate is predominately temperate, but varies considerably from north to south. The country is divided into six main climatic zones: Hokkaido, Sea of Japan, Central Highland, Seto Inland Sea, Pacific Ocean and Ryukyu Islands. Northernmost Hokkaido has a long, cold winters and very warm to cool summers. The Sea of Japan zone on Honshu’s west coast has heavy winter snow and summers that are cooler than the Pacific area. The Central Highland has large temperature differences between summer and winter and between day and night with snow during the winter. The mountains of the Chugoku and Shikoku regions shelter the Seto Inland Sea, which brings mild weather year-round. Pacific Coast weather produces milder winters with occasional snowfall and hot, humid summers. The Ryukyu Islands have a subtropical climate with warm winters and hot summers. Japan can experience typhoons (hurricanes) in late summer and early autumn.
The islands of Japan are located in a volcanic zone on what is called the Pacific Ring of Fire and often experience natural disasters, such as typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Japan has 108 active volcanoes. Tremors are almost a daily occurrence, although most are not severe. In March 2011, Japan was struck by the Tohoku earthquake, a 9.0 tremor that generated a destructive tsunami and a national nuclear crisis.
People and Culture
Japan’s population of nearly 128 million makes it the tenth largest country in the world, but its declining birth rate, aging population and low immigration has the country concerned for its future. In 2012, Japan’s population declined by 212,000 people, the largest decrease ever recorded. The country’s population density of 343 persons per square kilometer is ranked seventh among countries with a population of 10 million or more. Since the primary language and ethnicity in Japan is Japanese, it is rare for other languages to be spoken. There are no other significant ethnicities other than Japanese.
Japan is divided into areas called prefectures, which are similar to states in the U.S. There are 47 prefectures that are further divided into sub-prefectures, districts and municipalities. These sub-prefectures are also divided into cities, towns and villages. The capital of Japan, Tokyo, is the country’s largest city with a metropolitan area population of over 32 million. Osaka is the second largest metro area in Japan with a population of nearly 17 million, followed by the Nagoya metropolitan area with a population over 9 million people.
Japan is said to have been founded in 600 B.C. by the Emperor Jimmu. In 405 A.D., Japan adopted the Chinese writing system and later Buddhism, which helped revolutionize Japanese culture and marked the beginning of a long period of Chinese cultural influence. Contact with the West came much later in 1542 when a Portuguese ship headed to China was blown off course and landed in Japan. After this accidental meeting, the next century saw traders from Portugal, the Netherlands, England and Spain arrive in Japan. Fear of foreigners led Japan’s shogunate to eventually ban all relations with the outside world for 200 years. Foreigners were not permitted in Japan again until 1854, when Commodore Mathew Perry of the U.S. Navy forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa.
By 1898, Japan had begun to create modern economic, education, military and industrial systems that allowed it to become a regional power. During the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Japan defeated the forces of both China and Russia. In 1931 it occupied Manchuria and in 1937 launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked the U.S. in 1941, forcing America’s entry into Word War II. After its defeat during that war, Japan recovered to become an economic power and an ally of the U.S. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, elected politicians hold actual decision-making power in the country. Japan’s economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s, but the country still remains a major global economic power.