Questions about Japan

Japan (Japanese: 日本国, February 11, 660 BC -) is a Pacific island country located off the east coast of the Asian continent. It faces China, North Korea, and Russia across the East China Sea, Yellow Sea, Sea of ??Japan, and Sea of ??Okhotsk to the west and north, and borders the Pacific Ocean to the east. The territory consists of four large islands, Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, and more than 3,900 small islands. Since the late 1960s, Japan has been recognized as the second largest capitalist economic power in the world. It implements a constitutional monarchy and is known as the "Land of the Rising Sun." Japan is a single-ethnic country, and its major domestic cities include Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe.

Chinese name: Japan

English name: Japan

Abbreviation: Japan

Continent: Asia

Capital: Tokyo

Main cities: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto

National Day: February 11 (Foundation Day)

National anthem: "Jun Generation》

Country code: JPN

Official language: Japanese

Currency: Japanese yen (yen)

Time zone: UTC+ 9 (no daylight saving time)

Political system: Constitutional monarchy

National leaders: Akihito (Emperor Heisei), Naoto Kan (Prime Minister)

Population Number: 127,767,944 people (2009)

Population density: 337 people/km2 (2009)

Main ethnic group: Yamato ethnic group

Main religion: God Taoism, Buddhism

Land area: 377,835 square kilometers

Water area rate: 0.8%

Total GDP: 5.07 trillion US dollars (2009)

Per capita GDP: 42,480 US dollars (2008)

International telephone area code: +0081

International domain name abbreviation: .jp

Road access: left Pass or drive on the left

Chinese/Japanese: Japan (common name: Japan;)

Kana: にほんこく/にっぽんこく

Romaji: Nihon/ Nippon

Country code: JPN

Country name definition: Land of the rising sun

Famous name: Land of cherry blossoms

Flag: Japanese seal flag, Also known as the Sun Flag, it is rectangular in shape, with a length-to-width ratio of 3:2 (that is, the length and dimensions of the standard flag). The flag is white with a red sun in the center. The white background symbolizes purity, and the red sun in the center symbolizes loyalty. The Rizhang Banner was promulgated by Tai Zhenggong Liu Jufeng in the 3rd year of Meiji (March 9, 1869).

Military Flag: Rising Sun Flag, a red sun with 16 red rays on a white background. It evolved from the Sun Flag. It was once the flag of the Japanese Army and Navy and is now the flag of the Japanese Navy. It is usually raised on the front mast. The ship's flag, raised on the rear mast during naval battles, is called the battle flag.

National emblem: round, with 16 yellow chrysanthemum petals. The chrysanthemum pattern is also the pattern on the royal coat of arms.

National flower: cherry blossom

National bird: green-tailed pheasant

National stone: crystal

1. Geographical location

Japan is located east of the Eurasian continent and in the west of the Pacific Ocean. It is composed of thousands of islands, all of which are in an arc shape. The east and south of Japan are bounded by the endless Pacific Ocean, bounded by the Sea of ??Japan and the East China Sea to the west, and the Sea of ??Okhotsk to the north. It faces North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, the Philippines and other countries across the sea.

2. Area and regional division

Japan includes four large islands, Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, and more than 6,800 other small islands. Japan's total area is: 377,835 square kilometers, of which the land area is more than 370,000 square kilometers, the water area is 3,091 square kilometers, and the territorial sea area is 310,000 square kilometers. Japan is the country with the most land reclamation in the world, with an area of ??1,600 square kilometers.

3. Administrative divisions

Japan is divided into 47 first-level administrative regions: the first capital (Tokyo), the first (Hokkaido), the second prefecture (Osaka Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture), Forty-three counties. Some cities are designated as decree-designated cities, central core cities, and special cities due to their large populations and large local influence. The administrative divisions under the prefectures are cities, towns and villages, and there are also administrative units such as counties, branch offices, wards, and special districts. In recent years, Japan has implemented the policy of merging municipalities, towns and villages, and the number of towns and villages has been greatly reduced. Currently, in order to ease the concentration in Tokyo and increase local decentralization, the necessity of abolishing prefectures and replacing them with a state system is being reviewed (discussions on the state system in Japan). In 1968, the Japanese Autonomous Provinces introduced a local public organization numbering system. Currently, all prefectures and cities, towns and villages in Japan have their own numbers. The prefectural numbers match ISO 3166-2:JP.

4. Major cities

The capital of Japan is Tokyo, which is also one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. The Tokyo Metropolitan Special District has a population of approximately 8.6 million, and the capital area centered on Tokyo, including Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba Prefectures, has a population of approximately 33 million.

Japan's Imperial Palace, the National Assembly, the Cabinet, the Supreme Court, various ministries and departments, embassies of various countries in Japan, the headquarters of large companies, Japanese banks, securities companies, department stores, newspapers and television stations are all concentrated in Tokyo. At present, many sub-cities have been formed in the Tokyo Special Area and around Tokyo.

5. Topography and topography

Japan is mountainous, and the mountains are distributed in ridges in the center of Japan, dividing Japan's land into the Pacific side and the Sea of ??Japan side. Hills and hills account for 71% of the total area, and the forest coverage rate is as high as 67%. Mount Fuji is the highest peak in Japan, with an altitude of 3776 meters. Mount Fuji is respectfully called by the Japanese: Holy Mountain. Plains of Japan. Plains in Japan are mainly distributed in the coastal areas downstream of rivers. They are mostly alluvial plains and are smaller in scale. The larger plains are Kanto Plain, Ishikari Plain, Echigo Plain, and Noo. Plains, Tokachi Plains, etc. The Japanese plains are small in area, with very limited arable land. The population density is as high as 3,054 people/square kilometer, ranking second in the world, second only to Egypt (3,503 people/square kilometer). Japan is located in the Pacific Volcanic and Seismic Belt, where frequent volcanic activities have brought great trouble to local people's lives. There are more than 200 volcanoes in the country, more than 50 of which are active volcanoes and are famous earthquake areas in the world. In the volcanic area, the scenery is beautiful and the hot spring resources are rich, making it a famous tourist resort.

6. Rivers, plains, lakes

Japan has short river flows and abundant water energy resources. The longest Shinano River is about 367 kilometers long; the largest lake is Lake Biwa, with an area of ??672.8 square kilometers. Most of Japan's rivers originate from the central mountains and flow to the east and west sides into the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of ??Japan. Because Japan is narrow from east to west and the mountains are steep, the rivers are often short and rapid. During the rainy season and typhoon season, the amount of water increases and floods are likely to occur. To this end, Japan has built a large number of embankments and reservoirs for flood control. River water is widely used for domestic water, agricultural and industrial water, and hydroelectric power generation.

7. Coastline and Ocean

Japan’s coastline is 33,889 kilometers long. Since Japan is an island country, its coastline is very complex. The western side of the Sea of ??Japan has many cliffs and few ports, while the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean has many estuaries, forming many natural harbors. The Pacific side in the east is surrounded by the Japan Warm Current (Kuroshio Current) from south to north, the Kuriloshima Cold Current (Oyashio) forms in the northeast, and the Sea of ??Japan side in the west is surrounded by the Tsushima Warm Current and the Riman Cold Current. At the intersection of cold current and warm current, fish resources are abundant and it becomes a natural fishing ground. Because it is surrounded by the ocean, it has a temperate maritime monsoon climate, which is mild and humid all year round, with no severe cold in winter and no scorching heat in summer. There are many typhoons in summer and autumn, and there are many plum rains in June. The average temperature in January is -6℃ in the north and 16℃ in the south; in July, it is 17℃ in the north and 28℃ in the south. The annual precipitation ranges from 700 to 3500 mm, with the highest reaching over 4000 mm. In recent years, the El Ni?o phenomenon, which causes sea water to heat up, has also had an impact on Japan. The main reason is that the duration of the rainy season is prolonged, which can easily lead to cold summers and warm winters. [4]

8. Geomorphology and Geology

Japan is located at the extinction boundary of the Eurasian plate and the Pacific plate, and is part of the western Pacific island arc-coast mountain-trench combination. 68% of the country is mountainous. The highest mountain in Japan is the famous Mount Fuji, with an altitude of 3,776 meters. Since there are few plains, crops are grown on many mountains in Japan. The largest plain is the Kanto Plain. Japan is located in the Pacific Rim of Volcanoes and Seismic Belt. One-tenth of the world's volcanoes are located in Japan, and volcanic activities occur frequently across the country. Serious earthquakes occur several times every century; the Great Hanshin Earthquake and the Niigoshi Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake that occurred in recent years were both strong earthquakes with magnitudes above 6 on the Richter scale and attracted the attention of countries all over the world. There are many hot springs in Japan and they have developed into tourist attractions. Because Japan's islands extend very long in the northeast direction, spanning about 20 degrees of latitude from north to south, there are many types of climate. Most of the climate types are temperate monsoon climate, and the southern Kyushu Island, Shikoku, and Ryukyu Islands have subtropical monsoon climate. The northern islands have warm summers and very long, cold winters, often with heavy snowfall. The central and western regions have relatively dry winters, rarely snow, and humid summers.

9. Japanese climate

The whole country of Japan spans 25° in latitude, and the temperature difference between the north and the south is very significant. The plateau areas of Hokkaido and Honshu are in the subarctic zone, the mainland is in the temperate zone, and the southern islands such as Okinawa are in the subtropical zone. In addition, Japan's location makes it affected by the intersection of monsoons and ocean currents, resulting in four distinct seasons and abundant rainfall. Japan can be divided into six climate zones, which are: Hokkaido Climate Hokkaido is not affected by the rainy season and has less rainfall than other parts of Japan. Summers are short and cool; winters are long and cold. The climate on the Sea of ??Japan side covers the western coast of Honshu Island. In winter, controlled by the Siberian high pressure, northwest winds blow. At the same time, the warm Tsushima Current passes through the Sea of ??Japan in winter and brings a large amount of water vapor, so there is often heavy snowfall. There is less precipitation in summer and sometimes unusually high temperatures due to foehn winds. Central Highlands climate is a typical inland climate. Cold in winter and cool in summer. There are large temperature differences between winter and summer and between day and night. Low rainfall and Pacific side climate include most of the east coast of Honshu, Minami-Shikoku and Kyushu. Affected by the southeast monsoon in summer, there are strong plum rains and many typhoons. There is less snowfall in winter.

The Seto Inland Sea-type climate includes the Sanyo area, Kitashikoku, Kinki and parts of Kyushu. The weather here is often sunny, with little rainfall, and it suffers from drought from time to time. The climate of the Nansei Islands ranges from the Ryukyu Islands. It has a subtropical climate with hot summers and warm winters. Heavy rainfall. It is often hit by typhoons in summer. Japan is the region with the most precipitation in the world. The main causes include winter snowfall in areas on the Sea of ??Japan; continuous rainy season in June and July (May and June in Okinawa and Amami); and typhoons that land in or approach Japan from summer to autumn. The highest recorded temperature in Japan is 40.9 degrees, measured in Kumagai City, Saitama Prefecture and Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture on August 16, 2007; the lowest recorded temperature record is -41 degrees, measured in January 1902 Measured in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido on the 25th.