Japan

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,[1] the largest of which are Honshû,
Hokkaidô, Kyûshû 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.

Archaeological research indicates that people were living on the islands of Japan as early
as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan begins with brief
appearances in Chinese history texts from the first century AD. Influence from the outside
world followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. Thus, its
culture today is a mixture of outside influences and internal developments. Since adopting
its constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an
emperor and an elected parliament, the Diet.



A great power,[2] Japan's economy is the world's second largest by nominal GDP after the
United States. It is a member of the United Nations, G8, G4 and APEC, with the world's
fifth largest defense budget. It is the world's fourth largest exporter and sixth largest
importer

Itsukushima Shrine Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) Hanami Onsen

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