!JAPAN Japan is a country in East Asia. Its capital city is Tokyo. Population of this country in 2003 was 127,654,000 with a population density ie number of inhabitants (per square km) 338. Its surface area is 377,829 sq kms and currency is yen. Geographically speaking, Japan is an archipelago off E coast of Asia. It consists of four main islands - Honshu (the mainland), Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. There are a number of other smaller islands of which Okinawa is one that is important for many reasons. It hsa a deeply indented coastline measuring about 26,600 kms. There are 60 more or less active volcanoes in this country. One of the best known active volcanoes is Mount Aso. Mount Fuji is also well known but it is not an active volcano. It is lying along the E. coast of Asia, and separated from Korea and Primorsk by the Sea of Japan. It consists of Honshiu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Yezo, and 4000 small islands. Though not of volcanic origin, the islands are the most mountainous in the world, have many volcanoes and sulphur springs, and are subject to earthquakes; they are very picturesque, and have peaks from 8000 to 12,000 ft. high; the rivers are too swift for navigation; the coast, not much indented, has yet some good harbours; the valleys are well wooded, but the soil not very fertile; temperature and climate are various; nowhere is the heat intense, but in some parts the winter is very cold; there is much rain, but on the whole it is healthy; the chief industry is agriculture; farming is careful and intelligent; rice, cereals, pulse, tea, cotton, and tobacco are raised, and many fruits; gold, silver, all the useful metals, coal, granite, some decorative stones are found, but good building-stone is scarce; the manufacture of porcelain, lacquer-work, and silk is extensive, and in some artistic work the Japanese are unrivalled; the chief ports are Yokohama, on the E. of Honshiu, which has grown up since 1854, when the country was opened to trade; and Hyogo, on the S. coast of the same island, where are also shipbuilding yards; the chief exports are tea, silk, and rice; imports cotton, woollen, iron goods, and chemicals; the Japanese, sprung from an ancient union of Tartars with Ainos and with S. Malays, are a kindly, courteous, law-abiding folk, with highly developed artistic tastes; education is compulsory, and well provided for; religion is Shintoism and Buddhism, but Christianity is gaining rapid ground. The whole modern civilisation of the country is on Western lines, though until 1853 foreigners were excluded. !History of Japan Japan was an island empire of the N. Pacific. It is said that the Japanese Empire was founded by Emperor Jimmu in 660 BC. It is yet considered a legend by many and a history by many others. Let it be so. We can certainly say that there was no centralized authority in Japan till AD 1868 when Emperor Meiji united the whole of Japan under his rule. This country had a little trade relationships with foreign countries until 1854 when it entered into a trade treaty with USA. Japan had its first constitution in 1889. A civil war in 1867-68 effected the change from the old feudalism, and the amazing success of Japan in the war against China in 1894 proved that the new civilisation is no mere veneer. The victory of Japan in the Russo - Japanese War of 1904-05 raised her prestige among European powers.