What do you notice about Japan from this Google Earth image?

What do you notice most about Japan from this map? http://www.bugbog.com/maps/asia/japan_map.html

The Impact of Physical Geography on Culture http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/image/Japan.GIF

Japan is much smaller than the United States. http://www.international.ucla.edu/eas/japan/geography/overlay1.htm

Japan is slightly smaller than California, but it has almost 3 x as many people. Japan 128 million California 38 million http://www.smgov.net/farmers_market/images/california%20map.jpg http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/English/campus/img/map_japan-nagoya.jpg

Forested mountains cover over 65% of the land.

What do you notice when you compare these two maps? http://www.international.ucla.edu/eas/japan/geography/popmap1.gif http://www.maps.com/ref_map.aspx?pid=12106

What unique challenges do you think Japan faces in dealing with such a high population density? http://www.johnnyjet.com/images/PicForNewsletterJapan2005KyotoKiyomizuderaTempleStreetUp.JPG

How might high population density and limited land affect Japan’s: transportation agriculture architecture http://www.flickr.com/photos/arrowsican/401855032/

Mass transportation moves large numbers of people. http://www.flickr.com/photos/iidesne/1665204886/ They have many subways. . . http://ozymandias.com/ftpimages/FuninJapanNowwithPictures_1298E/IMAGE_0712.jpg

. . .and busses. http://www.flickr.com/photos/26217373@N00/1489025344/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/webmikey/256650089/

Even then, they have lots of cars on the roads. http://www.flickr.com/photos/marley1/1434516269/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/msimantov/374383690/

And they have creative ways to http://www.flickr.com/photos/meckleychina/355627389/ provide parking spaces. http://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/130905968/ http://picasaweb.google.com/richworkhardman/PhotoSOfJapan/photo#5060930666112892770

J.Hall, Tokyo, 12 July 2010

J.Hall, Kyoto, 16 July 2010

They even have bicycle parking lots. Bicycles are very popular, since they are easy to maneuver on crowded streets. http://www.flickr.com/photos/samwilkins/173305585/ They even have bicycle parking lots.  This one is at a subway station. http://www.flickr.com/photos/tokyololas/1422936985/

J.Hall, Kyoto, 17 July 2010

They are also very cautious about spreading germs They are also very cautious about spreading germs. If you’re sick, you’re expected to wear a mask. J.Hall, Tokyo, 10 July 2011

J.Hall, Tokyo, 12 July 2010

J.Hall, Kyoto, 17 July 2010 Convenience Store

Agriculture is important in Japan. http://www.flickr.com/photos/arrowsican/1530394309/ But often fields are on mountainsides. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pauldavidson/33038678/

Stair-steps were cut into the mountainsides years ago to allow terraced fields. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethany_ng/1468992530/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethany_ng/1469448849/

architecture Limited land means land is very expensive. So most people don’t have yards. http://www.flickr.com/photos/annamatic3000/134919276/

Which is Oklahoma City? Which is Osaka, Japan?

Why do you suppose so many Japanese homes have limited amounts of furniture? http://www.kyotojp.com/living2.JPG This is a main room. It may be used as a living room, dining room, and bedroom.

Traditional style hotel in Nara, Japan J.Hall, Nara, 15 July 2010

Why is a “futon” bed a good choice for a small home? NOTE: It folds up to make more floor space if needed. http://www.flickr.com/photos/courtneyistre/39198683/

U.S: 721 square feet of living space per person   U.S: 721 square feet of living space per person (U.S.Department of Energy, http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2004/01/Understanding-Poverty-in-America )   Japan: 170 square feet Geography Alive! (Palo Alto, California: Teachers’ Curriculum Institute), 2006, p.447

As in big cities around the world, the Japanese build to get more use out of limited land. UP http://www.flickr.com/photos/cloganese/241165650/

A “capsule hotel”! Each capsule is a 1-person room.

They even have TVs! Sweet dreams. . . http://www.flickr.com/photos/de-boo/39307484/ Sweet dreams. . . http://www.yesicanusechopsticks.com/larrygreg/capsule%202.jpg

http://www. traveladdicts. connectfree. co http://www.traveladdicts.connectfree.co.uk/Japan/Images/Capsule_hotel_with_open_curtain.jpg

In 1994, Japan opened Kansai International Airport in Osaka Bay In 1994, Japan opened Kansai International Airport in Osaka Bay. It is built on an artificial island. Kansai International Airport (KIX) is the world’s first ocean airport, built on a landfill island in Osaka Bay, Japan. Opened in 1994, KIX was a modern engineering marvel, built entirely as an artificial island. Because the site is built upon compacted fill, it suffers from subsidence, sinking 2-4 centimeters per year. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Kansai_closeup.jpg

The first built a “sea wall” and then filled it in using dirt from 3 nearby mountains. http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/xY5eBHkJ1mWt189xDc2VMg

http://www.wonderfulinfo.com/amazing/kansaiairport/ http://mapsget.com/wp-content/thumbnails/2346.jpg

It is sinking 2-3 centimeters per year. http://mrkellysclass.net/Japan/Images/our_trip_detailed/Osaka-Airport-aerial-view.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0A9-oUoMug