History

Geography

The history and art of Japan are identified by the name given to the era of a new emperor or dynasty. Since 3,000 years BC, it has had 15 eras which are summarized in 8 phases.
From 1000BC to 650AD,the Origins consist of the - Jomon, Yayoi and Kofuns - eras to end with the arrival of the Chinese Model.
From 650 to 794, the Chinese Model was essential to structure the imperial system during the - Asuka and Nara - eras starting from the Tang Chinese dynasty, introduction of writing, Chang'an town planning and Buddhism. The capital was moved to Nara.
From 794 to 1185, giving up the Chinese Model was decided with the advent of the - Heian and Fujiwara- eras and the capital was transferred to Kyoto.
From 1185 to 1333, Feudality was characterized by the installation of Shogunate which manages in the emperor's name. It is the advent of the - Kamakura- era.
In 1281, the new attempt of the Mongolian Yuan dynasty to invade Japan failed because of a typhoon, the divine wind, that destroyed the Mongolian fleet.
From 1333 to 1603, the Return to source involved deepening and purification of Buddhism which took the Zen form. They were the - Muromachi and Momoyama- eras.
From 1603 to 1861, The closing to Europeans intervened with Tokugawa Shoguns and the -Edo- era. It was also a period of persecution of the Christians.
From 1868 to 1912, the Restoration and the beginning of the Opening followed upon the advent of the new emperor of the era - Meiji - after the cannonade of the American Admiral Perry. Japan entered the phase of industrial revolution. It was the time of the conquests, China in 1895, Russia in 1905, Korea in 1910.
From 1912 to 1945, Militarism was established during the - Taisho and Showa - eras to end in August 1945.
The End of the 20th century was marked by the traumatism of the first defeat in the Japan history. It became victorious economically after many vicissitudes.
Since 1989, the death of Hirohito has involved the accession of his son to the throne and the advent of the - Heisei - era.

Japan is an archipelago located 200km away from Korea from which it is separated by the Korea Strait. The ferry crossing takes 9 hours between Pusan and Shimonoseki. The archipelago is composed of +4,000 islands which stretch in a circlar arc of on 3,000Km from north to south.
A connection is possible between Vladivostok, in Russia, and Yokohama.

The islands can be divided into three groups:
The main group consists of four islands from north to south, Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, it represents 96% of the Japanese territory. They are connected either by bridges or by tunnels completed or in progress.
In the east, the Ogasawara (Bonin) archipelago is located on the edge of the Bonin tectonic fault.
In the south, the Ryükyü archipelago includes the island of Okinawa.
The total surface of Japan is 60% that of France.

Japan is bordered in the east by the Pacific Ocean and in the North-West by the Japan Sea and in the south-west by the Eastern China Sea.

Japan has four very marked seasons. Due to its localization from the 46th to 26th parallel, the climates vary from temperate zone to tropical zone. The archipelago receives approximately one meter of rain a year allowing the culture of rice.

Located between the 46th and 26th parallel, Japan has temperate landscapes in the Hokkaido island - the vegetation is alpine: birches and pine trees, inhabited by the brown bear - and tropical landscapes in the Kyushu island - the vegetation becomes luxuriant: mangrove and laurisylve, inhabited by the habu snake.

Economic facts

Civilisation

Japan's economy is very developed. Japan is one of the most powerful countries of the planet in competition with the USA for the first place.

The official name is Japan (Nihon) whose capital is Tokyo. The population is +126 million inhabitants.
The official language of Japan is Japanese which belongs to the Ural-Altaic group or Austronesian having been submitted to many influences, Chinese and European.
From the 6th century, writing took Chinese pictograms, kanji, adapted to the Japanese language in several phases. Japanese writing is a mixture of Kanji, hiragana and katakana. Finally Japanese language is also transcribed in Roman letters, Rômaji.

The GNP is US$28,000 per capita.

The coherence of the Japanese system come from their attachment to the emperor who gives social cohesion due to his divine nature coming from the Amaterasu goddess. The society is structured vertically and horizontally making it difficult the contact between people of different educations.
Individuals exist by their membership and loyalty to a social group.

Information of the traveller

Sights

Nationals of Western countries do not need visas to enter Japan for a less than 90-day stay.

The traveller's budget depends on his choices, Japan offers few opportunities for small budgets.

The geographical situation of Japan, the climatic variety make it possible offer to travellers multiple possibilities of activity.

In autumn 2003, a package tour was made in Japan in connection with Korea.