LOCATION

The Japanese archipelago, situated in the North Pacific to the east of Korea, consists of four main
islands—Hokkaido, Honshu (the largest, with 60 percent of the landmass), Shikoku (the smallest), and
Kyushu—which together make up 98 percent of the country’s territory. The remainder is made up of a
number of small islands, including the Ryukyus, of which Okinawa is the largest, some just under a 1,000
miles/1,500 km from Tokyo, which lie strung out in the Pacific between Kagoshima in southern Kyushu
and Taiwan; in addition, there are many hundreds of tiny islets that surround the coastline and extend
southward.
Overall, Japan is slightly smaller than France or Spain, but slightly larger than Italy or the British
Isles, and accounts for 0.3 percent of the world’s landmass. The “arc” of its primary archipelago extends
from 30°N in southern Kyushu to 45°N in northern Hokkaido, a latitudinal range comparable to the
Atlantic seaboard of the US from Maine to Florida, or in Europe, from Venice to Cairo; if we include the
string of Ryukyu Islands which reach as far south as latitude 20°N, the distance covered is 2,362 miles
(3,800 km). The Tsushima Strait (known as the Kaikyo Strait in Korea), which separates Japan from
Korea, is 112 miles (180 km) wide, while some 500 miles (800 km) of open sea lie between southwestern
Japan and the nearest point on the coast of China.

THE LAND
Running through the center of Japan—endowing it with a rare scenic beauty—are six chains of
steep, serrated mountains that are studded with volcanoes resulting from her geological location within
the Pacific “ring of fire.” There are over one hundred volcanoes, some seventy-seven of which are
designated as “active” (although few really are), especially Bandai and Asama in central Honshu, Aso,
Unzen, and Sakurajima (currently in an active phase) in Kyushu. The highest is Fuji (known as Fuji-san),
standing at 12,388 feet (3,776 m), which last erupted in 1707 but is still on the “active” list. In central
Japan, dense mixed forests of oak, red cedar, beech, and maple blanket the slopes up to 5,900 feet (1,800
m).
Land shortage, particularly during the period of spectacular economic growth in the second half of
the twentieth century, prompted considerable advances in land reclamation. This hugely expensive and
painstaking process took place in many parts of Japan (and continues to do so), adding valuable new
building land (approximately 0.5 percent) to Japan’s main landmass of 143,660 square miles (372,070 sq.
km); it included vast areas around the modern industrial cities of Tokyo (especially Tokyo Bay) and
Osaka. Most remarkable was the creation of Port Island and Rokko Island, and other adjacent islands, off
the port of Kobe, as well as the new Kansai International Airport, which is known to be sinking at the rate
of 2.5 inches (7 cm) per year. The project involved the removal of millions of tons of earth and rocks
from the tops of neighboring mountains—a solution that underlines the pragmatic Japanese approach to
life and its challenges. On the other hand, all of Japan’s coastal areas are at risk (the Seto Inland Sea less
so) from storm damage and tsunamis—the giant waves generated by earthquake activity which the people
of northeastern Japan (Tohoku region) learned to their terrible cost in the great earthquake of 2011. The
Great Wave off Kanagawa by ukiyo-e artist Hokusai, c.1829–33. This woodblock print is sometimes
assumed to be of a tsunami.

CLIMATE AND SEASONS

Many people have found it ironic that the refined aesthetics, the exquisite art forms and cultural
elegance of Japan (consider, for example, the manicured beauty of her formal gardens) should have been
created in a group of islands that straddle one of the world’s most dangerous tectonic regions—four
tectonic plates, the North American, the Pacific, the Eurasian, and the Philippine, meet under the Japanese
archipelago — and in one of its most hazardous climatic zones. Japan’s climate is the outcome of two
competing weather systems, one from the Pacific, the other from Continental Asia, involving, at times,
ferocious annual weather changes from deep snow and low temperatures to devastating typhoons and
unbearable levels of humidity. These physical facts heighten interest in what can generally be called the
“Japanese achievement”—both cultural and physical endurance—throughout history.
The Japanese themselves regard such notions of “achievement,” however, as transient and very
fragile, likening them to the brief flowering of the cherry blossom (sakura) in spring. They celebrate this
natural phenomenon with outdoor events, public and private “viewings,” and the writing of poetry. As the
countryside warms up, the blossoming fans out in an extraordinary six-week flourish, initially from
southern Kyushu in early March, then on through Shikoku and Honshu to northern Hokkaido, along a
1,100-mile (1,800-km) journey.
Seasonal changes are well defined and vary considerably from east to west and from mountain to
plain. In Tokyo, which sits on the Kanto Plain, the biggest of the coastal plains, the average temperature
is 77°F (25°C) in summer with high humidity and 38°F (4°C) in winter. The sunniest months are
December and January; the wettest June and September.
Spring (March to May) and fall (mid-September to end-November) are considered to be the best
months because the days are generally clear and sunny with sharp blue skies. The fall, like New England,
has the added attraction of the vibrant leaf color change, especially the maple, turning to red and gold.
Like the cherry blossom viewing, the fall colors are also celebrated with outings and excursions.
Seasons apart, it is worth remembering that Japan is often “wet” and is an “umbrella” society.
Indeed, umbrellas are to be found everywhere in case of need—in hotels, offices, restaurants, and
temples.

EARTHQUAKES
Earthquakes are frequent and widespread, and although most are mild and hardly noticeable, the
threat of catastrophe is ever present—as was demonstrated by the Kobe earthquake of January 1995, the
devastating earthquake and tsunami near the city of Sendai, Tohoku Prefecture, in March 2011, and the
Kumamoto earthquakes of April 2016.
Whenever a serious tremor occurs, city gas supplies are automatically cut off; all commercially
available oil heaters have extinguishing mechanisms. Each district organizes earthquake drills on a
regular basis, and all households are supposed to keep an emergency survival kit, available from
department stores. All schools and public institutions, all hotels and places of work are also required to
follow such drills and are rigorously scrutinized for safety in both design and exit procedure.

THE EARTHQUAKE OF 2011

Japan’s worst-ever recorded earthquake (9.0 on the Richter Scale) took place on March 11, 2011
at 2:46 p.m. local time. Its epicenter was 81 miles (130.4 km) off the east coast, near the city of Sendai.
The tsunami that followed reached unimagined heights—especially at Mayuko City where it reached a
height of 128 feet (39 m)—causing catastrophic damage to towns and villages along 350 miles (563 km)
of the northeast coast, some completely wiped out, with a confirmed loss of some 15,900 lives and 2,500
missing. The impact of this devastation was exacerbated by subzero temperatures, making access for the
recovery teams even harder, as well as by the longer-term worry of radiation leaks from the nuclear
power station complex at Fukushima. (Fortunately, radiation levels turned out to be much lower than first
feared.)
The process of economic and social recovery has been slow and is likely to take more than a
generation, with some communities unlikely to return. Regional and central governments have not
achieved the level of rehabilitation and reconstruction that was promised in the wake of the devastation.
The world witnessed the remarkable courage, dignity, and acceptance with which the Japanese people
responded to the terrible tragedy and accompanying trauma.
In April 2016, two earthquakes struck Kumamoto on the southern island of Kyushu. More than
forty people died and over 3,000 were injured. Seismologists, working on the basis of a notional seventy-
year cycle, continue to anticipate that Tokyo may in due course experience another earthquake. It last
suffered a major one on September 1, 1923.

RICE AND FISH

Heavy rains and hot summers allow rice, Japan’s staple food, to be grown across most of the
lowlands, including, surprisingly, the northern island of Hokkaido (famous also for its potato-growing,
and for its winter ice-carving festival). It is now one of the main rice-producing areas. As over 70 percent
of Japan’s landmass is mountain forest, leaving less than a quarter of the land flat enough for human
settlement and agriculture, the Japanese have over the centuries perfected the art of terracing their rice
fields. In southern Japan these rise in spectacular flights up the mountainsides, presenting from the air a
remarkable, intricate lace pattern.
 Rice as a staple food has many benefits, not least because it can be grown in the same field year
after year. It is also low in cholesterol. In addition, for centuries, going back to the eighth century when
Japan was divided up into sixty-eight administrative districts or provinces by Prince Shotoku and right up
to the Meiji Restoration of 1868, rice was used as a currency.
The reputations and well-being of these districts depended on the amount of rice they could
produce, and they were taxed accordingly (in rice of course). Not surprisingly, the Japanese government
continues to protect Japan’s rice-growers, paying up to ten times the world price, in order to maintain the
status quo—and, supposedly, the Japanese way of life. (The main crop grown is a short grain white rice—
rice Japonica—which is sticky when cooked and easily eaten with chopsticks.)
With limited available land for agriculture Japan’s rice farmers have, over the centuries, expertly
terraced the country’s steep mountainsides.
The other Japanese staple is fish, providing up to 50 percent of their protein intake, although meat
consumption, along with carbohydrates, has been growing steadily in recent years. The Japanese also love
squid, shrimps, king crabs, and many other kinds of seafood caught locally throughout the islands. This is
in addition to the deep-sea fishing for tuna and, more controversially, whale, although it is clear from
history that whale meat was eaten only by isolated communities; mostly, it was left as carrion. Much was
done, however, with whalebone, from which a wide variety of implements, including female hair
accessories, were fashioned. The wide consumption of whale meat is a relatively recent development
resulting from the advances in fishing technology and fleet management. In December 2018, the Japanese
government announced it would withdraw from the 1986 International Whaling Commission moratorium
on commercial whaling. The decision drew extensive opprobrium from around the world and is always
likely to be a contentious issue.
Supporting traditional fishing is a huge aquaculture industry, farming many types of fish, together
with oysters, mussels, and shrimps, as well as growing edible seaweeds in sheltered waters, ponds, or in
tanks.

“CONNECTING” JAPAN The requirements of modern life and political expediency have created
a demand for increasingly easy access to Japan’s four main islands. This has resulted in some of the
world’s most remarkable engineering feats, especially the building of the Seikan Tunnel, opened after
twenty years of construction in 1988, connecting Honshu to Hokkaido. It is 33.5 miles (54 km) long from
end to end. Connecting Honshu to Shikoku are three groups of suspension bridges, including the Akashi
Kaikyō Bridge, which has the longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world, shown opposite.
It has six lanes and a total length of 4,277 yards (3,911 m).
The Akashi Kaikyō Bridge connecting Honshu with Awaji Island.

THE JAPANESE PEOPLE: A BRIEF HISTORY

Origins
Although scholars debate endlessly about where the Japanese came from, there is broad agreement
that they are a subgroup of the Mongoloid peoples who inhabit large parts of Asia and the New World.
This is evident from their skin color that is pale to light brown, straight black hair, brown eyes, and a
relative lack of body hair, as well as a high frequency of such features as epicanthic eyes (the absence of a
fold on the upper eyelid). Nevertheless, the Japanese differ as much as any other ethnic group from
individual to individual in both facial characteristics and physique.