Facts about Japan

The Land of the Rising Sun

The people of Japan call their country as ‘Nippon’ which means ‘The land of the rising sun’.

Flag of Japan

As in the name, the flag also has a ‘rising sun’ on it depicted in red.

Population of Japan

127 million

Geographical Location of Japan

It is an island nation located in East Asia, in the Pacific ocean and has more than 6800 islands. Japan is roughly the same size as that of California! The main four islands in Japan are,

1. Honshu
2. Hokkaido
3. Kyushu
4. Shikoku

Capital of Japan : Tokyo

Tokyo is the second most expensive city in the world to live in!

Currency of Japan : Yen

Tipping is practically non-existent in Japan. Even if you tip a waiter in Japan, they feel insulted as they take pride in the work they do!

Topology and Weather in Japan

• It has a humid monsoon climate. Autumn and spring paint the region in the brilliant colors of red, yellow, green and such making it a splendid sight to view. There is a lot of climatic variation depending on the region.
• Around 3 quarters of the Japanese land is mountains and forest! Japan’s highest mountain is Mt. Fuji. It is 12,387 feet high and located on Honshu Island near Tokyo. A popular tourist attraction, Mt. Fuji is a dormant volcano.
• The land of Japan is frequently hit by natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. Japan suffers 1,500 earthquakes every year.
• In 2011, an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 hit Japan and created a tsunami which resulted in widespread destruction.

Food in Japan

• The staple food of japan is rice which is grown in terraced farms due to the mountainous terrain.
• After rice, Sushi is the most important food of Japan.
• Norway introduced sushi to Japan in the late 80’s. The dish is basically raw fish and rice wrapped in sea weed.
• Raw horse meat known as Basashi is very popular in Japan and is eaten with ginger and onion.

6 Interesting Japan Facts

1. In Japan, there are more pets than children!
2. The Japanese who survived the titanic disaster, is termed as a coward because he didn’t die along with other passengers.
3. There is a building in Japan with a highway passing right through it.
4. Japanese use more paper for comics than for toilet paper.
5. There is a train in Japan that floats in air above its tracks, using magnetism. Its speed reaches up to 500 km/hour.
6. Godzilla is an official citizen of Japan.

Related Article :

Click here to read all about Mount Fuji (Fuji-san), the highest mountain in Japan.