Project : Japan

Project II : Japan

Japan (Japanese:NipponorNihon) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, 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.

Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan's population of 126 million is the world's tenth largest. Approximately 9 million people live in Tokyo,the capital city of Japan.

Geography

Honshu, which means 'Mainland' in the Japanese language, is the biggest island. Hokkaido is the island north of Honshu. Kyushu is the island west of Honshu. Shikoku is the island to the south-west of Honshu.

In the middle of Japan there are mountains . Many of the mountains are extinct volcanoes, but some are still active. The highest of these mountains is the beautiful, volcano-shaped Fuji.

Japan has many earthquakes, in fact there are about 1500 of these every year.

Over 10 cities have more than a million people in them. The biggest cities in Japan are: Tokyo,Yokohama,Nagoya,Osaka,Kyoto,Kobe,Hiroshima.

Japan has a fascinating culture.

Geisha are famous female traditional entertainers, who sing, dance, play traditional Japanese musical instruments.

Samurai were a traditional warrior class in pre-industrial Japan.

The Kimono is the most famous form of traditional Japanese clothing for women.

Traditionally, sumo and judo are considered Japan's national sports.