Japan
hideJapan (日本, Nihon or Nippon?, officially 日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters which make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes identified as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan comprises 6,852 islands making it an archipelago. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for 97% of Japan's land area. Most of the islands are mountainous, many volcanic; for example, Japan’s highest peak, Mount Fuji, is a volcano. Japan has the world's tenth largest population, with about 128 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
Archaeological research indicates that people were living on the islands of Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan begins with brief appearances in Chinese history texts from the first century A.D. Influence from the outside world followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. Since adopting its constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament, the Diet.
A major economic power, Japan has the world's second largest economy by nominal GDP and the third largest in purchasing power parity. Japan has a significant military equipped with modern defense systems, such as AEGIS, and boasts a large fleet of destroyers. It is also the world's fourth largest exporter and sixth largest importer. It is additionally a member of the G-8 and is the sole Asian power in that organization. It is a developed country with high living standards (8th highest HDI). Japan has the highest life expectancy of any country in the world and the third lowest infant mortality rate (according to both UN and WHO estimates).
For more information about Japan, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with japan
Japanese Store Selling Custom-Made Robots That Look Like Their Owners
Dec 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Department store competition is fierce in Japan during the winter holidays, with every store trying to come up with the most attention-catching promotional campaign. This year, the department ...
Augmented reality systems appearing in Japanese shopping malls
Dec 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Augmented reality (AR) systems are being developed for real applications in store windows and shopping malls in Japan.
Hi-tech, eco-friendly dream home takes shape in Japan
Dec 14, 2009 |
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On Tokyo Bay, at the edge of the largest urban sprawl on Earth, sits what may be an environmentalist's dream home.
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See-through goldfish shows clear benefits for science, research
14 minutes ago |
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With Christmas around the corner, a see-through goldfish might make a nice Christmas present for the ichthyologist who has everything.
OU Lab 1 of 4 in nation testing new exercise technique
Dec 14, 2009 |
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A year ago, Michael Bemben, professor of health and exercise science in the University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences, was invited to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to formally announce the partnership ...
Google QR codes to appear in a store window near you (w/ Video)
Dec 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Google recently sent out 100,000 stickers to selected US businesses for use on their storefront windows. The stickers have the Google Maps logo and a QR code that can be scanned by smart phone ...
Extra pores on plants could ease global warming: Japan study
Dec 10, 2009 |
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Japanese researchers said Thursday they had found a way to make plant leaves absorb more carbon dioxide in an innovation that may one day help ease global warming and boost food production.
Old math reveals new thinking in children's cognitive development
Dec 11, 2009 |
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Five-year-olds can reason about the world from multiple perspectives simultaneously, according to a new theory by researchers in Japan and Australia. Using an established branch of mathematics called Category Theory, the ...
The utility of EUS and CEH-EUS in the diagnosis of small pancreatic tumors
Dec 08, 2009 |
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Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is a highly sensitive diagnostic method for the detection of small pancreatic carcinomas. Recently, there have been some reports describing the utility of contrast-enhanced harmonic EUS (CEH-EUS) ...
First Direct Imaging of a Young Binary System
5 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of astronomers from The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, and other universities have captured the first direct image of a young ...
Philips electronic skin technology enables new chameleon-like ambience designs
Dec 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Philips Research has developed a novel color e-paper technology that opens up new design opportunities for personalizing electronic devices. This means that the color and appearance, of the ...
Toyota aims to roll out plug-in Prius in two years
Dec 14, 2009 |
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Toyota Motor said Monday that it plans to begin commercial sales of its first plug-in hybrid vehicle in about two years, aiming to meet growing demand for fuel-efficient cars.
Toshiba develops essential technology for spintronics-based MOS field-effect transistor
Dec 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has developed MOSFET cell based on spin transport electronics, or spintronics, an advanced semiconductor technology that makes use of the spin and ...
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