INTRODUCING JAPAN

 Japan is a remarkable country and the Japanese are an extraordinary people. Their lifestyles are a fascinating blend of ancient traditions with the most advanced technologies and modes of contemporary urban life. Their land is small, varied and beautiful.From the metropolitan bustle of busy, modern Tokyo to the serenity of classical Kyoto, from the northern frontier land of snowy Hokkaido to distinctly colorful Kyushu and Okinawa in the southwest, Japan is a country of striking contrasts and frequent contradictions; geisha and baseball; the Kabuki theater and oil refineries; skyscrapers of steel and glass and landscape gardens of sand and rock. The blend of the ancient and the contemporary is unique and fascinating.

Japan At A Glance
NATIONAL NAME Nippon
AREA 145,800 square miles, made up of some 4,000 islands. It is approximately the size of Montana
POPULATION over 124 million people.
CAPITAL Tokyo, population of city and surroundings is more than 12million people.
OTHER LARGE CITIES Osaka, Yokohama, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto.
Major Airports Tokyo(Narita), Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya
HIGHEST MOUNTAIN Mt. Fuji at over 12,000 feet.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE Japanese
CURRENCY YEN --- $1=107yen. (Feb. 2004)
RACE Japanese (99.4%) other (0.6%)
LITERACY RATE 99%
Misc. Postage (from U.S. to Japan) Envelop: 80 cents ; Postcard: 70 cents
Telephone: 1010345-011-81-(numbers you want to call) = 13 cents/min. + 10 cents connection fees for each call.
Airfare: Direct flights between Narita and LAX: JAL,ANA,UA,NW,SQ,ML,KE,etc. Airfare range: $450-$1,000 for round trip. ((eg. SQ round trip = $550/October.))
Some direct flights between Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka - LAX.

Japan is an arc of islands, the four large ones are Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Hokkaido. Mountains are everywhere, forming more than four-fifths of the land surface.

My hometown is in Gumma about 2 hours North of Tokyo. I moved to Tokyo when I was 18 years old, went to Rikkyo (St. Paul's) University and got a job in the Big City. I lived in a small apartment room. Please see my "Life in Tokyo"
Major Prefectures(Cities)
Kanto Area
Tokyo, Kanagawa(Yokohama), Chiba, Nagano, Ibagaki, Gumma, Saitama, Tochigi
Kansai Area
Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo(Kobe), Nara, Himeji
Kyushu Area
Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Miyazaki, Kumamoto, Kagoshima
Tohoku Area
Aomori, Akita, Miyagi(Sendai), Yamagata, Fukushima, Niigata


Let's Speak Japanese! History
Education Arts
Japanese Food Religion
Life in Tokyo Events
Wedding Dave&Kaoru's Japan Trip



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