Browse listings of B&B, Home Exchange, Vacation Rentals (furnished apartments, villas, cottages, condos, farmhouses and other types of accommodations) of Japan:
Last Minute Tips Before you Travel to Japan
- Time Zone: GMT/UTC +9
- Electricity: 100V, 50 Hz (bring an adapter/transformer for your hair drier, laptop, cellullar phone etc.)
- Currency: Yen (¥)
- Country Dialing Code: 81
Must See - Properties on UNESCO World Heritage List by
- Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area
- Himeji-jo
- Shirakami-Sanchi
- Yakushima
- Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)
- Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
- Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)
- Itsukushima Shinto Shrine
- Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara
- Shrines and Temples of Nikko
- Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu
- Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range
- Shiretoko
Japan
Location
Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
Capital
Tokyo
Population
127,417,244 (July 2005 est.)
Regions
47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gunma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi
Climate
varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north
Ethnic groups
Japanese 99%, others 1% (Korean 511,262, Chinese 244,241, Brazilian 182,232, Filipino 89,851, other 237,914)
note: up to 230,000 Brazilians of Japanese origin migrated to Japan in the 1990s to work in industries; some have returned to Brazil (2004)
Religions
observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)
Languages
Japanese
Government type
constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government
Background
In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Following the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States in 1854, Japan opened its ports and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1933 Japan occupied Manchuria and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth, but Japan still remains a major economic power, both in Asia and globally. In 2005, Japan began a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Visitor's Impressions
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