JAPAN
• National Symbols: red sun disk, national bird: green pheasant, national flower: cherry blossom and chrysanthemum, national fish: Japanese koi fish.
- Population: 126.500 million people live in Japan
- Capital: Tokyo, which is the biggest city in Japan with over 13 million inhabitants.
- Name: Japan, in Japanese: Nihon or Nippon
Japan is an island country on the Asian continent. More exactly, Japan is an archipelago or chain of islands along the eastern coast of Asia, reaching from the northern coast of Russia to the South East China Sea.
The Japanese islands consist of 4 main islands and many of smaller isles. In total there are over 6,800 islands! The largest of the four major islands is Honshu, which is also the seventh largest island in the world.
The biggest cities in Japan are Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka and Nagoya.
The highest mountain in Japan is Mount Fuji, a dormant (sleeping) volcano, which last erupted in 1707. Mount Fuji is 3,776 metres/ 12,388 feet high.
Japan lies on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire', a chain of volcanoes which are responsible for the most dramatic volcanic outbreakes and tsunamis in the recent years. In Japan, there are more than 108 active volcanos. Japan records the most earthquakes in the world every year.
Japan is slightly smaller than the state of California in the USA or slightly bigger than Germany.
A flight to Tokyo takes a 8 hours flight from Singapore, 13 hours from London/England, 12.5 hours from New York/USA.
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The Japanese diet consists mainly of rice, fish, soy products and vegetables. Many dishes contain these ingredients and soups as well as sushi are very popular.
- Sushi: raw fish or seafood dish but also vegetable can be used in these dainty little bites or rice rolls
- Ramen: thin egg noodles, usually served in broth
- Soba: buckwheat noodles, usually served in broth
- Tempura: light and crispy deep-fried food such as fried vegetables, fish, seafood or meat
- Teriyaki: dark sticky sauce containing honey, ginger, garlic and soy sauce. This sauce is popularly served with meat or fish dishes.
- Taiyaki: sweet cake treat with various fillings in fish shape
- Yakitory: chicken cubes on skewers often dipped into a salty soy sauce
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Japan is the third largest economy in the world after the USA and China. The country however, has no natural energy resources and is the world's largest importer of oil, coal and liquefied natural gas. Japan was was badly affected by the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in 2011, there are many coal plants currently under construction in Japan.
The main trading partners of Japan are the USA, China, South Korea and Australia. The main export products of Japan is known for the production of motor vehicles, electronics, robotics and mobile games. Some of the biggest companies in Japan are Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda and Sony.
The unemployment rate in Japan is very low, but still more than 15% of the Japanese population live under very poor conditions.