Jump to content

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 located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and thousands of smaller islands, covering 377,975 square kilometres (145,937 sq mi). Japan has a population of nearly 124 million as of 2024, and is the eleventh-most populous country. Its capital and largest city is Tokyo; the Greater Tokyo Area is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 38 million inhabitants as of 2016. Japan is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional regions. About three-quarters of the country's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested, concentrating its agriculture and highly urbanized population along its eastern coastal plains. The country sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, making its islands prone to destructive earthquakes and tsunamis.

The first known habitation of the archipelago dates to the Upper Paleolithic, with the beginning Japanese Paleolithic dating to c. 36,000 BC. Between the fourth and sixth centuries, its kingdoms were united under an emperor in Nara, and later Heian-kyō. From the 12th century, actual power was held by military dictators (shōgun) and feudal lords (daimyō), and enforced by warrior nobility (samurai). After rule by the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates and a century of warring states, Japan was unified in 1600 by the Tokugawa shogunate, which implemented an isolationist foreign policy. In 1853, 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 pursued rapid industrialization and modernization, as well as militarism and overseas colonization. In 1937, Japan invaded China, and in 1941 attacked the United States and European colonial powers, entering World War II as an Axis power. After suffering defeat in the Pacific War and two atomic bombings, Japan surrendered in 1945 and came under Allied occupation. After the war, the country underwent rapid economic growth, although its economy has stagnated since 1990.

Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral legislature, the National Diet. A great power and the only Asian member of the G7, Japan has constitutionally renounced its right to declare war, but maintains one of the world's strongest militaries. A developed country with one of the world's largest economies by nominal GDP, Japan is a global leader in science and technology and the automotive, robotics, and electronics industries. It has one of the world's highest life expectancies, though it is undergoing a population decline. Japan's culture is well known around the world, including its art, cuisine, film, music, and popular culture, which includes prominent comics, animation, and video game industries. (Full article...)

A propaganda poster calling on Australians to avenge the sinking of the AHS Centaur
A propaganda poster calling on Australians to avenge the sinking of the AHS Centaur
There was considerable Axis naval activity in Australian waters during World War II. A total of 54 German and Japanese warships and submarines entered Australian waters between 1940 and 1945 and attacked ships, ports and other targets. Among the best-known attacks are the sinking of HMAS Sydney by a German raider in November 1941, the bombing of Darwin by Japanese naval aircraft in February 1942, and the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour in May 1942. In addition, many Allied merchant ships were damaged or sunk off the Australian coast by submarines and mines. The level of Axis naval activity peaked in the first half of 1942 when Japanese submarines conducted anti-shipping patrols off Australia's coast and Japanese naval aviation attacked several towns in northern Australia. The Japanese submarine offensive against Australia was renewed in the first half of 1943 but was broken off as the Allies pushed the Japanese onto the defensive. Few Axis naval vessels operated in Australian waters in 1944 and 1945 and those that did had only a limited impact. Due to the episodic nature of the Axis attacks and the relatively small number of ships and submarines committed, Germany and Japan were not successful in disrupting Australian shipping. (Full article...)

Selected pictures

On this day...

November 23:

Births

Film and television

Holidays, observances, and anniversaries

In the news

11 November 2024 – 2024 Japanese general election
Shigeru Ishiba is sworn in as the 103rd prime minister of Japan following the first runoff vote in thirty years. (Kyodo News) (Mainichi)
5 November 2024 –
Researchers at Kyoto University in Japan launch LignoSat, the world's first wooden satellite constructed without screws or glue, into space. It will orbit Earth for six months. (DW)
3 November 2024 – 2024 Japan Series
In baseball, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars defeat the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to win the Japan Series in six games, capturing their third championship and their first since 1998. (NHK)
31 October 2024 – North Korean missile tests
North Korea launches an intercontinental ballistic missile on a "lofted trajectory" toward the Sea of Japan. Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani says that this was the longest-ever launch of a North Korean ICBM, lasting 87 minutes, marking significant progress in range compared to previous tests. (Al Jazeera)
27 October 2024 – 2024 Japanese general election
Japanese citizens vote for the 465 seats in the House of Representatives. (NHK)
The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito loses its majority. (Reuters)

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 Saitama Prefecture
Saitama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama. This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which floods of residents commute each day. Saitama Prefecture was formerly part of the old Musashi Province. In the fifth year of the Keiun era (708), deposits of copper were reported to have been found in the Chichibu District of what is now Saitama Prefecture. The Saitama area was historically known as a fertile agricultural region which produced much of the food for the Kantō region. During the Edo period, many fudai daimyō ruled small domains within the Saitama area. After World War II, as Tokyo expanded rapidly and modern transportation allowed longer commutes, the lack of available land in Tokyo led to the rapid development of Saitama Prefecture, whose population has nearly tripled since 1960. Most of the cities in the prefecture are closely connected to downtown Tokyo by metropolitan rail, and operate largely as residential and commercial suburbs of Tokyo. Saitama Prefecture is bordered by Tokyo, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Nagano, and Yamanashi. It is located central-west of the Kantō region, measuring 103 km from east to west and 52 km from north to south. At 3,797 sq km, it ranks as the ninth smallest prefecture. The eastern border with Chiba Prefecture is defined by the Edo River. The northern and north-western border lines with Gunma Prefecture are marked by the Tone River and the Kanagawa River and the drainage divides of the Arakawa River and Kanagawa River.

Did you know... – show different entries

Seiden (main hall) of Shuri Castle

General images

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

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

Good articles

Picture of the day pictures

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