Japan - Learn the Geography of the East Asian Nation of Japan

Japan is an island nation located in eastern Asia in the Pacific Ocean to the east of China, Russia, North Korea, and South Korea. It is an archipelago that is made up of over 6,500 islands, the largest of which are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Japan is one of the worlds largest countries by population and it has one of the worlds largest economies. Fast Facts: Japan Capital: TokyoPopulation: 126,168,156 (2018)Official Language: Japanese  Currency: Yen (JPY)Form of Government: Parliamentary constitutional monarchyClimate: Varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in northTotal Area: 145,913 square miles (377,915 square kilometers)Highest Point: Mount Fuji at 12,388 feet (3,776 meters)  Lowest Point: Hachiro-gata at -13 feet (-4 meters) History of Japan According to Japanese legend Japan was founded in 600 BCE by the Emperor Jimmu. Japans first contact with the west was recorded in 1542 when a Portuguese ship bound for China landed on Japan instead. As a result, traders from Portugal, the Netherlands, England, and Spain all began to go to Japan shortly thereafter, as did several different missionaries. In the 17th century, however, Japans shogun (a military leader) determined that these foreign visitors were a military conquest and all contact with foreign countries was barred for about 200 years. In 1854, the Convention of Kanagawa opened Japan up to relations with the west, causing the shogun to resign which led to the restoration of Japans emperor as well as the adoption of new, western-influenced traditions. According to the U.S. Department of State, in the late 19th century Japans leaders began to view the Korean Peninsula as a threat and from 1894 to 1895 it was involved in a war over Korea with China and from 1904 to 1905 it fought a similar war with Russia. In 1910, Japan annexed Korea. With the beginning of World War I, Japan began to influence much of Asia which allowed it to quickly grow and expand its Pacific territories. Shortly thereafter it joined the League of Nations and in 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria. Two years later in 1933, Japan left the League of Nations and in 1937 it invaded China and became a part of the Axis powers during World War II. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii which led to the United States entering WWII and the subsequent atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. On September 2, 1945, Japan surrendered to the U.S., ending WWII. As a result of the war, Japan lost its overseas territories, including Korea, and Manchuria went back to China. In addition, the country fell under the control of the Allies with the goal of making it a democratic self-governing nation. It thus underwent many reforms and in 1947 its constitution went into effect and in 1951, Japan and the Allies signed the Treaty of Peace. On April 28, 1952, Japan gained full independence. Government of Japan Today, Japan is a parliamentary government with a constitutional monarchy. It has an executive branch of government with a chief of state (the Emperor) and a head of government (the Prime Minister). Japans legislative branch consists of a bicameral Diet or Kokkai that is made up of the House of Councilors and the House of Representatives. Its judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court. Japan is divided into 47 prefectures for local administration. Economics and Land Use in Japan Japans economy is one of the largest and most advanced in the world. It is famous for its motor vehicles and electronics and its other industries include machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, and processed foods. Geography and Climate of Japan Japan is located in eastern Asia  between the Sea of Japan and the North Pacific Ocean. Its topography consists mainly of rugged mountains and it is a highly geologically active region. Large earthquakes are not uncommon Japan as it is located near the Japan Trench, where the Pacific and North American Plates meet. In addition, the country has 108 active volcanoes. The climate of Japan varies upon location—it is tropical in the south and cool temperate in the north. For example, its capital and largest city Tokyo is located in the north and its average August high temperature is 87 degrees (31ËšC) and its average January low is 36 degrees (2ËšC). By contrast, Naha, the capital of Okinawa, is located in the southern part of the country and has an average August high temperature of 88 degrees (30ËšC) and an average January low temperature of 58 degrees (14ËšC). Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011 On March 11, 2011, Japan was struck by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake that was centered in the ocean 80 miles (130 km) east of the city of Sendai. The earthquake was so large that it caused a massive tsunami that devastated much of Japan. The earthquake also caused smaller tsunamis to hit areas across much of the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii and the west coast of the United States mainland. In addition, the earthquake and tsunami damaged Japans Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Thousands were killed in Japan in the disasters, thousands were displaced, and entire towns were leveled by the earthquake and/or tsunami. Additionally, the earthquake was so powerful that it caused the main island of Japan to move eight feet and shifted the Earths axis. The earthquake is also considered to have been one of the five strongest to have struck since 1900. Sources Central Intelligence Agency. CIA - The World Factbook - Japan.Infoplease.com. Japan: History, Geography, Government, and Culture- Infoplease.com.United States Department of State. Japan.

A Short Note On The Constellation Of Cancer - 1680 Words

Cancer (constellation) ♋ The constellation of Cancer is one of the 88 modern constellations: located between the constellations Leo, Hydra and Gemini at between 07h 55m 19.7973s and 09h 22m 35.0364s right ascension and 33.1415138 ° and 6.4700689 ° declination. It is also one of the 12 Zodiac constellations and one of the original 48 listed by the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy. Its name is Latin for crab and its astrological symbol is ♋, which represents crab pincers. This constellation attracted my interest because it contains a galaxy with a binary supermassive black hole system: OJ 287. -The constellation of Cancer as it can be seen in the sky. In the mythology of The Twelve Labours of Heracles (or Hercules in Roman mythology) Cancer is a crab sent by Hera to hinder Heracles in his fight against Hydra. Depending on the version of the story Heracles either kicks Cancer so hard that the crab is stuck amongst the constellations, or he just crushes Cancer by stomping on it and Hera places it in the sky for its bravery, but not in a bright part of the sky because it did not complete its task (Cancer has only two stars brighter than the 4th magnitude). Magnitude levels are levels of brightness, with lower numbered levels being brighter than higher number levels (e.g. a magnitude level 1 is brighter than a magnitude 2). Some sources say that cancer was a late addition to the story and that it was only included to make the 12 zodiac signs coincide with the 12 Labours. -A potShow MoreRelatedConstellations5203 Words   |  21 Pages------------------------------------------------- Constellation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the star grouping. For other uses, see  Constellation (disambiguation). | | | | * Top: Baroque drawing of the constellation  Orionfrom  Johannes Hevelius  celestial catalogue * Bottom: Contemporary map of Orion from the  IAUand photography of the night sky | In everyday usage, a  constellation  is a traditional or recognizable group of stars in the night sky,Read MoreConductivity Essay1831 Words   |  8 Pagesflat map explorer. Familiarize yourself with the cursor and how it prints out the longitude and latitude of the active map location. Note that you can vary the central meridian of the map (i.e. change its longitude). Use the â€Å"shift map† arrows at the top of the simulator to affect large rapid changes. Use the shift-click feature of the cursor for finer control. Note what information is accessible through the show cities and show map features check boxes. Center the cursor on your present locationRead MoreBasic Coordinates Seasons - Student Guide2596 Words   |  11 Pages * Familiarize yourself with the cursor and how it prints out the longitude and latitude of the active map location. * Note that you can vary the central meridian of the map (i.e. change its longitude). Use the â€Å"shift map† arrows at the top of the simulator to affect large rapid changes. Use the shift-click feature of the cursor for finer control. * Note what information is accessible through the show cities and show map features check boxes. * Center the cursor on your presentRead More Attitudes to War in Dulce et Decorum est and Drummer Hodge. Essay2066 Words   |  9 Pagesfor the men and does this extremely well by saying All went lame, all blind. This gives us the image that men couldnt see or hear correctly. He uses the metaphor Drunk with fatigue to illustrate the tiredness of the men. Stanza one ends on a note of warning; the danger of which the soldiers are unaware, as they cant hear properly. The first and second verses are all to do with the visual and oral images of the soldiers and the ironic sense that the men are on their way back from theRead MoreLinking Lab 1 Astr1012457 Words   |  10 Pages * Familiarize yourself with the cursor and how it prints out the longitude and latitude of the active map location. * Note that you can vary the central meridian of the map (i.e. change its longitude). Use the â€Å"shift map† arrows at the top of the simulator to affect large rapid changes. Use the shift-click feature of the cursor for finer control. * Note what information is accessible through the show cities and show map features check boxes. * Center the cursor on your presentRead MoreA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pages Some passages are related to the Kità ¢b al-Baht of Jà ¢bir, which is laid under such heavy contribution later in The Aim of the Sage. Chapter 4. Since the successful use of talismans depends upon their being used in conjunction with the correct constellations, this chapter is devoted to the latter. The author gives a descriptive list of the twenty-eight mansions of the moon, according to the â€Å"Indian† system, and assigns to each its correct talisman. Analysis of the passage shows that it is a compoundRead MoreOutdoor Recreation With The Whole Family3630 Words   |  15 Pagesidentification guidebook from your local library. Go for a group hike, bring the guidebook, and take pocket-sized notebooks and pencils for everyone. As you hike, try to identify rocks and plants. Have everyone write down the name of the object and a short description that includes where you found it , it s shape, size, and color. At the end of the hike, take turns describing your favorite finds! Bird Watching. Check out a bird identification guide from your local library. Go for a walk with your guidebookRead MoreEssay about The Importance Of The Human Genome Project2747 Words   |  11 Pagesconsequence which could potentially result in decreased support for and confidence in the field of science. The Human Genome Project s first flaw, Marks believes, is its image of being the sole panacea for societys problems. It is important to note that Marks does not condemn the Project as a whole, nor does he advocate a complete abandonment of its future efforts which would, according to biologist Svante Paabo, lead to ignorance and spur prejudice, oppression, and racism (2001, paragraph 8);Read MoreAn Analysis of Bass Pro Shops Incs Strategic Marketing Methods3267 Words   |  13 Pagesof sporting goods merchandise (Hudson 2002). 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Mass society system Free Essays

The problem is the fact that society tends o associate culture with concepts, such as fine arts, literature, classical music, philosophy, etc. All these are manifestations which belong to a subdivision of culture known as high culture. Nevertheless, what about other signs of culture, such as television, movies or magazines? Are they not cultural signs? To my mind, evidently they are. We will write a custom essay sample on Mass society system or any similar topic only for you Order Now In fact, high and popular culture are closely related, due to the fact that nowadays, most of the manifestations of popular culture are originated In signs of high culture. Certainly, the UK Is not an exception. For that reason. Wrought these nines I would like to prove my point by two examples (one from literature and the other from music) and finally, I will give you a contrastive perspective with examples of the same fields of study. The first example is related to literature. From time immemorial, this field of knowledge has been related to erudite people, simply because at very ancient times In history, literature could be known and studied by literate ones. Clearly, they were not too many; In fact, they were a sort of elite. Just wealthy people had access to formal education and knew how to read and write properly. However, time went by and being an educated person became more affordable. In most of the constitutions worldwide, being educated is compulsory; it is a right for everyone. For that reason, in relation to this area, that is to say literature, little by little people started to know the classics such as Homer, Plato, Tolstoy, Verne, among others. In these terms, with Shakespeare. Among their master pieces we can find â€Å"Romeo and Juliet†, â€Å"A Midsummer Night’s dream†, â€Å"Hamlet†, â€Å"Macbeth†, and â€Å"King Lear†. Most of them are recognized all over the world for thousands. But, are Shakespearean works presented n low cultural manifestations? Indeed, there are multiple references of Shakespeare in popular culture. For Instance, there are several movies based on his works like: â€Å"Gnome and Juliet†, â€Å"Shakespeare In love† or â€Å"Warm bodies†; which Is Inspired In the â€Å"Buff The Vampire Slayer†; a popular television program in the nineties. Moreover, we can recognize the Shakespearean influence in Disney movies like â€Å"The Beauty and the Beast†, in which Belle reads to the Beast a quotation from â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† or in the movie â€Å"The Nightmare Before Christmas†, in which the main character Jack makes clear reference to the scene of the skull in â€Å"Hamlet†. Finally, we have the â€Å"Lion King†, which is entirely based on Hamlet’s story since: Scar kills his brother (as Claudia kills his brother, the King); then Mafia’s ghost visits Samba (as the King’s ghost visits Hamlet) and at the end of the movie Samba is encouraged by Timing and Puma to take revenge for his father’s death (exactly as Restaurants and Guilelessness did in Hamlet). The second case is located in the field of music. This is the case of â€Å"Queen†, in particular, the case of its vocalist, the great Freddy Mercury. Perhaps, now you are wondering, how this rock and roll musician can be influenced by high culture music? At the very beginning, when he was a child, he was formally trained on piano; in which he was quite skilful. In addition, some people who were closed to him, said that he used listening classical music; like Chopin and Mozart, moreover, he was even pretty interested in opera; having a large collection of opera recordings. Other example of it was a comment of one his friends named Chris Smith, who said that Freddy piano style was very Mozart. In fact, in my point of view, this influence is Leary noticeable in songs of his band like â€Å"Bohemian Rhapsody’; in which there is an exquisite mixture of rock music, touches of classical piano and the magnificent contributions of the lyrical choir; or in the song â€Å"Love of my life†, in which we can listen features of classical music as the arpeggios, which are not very common in rock and roll style. The last two examples are valid according to its own perspective. Nevertheless, there is a different point of view, which is related to a social system known as â€Å"Mass society’. People, who have studied this system, have established that high culture has en replaced by low culture. This cultural replacement has been helped, enormously, by mass media or the widespread of popular education. These ones have caused a progressive deterioration in population’s tastes, that is to say, that year after year people’s tastes are more unsophisticated and that is the reason why they replace high cultural elements for those which are part of the popular tradition. For instance, a quite clear example of this situation is the amount of people who listen to classical music. In fact, a survey of ‘The Reader’s Digest’ says things like a thirty three recent of people have never listened to classical music, or that a thirty nine percent of the survey respondents, assure that they do not like listening to this type of music. Other good evidence of it could be the preference for some books, especially, ‘Best sellers’. The best example is â€Å"Harry Potter†. This saga is one of the most successful in the I-J and in the whole world; adolescents were avid to read every single word. However, would have they the same desire to read the classics of literature by themselves? According to this, we could confirm that popular culture is not reflected n high cultural manifestations, there is not a kind of legacy or continuity from one to the other, there is Just a substitution process; sadly, high culture has been left aside. As a conclusion, through the development of the present document and taking undeniable that elements related to the field of high arts such as: literature, classical music, visual arts, etc. Re manifested in expressions of popular culture like: movies, television programs, newspapers, magazines, among others. Even though, it is important to take under consideration, that there is not Just one perspective in relation to this matter. In addition, we have the point of view according to the phenomenon of â€Å"Mass society system†, which indicates that, progressively, low culture is replacing high cultural manifestations; reducing populationâ⠂¬â„¢s taste. How to cite Mass society system, Papers