Portal:Japan

Coordinates: 36°30′N 139°00′E / 36.5°N 139°E / 36.5; 139
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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 five main islands being Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. 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 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...)

Japanese officers and petty officers of the 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force that seized Tulagi in May, 1942.
Japanese officers and petty officers of the 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force that seized Tulagi in May, 1942.
The invasion of Tulagi, on May 3 and May 4, 1942, was part of Operation Mo, the Empire of Japan's strategy in the South Pacific and South West Pacific Area in 1942. The plan called for Imperial Japanese Navy troops to capture Tulagi and nearby islands in the Solomon Islands Protectorate. The occupation of Tulagi by the Japanese was intended to cover the flank of Japanese forces that were advancing on Port Moresby in New Guinea as well as to provide a base for Japanese forces to threaten and interdict the supply and communication routes between the United States and Australia and New Zealand. Without the means to capably resist the Japanese offensive in the Solomons, the British Resident Commissioner of the Solomon Islands protectorate and the few Australian troops assigned to defend Tulagi evacuated the island just before the Japanese forces arrived on May 3. The next day, however, a U.S. aircraft carrier task force en route to resist the Japanese forces advancing on Port Moresby (that resulted in the Battle of the Coral Sea) struck the Japanese Tulagi landing force in an air attack, destroying or damaging several of the Japanese ships and aircraft involved in the landing operation. Nevertheless, the Japanese troops successfully occupied Tulagi and began the construction of a small naval base. Over the next several months, the Japanese established a naval refueling, communications, and seaplane base on Tulagi and the nearby islets of Gavutu and Tanambogo and, in July 1942, began to build a large airfield on nearby Guadalcanal. The Japanese activities on Tulagi and Guadalcanal were observed by Allied reconnaissance aircraft, as well as by Australian coastwatcher personnel stationed in the area. (Full article...)

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6 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war protests
Japanese students at the University of Tokyo, Sophia University, Tama Art University, International Christian University, and Hiroshima University hold solidarity encampments. (Arab News Japan)
22 April 2024 – China–Japan relations
Controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine
China objects to an offering that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on Sunday. (Reuters)
15 April 2024 – Iran–Israel proxy conflict
2024 Iranian strikes in Israel, Iran–Japan relations
Japan increases its four-stage danger ranking level for most of Iran, including Tehran, to Level 3, which urges Japanese citizens to avoid all travel to Iran. (The Japan News)

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Satoshi Kon (今 敏, Kon Satoshi, October 12, 1963 – August 24, 2010) was a Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo, Hokkaido, and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art University. He is best known for his acclaimed anime films Perfect Blue (1997), Millennium Actress (2001), Tokyo Godfathers (2003), and Paprika (2006), and the TV series Paranoia Agent (2004).

He died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 46 on August 24, 2010. (Full article...)

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Flag of Ibaraki Prefecture
Ibaraki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region on Honshū island. The capital is Mito. Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province. In 1871, the name of the province became Ibaraki. Ibaraki Prefecture is the northeastern part of the Kantō region, stretching between Tochigi Prefecture and the Pacific Ocean and bounded on the north and south by Fukushima Prefecture and Chiba Prefecture. It also has borders on the southwest with Gunma Prefecture and Saitama Prefecture. The northernmost part of the prefecture is mountainous, but most of the prefecture is a flat plain with many lakes. Ibaraki's industries include energy, particularly nuclear energy, production, as well as chemical and precision machining industries. The Hitachi company was founded in the Ibaraki city of the same name. Ibaraki's population is increasing modestly as the Greater Tokyo region spreads out. Famous foods of Ibaraki include natto, of Mito, the watermelons produced in Kyowa (recently merged into Chikusei), and the chestnuts grown in the Nishiibaraki region. Ibaraki is famous for the martial art of Aikido which was founded by Ueshiba Morihei, also known as Osensei. Ueshiba spent the latter part of his life in the town of Iwama, now part of Kasama, and the Aiki Shrine and dojo he created remain there to this day. There are castle ruins in many cities, including Mito, Kasama, and Yuki. Kasama is also famous for its Shinto and art culture, and pottery.

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Demographics Demographics | Yamato people | Hāfu (half Japanese people) | Ainu people | Japanese people | Japanese names | Aging of Japan
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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

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