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Introduction
Flag of Japan
Japan is a country marked by contrast between old and new. The country values its complex and ancient cultural tradition. Yet life in modern Japan is increasingly focud on cities and modern technology. In the cond half of the 1900s, Japan emerged as one of the world's most economically and technologically advanced societies.
Japan is located off the east coast of Asia. The country consists of a string of
four large islands and more than 3,900 smaller islands. From north to south, the main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. The largest is Honshu, which is regarded as the Japane mainland. The Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa, arc to the south and west of Kyushu. Tokyo, on Honshu, is the capital and one of the world's largest cities.
Geography
The islands of Japan form an arc that stretches about 2,400 kilometres (1,500 miles) from north-east to south-west. Japan has no land border with any other country. The open waters of the Pacific Ocean border Japan's eastern and
south-eastern shores. China is to the south-west, across the East China Sea.
North and South Korea are to the west, across the Sea of Japan. Russia lies across the Sea of Japan to the north-west and the Sea of Okhotsk to the north. Japan has a total land area of 377,835 kilometres (145,883 square miles). Mountains cover more than 80 per cent of Japan's land surface. They divide the islands into hundreds of smaller ctions. The largest and highest mountain mass lies in central Honshu. Part of the range is known as the Japane Alps. Many
short river valleys and small lowland plains interrupt the mountain ranges. Most
of the plains lie along the coast.
Japan experiences hundreds of earthquakes every year. Most of them are minor, but a few are devastating. Undera earthquakes sometimes stir up tsunamis, or huge a waves. The country al
so has many volcanoes, both active and inactive. Mount Fuji, in central Honshu, has been inactive since 1707. With a height of
3,776 metres (12,388 feet), it is Japan's highest mountain.
Plants and Animals
Much of Japan's original vegetation has been replaced by farming or by plant species brought in from other countries. Forests cover a large part of the land. Pine, cypress, hemlock, cedar, fir and spruce are commercially valuable evergreens. The numerous broad-leaved trees include oak, maple, ash, birch, beech and poplar. Bamboo and palms grow in southern and central Japan.
The cherry tree is planted throughout the country and occurs naturally in parts
of the mountains. It is celebrated for its beautiful spring blossoms. The cherry
tree has long been one of the symbols of Japan.
Many animals live in the country's remote, forested mountain regions. The mammals include bears, foxes, deer, wild boars, antelope, hares and wild monkeys. The as are home to whales, dolphins,
porpois and a wide variety of commercially valuable fish. The raising of goldfish and colourful carp for decorative purpos is a Japane speciality.
People
The great majority of the Japane people share the same ethnic and cultural background. They are cloly related to the other peoples of eastern Asia. There are, however, veral minority groups. Koreans form the largest minority group. Many of them were born in Japan. The burakumin (‘people of the village') are ethnically the same as the majority of Japane. However, their ancestors were members of the former outcast class. The burakumin are often treated unfairly.
In addition, there are small numbers of Ainu, a native people of northern Japan. The relatively tiny foreign community in Japan is compod largely of Chine.
Buddhists visit the Kiyomizu temple, in Kyoto, Japan.
The country's official language is Japane. Shinto and Buddhism are the main religions. Shinto is bad on the worship of local spirits in nature. It
originated in Japan. A small proportion of the population is Christian. On Honshu are most of Japan'
s largest cities, including Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Nagoya, Kyoto, Kawasaki and Hiroshima. About 80 per cent of the country's people live on Honshu.
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Culture
Japan has a rich and complex culture. Native Japane traditions have been mixed with cultural styles adapted from China and, later, from the West. Japane
culture and art emphasi understated simplicity, elegance and grace. For example, the traditional Japane tea ceremony, flower arranging and garden
design are highly stylid and refined. On the other hand, contemporary Japane society fully embraces Western-style popular culture – influenced by television,
films and advertising.
Literature
Japan has a long and vibrant literary tradition. The Tale of Genji is considered
the world's first important novel. It was written in the early 1000s by Shikibu Murasaki, a lady of the Kyoto court. Renowned modern Japane writers include Soki Natsume, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Osamu Dazai, Jun'ichiro Tanizaki and Yukio Mishima. Japane novelist Yasunari Kawabata won the Nobel Prize for Literature
in 1968.
Poetry plays a central role in Japane culture. Occasions of many kinds are celebrated with poems. The most common forms are haiku and tanka – short, unrhymed poems with a certain number of syllables in each line.
Visual Arts
In classical Japane painting, black ink and watercolours were ud on
tissue-thin silk. The carefully compod paintings ud few brush strokes to
suggest a scene in nature. Ukiyo-e, or ‘pictures of the floating world',
depicted the life of common people. Japane woodcuts of the 1600s and 1700s
were among the finest examples of ukiyo-e.
Performing Arts
Traditional Japane theatre combines music, dance and drama. In puppet plays called Bunraku, nearly life-sized dolls are ud to act out a chanted story.
Japane No plays are generally short, stylid and heroic. The actors and
chorus chant fine poetry. While No theatre was originally restricted to the
upper class, Kabuki was the theatre of the townspeople and farmers. Kabuki
plays are colourful spectacles of singing, dancing, mime and melodrama.
Martial Arts
The martial arts in Japan originated with medieval warriors, the samurai, who
ud them in battle. Today the martial arts are more important as competitive
sports and as aids to physical and mental fitness. The most popular forms are
sumo wrestling, judo, aikido, karate and kendo.
Economy
Japan was defeated in World War II (1939–45), with great loss of life and property. Yet after the war it emerged as one of the most advanced economic
围巾什么牌子好powers in the world. The Japane economy grew remarkably throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Manufacturing developed especially rapidly. However, the economy slowed greatly in the early 1990s and suffered a major downturn at the
end of the decade. Nevertheless, Japan remained an economic superpower.
Japan's economy has revolved primarily around manufacturing and trade. The
Japane are the leading makers of ships, cars and advanced electronics and equipment – especially television ts, DVD players, computers, cameras, microwave ovens, watches, photocopiers and robots. The country has some of the world's largest and most advanced industrial plants. It is a major producer of
crude steel, synthetic rubber, aluminium, chemicals, plastics, cement and pulp
and paper.
Farming and fishing contribute only about two per cent of the national income.xxx处
Rice is the most important food and the main crop. Other leading crops include wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, fruit, vegetables and tea. A small number
of cattle and hogs are raid. Japan relies heavily on the a as a source of
food. It has one of the largest fish catches of any nation in the world.
History
Ancient Japan
People were living in Japan at least 10,000 years ago. According to legend, the Japane state was founded in 660 BC by the emperor Jimmu. Historical records, however, show that Japan was not united as one state until the late AD 300s or有志不在
400s. It was ruled by the Yamato dynasty.
During the Yamato period, Buddhism arrived in Japan from Korea. In addition, for many centuries the Japane borrowed heavily from Chine culture. The Japane adopted Chine characters to write the Japane language. Imperial courts bad
on Chine models appeared in Japan in the 700s.
From the 800s to the 1100s the Fujiwara family dominated Japan. This period was
a classic age of art and literature. Japan's culture no longer borrowed from
China but became distinctively Japane.
Military Government
During the 1100s a class of warriors called samurai ro to power. However, the emperor continued to hold some authority. The samurai had sophisticated military skills. They developed a disciplined way of living, which followed a code of
conduct bad on loyalty and sacrifice.
In the late 1100s Yoritomo Minamoto established Japan's first military
government at Kamakura. Minamoto was named shogun, or chief military commander, and his government was called a shogunate. Except for periods of internal
warfare, this form of government persisted until 1868.
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Meanwhile, Japan was developing trade contacts with the outside world. Official trade missions to China began in 1404. In 1543, Portugue traders arrived,
followed by the Spanish, English and Dutch. Some of the Japane converted to Christianity.
Unification
The government's division and disorder ended in the late 1500s. By 1590 Toyotomi Hideyoshi had brought the region under his control. After Hideyoshi's death in 1598, his supporter Ieyasu Tokugawa took over. Under Tokugawa, the country was again united under a strong shogunate.
For the next two centuries, Japan enjoyed great peace and stability. A national
market developed, and the economy flourished. Advances were made in farming techniques. Osaka and Edo (now named Tokyo) became great commercial and cultural centres.
The period was also marked by isolation. The Tokugawa government feared that Japan was being prepared for foreign conquest. The Tokugawa banned Christianity and expelled almost all foreigners. Japan cut back on foreign trade. In
addition, the Japane were forbidden to leave the country.
By the mid-1800s the Tokugawa shogunate was unable to keep European and United States traders away. The Tokugawa's support among the Japane people collapd.
In 1868 the Tokugawa shogun was forced to step down.
The Meiji Emperor
A new government was established under the young emperor Mutsuhito, who took the name of Meiji, meaning ‘enlightened government'. This transfer of power from the Tokugawa shogunate to the Meiji emperor is known as the Meiji Restoration. It is regarded as the beginning of Japan's modern era.
Expansion
Japan soon sought to build an empire. It successfully fought a war with China (1894–95) and with Russia (1904–05). As a result, Japan took over some of the
two countries' posssions in East Asia. It made Korea into a Japane colony in 1910.
During World War I (1914–18), Japan fought on the side of the Allied powers (mainly Britain, France and Russia). The Allied powers won the war. Japan's involvement was limited, but it ized additional territory in East Asia from Germany.
World War II
By 1930 Japan faced a financial crisis. The Japane government believed that expansion through military conquest would help the economy. In 1931 Japan ized Manchuria from China. Japan moved troops into China in 1937 and into French Indochina in 1940. The Japane signed the Tripartite Pact, forming an alliance
with Germany and Italy. The three countries formed the Axis powers. They fought against the Allied powers, mainly Britain, France, Russia and China during World War II.
The United States tried to stop Japan's aggression in East Asia by banning shipments of oil to Japa
n. In December 1941 Japan attacked the United States
forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which pulled the United States into war. After experiencing early success on every front, the Japane forces were gradually pushed back by the United States and other Allied troops. In August 1945 the
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United States dropped atom bombs on the Japane cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The cities were largely destroyed. Shortly thereafter the Japane surrendered. (See also World War II.)
Post-war Japan
Under the terms of surrender, Japan had to give up all the territory it had
