Hello and Welcome back, you guys!
Yesterday, I started a multi-day introduction to the Land of Japan. In that post, I went over the racial and religious demographics of Japan and the immense size of its population for such a small area of land. Today, I will be picking up the discussion with info about Japan's geography.
As I said yesterday, the size of Japan is smaller than the state of California. It is considered an archipelago because it is made up of a chain of islands that begins near the most Southeastern point of Russia and continues down south past South Korea. Mind you, the Koreas are actually west of the main Japanese islands and are on the same land mass as Russia (to the north-east) and China (directly to the north). I have linked a map of Japan that also shows Russia, China and the Koreas so that you can better understand my explanation. :)
The archipelago of Japan is made up of four main islands and 6 smaller chains of islands. The most Northern main island is Hokkaido, which means "Northern Seaway". This island is very snowy and mountainous, making inhabiting it difficult. As a result, it is not as heavily populated as the rest of the main Japanese islands. This is also the home of Japan's first agricultural university, Sapporo Agricultural College. This college, which has since been become part of Hokkaido University, was first founded in 1875. I chose to mention this university because it is the home to the Japanese beer Sapporo and is located in the City of Sapporo, which is known internationally as the host city of the 1972 Winter Olympics. Interestingly enough, Sapporo is not a Japanese word. It is a word from Hokkaido's indigenous people called the ainu. Sadly, this indigenous group lost its last full-blooded aborigine during the 20th century.
The next main island is Honshu. Honshu is the home to Japan's capital, Tokyo, and to the Tohoku region, which was devastated by the 9.0 earthquake and the tsunami it triggered last March. As a side note, please do not forget to continually pray for the people of this region. There is still so much clean-up that needs to be done and so much loss that they are still dealing with.
Honshu, meaning "Main Island", is the longest of the four main island. Its most north-eastern portion is the Tohoku region. To the eastern coast and close the middle "axis" of Honshu is the Prefecture of Tokyo. Now, a prefecture is a political sub-body of Japan that is similar to the US states. Typically, the capital of a prefecture shares its name with its prefecture. Now, Tokyo is even more confusing because it is not only the name of both a prefecture and the capital city of Japan, it is also the name of the metropolis surrounding the capital. This is something that still confuses me. O_O?
Honshu is also home to the ancient capitals of Kyoto and Nara, as well as Hiroshima, which was bombed by the US during World War II.
The last two of Japan's main islands are Shikoku and Kyushu. Shikoku, meaning "Four Countries" is tucked neatly next to Honshu's south-eastern coast like a cat curled up in the crook of one's knees. The people of this island played an extremely important role in the re-opening Japanese borders after the country's isolation period that began in 1600 and lasted until 1868.
Lastly is Kyushu, which means "Nine Provinces". It is the southern-most island of Japan's four main islands. Off of its western coast is a small island which is also the Prefecture of Nagasaki, whose capital was also bombed by the US in World War II.
Well, this post is also fairly long, so I'll end it for now. I will have one more part to this multi-day overview of Japan. So, if there is anything you want to know about Japan, drop a line in the comment box. I can't promise that it will be included into the final part of this overview, but I will review for future blog topics.
'Til then, Later Peeps!
JAPANESE NAMES AND NEW VOCAB:
Hokkaido- meaning "Northern Seaway" , the northern-most island of Japan's 4 main islands
Sapporo- a word from Hokkaido's indigenous people, it is the name of Japan's first agricultural college and world famous beer. It is also the name of the city where the agricultural college (now Hokkaido University) is located and the site of the 1972 Winter Olympics
Ainu-The name of Hokkaido's indigenous people, the last full-blooded member passed away during the 20th century
Honshu- meaning "Main Island",One of Japan's main islands, it is home to Japan's current and ancient capitals and the region of Tohoku
Tohoku- Honshu's north-eastern area, the site of the devastating Tohoku 2011 earthquake, which was magnitude 9.0 on the Richter scale and caused a massive tsunami
Tokyo- The name of one of Japan's prefecture, Japan's largest metropolis, and the nation's Capital (so confusing!!!)
Prefecture- a political sub-body of Japan, it is similar to the US states
Kyoto and Nara- Two of Japan's ancient capitals.
Hiroshima- A city on Honshu, one of the sites of the Atomic Bombing during World War II and home to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum, which includes the closest surviving building to the bomb's detonation
Shikoku- "Four Countries", One of Japan's main islands, it is tucked in close to the southeastern coast of Honshu, the people of this island helped lead Japan out of its isolation period which ended in 1868
Kyushu -" Nine Provinces", Southern-most islands of Japan's main islands, One of its prefectures is the Nagasaki Prefecture
Nagasaki- One of the prefectures of Kyushu, its capital city which is also known as Nagasaki was the site of the second Atomic Bomb dropped by the US during World War II, it has historically been the home to one of Japan's largest Christian community since the 16th Century
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