Travel Asia

myanmar's

.net

HOME || french | deutch | italiano | español | japanese | chinese | korean

Myanmar (Burma) Information Bank: travel, cultural, and business related information sources and myanmar's net directory

Japan

Brief

In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Following the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States in 1854, Japan opened its ports and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1933 Japan occupied Manchuria and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth, but Japan still remains a major economic power, both in Asia and globally. In 2005, Japan began a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Negligible mineral resources and fish and the main natural resources of Japan.

Location

Japan is located in Eastern Asia, there are island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula.

People

The country has a population of 127,417,244. The nationality of this country is Japanese. The Japanese practices Christianity and Buddhism mainly.

Language

Japanese is mainly spoken with some speaking English. Most of the population are Japanese, but Koreans, Chinese, and Filipinos are among the dwellers in Japan.

Tourist Attractions

The capital city of Japan is Tokyo. The main four islands of Japan are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Hokkaido is in the northeast and the home of the island's capital city of Sapporo. Honshu is the largest island and the Japanese core area which includes Tokyo and Osaka-Kyoto. Honshu is the world's seventh largest island. Shikoku and Kyushu are in the south. All the four islands are together divided into 47 prefectures.

The cherry blossom (sakura) is Japan's unofficial national flower. It has been celebrated for many centuries and takes a very prominent position in Japanese culture. These flower bloom in April.

Sapporo Snow Festival is one of the most popular festival in Japan. There are nearly 200 snow sculptures in the competition yearly. It's usually held for about a week in February when snow is very heavy in Sapporo.