Japan is one of the oldest settlement that started almost 20,00 years ago. Since it was isolated for long it has a very unique culture which intrigues many people. It got its name from the fact that ancient japanese believed theirs was the first land awakened by the rising sun. The Japanese called their land Nippon and when Europeans discovered Japan they mispronounced it as Zipango. That word stuck and eventually evolved into Japan.  It is also called The land of rising Sun for the same reason.

Japan is an archipelago ( group of islands) and it consists of four main larger islands and more than 6800 smaller islands. Located  in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia. Japan is located in the area known as “The Ring of Fire” because this is an area with many earthquakes which often convert to tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. It gets over 1,500 earthquakes per year.

Japan is over 70% mountainous terrain with approximately 18% of the land mass suitable for settlement. Therefore Japanese cities are are very densely populated. Tokyo is the capital of Japan and  is located on Honshu island. Most of the Japan is interconnected with a world class rail road transport. The fastest train in the world, Maglev train, has a speed of 581 km per hours.

It is a culturally rich country. Judo and Karate are some famous forms of martial arts, Bonsai is an art form which keeps miniature trees in containers or pots. Origami is a modern paper folding art form that started from Japan. Sumo wrestling  is Japan’s national sport.

Japan is very famous for its technological advancements, great food and  animations.

The country spends a lot of money  for research in science and technology. Japan is the second-largest producer of automobiles in the world. In rail transport, Japan has the most advanced trains in the world. It has developed excellent rockets and its contribution to the space technology is commendable. Sony, Canon, Panasonic, Fujitsu, Sharp, Hitachi, NEC, Epson and Toshiba are all japanese companies.

Japanese eat a lot of raw food. Raw horse meat is a popular entree in Japan. Sliced thinly and eaten raw it is called Basashi. Sashimi  is a Japanese delicacy. It consists of very fresh raw meat or fish, sliced into thin pieces. Sushi is a Japanese food consisting of cooked rice combined with  raw fish or other seafood.

And how can we forget? Japan is the largest producer of animation movies. Almost 60% of the animation entertainment comes from Japan. There are a large number of voice-acting schools in the country and that is because animation is so successful in Japan. That explains Doraemon, Ninja Hatori, Pokemon … the list is endless.

Japan is indeed a great country.