Japan is an island nation located in the Pacific Ocean and forms the eastern part of the Asian continent. To the east of Japan is the Sea of Japan, North Korea, South Korea, People’s Republic of China, and Russia. In the north direction, it stretches from the sea of Okhotsk, and in the south direction, it stretches upto Taiwan and east China sea.The island country is also sometimes called as the “land of the rising sun”

Japan is in the form of archipelago and houses nearly 6,852islands. The four major islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu forms nearly ninety seven percent of eh total land mass. The country has the world's biggest population with nearly 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area with nearly 30 million people is the biggest metropolitan area on eh globe.

As per the results of the archeological study carried out, the Japan seems to have been inhabitated with people from the beginning of Upper Paleolithic period. From the first century, Japan was initially mentioned in the Chinese text. The history of Japan is characterized by other countries' influence and many years of isolation.

During a period of rising militarism, wars like the First Sino- Japanese war, the Russo Japanese war and the World War I permitted Japan to expand its empire. The 1937 Second Sino Japanese war extended into portion of World War I and it ended with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since 1947, the country ahs adopted a revised constitution, and has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy, with an emperor and an elected parliament known as the Diet.

Capital: Tokyo

National Language: Japanese

Currency: Yen (JPY)

Time: GMT+9.00

Religion: About 84 to 96% of the Japanese follow Buddhism or Shinto. Also a number of people follow syncretism of both religions some of the other regions of Japan are Taoism and Confucianism. Less than one percent of the Japanese population follows Christianity

History

Prehistory and Ancient History

Around 30,000 BC, the Paleolithic culture comprised of Japan’s the primary inhabitation followed by Mesolithic to Neolithic, a semi-sedentay hunter-gatherer culture. This occurred during the 14,000 B.C (the launch of the Jomon period). This period comprised of the Ainu and the Yamato people. This was portrayed by rudimentary culture and pit dwelling.
The Japanese island saw the arrival of the Yayoi people. They intermingled with the Jomon people. The Yayoi started form the 500 B.C and saw introduction of new practices like wet-rice farming, a new method of pottery and metallurgy that was introduced from China and Korea. During the Asuka period (592-710), Buddhism got widespread acceptance

Feudal era

The feudal era of the country was influenced by the emergence and dominance of a ruling class of warriors called as the Samurai. From China the Zen school of Buddhism got initiated during the Kamakura period (1185-1133) and became very much well known among the Samurais. .

Modern Era

With the Convention of Kanagawa, Commodore Matthew Perry and the United Navy’s “Black ships “forced the opening of Japan to the external world. Important events took place during the modern era like the Boshin war and a Centralized State establishment united beneath the emperor (the Meiji Restoration)

The Empire of Japan was converted into an industrialized power by the Meiji restoration. The Japanese attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941, thereby bringing the America into Second World War. This was followed the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 by the US. The two cities were consumed into ashes, this bitter incident greatly affected Japan its economy got a severe death blow. All these made Japan to go for an unconditional surrender
A new constitution was formed in the year 1947 highlighting moderate democratic practices. In the year 1956, Japan was granted membership in the United Nations.