Japan in a Nutshell.
Behold the stunning archipelago that lies off the eastern temperate coast of Asia, the land of the rising sun, Japan. This is the home of the Japanese people, a nation proud of their heritage and history. They call their beloved country Nihon or Nippon (日本), which translates to “sun’s origin”, a fitting name for the first place in Asia to greet each new day. The word has been in use for centuries, dating back to 700 AD. Interestingly, the English name for this nation — Japan — is believed to have come from a corruption of the word “Nippon,” via several other languages such as Portuguese, Malay, and Mandarin Chinese.
The history of Japan is long and varied, with evidence of human habitation dating back at least 16,000 years to the Jomon period of hunter-gatherers. However, it was around 300BC that the Yayoi people began to settle in Japan, bringing with them the ancestor of the Japanese language and introducing Chinese influences in art and architecture.
The country’s first mention in written records came in 111AD with the Chinese Book of Han, and the Yamato state was noted as being the most powerful among several states in the Japanese archipelago in the later Chinese Records of the Three Kingdoms. The introduction of Buddhism in the 6th century, mixed with the traditional Shinto religion of the island, marked a significant cultural shift.
The Asuka period between the 6th and 8th centuries saw a gradual centralization of power, which culminated in the Nara period of the 8th century with the establishment of the first truly recognizable Japanese state. This state was led by the emperor, who ruled from a Chinese-styled court. In 794, the capital moved to Kyoto, where it remained for almost a millennium.
Over the following centuries, the emperor’s power declined, and regional clans filled the political vacuum, leading to civil war in the 12th century. The Minamoto clan emerged victorious from the civil war, with their head becoming the first Shogun and a military ruler with true power. Japan would be under military rule for the next seven centuries, with power shifting between regional clans and their armies of samurai, and the Shogun.
The Sengoku period of the 15th and 16th centuries saw violent civil war as feudal warlords known as Daimyo fought it out for power. This period was further complicated by the arrival of Europeans, who brought with them Christianity and guns. In 1600, the Battle of Sekigahara saw Tokugawa Ieyasu triumph and all other rival clans defeated. The powerless emperor remained in Kyoto, while the Shogun moved his court to Edo, later renamed Tokyo, where his successors held absolute power for the next two and a half centuries.
In Japan’s feudal era, Christianity posed a threat to the Shogun’s power, leading to its banishment and punishment by death. To further insulate themselves from external influences, Japan enforced a policy of self-isolation, forbidding its people from traveling abroad and strictly limiting foreign presence to only a solitary Dutch outpost. This isolationist policy, which lasted for centuries, was unprecedented in world history. Despite being cut off from the rest of the world, Japan experienced a period of remarkable economic and artistic growth, with its population booming to over 30 million by 1700, making Edo the largest city in the world by 1721. During this time, private schools thrived, leading some scholars to speculate that Japan was one of the most literate countries of the era.
In the mid-1800s, Japan was in a period of decline, marked by government ineptitude and economic stagnation that weakened the Shogunate’s power. However, it was a foreign power that ultimately caused change. In 1852, a fleet of United States warships, under Commodore Perry, was sent to force Japan to open up to trade. The following year, the fleet arrived in Edo Bay, using displays of military might and technology to intimidate the Japanese authorities. Eventually, Japan had to concede and allow foreigners to visit and trade with the country. This change destabilized the Shogunate, which was deposed in 1868 after a brief civil war.
The emperor was restored to power, in a period known as the Meiji Restoration. While an elected House of Representatives was part of the new constitution, only 2% of Japanese could vote, and ultimately, all nominal power was held by the emperor. At this time, the capital was moved from Kyoto to Edo, renamed Tokyo, which means “Kyoto of the East.”
The following decades saw the fastest modernization of any country in history, with Japan developing from an almost feudal society into an industrialized nation. Westerners were brought in to advise and supervise the construction of railways and factories, and traditional dress was replaced by European-style uniforms. Despite the westernization, the Japanese held firm to their traditional mix of Buddhist and Shinto culture and traditions.
Meanwhile, the northern island of Hokkaido, previously inhabited by the Ainu people, was colonized to feed the growing population and resist the threat of Russian takeover. The native Ainu people were assimilated into the larger population, their distinctive culture all but extinguished.
As the Western colonialism loomed over Japan, the military gained dominance and believed that seizing colonies was the sole option to ensure survival. Taiwan was gained in 1894, and Korea was occupied in 1910, bolstered by the defeat of the Russian fleet in 1905. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, inspired by fascism from Europe, the military took over with dissidents murdered. By 1931, Manchuria was occupied, and Japan invaded China in 1937. Japan’s regional power posed a threat to the US and Britain, leading to condemnation. Japan aligned with fascist powers in Europe, worsening relations with the US and Britain. Japan’s oil supply was cut by Western trade embargos, forcing Japan to act. On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor, which was a pretext to a declaration of war. Japanese forces occupied British South East Asia, including Singapore, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. It appeared that Japanese military might was unbeatable.
Defeated armies and people were considered subhuman by the ruling military, and the traditional bushido samurai code was twisted to justify the brutal treatment they received. Allied prisoners were starved, forced into labor, tortured, and executed, while subject peoples in China, Korea, and the Philippines were subjected to massacres, mass rape, and forced prostitution.
As the allies began to turn the tide of war in 1942, the Japanese military fiercely resisted, fighting to the death rather than be captured. In the ultimate symbol of nationalistic sacrifice, pilots of the Japanese navy turned themselves into guided missiles in kamikaze attacks on US ships.
The battle of the Pacific reached an apocalyptic crescendo in 1945, and faced with suicidal resistance, US President Truman made the difficult decision to use the ultimate weapon against the enemy. Two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing almost a quarter of a million people, mostly civilians. It was the only time in history where atomic or nuclear weapons were used in war. In the face of such devastation, Japan had no choice but to surrender unconditionally.
In the aftermath of destruction, Japan faced a new reality — an occupation by a foreign power. The bombs that had brought the war to a close had also brought the country to its knees. The leaders of the military were held accountable for their crimes, but the Emperor was allowed to remain in power, a symbolic gesture to prevent further turmoil.
Despite the challenges, Japan emerged from the ashes with a determination to build a better future. Major reforms were implemented during the occupation period, ushering in an era of democracy and peaceful methods. The country’s focus on economic growth and power mirrored its remarkable transformation in the late 1800s, propelling Japan to become the world’s second-largest economy by the late 1960s. The boom continued for years, with annual growth rates of 10% until 1973, second only to the United States. However, economic struggles in the 1980s led to a stock market and property crash, resulting in a lost decade of growth. Since 2000, Japan has experienced a slow recovery, and economists continue to debate the reasons for its failure to fully regain its former economic strength.
In Japan, the central government holds supreme authority, making it a unitary state as opposed to the federal system of the United States. The country is divided into 47 prefectures, with larger ones like Hokkaido further subdivided into sub-prefectures. Over 1,700 municipalities make up the base of the state administration, while larger cities like Tokyo and Osaka have their own unique governmental structures. Following the creation of a new constitution in 1947, the Emperor no longer holds any formal powers, making Japan a constitutional monarchy governed by an executive led by a prime minister and cabinet elected from the National Diet, the country’s parliament. The Diet consists of two houses: the lower House of Representatives, with 465 seats elected through universal suffrage every four years, and the upper House of Councillors, with 245 seats elected by Japanese citizens over the age of 18 and serving six-year terms.
Naruhito is the current emperor, succeeding his father Akihito who abdicated in 2019. Both are descendants of Hirohito, who lived through Japan’s nationalist takeover, World War II, and subsequent occupation by the United States, as well as the country’s economic rise. According to legend, Japan’s imperial lineage dates back to the 7th century BC, with the first historically verifiable emperor appearing in the 6th century AD. Regardless, Japan’s monarchy is considered the world’s oldest surviving monarchy.
Japan is a breathtaking archipelago consisting of over 6,800 islands located in the stunning northwestern Pacific. The majority of these islands, with the exception of four, are relatively small and remote. The majority of Japan’s population resides on the four main islands. Okinawa, located halfway between the south and Taiwan, is a notable exception to this trend.
The four main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. You can travel across all four islands by train, a journey that would take 29 hours thanks to the incredible bullet trains that run from Sapporo in the north to Kagoshima in the south. By comparison, a car journey would take 37 hours and requires a ferry crossing from Hokkaido to Honshu in the north.
With a total land area of around 400,000 square kilometers, Japan is the 4th largest island nation in the world and ranks 61st overall. The country boasts the sixth longest coastline of any nation.
Japan’s highest point is the majestic Mount Fuji, which stands at 3776m. A dormant volcano that last erupted in 1708, Mount Fuji is a national symbol and the most photographed natural feature on Earth, owing to its near-perfect profile.
Japan is bordered by the Pacific Ocean along its southeastern flank. To the northwest, it faces the Korean peninsula, the Sea of Japan, and the extreme southeast of Russia around the port of Vladivostok. To the north is Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, which are part of Russia, but the closest four are claimed by Japan. To the south, the long chain of the Ryukyu Islands faces China across the East China Sea.
Spanning about 20 degrees of latitude, Japan experiences a wide range of climates. The far southern islands are subtropical, bordering on tropical, while the north of Honshu Island is consistently snowy and has a hot summer continental climate. The island of Hokkaido is dominated by a warm summer continental climate. The Humid Subtropical and Continental climates are characterized by four distinct seasons, and these have become a part of Japanese culture and art history. Winter brings snow and chill, summer features full green leaves and sweltering heat, and autumn bursts into vivid color thanks to the abundance of maple trees on the islands. But it’s the spring that is most celebrated, specifically the flowering of the cherry tree, the blossom that the Japanese call sakura. During the festival known as hanami, which dates back centuries, family and friends celebrate with food and drink under the trees as the wave of blossom travels up the country from south to north over March and April.
The northwest coast of Japan has a unique weather phenomenon, as it is one of the snowiest places in the world. This is due to a rare combination of cold winds blowing over water onto the land, in this case, the dry, cold winds that consistently blow out from central Siberia each winter. As they roll over the Sea of Japan, they gather moisture and deposit it heavily onto cities like Sapporo and Niigata. This unusual effect is the winter part of the Eastern Asian Monsoon, the world’s largest weather system, which affects all islands in Japan. In summer, winds move in the opposite direction, from the Pacific Ocean toward the Eurasian mainland, laden with moisture. As most of the populated cities are on the southeast side of the islands, these cities experience higher rainfall in summer than winter as a result.
Japan’s mountainous geography, which covers two-thirds of its land, is a double-edged sword. It has allowed much of the country to maintain its natural biome of temperate broadleaf forest, with coniferous boreal forest in the far north and tropical rainforest in the far south. However, Japan’s location adjacent to fault lines that separate the giant Pacific plate with others on the eastern edge of Asia has also produced many active volcanoes, such as the national symbol, Mount Fuji, and frequent earthquakes. Unfortunately, earthquakes can sometimes trigger a tsunami when they occur over water. In fact, the very word “tsunami” hails from Japan. The most recent of these disasters was the Tohoku earthquake of 2011, a magnitude 9 temblor that claimed 16–20,000 lives and triggered a nuclear crisis in Fukushima that continues to reverberate today.
Despite its perilous geology, Japan is home to a thriving population of 126 million, ranking 11th in the world. Most of its people — 80% — dwell on Honshu, the largest island, with nearly 38 million concentrated in the sprawling Greater Tokyo Area, the world’s most populous metropolis. The next largest urban region is the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto triangle, home to 20 million residents. Together, these two metropolitan powerhouses account for fully half of Japan’s people.
With its land heavily mountainous, Japan is one of the world’s most densely populated nations. The vast majority of its people — over 98% — are ethnic Japanese, making it one of the most homogeneous countries on Earth. And with a life expectancy of 83.5 years, Japan is second only to a select few other nations in the world for its people’s longevity, with the island of Okinawa boasting the highest percentage of centenarians anywhere. Yet with a declining birth rate in recent years, Japan’s population is expected to shrink to just 95 million by 2050, presenting significant challenges for the economy and housing, among other areas.
The Japanese language is one of the most complicated in the world, comprising of three different scripts — kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Kanji, which uses thousands of different pictograms to describe meaning, is derived from Chinese and used for most content words. Hiragana and katakana, representing spoken syllables, are used to perform grammatical linkages and borrowed foreign words, respectively.
Japan’s flag is unmistakable, featuring a simple red disc in the center of a white field, representing the rising sun. The flag has been in use formally since 1870, although the use of a sun flag to represent the Japanese imperial court dates back as early as the 8th century.
Shinto and Buddhism are the country’s primary religions. Shinto, which is exclusive to Japan, is based on the belief that kami, or spirits, are present throughout nature as well as people. Buddhism arrived in Japan around a millennium after its birth in India in the 6th Century BC.
Japan’s economy is the third largest in the world, ranking just behind the United States and China. Its advanced manufacturing sector is dominated by exports of electronics, cars, motorcycles, robots, and other types of finished products or components built to a quality and precision that is the envy of the world. Japan’s economic rise as an economic superpower — the original “Tiger economy” — is a remarkable story considering that it was barely out of the feudal era a century and a half ago.
With an increasingly aging population due to a reduction in the birth rate in recent decades, Japan’s population is expected to fall considerably to 95 million by 2050. This shift will have significant effects on the country’s economy, housing, and other sectors. Nevertheless, Japan’s cultural and economic influence in the world is undeniable, making it a fascinating and important country to study and understand.
Japan’s contribution to modern manufacturing techniques has been significant, with many of the concepts it pioneered, such as Just-in-Time logistics, now commonplace in Western economies and other Tiger economies in the Far East, such as Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and China. Notably, the country was the first to develop high-speed rail systems, with the world-famous Shinkansen or “bullet” trains still in operation today, connecting major cities across the four main islands.
The automotive and electronics industries are where Japan truly shines, with the former boasting household names such as Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, and Mazda, to name a few. Until recently, Japan was producing more cars, trucks, and motorcycles than any other country, and it remains the largest automotive exporter globally. As for electronics, Japanese brands of televisions, cameras, video game systems, laptops, and other electronic devices are legendary, with Sony, Panasonic, Canon, and Nintendo among the most recognizable names.
In the past, these companies were pioneers in the development and mass-market production of gadgets such as transistor radios, personal cassette players, digital watches, video recorders, and laptops. Tokyo’s stock exchange is the third largest in the world, trailing only the NYSE and NASDAQ, while the Japanese yen is the third most widely traded currency globally, following the US dollar and the euro.
Despite Japan’s many successes, it has not been without its struggles, and its economic growth experienced a contraction during the 1990s and early 2000s, which has contributed to the country having the highest national debt of any developed nation at a staggering 236% of GDP in 2017. The rapidly declining population only adds to the uncertainty about Japan’s economic future.
The rich and diverse culture of Japan is widely recognized and celebrated across the world. This culture is a unique blend of Eastern and Western influences, but it is rooted in a vast array of customs and arts that originated within the Japanese archipelago.
Japanese art and design, such as calligraphy, illustration, painting, flower arranging, garden design, poetry, theatre, and clothing, are highly regarded and admired worldwide. Japanese words such as bonsai, haiku, ikebana, kabuki, origami, geisha, kimono, and karaoke have found their way into the English language, and are commonly used.
Traditional Japanese warfare, particularly the samurai costumes, traditions, and weapons, has been a fascination for enthusiasts around the world for many years. The country’s martial arts, such as karate, sumo, aikido, and kendo, have a global reputation, with judo being particularly popular and taught in schools worldwide. And let’s not forget the legendary ninjas!
Japan has made significant contributions to the video games industry by fusing its power in the electronics industry with its long tradition of art and storytelling. Japanese cartoons and comics, known as manga and anime, are the latest iterations in a centuries-old tradition of illustration and now enjoy a vast audience worldwide.
Japanese cinema, which has been in existence as long as European or North American cinema, had a golden era in the 1950s, with Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” being considered one of the greatest films in cinema history. Not to mention, Godzilla, a prehistoric sea monster that has become a global pop icon.
Japanese cuisine is famous for its refinement and distinctiveness, with ramen noodles, fried tempura, teriyaki meats, and sushi being among the most popular dishes globally. The ability to make raw fish desirable is a unique achievement and is a testament to the country’s culinary artistry.
Despite its small size and isolation on the eastern fringe of Eurasia, Japan’s cultural influence and global reach are significant and astonishing.
Overall, Japan is a country that has captured my heart and imagination. I am constantly seeking to learn more about their history, language, and culture. It is a place that I hope to visit one day and experience firsthand the magic and wonder that it has to offer.
また太陽が昇るときに、親愛なる読者に会いましょう
Nicolás.
Poem: The land of the rising sun.
As I set my sights on the eastern edge of the land,
A volcanic archipelago awaits, its beauty grand.
A place where centuries of art have enhanced,
A stunning landscape that’s unlike any expanse.
A history rich, a culture that’s truly unique,
Defying any attempt to assimilate, with mystique.
A land of samurai and judo, sushi and bonsai,
Manga and Godzilla, secrets that seem to defy.
Emerging from the ashes of war,
A phoenix reborn, rising stronger than before.
An economic powerhouse, excelling in industry,
This is the land of the rising sun, a land of majesty.
This is Japan.
