Japan and Korea

Chapter 7 Section 1

Japan Land

• Japan lies on the ring of fire. They endure earthquakes and tsunamis-Huge sea waves caused by underwater earthquakes, throughout the year.

• Japan is and archipelago- group of islands.• The four largest islands are Hokkaido, Honshu,

Shikoku, and Kyushu.

• Rugged mountains and steep, forested hills dominate most of Japan.

• Mount Fuji is the most famous of these peaks. It is also the highest mountain and a national symbol.

• Japan also has the Kanto Plain in eastern Honshu. It is Japan’s largest plain. This is were the city of Tokyo is located. Most of the cities and farms are on these coastal plains.

• Every where in Japan is about 70 miles from a coast.

• The weather is very diverse. The north gets cold arctic winds and currents and the south gets warm winds and ocean currents from the south.

Japan has few raw materials it has to import them for its industries.The Japanese are known around the world for their manufactured goods. They are the worlds leading producer of automobiles.

• They also make consumer goods like electronic equipment, watches, small appliances, and calculators.

• They also produce industrial goods such as steel, cement, fertilizer, plastics, and fabrics.

Agriculture

• Farmland is very limited and they use fertilizers and modern machines to produce high crop yields.

• They also use the practice of Intensive Cultivation- growing crops on every piece of available land.

• Japan also uses a lot of seafood. They not only catch a lot themselves, but they also import more seafood than any other country in the world.

History and Government

• They trace their ancestry to various clans- groups of related families.

• These clans came from the mainland of Asia around 400 AD.

• The Japanese largely based their way of life off of the Chinese.

• They adopted their government, writing system, and religion (Buddhism).

• Today the Japanese practice Buddhism and their own nature religion called Shinto.

• Around the 790s the emperors power began to decline and they were led from the 1100s to 1860s by Shoguns- military leaders and the Samurai- powerful landowning warriors.

• In 1853 the US demanded to trade with the Japanese and because of this and pressure from other countries Japan began to trade with the west.

• In the late 1800s the Japanese began to use western ideas to modernize their country, improve education, and began industry.

• By the early 1900s they were the leading military power in Asia.

• During WWII they took land in China and all over the Pacific.

• In 1941 they attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and drew the US into WWII.

Government

• Japan is a constitutional monarchy- The emperor is the official head of state, but elected officials run the government.

• Japan has great influence as a world economic power and gives money to poorer countries.

• Japan is no longer a military power. After WWII they decided to keep a very small military.