Japan ’s National Profile

A n archipelago in the Pacific, Japan is separated from the east coast of Asia by the Sea of Japan. It is approximately the size of Montana. Japan's four main islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. The Ryukyu chain to the southwest was U.S.-occupied from 1945 to 1972, when it reverted to Japanese control, and the Kurils to the northeast are Russian-occupied.

Japan's topography is characterized as mountainous and hilly. About three-fourths of Japan land area is mountainous. Thus, Japan lacks flat land for agriculture and residential locations. This is why millions of Japanese are living in narrow flatland areas. A major feature of Japan's climate is the clear-cup temperature changes between the four seasons.  From north to south, Japan covers a range of latitude of some 25 degrees and is influenced in the winter by seasonal winds blowing from Siberia and in the summer by seasonal winds blowing from the Pacific Ocean.  In spite of its rather small area, Japan is characterized by four different climatic patterns.

Hokkaido , with a sub arctic weather pattern, has a yearly average temperature of eight degrees centigrade and receives an average annual precipitation of 1,150 millimeters.  The Pacific Ocean side of Japan, from the Tohoju region of northern Honshu to Kyushu, belongs to the temperate zone, and its summers are hot, influenced by seasonal winds from the Pacific.  The side of the country, which faces the Sea of Japan, has a climate with much rain and snow, produced when cold. The Central Alps and other mountains, which run along Japan’s center like a backbone, stop moisture-bearing seasonal winds from the continent in their advance. The southwestern islands of Okinawa Prefecture belong to the subtropical climate zone and have a yearly average temperate of over 22 degrees, while receiving over 2,000 millimeters of precipitation.

 
Mount Fuji
Mount Mount Fiji is Japan's highest peak. Fiji, which has an elevation of 3,776 meters above sea level, is a typical conical dormant volcano. The peak of the mountain is covered with snow during winter and is very breath taking to behold. Mount Fiji has now become the center of tourist destination in Japan. Because of its grandeur, tremendous perfect cone and the fine weather tract thousands of visitors from across the globe. All tourists’ trip would not be complete without visiting Mount Fuji.

Japan ’s Water Resources
Japan's mountainous terrain is run through by rivers, which are short, but with strong rapids. The longest is the Shinanao. Another important river is the Chuan River, which is 367 km in length. These rivers are used for generating hydroelectric power. Another significant function of Japan’s rivers is for transportation. Other beautiful natural scenery in Japan are its lakes known for their clear waters where one can see the bottom. The biggest lake in Japan is Biwako with an area of 674 square kilometers. The deepest lake so far is the Tianze. It has a depth of 423 meters. Aside from the lakes, another must see destination in Japan is its lagoons. The famous one is Xiapu lagoon with an area of 168 square kilometers.

Climate
Japan experiences regional climate significant differences as influenced by the country’s complex terrain, ocean current, and its location, which is across the subtropical region of Asia. As exposed to the monsoon, Japan experiences a winter cold front moving southward and then a summer tropical air that moves northward. During the monsoon, Japan. Because of warm air from the Pacific, the Japanese archipelago receives adequate rainfall in most areas with a recorded annual rainfall of up to 1600 -1700 mm during the months of June to July. Crops and other agricultural products start during the rainy season. The Southwest region of Japan is also frequently attacked by typhoons while the northwest region is hit by cold winter monsoon, which causes the Sea of Japan coast yield more snowfall so that this area has become the world's heaviest snowfall. It records of annual snowfall of 4-5 meters deep. The eastern region however, experiences hot and dry climate in contrast with the other regions of Japan. The island of Honshu has a very hot summer on its southern part. It is almost the same with the Southeast Asia climate. These made rice, potatoes and other plants as typical crop products of the south of Honshu

Culture
Japan can be called the world's most rapidly changing countries. Nevertheless, the Japanese nation is very conservative. Japan’s culture is an evolution of long history and tradition like the sumo wrestling. But the modernized Japan has accepted European ideas and culture. Japan's literature, visual arts, and even calligraphy show the perfect blend of the old and the new, the East and the West characteristics. City tour of Japan leads you to the simple and elegant temple shrines with modernized skyscrapers. String musical instruments played by native players giver an exotic taste of ballads and rhythms, which speak the Japanese love and fondness for music. Japan ’s Symphony and its standard for music have been recognized worldwide. Tea Ceremony and Ikebana is the Japanese pride in the field of the arts. Ikebana refers to the unique Japanese flower arrangement planted in aesthetic pots. The Tea Ceremony and Ikebana are required courses for Japanese women as part of their formal education and culture.

Japanese love sports. They love golfing and made it as their regular sports. The Japanese love the movements made in golfing. Nine out of then Japanese are golf enthusiasts. Judo and Kendo are martial arts, which have been regarded as a very special type of sports. Every Japanese must know this types of martial arts for discipline and self-defense. Baseball is also very popular in Japan. The national sport of Japan however is the Sumo. The Sumo, which means “national essence” dates back about 2,000 years ago and it has been a significant part of Japan’s history. Because of Japan’s frequent interaction with China, the Japanese learned to love Chess as a form of mental sport.

Diet
The staple foods of the Japanese are rice, vegetables, fish and meat. But nowadays, Japanese cuisine has popularized Chinese and Western dishes. Japan is known for being abundant in water, hence, anywhere in Japan experiences no water scarcity. While Japanese girls are allowed to go disco, they are required to study traditional culture dating from the ancient times such as the ikebana and tea ceremony. This proves that Japan’s culture is a perfect marriage of the old and the new, the East and the West.

Transportation
Japan's has a total of 20 international airports: Tokyo International (Narita), the Tokyo International (Haneda), Nagoya, Kansai International, Kamiokande, Sapporo Hakodate, Aomori, Sendai, Niigata, Toyama, Komatsu (Ishikawa Prefecture), Okayama, Hiroshima, Takamatsu, Matsuyama, Nagasaki, Oita, Kagoshima and Okinawa. Foreign State representatives and diplomatics will always use either the FF cForeign representatives or diplomats will always enter Japan through the Tokyo International Airport (Narita) or the Kansai International Airport. From the airport to the main destination, travelers may take trams, buses and taxis as means of transportation. Japan is internationally known for their peace and order condition. It is known for low crime rate, high arrest rate and rigid security measures. 。

Japan 's currency
Japan's currency is the yen. Notes are 10,000 yen, 1,000 yen, and 500 yen. Coins have notes of 100 yen, 50 yen, 10 yen and 5 yen, 1 yen. Major currency swaps can be convertible to the bank. US Dollar is often the highest rate exchange against yen in the bank. However, exchange rates of foreign currency done in airports are at very minimum against the yen. Money changing can also be done in hotels through the cashier. The exchange rate is higher than in airports but lower than in banks. Japanese generally pay in cash when shopping. But now the use of credit cards has become more popular. Generally checks are not commonly used in paying bills.

Entertainment and other
In Tokyo alone there are a lot of entertainment venues such as bars, Brasserie, nightclubs restaurants and many others. But these venues are usually expensive. There are also cheap entertainment venues in Japan like bars attached to motels. You can also have leisure on rooftops of some department stores especially during summer. Tourists also frequent places like these.
In addition, Japan has famous classical drama, dances and ballet. Watching these stage presentations give you a clear picture and understanding of Japan’s history and rich culture. Of course, there are also a lot of movie houses, which clearly speaks of modern Japan.