5. KYOTO

The city is the ex-capital of Japan until Tokugawa moved it to Tokyo called Edo at that time. During the period, Japanese emperors had been living there as a king and pope like figure. Like old cities in Europe, there are so many historical sites and buildings in the city reserved by the government and people. Even during WWII, the US avoided from bombing Kyoto, because of its historical value. When you visit the city, you can feel the air of samurai period through the old temples.

4. TOKYO

It is the most famous place in Japan. It became Japan’s capital right after Tokugawa-era begun. Tokyo is a prefecture name not a city name. “Tokyo prefecture” contains 23 small cities, 26 cities and some towns & villages. The small cities make up the center of Tokyo like New York City for New York State. The population is over 10 million, about 10% of Japanese people, living in the 1400 sq. mile. You can guess how crowed Tokyo is.

3. Where to go in Japan?

There are two choices for a first time visitor. If you want to see the modern figure, you better go to Tokyo. If you want to feel historical atmosphere, your destination is Kyoto. However, you can find something old in Tokyo and new in Kyoto.

2. HISTORY AND CULTURE

The country was started appearing as an organized country 1500 years ago. As you guess, it had been influenced by the neighbors like China and Korea. In the same time, Japan had developed their original style for their culture and custom, because the country is an island country separated from the continent.

They have an original religion, Shinto. It was established a long time ago, and then it became more than a religion. It exists here and there in Japan as culture and custom of the living life. Japanese emperor is an important figure of the religion.

Samurai dominated the country between early 11th century and early 20th century. During the period, different powerful samurai groups governed the large part of the country with the status, “Shogun”, licensed by emperors. However, it was very difficult to control the entire country, so the power balance of samurai groups were instable time to time. Only one shogun family, Tokugawa, could hold its power over all country between 16th century and mid 19th century.

In 1868 the long samurai dominance was ended, because of the pressure from European countries. Some samurai groups with advanced thought took over the sovereignty under the emperor and westernized the style and system of Japan drastically and quickly.

The transformation from medieval to modern was successful. Even though it went through the painful experience of WWII, the county has been one of advanced countries since late 19th century.

1. What is Japan?

Japan is the east edge country in Asia. It contains four big islands and many small islands. The four big islands are named, from the north, Hokkaido, Honshu (biggest), Shikoku, and Kyushu. The population is about 127million. It contains 99% Japanese and 1% others. The largest ethnic group except Japanese is Korean followed by Chinese. The spoken language is Japanese. However, if you are lucky, you find pretty good English speaker in urban areas like Tokyo.