Japan :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Japan Slide Program Report Japan is a very small country, approximately 144,000 square miles (smaller than California), and is inhabited by a considerably large population of over 120 million people (half the United States!) This makes Japan the seventh most populous nation in the world. Japan is located at the far west side of the north pacific ocean, and consists of more than 4,000 islands! However, the Japanese people live on less than 10 percent of this land mass due to rough, mountainous, volcanic terrain, which make up a substantial 70 percent. One of the most famous and symbolic volcano’s is Mt. Fuji. Among these many islands, only four are commonly known, including Hakkaido (northern-most, considered to be Japan’s â€Å"frontier†), Shikoku (the smallest of the four), Kyushu (most southern), and Honshu ( the largest and most populated.) Japan’s capital city is Tokyo, which is also one of the world’s largest cities. It consists of 12 million people! Tokyo became the imperial capital in 1868, with the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the end of the feudal period. And of course, it is home to the Imperial palace. The chrysanthemum flower is the symbol of the imperial family. Japan is an extremely modern civilization. After World War 2, much of Japan was destroyed, so in the rebuilding process of the nation, they were able to impose the very latest in technology, making them an â€Å"economic superpower† today. Their Gross National Product is so successful in fact, that it has nearly surpassed ours here in the United States! And is ranked second in the world. One of my favorite things in their very technologically-advanced society are the â€Å"bullet trains†, which are able to carry many people at speeds of up to 130 mph! They are safe, reliable, immaculately clean, and on time to the very second...How efficient! Another is their very modern system of parking in the thriving city of Sapporo, in which cars are lifted and rearranged in order to take full advantage of every last inch of precious space in crowded Japan. Despite this modernization, Japan is also very determined to maintain it’s highly distinctive (and lovely) tradition. In an attempt to keep the country culturally isolated from the surrounding world, like it is physically, the ancient Japanese invented their very own unique culture including beautiful (and very expensive) kimono’s for the women, and sumo- wrestling for the men, just to name a few.