Welcome to Japan　日本へようこそ

The population of Japan is estimated to reach approximately 128million in 2010, and it is said that 10% of that lives in the capital, Tokyo. Japan is a country comprised of four main islands (from north, Hokkaido, Honshu, the main island, Shikoku and Kyushu), Okinawa and many small islands. Altogether there are 47 prefectures into which Japan is politically and administratively divided. Japan has many major cities. Some of them are (from north, on the map) Sapporo, capital of Hokkaido, Sendai, Yokohama, the second largest city, Nagoya, major industrial town and close to (about 40km) Toyoda city, home to Toyota Motor company, Osaka, the third largest city and financial capital of western Japan, Kyoto, known as the cultural capital of Japan was also the political capital from 8th to 19th century, and Hiroshima and Nagasaki known for being the only cities in the world to have experienced the horror of atomic bombs.

Japan is rich in nature and climate. The land is mostly mountainous and there are many forests. Mt Fuji, with an altitude of 3776m, is the highest mountain. With its almost supernaturally beautiful shape of a cone, it has been the object of worship and a symbol of Japan since ancient times. An eminent maritime country in the world, she is surrounded by sea, is comprised of over 6000 islands, and has a coastline of over 35,000Km, the fifth longest in the world.

The rich nature, the changing four seasons form the Japanese climate. The symbiosis between man and nature that this requires, form the basis of the nature and culture of Japanese people and which has influenced and continues to influence the modern society in many forms at various levels.