Mikaela.Stojceski

**Kon'nichiwa** that is how you say hello in Japanese. __ ﻿Location: __ Did you know that Japan is an island in East Asia. It is located in the Pacific Ocean and is in the **__Northern Hemisphere.__** Japan sits to the east of the Sea of Japan, South Korea, North Korea and People's Republic of China, extending from the Sea of Okhotsk ( ō-kŏtsk ', ə-KHôtsk ' ) which is located to the North of the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun origin" which is also why Japan is sometimes referred to as "The Land of the Rising Sun".

__﻿Population:__ Japan is the world's tenth largest population, with more than 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the Capital City of Tokyo and numerous encircling prefectures are the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residences.

__﻿Language Spoken:__

Japanese is the language spoken by over 130 million people in

Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. Japanese is of the Japonic language family, which has a large amount of relationships with other languages. The Japanese language is written with a combination of 3 scripts: Chinese Characters called "Kanji", and two syllabic scripts made of changed Chinese characters "Hiragana" and "Katakana".

__﻿__ __Currency:__

__ ﻿ __ ﻿Japanese people use money called Yen. The Japanese Yen is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most-traded currency in the foreign exchange

market after the United States Dollar and Euro. As the Japanese Yen are in large amounts, they are counted in multiples of 10,000. This is common in

Asian countries and is similar to how we count our money in 100's.



Another interesting fact is that Japanese Yen is sought after by most of the nations of the world and is known by it's symbol " ¥ ". Japanese Yen is properly pronounced as "en" in Japan. The English spelling and pronunciation of it is "yen" courtesy a historical Portuguese transliteration. The Yen was launched by the Meiji government in 1870. __﻿Early Japanese Currency:__

__ ﻿ __ ﻿    (The early Yen coins were made of pure silver)

__ ﻿ __

__ Religion: __

__ ﻿ __ __ ﻿ __  __ ﻿ __  In Japan, 99% of the population observe Buddhism or Shinto Religion. From the rest of the population, about 0.7% follow Christian religion and the rest are made up of other mixed religions including Korean, Chinese and Filipino. Japanese government allows freedom of religion to all the people and that is why, you might come across Christians, Islams and Sikhs besides the Koreans and Chinese. Shintoism or Buddhism is is the most commonly followed religion in Japan and in fact, Japan is the only major country where there are millions of Shinto people. Nachi Shrine or Temple is the most ancient place of worship for the Japanese Shinto people. Some of the original Shinto shrines were used to worship sun, rocks, trees and many other things in the nature. People wanting to visit Shinto shrines are required to perform an act of purification before visiting these shrines. In recent years, Japan is also witnessing the arrival of new religions such as Soka Gakkai. This religion originated from a Buddhist Sect that preaches the main motto of peace, culture and education.



__ Attractions: __

Forbes Magazine conducted research in 2010 and results showed that seven out of ten people interviewed wanted to visit Japan for its attractions. Japan

has a vast array of attractions and many of them are world heritage listed. Japan is famous for its traditional attractions such as temples, shrines and

gardens however, there are many modern attractions such as theme parks (Disneyland Tokyo), modern shopping malls and designer tall buildings

(Tokyo Tower and Shinjuku). Japan also has many beautiful attractions such as snow covered mountains (Mount Fuji), National Parks (Imperial

Palace Gardens) and wildlife such as Snow Monkeys and Giant Panda Bears.

__﻿Culture and Lifestyle:__

The culture of Japan has evolved greatly over the past 1000 years from the country's prehistoric Jomon period to the modern culture as we see it today. In the past, Japan isolated itself from from the world (during the Tokugawa rule) forbidding contact with outside countries. It was only after 1868 and with the arrival of the Black Ships and Meji Period that things changed. Art and painting in Japanese culture is very traditional with artists capturing people and the environment. Japanese clothing is distinguished from all other countries around the world with the Kimono being the traditional garment of Japan. Japan also has a large variety of food and the cuisine is known for its emphasis on quality ingredients, simple cooking methods and presentation. Rice and noodles are an essential part of Japanese cuisine with fish, meat and vegetables added. Ingredients such as miso or soy sauce are added for extra flavour. As Japan is an island nation, seafood is eaten frequently. Also, meat eating is rare in some parts of Japan due to their Buddhist and vegetarian beliefs. __﻿__

__Government:__ The government of Japan is a constitutional monarchy. Power is held chiefly by the Prime Minister and other elected members of the Diet (Parliament). The Japanese people elect their prime minister. Japan's current Prime Minister is Yoshihiko Noda. Japan also has an Emperor however, his power is very limited. The Emperor acts as The Head Of State for all diplomatic and special occasions. Akihito is the current Emperor of Japan.



__﻿How is Japan globally connected to the rest of the World:__ Japan is the third largest economy in the world with USA being first and China second. Japan is globally connected to the rest of the world through trade (both imports and exports) as well as being the leading economy for scientific research, electronic and telecomunication inventions as well as the development of the motor vehicle. Japan has launched numerous satellites in space which allows them to share information with countries all over the world. Also, Japan is one of the G8 (Group of 8 countries) countries that meet from time to time to discuss important world events.

__Some examples of Trade__: Imports - Beef, Chemicals, Fuel, Textiles, Machinery and Raw Materials Export - Motor Vehicles, Motorcycles, Electronic Equipment such as cameras and computers

__Some examples of Travel__: Most airlines fly to Japan - Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Delta USA, Qantas, Air NewZealand, Emirates just to name a few

__Some examples of Sport__: Sport in Japan is very important. Traditional sport such as Sumo wrestling and martial arts as well as sports introduced from around the world such as Baseball,Rugby and Motorbike racing are very popular in Japan. Baseball is considered to be Japan's national sport. Japan participates in many world sporting events including the Olympics, Fifa (Soccer World Cup), Rugby World Cup. Japan also hosts many sporting events such as the Winter Olympics in 1972 and again in 1998, The Fifa World Cup in 1992 and in 2019 will be hosting The Rugby World Cup.

__﻿How is Japan globally connected to Australia:__ __ ﻿ __ Australia is globally connected to Japan in many ways. From communication to trade, through to sports and events, Australia and Japan are linked. Japan has a large population, skilled work force, large exporter of goods yet has very little natural resources. As Australia is quite close to Japan we are able to export beef, coal and iron (natural resources) in order for Japan to produce steel and in return, manufacture more goods. Also, Australia imports many of Japans exports such as motor vehicles (Honda, Toyota, Suzuki and Mazda) and electrical appliances such as clock radios, computers and mobile phones.