Japan
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| Nippon-koku | |
|---|---|
| Flag | 
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| Arms | 
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| Capital | Tokyo |
| Government | Parliamentary democracy/Federal Constitutional Monarchy |
| Official Language | Japanese |
| Head of State | Emperor Akihito |
| Prime Minister | Shinzo Abe |
| Area | 377,832 sq km 145,822 sq mi |
| Population (2007 estimate) | 127,433,494 |
| GDP (2006 estimate) | $4.2 trillion |
| GDP per capita (2006 estimate) | $33,100 |
Japan is a nation that consists of a group of islands off the eastern coast of Asia. The principal islands are, in the Roman alphabet, Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. Japan also controls many smaller islands, notably the Ryuku chain south of Kyushu, for a total land area slightly smaller than California. The islands of Japan are scattered between 24ºN and 45ºN latitude (roughly 1,800 miles, or Florida to Maine). As a result, the climate varies greatly. Its capital, Tokyo, is the largest metropolitan area in the world. [1]
Contents
History
Origins
Dating of pottery artifacts found in Japan indicates that humans were present in the Japanese archipelago since at least c.10000 BC (see Discover Journal, volume 19, number 6). The wild Japanese Bison was an early target of wild game, hunted to extinction within 500 years.
According to tradition, Japan was unified by Emperor Jimmu, the grandson of the goddess Amaterasu, in the year 660 B. C. He conquered Honshu, the largest island, in a series of expeditions starting from his home base of Setsuma in Kyushu.
The Feudal Era
Japan was closed off from the rest of the world for a long period of time under the rule of a series of military leaders known as Shoguns (see Tokugawa Shogunate), with the sole exception of Nagasaki, where Dutch merchants maintained a permanent trading post. While the Japanese Emperor continued to reign in the old capital of Kyoto, he was more of a figurehead with little more power than he possesses today.
The Imperial Era
The rule of the Shoguns came to an end in the middle of the 19th century during a brief but bloody period of conflict known as the Meiji Restoration, which was triggered in part by US Commodore Matthew Perry's naval expedition to Japan. During the Restoration a large number of young samurai from minor families, tired of the government's mishandling of the country and feeling that if action was not taken Japan would be dominated by western countries, initiated an armed revolt to restore imperial rule. Most samurai from the more powerful families sided with the Shogun, fearing that the minor families would replace them if the revolt was successful. Nonetheless, the shogunate was done away with in 1867 and the imperial period began. The capital was moved to Edo, which was renamed Tokyo; by the early twenty-first century, it had become the center of the world's largest urban conglomeration.
The phrase "imperial period" is not meant to imply that the emperor ruled absolutely in the style of Louis XIV or a Russian tsar; indeed, the emperors relied on prime ministers throughout this period. Rather, it refers to Japan competing with European powers and the United States for colonies and influence during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The high point of Japanese prestige was the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, in which Japan became the principal power in Manchuria and consolidated its control of Korea.
Japan's success at this great game would ultimately prove its undoing. By 1936, during the reign of Emperor Hirohito, the Japanese Empire would adopt the Orwellian title "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere." The increasingly powerful Japanese armed forces, partly inspired by European fascists, came to dominate Japanese politics, assassinating politicians whom they deemed insufficiently devoted to the Emperor and nation. For the next nine years, the military leadership installed its own members (such as Hideki Tojo, chief Japanese strategist of World War II) or, occasionally, civilians who were completely identified with their agenda, as prime minister.
The Modern Era
After the war ended in 1945, Japan was occupied by American forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. As Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific, MacArthur became the head of the occupation forces in Japan from August 1945 to 1951. One of the first things he did was for the emperor, Hirohito, to announce that he was not a god. MacArthur did a great deal to rebuild a nation severely damaged by the war. Japan was given a democratic constitution that prevented future military ventures, and internal reforms that charted a course for Japan which led it to become an economic and industrial colossus by the 1970's.
Current Status
Japan is currently the world's most populous constitutional monarchy, third largest economy (counting the European Union as one economy), and has the world's third largest defense budget (counting the constituents of the EU as separate states).
Japan's modern economy has many world leading industries and companies, being driven by exports and a mastery of high technology. However, in the 1990s, the economy underwent a major slowdown in part because of overinvestment and an asset price bubble during the late 1980s. Japan has a huge government debt, which exceeds the Gross Domestic product (176% of GDP) and also faces the challenge of a low birth rate, low immigration and an aging of the population which will further increase the debts. China also is becoming a larger economy and a bigger international trading partner than Japan.
The current Emperor is Akihito; he will be succeeded upon his death or abdication by Crown Prince Naruhito. The current Prime Minister is Yasuo, of the Liberal Democratic Party. This party is not to be confused with America's liberal Democrats; the corresponding party in Japan is the Socialists. The Liberal Democratic Party has formed all but two of Japan's post-World War II governments, which as in any parliamentary system rise and fall with somewhat less predictability than United States administrations.
Among constitutional monarchies, Japan is likely to be supplanted as most populous by Thailand sometime during the twenty-first century. This is as a result of Japan's low birth rate (in part a result of the nation's early legalization of abortion) and lack of desire to expand immigration (Japan is the most ethnically homogeneous of the world's wealthy countries). Ironically, the relative prosperity of Thailand is in large part due to heavy aid and investment by Japan.
Historically Japanese government has shifted between no official religion, Shintō, and Buddhism.[1] Modern Japan has no state religion.[2] An extreme interpretation of Shinto helped drive Japan's participation in World War II. As in other constitutional monarchies, political involvement of the emperor is limited by the constitution to ceremonial roles under the exclusive direction of the parliament, although symbolic gestures such as the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Yasukuni Shrine have occasionally antagonized Japan's neighbors. Most imported religions are practiced in Japan without interference, and Buddhism has been accepted by a large portion of the population. The percentage of Japanese who are Christian stands around 1%. [1] [3] [4] Japan has also spawned its share of cults, including the exceptionally lethal but fortunately short-lived Aum Shinrikyo movement of the early 1990's, which in 1994 became the first non-state organization to kill people with nerve gas.
Cities
Important Japanese cities are: Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kobe, Kyoto, Kawasaki, Saitama, Okinawa, Kamakura, Nara, Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Web Japan Fact Sheet, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
- ↑ Article 20 of the Japanese Constitution erects a legal barrier between political and religious entities.
- ↑ Central Intelligence Agency, The World Fact Book, Japan
- ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006 World Fact Sheet, Japan
