Japan
Japan is an island state in East Asia: it has more than 14,000 islands (by a 2023 recount), but four large ones – Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku – hold over 95 % of the land. Its area is about 378 thousand km², population about 124 million and capital Tokyo. Japan is a constitutional monarchy: the emperor is the symbol of the state, and the prime minister plays the main role in government; the current emperor is Naruhito. Because it lies in the Pacific seismic zone, earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions are frequent; its highest peak is the sacred volcano Fuji. About three quarters of the land is mountains and hills, so land for farming is scarce. Minerals are very few, so it imports a lot of fuel and metal ores. The climate is monsoonal and humid, with frequent typhoons. The population has been falling in recent years: births are very low and people are ageing fast. Urbanisation is close to 90 %, and the Tokyo agglomeration is among the largest in the world (over 30 million). Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka have merged into the Tokaido megalopolis; people live mostly on plains and coasts, especially the Kanto Plain. Japanese are more than 98 % of people; their religions are Shinto and Buddhism. Japan has one of the world’s largest economies. Industry rests on the most modern technology: electronics, machine tools, robots, car making (Toyota, Honda), shipbuilding and chemicals. In farming rice leads; fishing matters. High-speed Shinkansen trains link big cities, and tourism is also developed. The most developed region is the Pacific industrial belt east of Honshu.
Mark the four large islands, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Mount Fuji and the Pacific industrial belt on the map and explain where people are dense.