Konnichiwa (Ko-nee-chee-wa)!

This one of the many phrases that Japanese

people each other with when they approach them. Japan is made up of four main islands

and over a hundred smaller islands. Japan is very similar to the United States of America.

Like the United States, it is very economically stable. Also has a free market. Its

government consists of three branches just like the United States. All in all, the country

has many similarities ands a few differences with the United States of America.

Japan is a country that has a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary

government. A constitutional monarchy is a from of government in which a monarch

such as a king, queen, or emperor shares governmental powers with elected legislatures

serves mainly as a ceremonial leader of a government. The parliament, law, and custom

restrain the powers of the monarch. He or she just acts as the Head of State. The prime

minister makes all major decisions. Presently, Naoto Kan is the prime minister. The

Japanese government, like the United States of America, has three branches: Legislature,

Executive, and Judiciary. Its legislature consists of a House of Representatives and the

house of Councilors. There are four hundred members in the House of Representatives,

which is also called the lower house, and there are two hundred and two members in the

members in the House of Councilors, which is also called the upper house. All of these

members of the national Parliament, also know as the “Diet,” are elected by the

people/citizens of Japan. In the Executive branch, there is the prime minister, who is

elected by the members of the Diet and his cabinet. The prime minister is the head of the

cabinet. The cabinet further consists of ministers, who are appointed by the prime

minister, are usually members of the Diet, and have a smaller degree of power than the

prime minister. The last branch is the Judicial Branch. Like the United States, the highest
court is the Supreme Court. Other courts are district courts, high courts, family courts,

and summary courts. Also, the cabinet appoints the judges of the Supreme Court. Some

of the major political parties in Japan are the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the Social

Democratic Party (SDP), the People’s New Party (PNP), the Liberal Democratic Party

(LDP), the New Clean Government Party (also known as the “Komeito”), and the Japan

Communist Party (JCP).

The United States of America is a mixture between a constitutional republic and a

representative democracy. A constitutional republic is a form of government in which the

head of state and other representatives must govern accordingly to the constitution. A

representative democracy is when the people of a country elect representatives to make

important decisions. Like Japan, the United States also has three branches of government:

the Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch. The Legislative

Branch is composed of two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. Two

senators from each of the fifty states form the senate. The House of Representatives is

based on population in the state. The President, the Vice President, and the cabinet make

up the Executive Branch. Barack Obama is the current president of the United States of

America. The People/citizens elect the president, and the president appoints members to

his cabinet (with the senate’s approval). Just like the Japanese Judicial Branch, the United

States’ main court is called the Supreme Court.

Japan has a free-market economy. A free-market economy is an economic system

in which buyers and sellers make free choices in a marketplace. Japan has the second

largest free market economy in the world. It is very competitive and productive in areas

that are linked to international trade and commerce. Its GDP (Gross Domestic product) is
$5.049 trillion, which was measured in the year 2009 Japan has a few national resources

of its own, such as fish and mineral resources, and trade with other countries help it earn

enough money to purchase raw materials from other countries. Some of the many

products that Japan exports are deposits of gold, magnesium, silver, metal products,

textiles, chemicals, processed foods and forest products. They also export many machines

and electronic equipment, such as Toyota Car. Some of the things that Japan imports are

iron ore, coke, copper, and bauxite. Japan normally produces a slight surplus of rice, but

it imports large quantities of wheat, corn, sorghum, and soybeans from other countries.

Some of Japan’s agricultural products that it makes and exports are rice, vegetable, fruit,

milk, silk, and fish.

Japan and the United States have many relations. Japan provides the United States

with many resources, and the United States also provides natural resources to Japan.

Other than natural resources, the United States and Japan are close and related in many

ways. Some of these relations are cooperation on global issues, such as the spread of HIV

and AIDS, protecting environment and its resources, and even the nuclear bombs

problem with North Korea. The United States and Japan work with the Republic of Korea

(also known as South Korea) on policies regarding North Korea and the nuclear bomb

threats. They also collaborate in science and technology, as well as military. Japan and

the United States of America work closely on mapping the Human Genome, researching

on aging, and even researching on cancer. The two countries also collaborate on making,

fixing, and improving the ISS, International Space Station.

After World War II, Japan was economically and physically damaged because the

United States dropped two atomic bombs on two of Japan’s major cities: Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. Japan’s could not help itself and there was no other country that would help it,

other the country who damaged it. The United States, after Japan surrendered in World

War II, help Japan by sending money and medical aid to them. During this time, the

United States forced Japan to sign a treaty that let America troops use Japanese military

bases, and from that point on, some American soldiers are occupied in the Japanese

bases.

Japan is a very peculiar country when it is compared to most of the other

countries in the world, such as India and the United States. Japan was never ruled by

another country. Instead it was the country doing the ruling. It has ruled over