Japan

Japan is much smaller than the United States. It is made up of about 4,000 islands. Honshu is the biggest island in Japan. More than 100 million people live in Japan.

Japan is a nation of islands. The four large islands are: Hokkaido Honshu Shikoku Kyushu

The capital of Japan is Tokyo.

Tokyo is the capital of Japan. Tokyo is Japans largest city. One out of every ten Japanese lives in Tokyo.

The crane is a symbol of long life. Because of this, origami paper cranes are strung in strings of 1,000 and given to sick people to help them get well.

Japan has many mountains and volcanoes. Some of the volcanoes erupt. They have about 1,500 earthquakes each year.

Japan is a very long country. The island in the north can have snow while the islands in the south are still warm. All of the islands have typhoons (hurricane).

Mount Fuji is Japans most famous mountain. Mount Fuji is a volcano. It has not erupted for hundreds of years

The snow-capped peak of Mount Fuji is reflected in a still lake on a beautiful winter morning in Japan.

JAPAN Mount Fuji-Early Morning

FUJIYAMA or Mount Fuji

Flora on Mount Fuji

Forest on Mount Fuji

It is the lifetime ambition of many Japanese people to climb Mount Fuji, but only once- to climb it twice is considered foolish.

A Beautiful Scene of Momijidani Park at Miyajima in Autumn

Kintai Bridge at Iwakuni

Hiroshima

City Hall of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb.

A Bomb Dome

Peace Memorial Park

Monument of A-Bomb in Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima

This big red gate is called a torii. People who follow the Shinto religion go to these to pray.

Shinto shrines can be seen all over Japan. Shinto is one of the religions practiced by the Japanese people.

The highlight of a matsuri (festival) is the parade of portable mikoshi (shrines) through the streets to the temple.

Taho-toh or the Two Storied Pagoda of Itsukushima Shrine at Miyajima in Spring

A castle

Same castle, different view.

Different view of castle in Japan

The Imperial Palace in Tokyo is the home of Japans Emperor.

View of Hiroshima Castle at Hiroshima

Most Japanese live in small buildings in crowded cities. Most of Japans cities are on the lowlands near the coast.

In the country, the homes are made of wood. They are only one or two stories high. The Japanese always take their shoes off before entering a home.

The Japanese cover their floors with tatami mats. These delicate mats are made of grasses. To protect them and keep them clean, people take off their shoes. when entering a house.

Most people live in apartment complexes. Old houses are made of wood. The walls inside are made of paper. People sit on mats or cushions on the floor.

They roll out their beds at night onto the tatami mats. Their beds are called futons.

The building in this picture is on the island of Honshu. Japanese eat, sleep, go to school, and play like you. Life in Japan is also unique.

The Japanese enjoy making their food look attractive. They eat small portions of many different kinds of food, but noodles are a favorite food.

Japanese people eat a lot of fish and seafood; here it is served in Japanese style.

At home, the Japanese sit on the floor and eat from low, wooden tables. The Japanese use chopsticks to eat their food. Rice and hot tea are served at every meat.

Farmers wear traditional work clothes, like baggy pants and straw hats. Most Japanese wear clothes like yours, but they wear kimonos on special days.

The kimono is a traditional Japanese garment. It is worn by men, women, and children. Today they are usually worn on special occasions. Geta are the wooden sandals that are worn with the kimono.

Obi is the long sash. Tabi are white socks that have a special slit between the toes for the sandal strap.

Only a few Japanese are farmers, but they grow most of Japans food. They grow rice, wheat, soybeans, tea, fruit, and vegetables. They also keep pigs and chickens.

The workers use oxen to plow the rice paddies. Rice needs lots of water to grow.

Rice is often grown on hillsides in terraces like these in Tokushima.

Huge strawberries are one of the variety of fruits grown in hothouses.

Satsumas, a kind of orange, are the most important fruit crop in Japan.

Japan has one of the largest fishing fleets in the world.

Japans fishermen are very successful. Most people in Japan work in offices or factories.

Oyster farms are a common sight in the Japanese islands. What can you find in oysters?

The Bullet Train is the fastest way to travel on land. It is a high speed train. Two of the islands are connected by the worlds longest train tunnel.

This is the Bullet Train. It is the fastest train in Japan. Many people travel by train because the roads are so crowded.

Many people travel to work by train or subway. Passengers are pushed onto the trains by workers! Airports and roads link all the main cities.

The station workers are pushing people into Tokyo subway trains.

When Japanese people greet each other, they bow to show respect. They are very polite to each other.

It takes a long time to learn how to read and write Japanese. There are 1,850 characters, which are written in columns from right to left.

All students learn to play an instrument. It takes years to learn how to read and write Japanese because it is made of two different alphabets. One, called kanji, has thousands of characters. The other, called kana, has letters that represent sounds.

Children go to school from ages six to fifteen. They learn Japanese, math, English, physical education, and art. They also practice earthquake drills.

Even the young students study very hard. Each night they do hours of homework. They even go to school on Saturdays. Students works hard to get into a good college.

Japans national sport is sumo wrestling. Each wrestler has to throw the other one out of the ring..

Another favorite sport is baseball. Young and old enjoy baseball.

Baseball Stadium in Hiroshima

Many Japanese spend time in parks and gardens. A favorite time to visit is in the spring when the cherry trees are in blossom.

Japan has many festivals, but New Year is the biggest. The festival is like a giant birthday party. Everyone adds another year to their age!

Childrens Day (Boys Day) is celebrated on May 5. Every family flies a carp kite or a windsock for every boy in the family.

Carp streamers fly on Childrens Day. The carp is a symbol of courage and perseverance.

Sometimes girls dress up like this on special days. They wear long dresses called kimonos. The Doll Festival or Girls Festival is held on March 3 rd. It is a chance for parents to celebrate their daughters.

The Japanese have many traditional crafts. They enjoy ink painting, flower arranging, and making beautiful pottery and origami. Origami is the art of folding paper.

Noh (NO) theater is only found in Japan. Actors wear masks to perform ancient stories. Musicians accompany them. They are also on stage and in costume.

Japanese money is called yen. Japanese people buy lots of presents. They are very polite. They bring small presents with them every time they visit friends as a way of saying thank you.

What is this?

Mickey is the same the world over!

Modern City of Hiroshima

A Sunset Scene of A-Bomb Dome at Hiroshima

Okinawa Okinawa is a district of Japan. The people speak Japanese and have many of the same customs.

Cave in Okinawa

Castle in Okinawa The Okinawans look much the same as the Japanese, but they are shorter and have darker skin.

Wall of the Castle

City in Okinawa

Sunset in Okinawa

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