Culture Walls

Geography

Japan is not a very large country. It is about the same size as California. The capital of Japan is Tokyo. It's coastline is 29,751km. Japan is made up by many islands and surrounded by the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan. Also Japan is near the Korean Peninsula.    

Population

The population of Japan is 126.9 million (July 2002). About 99% of the population can read (1970). The population of life expectancy is 80.91 years total. Most females live to be 84.25 years of age. Most males live to be 77.73 years of age.

Economy

Some major industries in Japan are high tech electronic products, motor vehicles, office machinery, chemicals, steel, textile, and processed foods. The money in Japan is called yen. A one dollar in America equals 131 yen in Japan.

Climate

In Japan typical every day weather is the same as the United States. In the summer it is hot and in the fall it is cool etc. Natural disasters are earthquakes and hurricanes. The worst earthquake was in 1995 and over 140,000 people were killed.

 Government

People in Japan become a leader by blood. So if a relative is the leader of Japan when they die the job is left to you. Laws are made by the government just like in the United States.

Cultural Arts:

Kabuki is a traditional form of Japanese theater. It was founded early in the 17th century by Okuni, a  maiden who brought her  lively dance style to the dry up the river beds of the  capital of Kyoto. Now Kabuki is a popular form of dance in Japan.

Bell Tower at Hida Kokubun-ji (Hida Kokobun Temple) Takayama, Japan

Melinda. hidakokubunji1.jpg. May 2003. Pics4Learning. 7 Jun 2003 <http://pics.tech4learning.com>

Food

Crops that are grown in Japan are rice, radishes, fruit,  vegetable, and soybeans. The staple food is rice and sushi.  Japan gets their food by growing it or importing it for another country. Some unique dishes are sushi, tofu, wasabi, miso soup, and seaweed. A typical menu is sushi and rice. 

For a very good recipe from Japan click on this link Tofu Stir Fry

Useful Expressions:

In Japan people speak Japanese. To learn more about this language there are some useful expressions below or click on this link. http://www.nypl.org/branch/central_units/d/f/language/japane.htm 

If you are in Japan and you saw some one walking turn to them and say Konnichiwa. If someone just handed you something then you would say arigato. 

English

Translation

Hello

Konnichiwa

Goodbye

Sayonara

Please

Onegaishimasu

Thank you

Arigato

one

ichi