Japan—popularly known as the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’—lies in the Pacific Ocean to the east of the Asian continent comprises four large islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. The Sea of Japan and the East China Sea separate the country from the other Asian countries. In terms of latitude, the country coincides approximately with the Mediterranean Sea and with the city of Los Angeles in North America whereas Paris and London have latitudes somewhat to the north of the northern tip of Hokkaido.

Japan has a total land area of around 378,000 sq km. The country’s coastline is quite varied as in some places like Kujukurihama in Chiba Prefecture, long sandy beaches continue fairly straight and uninterruptedly around 60 km or so. And the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture is an example of an area characterised by peninsulas, inlets, and offshore islands like the Goto archipelago and the breathtaking islands of Tsushima and Iki.

As three-fourth of Japan’s land surface is mountainous, the Chubu Region of central Honshu is known as ‘The Roof of Japan’ having a group of mountains, which are more than 3,000 m high. Mount Fuji (3,776 m), located on the border of Yamanashi and Shizouka Prefectures, is the highest mountain in Japan. Approximately 80 volcanoes in Japan are active, including Mount Mihara on Izu Oshima Island, Mount Asama on the border between Nagano and Gunma Prefectures, and Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture. Though Japan posses one-four hundredth of the world’s land area, the country owns one-tenth of the world’s 840 active volcanoes. Mount Fuji, which has been inactive since its last eruption in 1707, is by no means incapable of erupting again in the last few centuries.

Though volcano eruptions cause great harm to people and nature, Japan gains a great tourist attraction through its volcanoes. For example, tourist spots like Nikko, Hakone, and Izu Peninsula—which are really volcanic locations—are famous for hot springs and panoramic landscapes.

Japan is a constitutional monarchy where the power of the emperor is very limited. The emperor is defined by the constitution as the ‘symbol of the state and of the unity of the people’. Political power is held primarily by the prime minister and other elected members and sovereignty is vested in the people. The emperor effectively acts as the head of state on diplomatic occasions.

Distinguishing characteristics of the country’s economy include the cooperation of manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and banks in closely-knit groups called keiretsu; the powerful enterprise unions and shuntô; cosy relations with government bureaucrats, and the guarantee of lifetime employment (shushin koyo) in big corporations and highly unionised blue-collar factories. Recently, Japanese companies have begun to gradually move away from some of these norms in an attempt to accelerate their global competitiveness and profitability.

At the onset of new millennium, Japan endured periods of recession exacerbated by economic depression in the United States. But from 2003, the country gained a strong growth at 2.0 percent and it continued steadily throughout 2004. Finally, the economy showed a sign of strong recovery in 2005. As the GDP growth for the year was 2.8 percent with an annualised fourth quarter expansion of 5.5 percent, surpassing the growth rates of the US and EU during the same period. As predicted, the economical recovery continued in 2006 and 2007.