Ray Shi

Japan

Geography

6,852 islands73% of land is useless

GeographyHokkaido

Honshu

Shikoku

Kyushu

Located in Volcanic zone on the Pacific Ring of Fire

Temperate

Climate

9 forest ecoregions90,000 species of wildlife

Biodiversity

Snow monkey

Environmental Pollution

Oil crisis in 1973

Environment

One of the world’s leaders in the development of new environment-friendly techonologies, and is ranked 20th best in the world in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index

But…

Constitutional monarchyBicameral parliament

House of RepresentativeHouse of Councilors

Universal suffrage

Politics

Conservative Liberal Democratic Party; 54 Years

Social Liberal Democratic Party of Japan

Significant shift

Head of government.

Designated by the Diet (national legislature).

Appointed by the Emperor.

They are vulnerable…

Prime Minister?

Kujikata Osadamegaki- Edo period

Civil law based on Europe

Notably from German…

Legal System

EconomyStarted from building network of transport

routs :roads, water routs, etc. :Rice broker- Japan’s banking system.

Meiji peri0d from 1868- Beginning of the market economy

most of the major enterprises were established.

:Hitachi, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Olympus, etc.

Following World War II, the Japanese economy boomed from 1960s to 1980s.

① Mass production- Introduction to assembly line

Japanese post-war economic miracle

② Educational standard rose- earnest workers.

③ No interference on the introduction of assembly line.

④ Solidarity from the war, etc.

⑤ Superior economic policies; Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

Economic bubble- inflation of real estate and stock.

“Lost Decade” 1989~2000

　

Japanese asset price bubble

A leading nation in scientific research: technology, machinery and biomedical research.

Contributions such as…: electronics, automobiles, machinery,

earthquake engineering, industrial robotics, etc.

Technology

Earthquake engineering

Robot system for manufacturing

Industrial Robot

46.4 % petroleum

21.4 % coal

16.7 % natural gas

9.7 % nuclear power

2.9 % hydro power

Energy

Japan has paved 1.2 million kilometers of road.

Highways that requires toll when entering.

Cars are generally inexpensiveCar usage is the lowest of all G8 countries

Car transportation

Many railway companies fight for passengers.Japanese trains are known for their safety

and punctuality.

Railroads

Maglev Model: MLX01

Japanese Railfan

More pictures….

173 airports, includes: Narita International Airport, Kansai International Airport, Chubu Centrair International Airport.

Haneda Airport- Asia’s second-most busiest airport.

Airport

Edo-Koji

Approximately 127.3 million

98.5% ethnic Japanese

Brazilians are the largest community of Westerners in Japan

World longest overall life expectancy rate

Demographics

Aging

Suicide

ReligionFewer than 1% of

Japanese are Christian.

84-96% subscribes to Buddhism or Shinto.

30% of the population identify themselves as belonging to a religion.

Shinto

Hatsumode omamori

Language99% of the population speak Japanese as

their first language.

• Chinese characters

• ex.- 漢字Kanji

• Japanese original characters

• ex.- さかなHiragana

• Western characters

• ex.- ピザKatakana

Compulsory education comprises elementary and middle school (age 6 to 15).

78% of high school graduate attend higher-leveled education.

Top-ranking universities include: University of Tokyo and Kyoto University

Education

CULTURE Japan has greatly

evolved from the original traditional culture: Japanese culture is combination of several cultures from countries.

Ceramics, textiles, laquerwave, swords, and dolls.

Bunraku, kabuki, noh, dance, rakugo.

Tea ceremony, ikebana, martial arts, calligraphy, origami, onsen, Geisha, etc.

Kinkaku-ji

KabukiTraditional Japanese-

drama.

Known for its form of its drama and unique make-up.

Performed in full-day programs

RakugoJapanese verbal

entertainment.

Lone storyteller sits on zabuton (square floor cusion) with seiza sitting position without standing up.

props: sensu and tenugui

GeishaWoman trained to

entertain men with conversation, dancing and singing.

OrigamiJapanese art of

folding paper.

Cuisine

Sumo