Japan

Located in East Asia and east of the Korean peninsula,

Japan is a very festive country. It has a lot of culture
and its main export is its technology. Japans
temperature is quite hot in most places. Today,
Japans capital is Tokyo, another well-known city is Kyoto, the former capital. The
population of the whole country consists of approximately 127 million. Japans currency is a
type of coin called yen. Japan is made up of
mainly four islands named Hokkaido, Honshu,
Shikoku and Kyushu, which hold a majority of the
countrys population. Japan holds the spot of
tenth rank in the highest population in the world.
One of Japans most popular sports is kendo
(sword fighting with bamboo sticks). The leaders
of this country are Shinzo Abe the prime minister
and Akihito the Emperor.


Culture
Japans food varies greatly from rice dishes all the way to hot pot dishes, a few in each
category are: sushi and curry rice, yakisakana, which is a seafood dish, ramen (very popular)
and udon for noodle dishes and oden and shabu shabu, which are hot pot or nabe dishes.

Clothing in Japan has changed a lot since ancient
times, though people still wear cultural dress
during festivals. Cultural dress include kimonos,
which are robes with long baggy sleeves, worn by
both men and women. Though when a mans
kimono may be just plain colours such as black or
brown, females kimonos are more vivid and
beautiful in colour and design as they are specially
designed and made depending on age, social
status and marital status.

Yukatas, which are a more casual form of a kimono and is worn only by women, is usually
worn after baths especially in traditional inns. The main or dominant religions in Japan are
Shinto and Buddism.

Though more and more Japanese people are switching to
the urban way of housing, traditional Japanese houses are
still used now a days. Traditional Japanese houses are
wooden with wooden pillars and shoes are not worn inside.
Japanese
Flag (Below)
One room at least tends to be covered with floor mats and tables are low and chairs are
replaced with floor cushions.




History
Japan is a country with a long history, it has been involved in many wars, such as World War
2. The only reason for them taking any part in this war were because of the dictators
Hirohito and Tojo. Japan was also including in the First Sino Japanese war, fought between
the Qing Dynasty China and the Meiji Province in Japan from the first of August 1894-17
August 1895. During this, Japan dominated with six months of unbroken success whilst
China lost the port of Weihei to Japan.

National Holidays
National holidays in Japan include shogatsu, which is Japanese New Year, celebrated on the
first of January. It is the most important holiday in the whole of Japan. Another holiday is
the Emperors Birthday or tenno no tanjobi in Japanese, it is currently celebrated on the 23
rd

of December (The birthday of current Emperor Akihito), but will change once a new
emperor comes to power.

Government
Since the government of Japan is a constitutional monarchy, the Emperor, Akihito, does not
have much power, instead the Prime minister, Shinzo Abe, controls the country.

Geography
In Japan, the climate in winter is quite dry and sunny. In spring it is not too hot. It is hot and
humid in summer and has a cooler temperature in autumn, this makes Japan a country that
is known for its bright pink cherry blossoms. Due to Japans place in the pacific ring of fire,
Japan is prone to earth quakes and tsunamis. The currency in Japan, the Japanese yen, holds
a weak value of about 100 yen to one Australian dollar. This country has many historical
landmarks such as Mt Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan, the much more modern Tokyo
tower and the Jigoku dani Monkey Park which is home to the snow monkeys.







Bibliography: Info on Japan, http//www.statravel.com.au, 7/8/14
Japan, http//www.web-Japan.org/kidsweb/, 8/8/14
Beliefs, http//www.destination-asia.com/Japan/about/beliefs, 11/8/14
Traditional Japanese house (Above)