down town
JAPAN flower
The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese archipelago fostered human development. The earliest-known pottery found in Japan belongs to the Jōmon period. The first known written reference to Japan is in the brief information given in Twenty-Four Histories in the 1st century AD. The main cultural and religious influences came from China.[1]
The first permanent capital was founded in 710 at Nara, which became a center of Buddhist art, religion and culture. The current imperial family emerged in about 700, but until 1868 (with few exceptions) had high prestige but little power. By 1550 or so political power was subdivided into several hundred local units, or so called "domains" controlled by local "daimyō" (lords, Japanese: 大名), each with his own force of samurai (Japanese: 侍) warriors. Tokugawa Ieyasu came to power in 1600, gave land to his supporters, set up his "bakufu" ( feudal government) at Edo (modern Tokyo). The "Tokugawa period" was prosperous and peaceful and Japan terminated the Christian missions and cut off almost all contact with the outside world.
In the 1860s the Meiji period began, and the new national leadership systematically ended feudalism and transformed an isolated, underdeveloped island country into a world power that closely followed Western models. Democracy was problematic, because Japan's powerful military was semi-independent and overruled—or assassinated—civilians in the 1920s and 1930s. The military moved into China starting in 1931 and declared all-out war on China in 1937. Japan controlled the coast and major cities and set up puppet regimes, but was unable to defeat China. Its attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 led to war with the United States and its allies. After a series of naval victories by mid-1942, Japan's military forces were overextended and its industrial base was unable to provide the needed ships, armaments and oil. Even with his navy sunk and his main cities destroyed by air, the Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) held out until August 1945 when two atomic bombs and a pending Soviet invasion forced a surrender.
The U.S. occupied Japan until 1952. After 1955 it enjoyed very high economic growth rates, and became a world economic powerhouse, especially in engineering, automobiles and electronics. Since the 1990s economic stagnation has been a major issue, with an earthquake and tsunami in 2011 causing massive economic dislocations and loss of nuclear power supply.
The first permanent capital was founded in 710 at Nara, which became a center of Buddhist art, religion and culture. The current imperial family emerged in about 700, but until 1868 (with few exceptions) had high prestige but little power. By 1550 or so political power was subdivided into several hundred local units, or so called "domains" controlled by local "daimyō" (lords, Japanese: 大名), each with his own force of samurai (Japanese: 侍) warriors. Tokugawa Ieyasu came to power in 1600, gave land to his supporters, set up his "bakufu" ( feudal government) at Edo (modern Tokyo). The "Tokugawa period" was prosperous and peaceful and Japan terminated the Christian missions and cut off almost all contact with the outside world.
In the 1860s the Meiji period began, and the new national leadership systematically ended feudalism and transformed an isolated, underdeveloped island country into a world power that closely followed Western models. Democracy was problematic, because Japan's powerful military was semi-independent and overruled—or assassinated—civilians in the 1920s and 1930s. The military moved into China starting in 1931 and declared all-out war on China in 1937. Japan controlled the coast and major cities and set up puppet regimes, but was unable to defeat China. Its attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 led to war with the United States and its allies. After a series of naval victories by mid-1942, Japan's military forces were overextended and its industrial base was unable to provide the needed ships, armaments and oil. Even with his navy sunk and his main cities destroyed by air, the Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) held out until August 1945 when two atomic bombs and a pending Soviet invasion forced a surrender.
The U.S. occupied Japan until 1952. After 1955 it enjoyed very high economic growth rates, and became a world economic powerhouse, especially in engineering, automobiles and electronics. Since the 1990s economic stagnation has been a major issue, with an earthquake and tsunami in 2011 causing massive economic dislocations and loss of nuclear power supply.
- also one of the place i want to see Mount Fuji, located on Honshu Island, is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776.24 m. An active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji lies about 100 kilometres south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day. Wikipedia
Tokyo is often thought of as a city but is commonly referred to as a "metropolitan prefecture". The Tokyo metropolitan government administers the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo (each governed as an individual city), which cover the area that was formerly the City of Tokyo before it merged and became the subsequent metropolitan prefecture. The metropolitan government also administers 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the special wards is over 9 million people, with the total population of the prefecture exceeding 13 million. The prefecture is part of the world's most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 35 million people and the world's largest urban agglomeration economy with a GDP of US$1.479 trillion at purchasing power parity, ahead of the New York metropolitan area in 2008. The city hosts 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city.[8]
The city is considered an alpha+ world city, listed by the GaWC's 2008 inventory[9] and ranked fourth among global cities by A.T. Kearney's 2012 Global Cities Index.[10] In 2012, Tokyo was named the most expensive city for expatriates, according to the Mercer and Economist Intelligence Unit cost-of-living surveys,[11] and in 2009 named the third Most Liveable City and the World’s Most Livable Megalopolis by the magazine Monocle.[12] The Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world.[13][14]
The city is considered an alpha+ world city, listed by the GaWC's 2008 inventory[9] and ranked fourth among global cities by A.T. Kearney's 2012 Global Cities Index.[10] In 2012, Tokyo was named the most expensive city for expatriates, according to the Mercer and Economist Intelligence Unit cost-of-living surveys,[11] and in 2009 named the third Most Liveable City and the World’s Most Livable Megalopolis by the magazine Monocle.[12] The Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world.[13][14]