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Portal:Japan

Coordinates: 36°30′N 139°00′E / 36.5°N 139°E / 36.5; 139
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Imperial Seal of Japan
Imperial Seal of Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. It is located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and thousands of smaller islands, covering 377,975 square kilometres (145,937 sq mi). Japan has a population of nearly 124 million as of 2024, and is the eleventh-most populous country. Its capital and largest city is Tokyo; the Greater Tokyo Area is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 38 million inhabitants as of 2016. Japan is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional regions. About three-quarters of the country's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested, concentrating its agriculture and highly urbanized population along its eastern coastal plains. The country sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, making its islands prone to destructive earthquakes and tsunamis.

The first known habitation of the archipelago dates to the Upper Paleolithic, with the beginning Japanese Paleolithic dating to c. 36,000 BC. Between the fourth and sixth centuries, its kingdoms were united under an emperor in Nara, and later Heian-kyō. From the 12th century, actual power was held by military dictators (shōgun) and feudal lords (daimyō), and enforced by warrior nobility (samurai). After rule by the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates and a century of warring states, Japan was unified in 1600 by the Tokugawa shogunate, which implemented an isolationist foreign policy. In 1853, a United States fleet forced Japan to open trade to the West, which led to the end of the shogunate and the restoration of imperial power in 1868. In the Meiji period, the Empire of Japan pursued rapid industrialization and modernization, as well as militarism and overseas colonization. In 1937, Japan invaded China, and in 1941 attacked the United States and European colonial powers, entering World War II as an Axis power. After suffering defeat in the Pacific War and two atomic bombings, Japan surrendered in 1945 and came under Allied occupation. After the war, the country underwent rapid economic growth, although its economy has stagnated since 1990.

Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral legislature, the National Diet. A great power and the only Asian member of the G7, Japan has constitutionally renounced its right to declare war, but maintains one of the world's strongest militaries. A developed country with one of the world's largest economies by nominal GDP, Japan is a global leader in science and technology and the automotive, robotics, and electronics industries. It has one of the world's highest life expectancies, though it is undergoing a population decline. Japan's culture is well known around the world, including its art, cuisine, film, music, and popular culture, which includes prominent comics, animation, and video game industries. (Full article...)

The heavily damaged Japanese cruiser Aoba after the battle
The heavily damaged Japanese cruiser Aoba after the battle
The Battle of Cape Esperance took place on 11–12 October 1942 between the Imperial Japanese Navy and U.S. Navy in the Pacific campaign of World War II. The second major surface engagement of the Guadalcanal Campaign, it took place at the entrance to the strait between Savo Island and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese sent a major supply and reinforcement convoy to their forces on Guadalcanal. At the same time, five warships (under the command of Rear Admiral Aritomo Gotō) were to bombard the Allied airfield on Guadalcanal. Shortly before midnight on 11 October, the Americans surprised Gotō's force, sinking two warships and heavily damaging another. Gotō was mortally wounded and his other warships were forced to retreat. Meanwhile, the Japanese supply convoy unloaded and began its return journey without being discovered; four of its destroyers turned back to assist Gotō's retreating warships, but U.S. aircraft sank two of them. The battle did not give either navy operational control of the waters around Guadalcanal, but it provided a significant morale boost to the U.S. Navy after its heavy losses at the earlier Battle of Savo Island. (Full article...)

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11 November 2024 – 2024 Japanese general election
Shigeru Ishiba is sworn in as the 103rd prime minister of Japan after the first runoff vote in thirty years. (Kyodo News) (Mainichi)
5 November 2024 –
Researchers at Kyoto University in Japan launch LignoSat, the world's first wooden satellite constructed without screws or glue, into space. It will orbit Earth for six months. (DW)
3 November 2024 – 2024 Japan Series
In baseball, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars defeat the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to win the Japan Series in six games, capturing their third championship and their first since 1998. (NHK)
31 October 2024 – North Korean missile tests
North Korea launches an intercontinental ballistic missile on a "lofted trajectory" toward the Sea of Japan. Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani says that this was the longest-ever launch of a North Korean ICBM, lasting 87 minutes, marking significant progress in range compared to previous tests. (Al Jazeera)
27 October 2024 – 2024 Japanese general election
Japanese citizens vote for the 465 seats in the House of Representatives. (NHK)
The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito loses its majority. (Reuters)

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Kunichika in 1897

Toyohara Kunichika (Japanese: 豊原 国周; 30 June 1835 – 1 July 1900) was a Japanese woodblock print artist. Talented as a child, at about thirteen he became a student of Tokyo's then-leading print maker, Utagawa Kunisada. His deep appreciation and knowledge of kabuki drama led to his production primarily of yakusha-e, which are woodblock prints of kabuki actors and scenes from popular plays of the time.

An alcoholic and womanizer, Kunichika also portrayed women deemed beautiful (bijinga), contemporary social life, and a few landscapes and historical scenes. He worked successfully in the Edo period, and carried those traditions into the Meiji period. To his contemporaries and now to some modern art historians, this has been seen as a significant achievement during a transitional period of great social and political change in Japan's history. (Full article...)

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Flag of Ōita Prefecture
Ōita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū Island. The prefectural capital is the city of Ōita. After the Meiji Restoration, Bungo and southern Buzen Provinces were combined to form Ōita Prefecture: These provinces were divided among many local daimyō and thus a large castle town never formed in Ōita. Ōita Prefecture is located on the north-eastern coast of the island of Kyūshū. Surrounded by the Suo Channel and Honshū Island to the north, the Iyo Channel and Shikoku Island to the east, it is bordered by Miyazaki Prefecture to the south, and Fukuoka Prefecture and Kumamoto Prefecture to the west. Ōita Prefecture is almost entirely covered by mountains and has only narrow coastal plains. Currently, the Prefecture has 14 cities, 3 districts, 3 towns, and one village. From 2005 to 2006, all municipalities but Beppu, Tsukumi, Himejima, Hinode, and all towns in Kusu District, merged, and the total municipalities went down from 58 on December 31, 2004, to 18 after the creation of the city of Kunisaki by merging with 4 towns from Higashikunisaki District on March 31, 2006. It will make the prefecture with less municipalities within Kyūshū, and fourth least in Japan. However, Oita Prefecture now has the fewest towns (3) and fewest towns and villages combined (4) all over Japan. It is known for its production of kabosu (a kind of citrus fruit) as well as its horse meat. Economic development of Ōita was greatly aided by the One Village One Product movement of long-time governor Morihiko Hiramatsu.

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Yūshūkan

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The following are images from various Japan-related articles on Wikipedia.

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Japan topics

Eras Paleolithic | Jōmon | Yayoi | Kofun | Asuka | Nara | Heian | Kamakura | Muromachi | Azuchi-Momoyama | Edo | Meiji | Taishō | Shōwa | Heisei | Reiwa
History Economic history | Educational history | Military history | Naval history | Sengoku period | Meiji Restoration | Empire of Japan | Occupied Japan | Post-occupation Japan
Politics Constitution | Government | Emperors | Imperial Household Agency | Prime Ministers | Cabinet | Ministries | National Diet (House of Councillors · House of Representatives) | Judicial system | Law of Japan | LGBT rights | Elections | Political parties | Japanese political values | Japan Self-Defense Forces | Foreign relations
Culture Clothing | Customs and etiquette | Education | Festivals | Food | Holidays | Language | Religion | Imperial House of Japan | National symbols of Japan | National Treasure (Japan) | Monuments of Japan | Media of Japan | Honne and tatemae | Kawaii | Yamato-damashii | Wa | Miai | Ishin-denshin | Isagiyosa | Hansei | Amae | Kotodama | Onsen | Geisha | Kimono | Bushido | Shogun | Samurai | Ninja | Yakuza | Mythology | Karaoke
Art Architecture | Cinema | Literature | Music | Pornography | Theatre (Noh · Kabuki · Bunraku) | Anime | Manga | Ukiyo-e | Japanese tea ceremony | Japanese aesthetics | Ikebana | Poetry | Bonsai | Origami
Sports Sumo wrestling | Nippon Professional Baseball | Football J1 League | Super GT | All Japan Road Race Championship | Judo | Karate | Kendo | Kyūdō | Jujutsu | Ninjutsu | Aikido
Economy Japanese Companies | Primary sector | Industry | Tourism | Currency | Tokyo Stock Exchange | Japanese economic miracle | Communications | Transportation (Shinkansen · Tokyo Metro · Railway companies) | Japan Business Federation | Housing in Japan
Science and Technology Consumer electronics in Japan | Japanese automotive industry | Japanese inventions | Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) | Nuclear power in Japan | Japanese robotics
Geography Geography of Japan | Japanese archipelago | Islands of Japan | Cities | Lakes | Rivers | Waterfalls | Mountains | National Parks | Japanese Alps | Mount Fuji | Lake Biwa | Seto Inland Sea | Sea of Japan | EEZ of Japan
Demographics Demographics | Yamato people | Hāfu (half Japanese people) | Ainu people | Japanese people | Japanese names | Aging of Japan
Animals Animals in Japan | Japanese macaque | Japanese raccoon dog (Tanuki) | Japanese Green pheasant | Koi | Japanese Bobtail | Hokkaido dog | Shiba Inu | Akita (dog) | Asian giant hornet | Japanese badger
Other Tokyo | Kyoto | Nara | Osaka | Sapporo | Okinawa | Kinkaku-ji | Kiyomizu-dera | Yakushi-ji temple | Tōdai-ji temple | Sensō-ji temple | Meiji Shrine | Akihabara | Shinjuku | Tokyo Tower | Tokyo Imperial Palace | Himeji Castle | Matsumoto Castle | Osaka Castle | Nagoya Castle | Tokyo Disney Resort

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36°30′N 139°00′E / 36.5°N 139°E / 36.5; 139