japan its culture

Japanese AssignmentGeographical SettingJapan is an island country in the North Pacific Ocean. It lies off the northeast coast ofmainland Asia and faces Russia,Korea, and China. Four large islands and thousands ofsmaller ones make up Japan. The four major islands-Hokkaido,Honshu,Kyushu andShikoku form a curve that extends for about 1,900 kilometres. TopographyJapan is a land of great natural beauty. mountains and hills cover about 70% of thecountry. IN fact, Japanese islands consist of the rugged upper part of a great mountainrange that rises from the floor of the North Pacific Ocean. Jagged peaks, rocky gorges,and thundering mountain waterfalls provide some of the country's most spectacularscenery. Thick forests thrive on mountansides, adding to the scenic beauty of theJapanese islands. Forests cover about 68% of the country's land.Japan lies on an extremely unstable part of the earth's crust. As a result, the land isconstantly shifting. This shifting causes two of Japan's most striking features earthquakes and volcanoes. The Japanese islands have about 1500 earthquakes a year.Most of them are minor tremors that cause little damage, but severe earthqaukes occurevery few years. Underseaquakes sometimes cause huge, destructive tidal waves, calledtsunami, along Japan's Pacific coast. The Japanese islands have more than 150 majorvolcanoes. Over 60 of these volcanoes are active.Numerous short, swift rivers cross Japan's rugged surface. most of the rivers are tooshallow and steep to be navigated. Their waters are used to irrigate farmland, and theirrapids and falls supply power for hydroelectric plants. Many lakes nestle among theJapanese mountains. Some lie in the craters of extinct volcanoes. A large number of hotsprings gush from the ground throughout the country.The Japanese islands have a total land area of about 337,708 sqkm. The islands , inorder of size, are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. The sea of Japan washesthe country's west coast and the Pacific ocean lies to the east.ClimateRegional climates in Japan can be compared to those of the East Coast of the UnitedStates. Kyushu and Shikoku have a climate much like that of Perth. They have long hotsummers and mild winters. The island Honshu's generally has warm,humid summers.Winters are mild in the south and cold and snowy in the north. Honshu has balmy,sunny autumns and springs. Hokkaido has cool summers and cold winters much likeTasmania.Two Pacific Ocean currents the Japan Current and the Oyashio Current influenceJapan's climate. The warm, dark-blue Japan Current flows northward along thecountry's south coast and along the east coast as far north as Tokyo. The Japan currenthas a warming effect on the climate of theses regions. The cold Oyashio Current flowssouthward along the east coasts of Hokkaido and northern Honshu, cooling theseareas.Seasonal winds called monsoons also affect Japan's climate. In winter, monsoons fromthe northwest bring cold air to northern Japan. These winds, which gather moisture asthey cross the Sea of Japan, deposit heavy snows on the country's northwest coast.During the summer, monsoons blow from the southeast , carrying warm, moist air fromthe pacific ocean. Summer monsoons cause hot, humid weather in central and southernJapan.Rain is abundant through most of Japan. All the areas of the country except easternHokkaido recieve at least 100 centimetres of rain yearly. Japan has two major rainyseasons from mid-June to early July and from September to October. Severaltyphoons strike the country each year, mainly in late summer and early Autumn. Theheavy rains and violent winds of these storms often do great damage to houses andcropsFamilyThe Extended FamilyFamily life has always been important in Japan. Before 1945, many Japanese lived inlarge family units that included grandparents, parents, children, and sometimes unclesand their families. Japanese families were bound together by a strict set of customs.Husbands had complete authority over their wives, and children were expected to showunquestioning obedience to their parents.Marriage and Courtship-When a child was old enough to marry, the parents selecteda suitable marraige partner. In some cases, the bride and groom had never met beforethe wedding.The Nuclear FamilyToday most of the Japanese live in the style of a nuclear family. These consist of onlyparents and children. The Japanese still have strong family ties and a deep respect forauthority. But since WW2 relationships with families have become a little less formal,and more democratic.Marriage and Courtship-Most young people now select their own marraige partnerson the basis of shared interests and mutual attraction.Parental Roles The parents still sometimes decide the marraige partner for their child to marry.Female and Male rolesEducationRole in SocietyJapanese law requires children to complete six years of elementary school, and threeyears of junior high school. Education at public schools is free during these nine yearsfor children aged from 6 through 14 years of age. Almost all Japanese childrencomplete the education requirments. Completing these compulsory years of schoolinggives children the basic knowledge in a wide range of areas to succeed in adult life.Further education builds on this basic knowledge to prepare people for moreintellectual jobs.Primary EducationJapanese elementary and junior high school students study such subjects as art,homemaking, the japanese language, mathematics, moral education, music, physicaleducation, science and social studies. In addition, many junior high school studentsstudy English or another foreign language. Students spend much time learning to readand write japanese because the language is so difficult. Secondary EducationSenior high school runs for three years. To enter senior high school the students mustpass an entrance examination. Classes include many of the same subjects studied injunior high school. Senior schools also offer courses to prepare students for college orto train them for jobs. About 95% of junior high school leavers go to senior highschool.Higher EducationJapan has about 460 Universities and about 600 junior and technical colleges. Thelargest University is Nihon (Japan) University in Tokyo, which has about 80, 000students. The country has 90 National Universities, which are supported by thegovernment. Some of these universities such as the University of Tokyo and theUniversity of Kyoto have exceptionally high reputations. Highly regarded privateuniversities include Doshisha University in Kyoto and Keio University and WasedaUniversity in TokyoSenior high school graduates who want to attend a college or university must pass theentrance examination given by the school of their choice. Large numbers of studentscompete for admission to the top Japanese universities. About 38% of senior highschool graduates go to an institution of higher learning.Political SystemPolitical StructureJapan's parliment, makes the country's laws. it consists of two houses. The house ofRepresentatives has 511 members. They are elected to four-year terms from electoraldistricts. The House of Councillors has 252 members. Half the councillors are electedevery three years to six-year terms. Of the councillors, 100 are elected from the countryas a whole, and 152 are chosen from 47 political divisions called prefectures.Political PartiesJapan has several political parties. The most successful is the Liberal-Democratic Party(LDP), a conservative party which has more seats in the Government than any othersince 1955. In 1993, a coallition of other important parties was formed to oppose theLDP. The largest members of the coallition include the Social Democratic Party ofJapan, the Japan Renewal Party, the Komeito (Clean Government Party), and the JapanNew Party. Stability of GovernmentAlthough the Government itself is stable, within the parties there is much disruptionand complaintRole of Local GovernmentThe municipalities have fairly broad powers; they control public education and maylevy taxes.Legal SystemOrganisation of judiciary systemThe Japanese judicial system is entirely separate from and independent of the executiveauthority. Except for reasons of health, judges may be removed only by publicimpeachment. The highest court in the nation is the Supreme Court, established by theconstitution and consisting of a chief justice appointed by the emperor upon therecommendation of the cabinet and 14 associate justices appointed by the cabinet. Fourtypes of lower courts are prescribed by the constitution: high courts, district courts,family courts, and summary courts. The Supreme Court is the tribunal of final appeal inall civil and criminal cases and has authority to decide on the constitutionality of any actof the legislature or executive. High courts hear appeals in civil and criminal cases fromlower courts. District courts have both appellate and original jurisdiction. Family andsummary courts are exclusively courts of first instance.Type of LawThe Japanese do not have a law as such, the citizens have codes to abide by.Social OrganisationsGroup BehaviourThe Japanese in general are very polite and well mannered people.Race, ethnicity and subculturesThere are may Chinese in Japan as well as Koreans. The original race of Japan are theInu people.Religon and AstheticsReligon and other belief systemsAs belowRelationship with the peopleJust about every single person is a Shinto and three quarters of people are alsobuddhists. This shows that religon is very important to their everyday life.Which religons are prominentBuddhism and Shinto are the two most prominent religons in Japan by a long way.Membership of each religonMost Japanese observe both Shinto and Buddhist rites so the percentages add to morethan 100%Shinto-95.8%Buddhist-76.3%Christian-1.4%Other-12%AestheticsVi sual ArtsThe major Japanese visual arts are Sculpture and painting.MusicTraditional Japanese music may sound thin compared with the rich harmonies ofWestern music. Most forms of Japanese music feature one instrument or voice or agroup of instruments that follows the same melodic line instead of blending in harmony.Japanese instruments include the lutelike biwa; the zitherlike koto; and the threestringed banjolike samisen, or shamisen. Traditional music also features drums, flutes,and gongs. Performances of traditional music draw large crowds in Japan. Most typesof Western music are also popular. Many Japanese cities have their own proffesionalsymphony orchestras that specialize in Western musicDrama, Ballet and other performing ArtsThe oldest form of traditional Japanese performing arts is a type of drama called the 'noplay', which developed in the 1300's. 'No plays' are serious treatments of history andlegend. Masked actors perform the story with carefully controlled gestures andmovements. A chorus chants most of the important lines in the play.Two other forms of traditional Japanese drama, the puppet theater and the kabuki play,developed during the late 1600's. In the puppet theater, a narrator recites the story,which is acted out by large, lifelike puppets. The puppet handlers work silently on stagein view of the audience. Kabuki plays are melodramatic representations of historical ordomestic events. Kabuki features colourful costumes and makeup, spectacular scenery,and a lively and exaggerated style.The traditional types of theater remain popular in Japan. The people also enjoy newdramas by Japanese playwrights, as well as Western plays.FolkloreThe Tale of Genji, a long novel written in the 1000's is generally considered thegreatest work of Japanese fiction. Living ConditionsDiet and Nutrition, Meat and Vegetable Consumption and Foods availibleThe main food of the japanese people is rice. It is served at almost every meal.Fish provides the chief source of protein in the Japanese diet Favourite Japanesesnacks include various kinds of noodles in broth and yakitori, charcoal-grilled pieces ofpoultry on a skewer.Soybeans are another major source of protein in the Japanese diet. The Japanese alsoeat a wide variety of fruits and varieties of seaweed. The Japanese would eat a lot more vegetables than meat because meat is incrediblyexpensive.Typical mealsA popular Japanese dish called sushi consists of rice flavoured with vinegar and toppedwith raw fish, sliced vegetables, shellfish, foods wrapped in seeweed and otheringredients. Other traditional dishes include sukiyaki (beef cooked with vegetables) andtempura (fish and vegetables fried in batter)HousingTypes of Houses availibleThere are two major types of housing availible in Japan, modern apartment buildingsand traditional Japanese houses.Renters or Home OwnersDue to short supply of land for sale, most Japanese can not afford to buy land for ahouse and therefore a large number, especially in the crowded cities rent apartments.ClothingNational DressThe kimonoTypes of clothing worn at workThe types of clothing worn to work are just the same as in the western world. Menwear suits with smart ties and women wear conservative tailored attireRecreationTypes and DemandThe Japanese people enjoy a wide variety of sports, hobbies, and other leisure timeactivities. Their favourite spectator sports are baseball and sumo wrestling. otherpopular sports include bowling, golf, ice skating, skiing, table tennis, tennis andvolleyball. Many Japanese practice aikido, judo, and karate. Kendo is also popular.Japanese also enjoy fishing, hunting, jogging and mountain climbing.Percentage of Income spent on leisure activitiesThe Japanese would probably spend around % of their income on leisure activities.Social Security and Health CareIn the early 1990s about 18 percent of the annual national budget was allocated forsocial security purposes. A medical insurance system has been in effect in Japan since1927. Self-employed people and employees in the private and public sectors areincluded under the medical plan.Social welfare services have greatly expanded since World War II; legislation enactedor amended in the postwar years includes the Livelihood Security Law for NeedyPersons, the Law for the Welfare of Disabled Persons, the National Health InsuranceLaw, the Welfare Pension Insurance Law, Old Age Welfare Law, and the Maternal andChild Welfare Law. The entire population is covered by various insurance systems.Most working people once retired at the age of 55, but an increasing life expectancyand government encouragement has extended the average age of retirement to 65.Health conditions are generally excellent. In the mid-1990s life expectancy at birth was76 years for men and 82 years for women; the infant mortality rate was a very low 4.3per 1000 live births. Japan has about 211,800 physicians and 1.7 million hospital beds.LanguageOfficial LanguageThe official language of Japan is Japanese.Spoken Versus written languageSpoken Japanese is much easier than written japanese to master. Written Japaneseconsists katakana, hiragana and thousands of chinese symbols called 'Kanji'.Considering how hard these characters are to remember, especially the chinese ones, itsno wonder people can speak more than they can write.DialectsJapan comprises numerous mountainous islands, and this geography limited contactbetween the Japanese peoples living in different regions of the country. As a result,people in the various regions of Japan developed differing varieties, or dialects, of theJapanese language. Japanese has also developed separate varieties of the language foruse in different social contexts; these varieties are called social styles of speech.A large number of dialects are spoken throughout Japan's four main islands (Hokkaido,Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu), as well as on the smaller islands, such as the RyukyuIslands. Some dialects-for instance, those spoken in the southern parts of Japan,notably on the islands of Kyushu and Okinawa-are virtually incomprehensible to thespeakers of other dialects. As a result of this diversity of dialects, the Japanese use astandard, or common, dialect to facilitate communication throughout the country. Thetwo dialect families with the largest number of speakers are the dialect spoken in andaround Tokyo, which is the common dialect, and the dialects of the Kansai region inwestern Japan, spoken in cities such as Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. Due to the spread ofthe common dialect through television and radio, most people outside the Tokyo regionspeak the common dialect as well as a local dialect.RefrencesWorld Book Encyclopedia (Cd Rom)Grolier Encyclopedia (Cd Rom)Encarta 96 Encyclopedia (Cd Rom)JETRO (Internet Site)CIA World Factbook (Internet Site)Q . in Japan. Before 1945, many Japanese lived inlarge family units that included grandparents, parents, children, and sometimes unclesand their families. Japanese. Party ofJapan, the Japan Renewal Party, the Komeito (Clean Government Party), and the JapanNew Party. Stability of GovernmentAlthough the Government itself