Japan - Archipelago

Japan is a small but significant country with a unique culture. It is located in East Asia, and is roughly half the length of the east coast of the United States. Japan’s isolation as an island nation has nurtured its ‘selective borrowing,’ which has helped shape its history.
Japan is an archipelago with around 4,000 islands. The four main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Weather in Japan varies, from Northern Hokkaido’s cold winters and mild summers, to Southern Kyushu’s hot, humid summers and mild winters. Japan is home to the iconic Mt. Fuji. Over 70% of Japan is mountainous. The largest area of flat land is the Kanto Plain. Japan lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, and has an average of 7,000 seismic activities in a year. Two major earthquakes in the last hundred years are the Great Kanto earthquake in 1924 and the Kobe earthquake in 1995. Japan also suffers from tsunamis due to its proximity to water.
In Japan, one is never more than 70 miles from the sea. Seafood is a critical part of the Japanese diet. An unfortunate result of this is that Japanese waters are often over-fished. Resource-wise, Japan has water, everything in the ocean, and timber. Similar to Japan’s over-fishing issue, they tend to overuse their timber. They have no mineral resources, and have been forced to purchase these with money made from the silk trade. They also have no oil reserves, and all oil must be imported from the Middle East.
Despite its lack of natural resources, Japan has become a major economic power, and has the second largest economy by gross domestic product and third largest economy in purchasing power parity. Japan’s economy is competitive in areas linked to international trade, but productivity is low in areas such as agriculture, distribution, and services. Japan has four languages. They took and modified Chinese characters to make a language of