Japan (日本国) as every one knows is an island state located in East Asia. Situated between the Pacific Ocean and the famous Sea of Japan, it stretches out to the east of Republic of China, Koreas and Russian Federation, stretching out from the Okhotsk See in the China Sea.

    The hieroglyphs that collectively bring in up Japan country name maybe translated as 'sun origin', which perhaps is why Japan also is sometimes described as the 'Land of the Rising Sun'. The English Language word for Japan went to the West from first trade routes. The first Mandarin Chinese or maybe Wu Chinese expression for Japan was picked up by Marco Polo as Cipangu. The ancient Malay name for Japan, Jepang (new spelling Jepun, although Indonesian retains ancient spelling), was taken from traditional Chinese language, and this Malay was encountered by several Portuguese merchants in southern Malacca in the sixteenth century. It is believed the Portuguese merchants were the initiative to get this term to Europe. It was originally written down in English Language in 1577 as Giapan.

    The Japan beside of its major island is Honshu, includes 3 other big ones - Hokkaido on the north, Shikoku and southern Kyushu. More than four thousand other islands surround these four.

    Japan really is a constitutional monarchy where the great power of the Emperor is extremely restricted. As a traditional figurehead, he is classified by the Japan constitution as 'the symbolic representation of the country and of the harmony of the nation'. Power is controlled principally by the Prime Minister of Japan and elected members of the Parliament. The Emperor efficiently acts as the person in charge of country on political occasions. Akihito is the current emperor of Japan kingdom.

    There is no more than one language spoken in Japan - Japanese language. However, a lot of Japanese are able to keep a conversation in English, since it is the foreign language that everyone must be study as part of school learning.

    Japan's people currently are more than 120 million. Most Japanese live in heavily settled metropolitan regions. Japan's main largest city is Tokyo. The residential population of the Japanese Capital Metropolitan Area consisting of the Tokyo itself, number of its inner suburbs and the surrounding region is about twelve million.


    More information can be found:

Japan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Japan (日本 Nihon or Nippon?, officially 日本国 Nippon-koku   (help · info) or Nihon-koku) is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the ...

japan-guide.com - Japan Travel and Living Guide Everything about modern and traditional Japan with emphasis on travel and living related information.

Japan: History, Geography, Government, and Culture — Infoplease ... Information on Japan — geography, history, politics, government, economy, population statistics, culture, religion, languages, largest cities, as well as a map and the national ...

Japan Travel Guide - Travel to Japan Helpful information and tips for Japan Travel - includes Japan maps, Japan hotels, Japanese culture, Japanese translators, Japanese geisha, and Japan pictures.

Japan travel guide hotel | flight | tourist information & resident ... Japan Visitor provides tourist and resident information on Japan: Japan travel information including trains and ferries, flights to Japan, hotels, ryokan, cultural notes, temples ...


US and Japan to play for last softball gold - Reuters


US and Japan to play for last softball gold
Reuters - 1 hour ago
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Overheated iPod nano caused fires - Japan govt - Reuters

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US Olympic baseball beats Japan, 4-2 - Los Angeles Times

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Los Angeles Times, CA - 1 hour ago
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Former Yankees Pitcher Irabu Arrested in Japan for Assault - Bloomberg

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Bank of Japan cuts view on exports, consumer spending, production - Forbes

Daily FX

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U.S. beats Japan, will face Cuba in semifinals (Sports Illustrated) BEIJING (AP) -- Brian Barden singled in the go-ahead run to break a scoreless tie in the 11th inning and the U.S. baseball team beat Japan 4-2 on Wednesday night to earn the third seed into Friday's medal round, while the Japanese will be No. 4.

U.S. softball team goes extra innings to beat Japan 4-1 (USA Today) Crystl Bustos hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning as the U.S. Olympic softball team beat Japan 4-1 in extra innings and will play for its fourth straight gold medal.

U.S. and Japan to play for last softball gold (Reuters via Yahoo! News) The United States will play weary Japan on Thursday for the final Olympic softball gold medal to be awarded before the sport is dropped from the Olympic program.

Japan 61-yr-old surrogate mum gives birth (Reuters via Yahoo! News) A 61-year-old Japanese woman has given birth to a surrogate child, an obstetrician in central Japan said on Wednesday. She is believed to be the oldest surrogate mother yet recorded in Japan.

U.S. softball beats Japan in extra innings 4-1, into final (Sports Illustrated) Crystl Bustos hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning as the U.S. Olympic softball team, forced into extra innings, beat Japan 4-1 on Wednesday to advance to its fourth straight gold medal game.