Japan

The kanji that make up Japan's name mean "sun origin", and it is often called the "Land of the Rising Sun".

The word Japan is an exonym, and is used (in one form or another) by a large number of languages.

Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands.

The four main islands of Japan are:

The country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions, with Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one.

Japan is divided into 47 prefectures, forming the first level of jurisdiction and administrative division.

The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area and often are referred to as home islands.

Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands.

The country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions, with Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one.

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost prefecture of Japan.

About 13.8 million people live in Tokyo, the capital of Japan.

Tokyo, officially, one of the 47 prefectures of Japan, has served as the Japanese capital since 1869.

The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area and often are referred to as home islands.

Shikoku is the smallest (225 km long and between 50 and 150 km wide) and least populous (3.8 million ) of the four main islands of Japan, located south of Honshu and east of the island of Kyushu.

Japan (日本; Nippon or Nihon ; formally 日本国 or Nihon-koku, ) is an island country in East Asia.

Geographically and geopolitically, the region constitutes China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, and South Korea.

The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world with over 38 million people.

The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan, including Tokyo Metropolis, as well as the prefecture of Yamanashi of the neighboring Chūbu region.

The kanji that make up Japan's name mean "sun origin", and it is often called the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Chinese characters first came to Japan on official seals, letters, swords, coins, mirrors, and other decorative items imported from China.

The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, particularly from Western Europe, has characterized Japan's history.

During this period, the first known written reference to Japan was recorded in the Chinese Book of Han in the first century AD. Between the fourth century and the ninth century, Japan's many kingdoms and tribes gradually came to be unified under a centralized government, nominally controlled by the Emperor.

After nearly two decades of internal conflict and insurrection, the Imperial Court regained its political power in 1868 through the help of several clans from Chōshū and Satsuma – and the Empire of Japan was established.

Satsuma Domain, officially Kagoshima Domain, was a Japanese domain of the Edo period.

From the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shōguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Since adopting its revised constitution on May 3, 1947, during the occupation led by SCAP, the sovereign state of Japan has maintained a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with an Emperor and an elected legislature called the National Diet.

The Emperor of Japan is the head of the Imperial Family and the head of state of Japan.

After nearly two decades of internal conflict and insurrection, the Imperial Court regained its political power in 1868 through the help of several clans from Chōshū and Satsuma – and the Empire of Japan was established.

The Empire of Japan was the historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the enactment of the 1947 constitution of modern Japan.

Japan entered into a long period of isolation in the early 17th century, which was ended in 1853 when a United States fleet pressured Japan to open to the West.

Sakoku was the isolationist foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate (aka Bakufu) under which relations and trade between Japan and other countries were severely limited, nearly all foreign nationals were barred from entering Japan and common Japanese people were kept from leaving the country for a period of over 220 years.

The country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions, with Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one.

The regions of Japan are not official administrative units, but have been traditionally used as the regional division of Japan in a number of contexts.

From the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shōguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor.

The Shōgun was the military dictator of Japan during the period from 1185 to 1868 (with exceptions).

After nearly two decades of internal conflict and insurrection, the Imperial Court regained its political power in 1868 through the help of several clans from Chōshū and Satsuma – and the Empire of Japan was established.

The Meiji oligarchy was the new ruling class of Meiji period Japan.

Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands.

Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand, Maldives, the British Isles, the Bahamas, the Aegean Islands (Greece), the Florida Keys, Hawaii, the Canary Islands, the Madeira and the Azores are all examples of well-known archipelagos.

The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world with over 38 million people.

Since adopting its revised constitution on May 3, 1947, during the occupation led by SCAP, the sovereign state of Japan has maintained a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with an Emperor and an elected legislature called the National Diet.

The National Diet is Japan's bicameral legislature.

The population of 127 million is the world's tenth largest, of which 98.5% are ethnic Japanese.

The Yamato people and Wajin are an East Asian ethnic group and nation native to the Japanese archipelago.

Japan is a member of the ASEAN Plus mechanism, UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, and the G20, and is considered a great power.

The Group of Seven (G7) is a group consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Since adopting its revised constitution on May 3, 1947, during the occupation led by SCAP, the sovereign state of Japan has maintained a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with an Emperor and an elected legislature called the National Diet.

Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan.

Although it has officially renounced its right to declare war, Japan maintains a modern military with the world's eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles; it ranked as the world's fourth most-powerful military in 2015.

The Japan Self-Defense Forces, JSDF, also referred to as the Self-Defense Forces (SDF), Japan Defense Forces (JDF), or the Japanese Armed Forces, are the unified military forces of Japan that were established in 1954, and are controlled by the Ministry of Defense.