Introduction Japan
Background:
In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a
long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure
its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy
stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Following the
Treaty of Kanagawa with the US in 1854, Japan opened its ports and
began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late
19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that
was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied
Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1931-32
Japan occupied Manchuria, and in 1937 it launched a full-scale
invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering
America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East
and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan
recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US.
While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity,
actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats,
and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown
starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented
growth, but Japan still remains a major economic power, both in Asia
and globally.
Geography Japan
Location:
Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the
Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
Geographic coordinates:
36 00 N, 138 00 E
Map references:
Asia
Area:
total: 377,835 sq km
land: 374,744 sq km
water: 3,091 sq km
note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto,
Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and
Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto)
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than California
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
29,751 km