Portal:Japan

Coordinates: 36°30′N 139°00′E / 36.5°N 139°E / 36.5; 139
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Japan Portal
The Japan Portal
Main   Geography   Projects
Location of Japan on the world map
Imperial Seal of Japan
Imperial Seal of Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. It is in the northwest Pacific Ocean and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans an archipelago of 14,125 islands, with the four main islands being Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, and Kyushu. Tokyo is the country's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto.

The Japanese archipelago has been inhabited since the Upper Paleolithic (30,000 BC). Between the fourth and ninth centuries AD, the kingdoms of the region became unified under an emperor and the imperial court based in Heian-kyō. Beginning in the 12th century, political power was held by a series of military dictators (shōgun) and feudal lords (daimyō), and enforced by a class of warrior nobility (samurai). After a century-long period of civil war, the country was reunified in 1603 under the Tokugawa shogunate, which enacted an isolationist foreign policy. In 1854, a United States fleet forced Japan to open trade to the West, which led to the end of the shogunate and the restoration of imperial power in 1868. In the Meiji period, the Empire of Japan adopted a Western-modeled constitution, and pursued a program of industrialization and modernization. Amidst a rise in militarism and overseas colonization, Japan invaded China in 1937 and entered World War II as an Axis power in 1941. After suffering defeat in the Pacific War and two atomic bombings, Japan surrendered in 1945 and came under a seven-year Allied occupation, during which it adopted a new constitution.

Under the 1947 constitution, Japan has maintained a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral legislature, the National Diet. Japan is a highly developed country and a great power, with one of the largest economies by nominal GDP. Japan has renounced its right to declare war, though it maintains a self-defense force that ranks as one of the world's strongest militaries. A global leader in the automotive, robotics, and electronics industries, the country has made significant contributions to science and technology, and is one of the world's largest exporters and importers. It is part of multiple major international and intergovernmental institutions. Japan has over 125 million inhabitants and is the 11th most populous country in the world, as well as one of the most densely populated. About three-fourths of the country's terrain is mountainous, concentrating its highly urbanized population on narrow coastal plains. Japan is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional regions. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world. Japan has one of the world's longest life expectancies but has a population decline due to its very low birth rate.

Japan is a cultural superpower as the culture of Japan is well known around the world, including its art, cuisine, film, music, and popular culture, which encompasses prominent manga, anime, and video game industries. (Full article...)

Sōryū in c. 1940
Sōryū in c. 1940
Sōryū was an aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the mid-1930s. The ship's aircraft were employed during the Second Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930s and supported the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in mid-1940. During the first months of the Pacific War, she took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Wake Island, the conquest of the Dutch East Indies, and the bombing of Darwin, Australia. In the Battle of Midway in June 1942, Sōryū and three other carriers of the First Air Fleet bombarded American forces on Midway Atoll, and were attacked by aircraft from the island and the carriers Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown. Dive bombers from Yorktown crippled Sōryū and set her afire. Japanese destroyers rescued the survivors, but she could not be salvaged and was ordered to be scuttled to allow her attendant destroyers to be released for further operations. She sank along with the bodies of 711 out of 1,103 officers and enlisted men. The loss of Sōryū and three other carriers at Midway was a crucial strategic defeat for Japan, leading to the Allies' ultimate victory in the Pacific. (Full article...)

Selected pictures

On this day...

May 25:

Events

  • 723 - The third generation law is enacted. (Japanese Date: Seventeenth Day of the Fourth Month, 723)
  • 1892 - The Tokyo Carriage Railway launch a student discount ticket.
  • 1949 - The Ministry of International Trade and Industry is installed.
  • 1970 - Professional Baseball Match-fixing Incident: In the "Black Fog Incident" three players are expelled permanently. In the Professional baseball Commissioner Committee, match-fixing became a problem in baseball, Nishitetsu (at the time) announced the decision for the six players of the team. They joined the eliminated acts as stipulated in baseball agreement, pitcher Masaaki Ikenaga said that there is a money transfer is the disposal of permanent exile, and three other players also received the disposal of duties stopped ans strict reprimand. Activities of disposal cancellation is still continuing against the disposal of the Ikenaga players.
  • 1998 - Singer Seiko Matsuda is married for the second time. They divorced in December 2000.

Births

In the news

Selected quote – show another


Selected biography – show another

Hiroh Kikai, in 2011

Hiroh Kikai (鬼海 弘雄, Kikai Hiroo, 18 March 1945 – 19 October 2020) was a Japanese photographer best known within Japan for four series of monochrome photographs: scenes of buildings in and close to Tokyo, portraits of people in the Asakusa area of Tokyo, and rural and town life in India and Turkey. He pursued each of these for over two decades, and each led to one or more book-length collections.

Although previously a respected name in Japanese photography, Kikai was not widely known until 2004, when the first edition of his book Persona, a collection of Asakusa portraits, won both the Domon Ken Award and Annual Award of the PSJ. In 2009, the ICP and Steidl copublished Asakusa Portraits for an international market. (Full article...)

Selected prefecture – show another

Flag of Fukuoka Prefecture
Fukuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū Island. The capital is the city of Fukuoka. It includes the former provinces of Chikugo, Chikuzen, and Buzen. Fukuoka Prefecture has signed Friendship Agreements with Bangkok, Thailand, Delhi, India, and Hanoi, Vietnam. Fukuoka Prefecture faces the sea on three sides, bordering on Saga, Ōita, and Kumamoto prefectures and facing Yamaguchi Prefecture across the Kanmon Straits. Fukuoka includes the two largest cities on Kyūshū, Fukuoka and Kitakyushu, and much of Kyūshū's industry. It also includes a number of small islands near the north coast of Kyūshū. Twenty-eight cities are located in Fukuoka Prefecture. Its main cities form one of Japan's main industrial centers, accounting for nearly 40% of the economy of Kyūshū. Major industries include automobiles, semiconductors and steel. The most popular places for tourists are Fukuoka City, especially at the time of the Dontaku festival, and Dazaifu, although Kitakyushu has also tried to attract tourists.

Did you know... – show different entries

Kōtetsu, Japan's first ironclad warship, as CSS Stonewall c.1865

General images

The following are images from various Japan-related articles on Wikipedia.

Related Portals


East Asia


Other Countries/Territories

Japan topics

Eras Paleolithic | Jōmon | Yayoi | Kofun | Asuka | Nara | Heian | Kamakura | Muromachi | Azuchi-Momoyama | Edo | Meiji | Taishō | Shōwa | Heisei | Reiwa
History Economic history | Educational history | Military history | Naval history | Sengoku period | Meiji Restoration | Empire of Japan | Occupied Japan | Post-occupation Japan
Politics Constitution | Government | Emperors | Imperial Household Agency | Prime Ministers | Cabinet | Ministries | National Diet (House of Councillors · House of Representatives) | Judicial system | Law of Japan | LGBT rights | Elections | Political parties | Japanese political values | Japan Self-Defense Forces | Foreign relations
Culture Clothing | Customs and etiquette | Education | Festivals | Food | Holidays | Language | Religion | Imperial House of Japan | National symbols of Japan | National Treasure (Japan) | Monuments of Japan | Media of Japan | Honne and tatemae | Kawaii | Yamato-damashii | Wa | Miai | Ishin-denshin | Isagiyosa | Hansei | Amae | Kotodama | Onsen | Geisha | Kimono | Bushido | Shogun | Samurai | Ninja | Yakuza | Mythology | Karaoke
Art Architecture | Cinema | Literature | Music | Pornography | Theatre (Noh · Kabuki · Bunraku) | Anime | Manga | Ukiyo-e | Japanese tea ceremony | Japanese aesthetics | Ikebana | Poetry | Bonsai | Origami
Sports Sumo wrestling | Nippon Professional Baseball | Football J1 League | Super GT | All Japan Road Race Championship | Judo | Karate | Kendo | Kyūdō | Jujutsu | Ninjutsu | Aikido
Economy Japanese Companies | Primary sector | Industry | Tourism | Currency | Tokyo Stock Exchange | Japanese economic miracle | Communications | Transportation (Shinkansen · Tokyo Metro · Railway companies) | Japan Business Federation | Housing in Japan
Science and Technology Consumer electronics in Japan | Japanese automotive industry | Japanese inventions | Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) | Nuclear power in Japan | Japanese robotics
Geography Geography of Japan | Japanese archipelago | Islands of Japan | Cities | Lakes | Rivers | Waterfalls | Mountains | National Parks | Japanese Alps | Mount Fuji | Lake Biwa | Seto Inland Sea | Sea of Japan | EEZ of Japan
Demographics Demographics | Yamato people | Hāfu (half Japanese people) | Ainu people | Japanese people | Japanese names | Aging of Japan
Animals Animals in Japan | Japanese macaque | Japanese raccoon dog (Tanuki) | Japanese Green pheasant | Koi | Japanese Bobtail | Hokkaido dog | Shiba Inu | Akita (dog) | Asian giant hornet | Japanese badger
Other Tokyo | Kyoto | Nara | Osaka | Sapporo | Okinawa | Kinkaku-ji | Kiyomizu-dera | Yakushi-ji temple | Tōdai-ji temple | Sensō-ji temple | Meiji Shrine | Akihabara | Shinjuku | Tokyo Tower | Tokyo Imperial Palace | Himeji Castle | Matsumoto Castle | Osaka Castle | Nagoya Castle | Tokyo Disney Resort

Subcategories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories

Recognized content

Extended content

Featured articles

Featured lists

Good articles

Featured pictures

Featured portals

Picture of the day pictures

Featured topics

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals

36°30′N 139°00′E / 36.5°N 139°E / 36.5; 139