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| Japan FAQts |
| by Eelco Hoenselaar |
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The country:
Japan is an island empire in the Pacific Ocean, east to China
and Korea. It has a surface area of 374,744 square kilometers
(144,689 square miles), and a population of around 127 million.
Most of Japan is mountainous and unsuitable for urbanization,
this results in pockets with high population density, rather
than being evenly spread. The highest point of Japan is Mount
Fuji, or Fuji-san in Japanese, an active volcano, with 3,776
meters (12,388 feet).
The name:
Japan is known among the Japanese as Nihon or Nippon. The
name comes from Chinese, and means "Origin of the sun",
or "Land of the rising sun" since to the Chinese
Japan was where the sun came up. In the old times China was
considered the centre of the world (the name China, literally
means "The central country"). The traditional name
for Japan was Yamato, meaning "Place of mountains",
but written as "Great harmony". The Chinese word
Ribenguo / Jihpenkuo was Europeanized to Jipang (much like
the name Kongfuzi / K'ungfutzu was transformed into Confucius).
The name "Japan" is thought to come from the word
"Jipang", which Marco Polo brought from China in
the 13th century. After discovery by the Portuguese in 1542,
Japan was known in Europe as "The Japans", denoting
the group of islands. |
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The capital:
Japan's capital city is Tokyo, meaning "eastern capital".
It was given this name during the Meiji restoration which started
in 1868. It was previously known as Edo or Yedo. Edo has been
the capital of Japan since the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate
in 1600. Before this Kyoto, which means "capital city",
was the capital, and before that Nara. These cities too had
different names originally. Kyoto was known as Heian and Nara
as Heijo, sometimes followed by "kyo" when they were
the capitals: Heian-kyo and Heijo-kyo, meaning "the capital
Heian" and "the capital Heijo". |
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The main
islands:
Japan consists of four large islands and many small ones. The
four major islands are known as Hokkaido as the most northern,
Honshu the main island, Shikoku the smallest of the four, and
Kyushu the southern most island of the four. The most famous
of the smaller islands is Okinawa in the Ryukyu island group,
and is the southern most part of Japan. |
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| The Emperor: |
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The current Emperor
is His Imperial Highness Emperor Akihito. He is married to Empress
Michiko. Emperor Akihito is the son of the Showa Emperor, the
name by which Emperor Hirohito is posthumously known. The Japanese
emperor rules until his death, after which the rule passes on
to his son or daughter. Emperor Akihito started his rule in
1989 at which time a new era started: Heisei. The Japanese Imperial
family is the longest unbroken ruling bloodline in the world,
dating back over 1400 years. They are said to be direct descendents
from the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami, who, according to legend,
created Japan with her brother Susano no Mikoto. The Emperor
serves a ceremonial role only, and is not involved in the national
decision making process. |
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| The government: |
Japan is governed by a democratically chosen Diet. The current
Prime Minister of the National Diet of Japan is president of
the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Koizumi Junichiro.
Japan is further divided in 47 administrative districts known
as prefectures, or todofuken to the Japanese. There are one
"to": Tokyo-to; one "do": Hokkaido; two
"fu": Kyoto-fu and Osaka-fu; and 43 "ken".
Though the names may be different, all administrative units
are the same. |
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The flag:
The Japanese flag is called the "Hi no Maru", meaning
"the circle which is the sun". The red circle symbolizes
the rising sun after the name of the country. |
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| The flag with the sun off-centre and rays
eminating from it, is the Japanese Naval ensign. It is not,
as commonly believed, the old national flag, nor is it the "war"
flag. |
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Times and dates:
Japan's time zone is Greenwich Mean Time plus 9 hours, and has
no daylight savings time. The Japanese use their own calendar
system, together with the Gregorian Calendar. The Japanese calendar
starts counting from year 1 at the start of rule of a new Emperor,
but its year's ends and beginnings coincide with the Gregorian
Calendar. Each year is divided in the 12 Gregorian months, but
aren't given any names. They are simply counted as Month 1 through
Month 12. Weekdays are given the names of the basic natural
elements, as defined by the Chinese: Moon, Fire, Water, Wood,
Metal, Earth, and Sun. |
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The language:
The national language is Japanese. The writing system is derived
from Chinese. The Chinese characters were supplemented with
simplified versions known as hiragana, originally used as a
writing system for women. Later different versions, known as
katakana, were introduced. All three writing systems are still
used in Japanese. |
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The currency:
The Japanese currency is the Yen (JPY / ¥). One yen roughly
equals one dollar cent or one euro cent in value. The 1 yen
coin is the only coin in the world that can float on water.
In the year 2000 the 2000 yen banknote was introduced, however
it is quite rare since it has not been printed since 2000 and
most electronic dispensers cannot process it. |
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The climate:
Due to the shape of Japan, which is stretched from north to
south, there is a great difference between the climate in the
north and in the south. Hokkaido has a temperate cool climate,
with moderate summers and cold winters. Okinawa has a subtropic
climate with hot and humid summers, and moderate winters. From
the beginning of June to the middle of July is Japan's rainy
season or "tsuyu". September and October are known
as the typhoon season. |
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Natural phenomena:
Japan rests on a geologically active area. The islands were
in fact created from two tectonic plates pushing against each
other and emerging from the water. These tectonic plates are
the cause of the seismic and geologic activities.
There are 108 active volcanoes in Japan. The
best known of these are Mount Fuji close to Shizuoka, and Mount
Aso in Kyushu.
Earthquakes are an everyday occurance, though
most of them are hardly noticable vibrations. The most recent
heavy earthquake was the Great Hanshin Earthquake which occured
in Kobe on January 17th, 1995. The earthquake had a magnitude
of 6.9 on the Richter scale, and claimed more than 5,500 lives.
Japan also has the dubious honour of being able to lay claim
to the worst earthquake in world history. On September 1st,
1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake laid waste Tokyo. The earthquake,
with a magnitude of 8.3, and subsequent fires claimed 142,800
lives.
Earthquakes in the Pacific Ocean can cause enormous tidal waves.
These tidal waves are called "tsunami",
a Japanese term now also adopted in Western languages. One of
the biggest tsunami in recorded history hit Sanriku, Iwate-ken
on June 15th, 1896, reaching a height of 38.2 meters (125 feet),
and claiming 22,066 lives.
Every year Asia is plagued by a large number of typhoons,
and Japan is no exception. Typhoons ("taifu") are
violent storms that develop over the southern Pacific Ocean.
The word "typhoon" comes from the Chinese "taifeng".
Typhoons occur in greater numbers during September and October.
It's not all bad though, the geologic activities also produce
a large number of natural hot springs which the Japanese have
eagerly transformed into public bathhouses. These bathhouses,
known as "onsen", can be found all
over Japan. |
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Electrical systems:
The Japanese power net is the same as found
in the United States, using 100 Volt at 50/60Hz. The plug has
the same shape as the American plugs, so electrical equipment
can be hooked up without any problem.
For European and Australian residents a power converter is required.
Please note that an adapter plug will not convert the power
between 220 Volts and 100 Volts. Using these plugs without a
power converter could seriously damage your equipment. When
using a two-way power converter make sure you have it set correctly.
The wrong setting could result in 484 Volts being pumped into
a machine designed for 100 Volts, frying the electronics inside
in the process.
The video system is also similar to the American
NTSC system. For European and Australian residents it is wise
to check if your video equipment at home is capable of playing
and recording NTSC before buying video tapes in Japan, as these
countries use the PAL system. When buying videorecorders in
Japan please be aware that most cannot record or play PAL videos.
DVDs are region 2, the same as used in Europe.
Region 2 DVDs will not play on Region 1 or 4 players as used
in the United States and Australia. A region free player may
be the solution if you wish to import DVDs from Japan. DVD players
are usually capable of playing both PAL and NTSC discs, however
you may want to make sure that your television can also process
the signal. |
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DVD Regions |
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The religions:
Japan's main religions are Buddhism and Shintoism. Japanese
Buddhism, practiced by 85% of the population,
is closer to the original form of Buddhism than the versions
of Buddhism found elsewhere in the world. Since Japan has been
isolated from the world for so long, changes in Buddhism in
China and India have not influenced the Japanese Buddhism as
they have in other countries. Buddhism is, for the Japanese,
mostly related to death and honouring ones ancestors. Buddhist
temples, or "o-tera" can generally be recognized by
their red colour.
Shintoism, practiced by 80% of the population,
is the traditional Japanese religion, and the official religion
of the Imperial family. Shintoism attribute gods to inanimate
objects and animals. Every mountain, rock, and tree is considered
to have a resident "kami" or god. Shintoism is considered
to be pure, and disassociates itself from impurities such as
death and menstruation. Shintoism concerns itself mostly with
childbirth and marriage. Shinto shrines can be recognized by
the "torii" gate at the entrance, the use of untreated
wood for its construction, and the presence of a waterbasin
at the entrance.
New
religions are religions that have surfaced since the
reinstitution of freedom of religion during the Meiji restauration.
Around 25% of the population are a member of these new religions,
with the largest being the Soka Gakkai with 17%.
Christianity
is practiced by only 0.7% of the population, but is very popular
for marriages. The white dress and the symbolism of the rings
appeal quite strongly to the Japanese.
The more observant of you may have noticed that this amounts
to 190.7% of the Japanese population practicing religions. Though
there are religions in Japan that ask exclusivity of their members,
most religions do not. The Japanese experience religion very
different from other countries. They can see the Christian god
just as easily as a Buddha as they can see a Buddha as being
a Shinto Kami. Religions seemlessly merge into one another,
making it difficult sometimes to distinguish which religion
is actually being practiced. It is said of Japanese that they
are born as Shintoists, marry as Christians, and die as Buddhists.
As religions seemlessly flow into each other, so do temple and
shrine designs. For instance, the Kyoto Ginkakuji temple is
made of untreated wood, and the Miyajima Itsukushima Jinja shrine
is painted bright red, completely contradicting the building
traditions. |
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