J pan

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