Japan

Chelsea Paige

Japans Location
Japan is made up of over 4000 small
islands with four main ones: Hokkaido,
Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu
Surrounded by water: The Sea of
Japan and the Pacific Ocean
The countries across the Sea of Japan
are North Korea, South Korea and
Russia

Capital and Population

Japans capital is Tokyo, which is one of the
worlds largest cities
The population of Japan is 126,804,433 and
ranked 10th for the most population on the
planet
The population density is 336 people per a
square mile, which is ranked 32nd in the
world
Japan is also the leading supplier of fish and
the United States biggest trading partner

Japan Flag
Adopted by Japan on February 27th, 1870
Most commonly known as Hinomaru which
means sun disk or Nipon, the The Land of
the Rising Sun
The red circle in the middle represents the sun,
and the sun represents sincerity, brightness,
warmth, bravery, strength and valor
The white background stands for purity and
honesty

Japan Currency
The Japanese Currency is Yen
()
One million dollars would
equal about 83,906,010 yen
One million yen would equal
about 11,918.1 dollars

Japanese Writing and

Alphabet

Japan has four different

writing styles: Hiragana
and Katakana (which
are the easiest), Kanji
(the most complicated),
and Romaji (Written
using English letters)

Can be written
vertically right to left
or horizontally left to
right

Japanese Suffixes
There are many ways to call people in Japan by adding
suffixes
San means Mr./Mrs./Ms. or for people you barely met
and its also for people youre not close to but know them,
and a way of showing respect
Kun is generally used for boys, but also can be used for
girls if someone elderly is addressing them
Chan is usually used if you have a certain fondness for
the person, most commonly girls
Niichan and Neechan are for older brother and sister
respectively and the more formal Niisama and
Neesama
There are many others, including uncle, aunt, grandpa, etc.

Politeness and Impoliteness

Being polite is one of the most important qualities
A bow is the proper way to greet someone,
however when meeting a foreigner, a handshake is
fine
Yawning, chewing gum, putting your ankle over
your knee, and blowing your nose in public are all
considered impolite
When eating soup, slurping is not impolite, in fact,
its considered as gratitude by showing the cook
youre enjoying the meal
Walking and eating is impolite for an adult, but for
a kid, its alright
Laughing can be a sign of embarrassment

Family

A man is the head of the family

The woman works and raises the children
Usually the male and female are equal
There are almost always fewer than three kids
Teenagers date around fifteen and do the
same things as us, such as going out to eat,
seeing a movie, etc.
The usual marrying age is twenty-seven for
males and twenty-six for females
Weddings are important and also expensive
and are most commonly held in hotels
Divorce and single parenthood is very rare

Living Style
There are Japanese-style houses, apartments,
and now Western-style houses
When people enter houses, they take off their
shoes is the genkan which is a small place
between the door and the living room and put
on slippers to wear around the house
There are sliding doors, called fusuma and if
you open them, you can make two rooms into
one
People have beds, but sometimes they sleep
on futons, which are beds you lay on the
ground and when done, you can roll them up
and put them in the closet

School

Schoolwork is very important

Even in kindergarten, kids are
expected to do their very best and
nothing less
Its very serious and rigorous
Getting into the right school can
guarantee success for their whole life
School is free ages six to fifteen
There are often school uniforms
students are required to wear, which
helps distinguish schools from each
other
English is taught in all secondary
schools (which is around high school
age) because it is often used in
business deals and etc.
School is everyday except Sunday
and is held twice a month on Saturday

Anime and Manga

Anime is like a cartoon,
except for all ages, not just
kids while manga is
Japanese graphic novels
and also directed towards
older ages
Some popular ones are:
Bleach, Detective Conan,
Inuyasha, Ranma , and
many more
Many are ongoing, and
publish them weekly in a
magazine called Shonen
Sunday
People love anime and
manga all around the
world, not just Japan

Traditions
People go to temples to pray for many
things, such as a good grade on a test
You can also buy good luck charms
When people go to a temple, they pull a
rope and a bell rings and they pray and
clap their hands once
They can get a piece of paper with a
fortune on it and if the fortune is bad,
they tie it to a tree to get rid of the bad
luck
You can also buy good luck charms

Mount Fuji
Mt. Fuji is a currently dormant volcano near
the Yamanashi and Karagawa Prefectures
The last time Mt. Fuji erupted was in
November 1707 and has remained
dormant since February 1708
Mt. Fuji is 3,776 meters high or 12,388.45
feet
Mt. Fuji is also known as Fuji-san and is a
well known landmark

Cherry Blossoms
Cherry blossom trees are called sakura
A popular thing to do in Japan is go
flower viewing
There are many cherry blossom parks
you can visit
Usually schools have cherry blossom
trees outside of them
There are festivals called hanami to
enjoy the flowers

Tokyo Tower
Tokyo Tower is in Tokyo and is the
worlds tallest self-supporting tower
Based of Frances Eiffel Tower
333 meters tall, 13 meters higher than
the Eiffel Tower
At the top of the tower, theres a TV and
broadcast antenna
Built in 1958 as Japans birth
economically

 Located in Tokyo Dome City

Opened on March 17th, 1988
Many sports and concerts have and still
are taking place in the Dome
60 NFL and baseball games are held yearly
Madonna, Michael Jackson, the Backstreet
Boys, Britney Spears, the Rolling Stones,
Janet Jackson, etc. have had a concert in
the Dome
Can fit up to 55,000 people at once

Peace Memorial Park

Built in Hiroshima after the US
dropped the Atomic Bomb
120,000 square meters
Every year, theres an anniversary
the day the bomb was dropped with
speeches for loved ones, etc.
The main facility is the Peace
Memorial Museum

Akihabara
Akihabara is also called Akiba
In Tokyo
Hundreds of stores and shops, mostly
for electronics
Gaming, anime and manga is also
popular
Famous for cosplay cafes: Regular cafes
except where waitresses dress up as
anime characters

Random Facts
Sushi is expensive; it is usually only bought on rare occasions
Adults like to drink a type of alcohol called sake, which is rice
wine.
Medical teams wear helmets and blue scrubs
The life expectancy rate for males are 79 and 86 for female.
Business people wear ties and suits, just like in America and
Europe.
People dress in harmony with other people, but comfortably
A major holiday is New Years Eve
The prime minister is the head of government
The voting age is twenty
People travel in cars, planes, subways, and trains
For a funeral, bodies are burned instead of buried
They have cigarette vending machines as well as regular ones
They have indoor beaches

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