Country Notebook

JAPAN

Overview

Japan is a constitutional democracy with a Symbol Emperor System. The total area of the country is 377,873 square kilometers and the capital, also the city with the largest population, is Tokyo. The Japan island arc belongs to the Ring of Firethe geographic term for a row of volcanoes located in the Pacific Basin

Cultural Analysis Geographical Setting Location

Japan consists of several thousands of islands, of which Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku are the four largest. Due to the large North South extension of the country, the climate varies strongly in different regions. The climate in most of the major cities, including Tokyo, is temperate to sub tropic and consists of four seasons. The Japanese islands are covered by mountains, most of them heavily forested, and crisscrossed by short, swift rivers.

Climate

Topography

Cultural Analysis

Social Institutions Modern Family

Most families in Japan today are nuclear families, such as we have here in the United States and in North American generally. That is to say that a married couple lives together with their children, perhaps with one grandparent. The traditional Japanese family, known in Japanese as i.e., is a very complex kinship unit, a very complex kind of a family system. It's multigenerational; it's an extended family

Traditional Family

Education

Cultural Analysis

Education

Political System

Cultural Analysis

Political System
Unquestionably Japan is a democratic country, but it is a very different kind of democracy to that prevailing in most of Europe in countries like France and Germany
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH Japan is a constitutional monarchy (like Britain) where the power of the Emperor is very limited THE JUDICIAL BRANCH The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land. The Chief Justice is appointed by the Emperor following selection by the Cabinet. Fourteen other judges are selected and appointed by the Cabinet

Cultural Analysis

Legal System
Federal court operates in every state (some states have several federal districts) to hear: Disputes between citizens of different states Matters of federal law or U.S. constitution Bankruptcy, copyright, or admiralty cases

11 circuit courts oversee district courts

Supreme court over all circuits

Cultural Analysis

Legal System

Federal courts continued tax cases and claims against the government are handled by a special district court Administrative agencies have their own U.S. circuit court for appeals of rulings and decisions

Cultural Analysis

Religion Buddhism 6th Century

Migrated from the Korean peninsula

Six sects of Nara Buddhism Both Buddhism and Shinto formed one religion

Cultural Analysis

Religion Shinto Means way of God Originated in prehistoric times Largest and Native Religion During 18th and 19th century

independent sects formed

Merged with Buddhism

Cultural Analysis

Aesthetics

The modern study of Japanese aesthetics in the Western sense only started a little over two hundred years ago. The Japanese aesthetic is a set of ancient ideals that include wabi , sabi and yogun

Cultural Analysis

Aesthetics
Wabi-sabi Wabi and sabi refers to a mindful approach to everyday life. Over time their meanings overlapped and converged until they are unified into

Wabi-sabi, the aesthetic defined as the beauty of things "imperfect,

impermanent, and incomplete". Shibui Shibui means simple, subtle or unobtrusive. It means that things are more beautiful when they speak for themselves when they aren't loud and in your face.

Cultural Analysis

Aesthetics
Yugen
Yugen states that life is boring when all the facts are known. Something should be held back the mystery. Ensou Ensou is a zen concept. It is often represented by a circle. It can mean infinity or nothingness. It's a little hard to explain. You need to spend a lot of time meditating to really get it.

Kawaii
Kawaii is cute. Some argue it's a new Japanese aesthetic. Others say kawaii has always been part of Japanese culture.

Cultural Analysis

Language Official Language Japanese is believed to be linked to the Altaic

language family, which includes Turkish, Mongolian

and other languages, but also shows similarities to Austronesian languages like Polynesian.

Cultural Analysis

Language

Writing
The Japanese writing system consists of three different character sets: Kanji (several thousands of Chinese characters) and Hiragana and Katakana (two syllabifies of 46 characters each; together

called Kana).

Economic Analysis

Population