A small nation in the eastern part of Asia
, Japan , today has emerged as the
second largest economy of the world and subsequently a member of the United Nations, G8 and APEC. Lying to the east of China
, Japan is surrounded by the Sea of Okhotsk in the north and the East China Sea on the South. The name
Japan itself signifies “sun-origin” and that is precisely the reason why it is called the
“Land of the Rising Sun” across the globe. With a conglomeration of about
3000 islands , and a mountainous and volcanic
geography,
Japan is presently the
10 th most populated country in the world .
Mount Fuji is
Japan 's highest point and the city of
Tokyo ,
Japan 's capital ,
is the largest city of Japan .
History first mentions
Japan in the Chinese texts of the 10 th millennium BC but recent survey has shown that mankind inhabited Japanese islands back in the Paleolithic age. Although civilization started around 3 rd century BC with the Jamon culture, the Japanese culture was truly shaped with the introduction of
Mahayana Buddhism during the 6 th century AD. In the succession of imperial rules that followed, special mention should me made of the
Samurais, the ruling warrior class of the feudal era. However,
Japan first opened its secluded economy to the world during the 19 th century with the advent of the
Americans.
Japan 's most significant mention in History came during the World War II and the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings . Following the defeat in World War II , Japan set up
a unitary constitutional monarchy in 1947 , which follows liberal policies.
Ever since, the world has witnessed
Japan 's spectacular rise in world economy mostly owing to its
high-technology boom . It is rapidly expanding and its culture is being shaped today by its vast number of major cities. Although
Japan enjoys mostly a temperate climate, there is a variation as one travels from the North to South. The Pacific Ring of Fire however makes
Japan extremely vulnerable to
volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. Typhoons are predominant all across
Japan , which brings heavy rains. However
Japan 's tourism especially thrives on all its natural resources like the
Hot Springs . Japan is also noted throughout the world for its
martial arts and Sumo Wrestling, which incidentally is the national sport of
Japan .
