GROUP GROUP 4 4 Today's Today's Agenda Agenda Japan's Geography
Japanese famous symbols
Notable and Historical figures of Japan
Objectives Objectives
Identify the geographical Familiarize with the Appreciate the
location and composition national symbols of the contributions of some of Japan. Japanese people. notable historical figures. Konnichiwa Konnichiwa Welcome to the first semester of Multicultural Foundations Class. Japan's Japan's Geography Geography Japan is composed of nearly 7,000 islands. The country stretches for over 3,000 km along East Asia's Pacific coast.
Japan can be divided into five main islands namely
Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Okinawa.
The capital of Japan is Tokyo.
The form of Japanese government is Parliamentary
with a constitutional monarchy. Japan is also famous for its engineering:
Meiji Shrine Osaka Castle Kyoto Tower
Japan's Japan's National National Symbols Symbols Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum Japan considers chrysanthemum as their national flower for it is the Imperial Emblem of the country. This national symbol can be found in different national settings like passport, shrines, and diplomatic buildings. Persimmon Persimmon In Japanese culture, persimmon is considered as the divine fruit of autumn for it is associated with good luck and longevity.
Persimmon is also a highlight decoration in
celebration of New Year for it welcomes good health and success in the beginning of the year. Japanese Japanese Cedar Cedar Japanese Cedar is extremely important natural resource in ancient Japan for it is the main source of building materials. Japanese put value to Cedar tree because of the Shinto belief that man and trees have special connection especially in spiritual matter. Japan's Japan's Notable Notable Figures Figures Tomoe Tomoe Gozen Gozen Tomoe Gozen is one of the most eminent and fiercest warriors in the Japanese history. Tomoe Gozen is for numerous incredible feats during her time. One famous notable feat includes the victory in the Battle of Yokotagawara. Sakamoto Sakamoto Ryoma Ryoma Sakamoto Ryoma is one of the most loved historical figures in the Japanese history. As a loyalist to the Emperor, he played an important role in the overthrow of Japan's feudal Edo period shogunate, paving the way towards the establishment of the modern Meiji government. Mukai Mukai Chiaki Chiaki Mukai Chiaki is credited as the first Japanese woman to travel into space and the first Asian astronaut to board the Space Shuttle Columbia. She carried out multiple scientific experiments concerning space medicine. Religion Religion Most Japanese citizens practice a syncretic blend of Shintoism and Buddhism. Very small minorities practice Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism. The native religion of Japan is Shinto, which developed in prehistoric times. It is a polytheistic faith, emphasizing the divinity of the natural world. Shintoism does not have a holy book or founder. Most Japanese Buddhists belong to the Mahayana school, which came to Japan from Baekje Korea in the sixth century. In Japan, Shinto and Buddhist practices are combined into a single religion, with Buddhist temples being built at the sites of important Shinto shrines. Economy Economy Japan is one of the most technologically advanced societies on Earth; as a result, it has the world's third largest economy by GDP (after the U.S. and China). Japanese exports include automobiles, consumer and office electronics, steel, and transportation equipment. Imports include food, oil, lumber, and metal ores. Economic growth stalled in the 1990s, but since has rebounded to a quietly respectable 2 percent per year. Per capita GDP in Japan is $38,440; 16.1 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. Population Population Japan is home to about 126,672,000 people. Today, the country suffers from a very low birth rate, making it one of the most rapidly aging societies in the world. The Yamato Japanese ethnic group comprises 98.5 percent of the population. The other 1.5 percent includes Koreans (0.5 percent), Chinese (0.4 percent), and the indigenous Ainu (50,000 people). The Ryukyuan people of Okinawa and neighboring islands may or may not be ethnically Yamato. language The vast majority of Japan's citizens (99 percent) speak Japanese as their primary language. Japanese is in the Japonic language family, and seems to be unrelated to Chinese and Korean. However, Japanese has borrowed heavily from Chinese, English, and other languages. In fact, 49 percent of Japanese words are loanwords from Chinese, and 9 percent come from English. Three writing systems coexist in Japan: hiragana, which is used for native Japanese words, inflected verbs, etc.; katakana, which is used for non-Japanese loanwords, emphasis, and onomatopoeia; and kanji, which is used to express the large number of Chinese loanwords in the Japanese language. Thank Thank you! you! ARIGATO ARIGATO
Intermediate Japanese Textbook: An Integrated Approach to Language and Culture: Learn Conversational Japanese, Grammar, Kanji & Kana: Online Audio Included