1.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
2.
Emperor of Japan
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The Emperor of Japan is the head of the Imperial Family and is the ceremonial head of state of Japans system of constitutional monarchy. According to the 1947 constitution, he is the symbol of the State, in Japanese, the Emperor is called Tennō, which means heavenly sovereign. In English, the use of the term Mikado for the Emperor was once common, currently, the Emperor of Japan is the only remaining monarch in the world reigning under the title of Emperor. The Imperial House of Japan is the oldest continuing hereditary monarchy in the world, in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, it is said that Japan was founded in 660 BC by Emperor Jimmu. He acceded the Chrysanthemum Throne upon the death of his father, Emperor Shōwa, the role of the Emperor of Japan has historically alternated between a largely ceremonial symbolic role and that of an actual imperial ruler. Since the establishment of the first shogunate in 1192, the Emperors of Japan have rarely taken on a role as supreme battlefield commander, Japanese Emperors have nearly always been controlled by external political forces, to varying degrees. In fact, between 1192 and 1867, the shoguns, or their shikken regents in Kamakura, were the de facto rulers of Japan, although they were nominally appointed by the Emperor. After the Meiji Restoration in 1867, the Emperor was the embodiment of all power in the realm. His current status as a figurehead dates from the 1947 Constitution, since the mid-nineteenth century, the Imperial Palace has been called Kyūjō, later Kōkyo, and is located on the former site of Edo Castle in the heart of Tokyo. Earlier, Emperors resided in Kyoto for nearly eleven centuries, the Emperors Birthday is a national holiday. Unlike most constitutional monarchies, the Emperor is not the nominal Chief Executive, article 65 of the Constitution explicitly vests executive power in the Cabinet, of which the Prime Minister is the leader. The Emperor is also not the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Japan Self-Defense Forces Act of 1954 also explicitly vests this role with the Prime Minister. The Emperors powers are limited only to important ceremonial functions, article 4 of the Constitution stipulates that the Emperor shall perform only such acts in matters of state as are provided for in the Constitution and he shall not have powers related to government. It also stipulates that the advice and approval of the Cabinet shall be required for all acts of the Emperor in matters of state, article 4 also states that these duties can be delegated by the Emperor as provided for by law. Article 6 of the Constitution delegates the Emperor the following ceremonial roles, Appointment of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as designated by the Cabinet. Dissolution of the House of Representatives, proclamation of general election of members of the Diet. Attestation of the appointment and dismissal of Ministers of State and other officials as provided for by law, attestation of general and special amnesty, commutation of punishment, reprieve, and restoration of rights. Attestation of instruments of ratification and other documents as provided for by law
3.
Hirohito
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Emperor Shōwa was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from December 25,1926, until his death on January 7,1989. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Akihito, upon his death, although better known outside Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan, he is now referred to primarily by his posthumous name Emperor Shōwa. The word Shōwa is the name of the era that corresponded with the Emperors reign, the name Hirohito means abundant benevolence. He was the head of state under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan during Japans imperial expansion, militarization, born in Tokyos Aoyama Palace, Hirohito was the first son of Crown Prince Yoshihito and Crown Princess Sadako. He was the grandson of Emperor Meiji and Yanagihara Naruko and his childhood title was Prince Michi. At the age of 3, Hirohito and his brother Chichibu were returned to court when Kawamura died – first to the mansion in Numazu, Shizuoka. In 1908, he began studies at the Gakushūin. When his grandfather, Emperor Meiji, died on July 30,1912, Hirohitos father, Yoshihito, assumed the throne, in 1914, he was promoted to the ranks of lieutenant in the army and sub-lieutenant in the navy, then to captain and lieutenant in 1916. He was formally proclaimed Crown Prince and heir apparent on November 2,1916, Hirohito attended Gakushūin Peers School from 1908 to 1914 and then a special institute for the crown prince from 1914 to 1921. In 1920, Hirohito was promoted to the rank of Major in the army, in 1921, Hirohito took a six-month tour of Western Europe, including the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium. After his return to Japan, he became Regent of Japan on November 29,1921, in 1923, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the army and Commander in the navy, and to army Colonel and Navy Captain in 1925. The Washington Naval Treaty was signed on February 6,1922, Japan withdrew troops from the Siberian Intervention on August 28,1922. The Great Kantō earthquake devastated Tokyo on September 1,1923, on December 27,1923, Daisuke Namba attempted to assassinate Hirohito in the Toranomon Incident but his attempt failed. During interrogation, he claimed to be a communist and was executed, the General Election Law was passed on May 5,1925, giving all men above age 25 the right to vote. Prince Hirohito married his distant cousin Princess Nagako Kuni, the eldest daughter of Prince Kuniyoshi Kuni and they had two sons and five daughters. On December 25,1926, Hirohito assumed the throne upon his father, Yoshihitos, the Crown Prince was said to have received the succession. The Taishō eras end and the Shōwa eras beginning were proclaimed, the deceased Emperor was posthumously renamed Emperor Taishō within days. Following Japanese custom, the new Emperor was never referred to by his name, but rather was referred to simply as His Majesty the Emperor
4.
Yasuhiro Nakasone
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Yasuhiro Nakasone is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 27 November 1982 to 6 November 1987. At age 98, Nakasone is currently the oldest living former Japanese prime minister, Nakasone was born in Takasaki in Gunma, a poor mountainous prefecture in central Japan. He is the son of Nakasone Matsugoro II, a lumber dealer. He had five siblings, an elder brother, an elder sister. According to family records, Tsunayoshi, a vassal of the Takeda clan, in about 1590, the samurai Nakasone Sōemon Mitsunaga settled in the town of Satomimura in Kōzuke Province. His descendants became silk merchants and pawnbrokers, Nakasone describes his early childhood and youth as a happy one, and himself as a quiet, easy-going child nicknamed Yat-chan. He attended a primary school in Takasaki and was a poor student until the fourth grade. He entered Shizuoka High School in 1935, where he excelled in history and literature, in the autumn of 1938, Nakasone entered Tokyo Imperial University. During World War II, he was an officer and paymaster in the Imperial Japanese Navy. As I looked around me I swore to resurrect my homeland from the ashes of defeat, Nakasone is the only postwar Prime Minister to have seen active service. In 1947, he gave up a career in an elite government ministry to run for Parliament with the belief that in its postwar remorse. He entered the Diet of Japan as a member of the House of Representatives for the Democratic Party, as a freshman lawmaker in 1951, he delivered a 28-page letter to General MacArthur criticizing the occupation, a brazen move. The general angrily threw the letter in the wastebasket, Mr. Nakasone was later told and this stand established credentials as a right-wing politician. He gained brief notoriety in 1952 for blaming Emperor Hirohito for Japans defeat in the war, in 1955, at Nakasones urging, the government granted the equivalent of $14 million to the Agency for Industrial Science and Technology to begin nuclear power research. As head of the Self-Defence Force, Nakasone argued for an increase in spending from the less than 1% GDP to 3% of GDP. He was also in favour of Japan having tactical nuclear weapons and he was labelled the weathervane in 1972 because he switched his support from Takeo Fukuda to Kakuei Tanaka in the leadership election, ensuring Tanakas victory. In turn, Tanaka would give his support to Nakasone against Fukuda a decade later in the fight for the premiership. In 1982, Nakasone became Prime Minister, along with Minister of Foreign Affairs Shintaro Abe, Nakasone improved Japans relations with the USSR and the Peoples Republic of China
5.
Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
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The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, frequently abbreviated to LDP or Jimintō, is a conservative political party in Japan. The LDP has near continuously been in power since its foundation in 1955, in the 2012 election it regained control of government. It holds 291 seats in the house and 121 seats in the upper house. Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and many present and former LDP ministers are known members of Nippon Kaigi. The LDP is not to be confused with the now-defunct Liberal Party, which merged with the Democratic Party of Japan, now the Democratic Party, the party won the following elections, and Japans first conservative government with a majority was formed by 1955. It would hold majority government until 1993, the LDP began with reforming Japans international relations, ranging from entry into the United Nations, to establishing diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union. By the end of the 1970s, the LDP went into its decline, in 1976, in the wake of the Lockheed bribery scandals, a handful of younger LDP Diet members broke away and established their own party, the New Liberal Club. A decade later, however, it was reabsorbed by the LDP, during the 1980s, the LDP was responsible for Japans unprecedented economic growth, and the successful economy. By the early 1990s, the LDPs nearly four decades in power allowed it to establish a highly stable process of policy formation and this process would not have been possible if other parties had secured parliamentary majorities. LDP strength was based on an enduring, although not unchallenged, coalition of big business, small business, agriculture, professional groups, elite bureaucrats collaborated closely with the party and interest groups in drafting and implementing policy. In a sense, the success was a result not of its internal strength. It lacked a strong, nationwide organization or consistent ideology with which to attract voters and its leaders were rarely decisive, charismatic, or popular. But it functioned efficiently as a locus for matching interest group money and votes with bureaucratic power and this arrangement resulted in corruption, but the party could claim credit for helping to create economic growth and a stable, middle-class Japan. But by 1993, the end of the economy and other reasons led to the LDP losing its majority in that years general election. Seven opposition parties—including several formed by LDP dissidents—formed a government headed by LDP dissident Morihiro Hosokawa of the Japan New Party. However, the LDP was still far and away the largest party in the House of Representatives, with well over 200 seats, in 1994, the Socialist Party and New Party Sakigake left the ruling coalition, joining the LDP in the opposition. The new government was dominated by the LDP, but it allowed a Socialist to occupy the Prime Ministers chair until 1996, in the 1996 election, the LDP made some gains, but was still 12 seats short of a majority. However, no party could possibly form a government
6.
Chief Cabinet Secretary
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The Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan is a Minister of State who is responsible for directing the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan. The main function of the Chief Cabinet Secretary is to coordinate the policies of ministries and agencies in the executive branch, the Chief Cabinet Secretarys office is located on the fifth floor of the Prime Ministers official residence in Tokyo. Before and during World War II, the position was known in Japanese as 内閣書記官長, the modern position was created on May 3,1947, shortly after the passage of the Constitution of Japan, and elevated to ministerial status in 1966. The present incumbent, Yoshihide Suga, is the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in history, since 1947, the office of Chief Cabinet Secretary has been regarded as a stepping stone to the post of Prime Minister. The first Chief Cabinet Secretary to become Prime Minister was Ichirō Hatoyama, since then, eight other former Chief Cabinet Secretaries have become Prime Ministers, most recently Shinzō Abe and Yasuo Fukuda
7.
National Diet
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The National Diet is Japans bicameral legislature. It is composed of a house called the House of Representatives. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under parallel voting systems, in addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally responsible for selecting the Prime Minister. The Diet was first convened as the Imperial Diet in 1889 as a result of adopting the Meiji Constitution, the Diet took its current form in 1947 upon the adoption of the post-war constitution and is considered by the Constitution to be the highest organ of state power. The National Diet Building is located in Nagatachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, the houses of the Diet are both elected under parallel voting systems. Voters are also asked to cast two votes, one for a candidate in a constituency, and one for a party list. Any national of Japan at least 18 years of age may vote in these elections, Japans parallel voting system is not to be confused with the Additional Member System used in many other nations. House of Councillors, Of 242 members,146 are elected from 47 prefectural constituencies by means of the Single Non-Transferable Vote, the remaining 96 are elected by open list PR from a single national list. However it does guarantee universal adult suffrage and a secret ballot and it also insists that the electoral law must not discriminate in terms of race, creed, sex, social status, family origin, education, property or income. Generally, the election of Diet members is controlled by statutes passed by the Diet and this is a source of contention concerning re-apportionment of prefectures seats in response to changes of population distribution. For example, the Liberal Democratic Party had controlled Japan for most of its post-war history, in recent elections the malapportionment ratio amounted to 4.8 in the House of Councillors and 2.3 in the House of Representatives. Candidates for the house must be 25 years old or older and 30 years or older for the upper house. All candidates must be Japanese nationals, under Article 49 of Japans Constitution, Diet members are paid about ¥1.3 million a month in salary. Article 41 of the Constitution describes the National Diet as the highest organ of State power and this statement is in forceful contrast to the Meiji Constitution, which described the Emperor as the one who exercised legislative power with the consent of the Diet. The Diets responsibilities include not only the making of laws but also the approval of the national budget that the government submits. It can also initiate draft constitutional amendments, which, if approved, the Diet may conduct investigations in relation to government. The Prime Minister must be designated by Diet resolution, establishing the principle of legislative supremacy over executive government agencies, the government can also be dissolved by the Diet if it passes a motion of no confidence introduced by fifty members of the House of Representatives. Government officials, including the Prime Minister and Cabinet members, are required to appear before Diet investigative committees, the Diet also has the power to impeach judges convicted of criminal or irregular conduct
8.
Nintendo Entertainment System
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The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit home video game console that was developed and manufactured by Nintendo. The best-selling gaming console of its time, the NES helped revitalize the US video game following the video game crash of 1983. With the NES, Nintendo introduced a business model of licensing third-party developers, authorizing them to produce. It was initially released in Japan as the Family Computer on July 15,1983, and was released in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986. In South Korea, it was known as the Hyundai Comboy and was distributed by SK Hynix which then was known as Hyundai Electronics and it was succeeded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In 2009, the Nintendo Entertainment System was named the single greatest video game console in history by IGN and it was judged the second greatest console behind the Sega Dreamcast in PC Magazines Top 10 Video Game Consoles of All Time. Following a series of arcade game successes in the early 1980s, Nintendo made plans to create a console called the Famicom. A test model was constructed in October 1982 to verify the functionality of the hardware, because 65xx CPUs had not been manufactured or sold in Japan up to that time, no cross-development software was available and it had to be produced from scratch. Perhaps we could say it is a family computer, meanwhile, Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that the console should use a red and white theme after seeing a billboard for DX Antenna which used those colors. Original plans called for the Famicoms cartridges to be the size of a cassette tape, careful design attention was paid to the cartridge connectors since loose and faulty connections often plagued arcade machines. As it necessitated taking 60 connection lines for the memory and expansion, the controllers were hard-wired to the console with no connectors for cost reasons. There were concerns regarding the durability of the design and that children might step on joysticks left on the floor. Katsuyah Nakawaka attached a Game & Watch D-pad to the Famicom prototype and found that it was easy to use, ultimately though, they installed a 15-pin expansion port on the front of the console so that an optional arcade-style joystick could be used. Uemura added an eject lever to the slot which was not really necessary. He also added a microphone to the controller with the idea that it could be used to make players voices sound through the TV speaker. The console was released on July 15,1983 as the Family Computer for ¥14,800 alongside three ports of Nintendos successful arcade games Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Popeye. The Famicom was slow to gather momentum, a bad chip set caused the release of the system to crash. Following a product recall and a reissue with a new motherboard, the deal was set to be finalized and signed at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1983
9.
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
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Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage, Alaska. On September 1,1983, the South Korean airliner serving the flight was shot down by a Soviet Su-15 interceptor, the Korean airliner eventually crashed in the sea near Moneron Island west of Sakhalin in the Sea of Japan. All 269 passengers and crew aboard were killed, including Larry McDonald, the Soviets found the wreckage under the sea on September 15, and found the in-flight recorders in October, but kept this information secret until 1993. The Soviet Union initially denied knowledge of the incident, but later admitted shooting down the aircraft, claiming that it was on a MASINT spy mission. The Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union said it was a provocation by the United States to test the Soviet Unions military preparedness. The White House accused the Soviet Union of obstructing search and rescue operations, the incident was one of the most tense moments of the Cold War and resulted in an escalation of anti-Soviet sentiment, particularly in the United States. The opposing points of view on the incident were never resolved, consequently, several groups continue to dispute official reports. The subsequent release of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 transcripts and flight recorders by the Russian Federation has clarified some details, as a result of the incident the United States altered tracking procedures for aircraft departing from Alaska. The interface of the used on airliners was redesigned to make it more ergonomic. Today this system is known as GPS, the aircraft flying as Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was a commercial Boeing 747-230B. The jet first flew on January 28,1972, and was delivered on March 17,1972, with the serial number CN20559/186, the flight was carrying 246 passengers and 23 crew members. The aircrew had a high ratio of crew to passengers. Twelve passengers occupied the upper deck first class, while in business almost all of 24 seats were taken, in economy class, there were 22 children under the age of 12 years aboard. One hundred and thirty passengers planned to connect to destinations such as Tokyo, Hong Kong. United States Congressman Larry McDonald from Georgia, who at the time was also the president of the conservative John Birch Society, was on the flight. S. –South Korea Mutual Defense Treaty. After taking off from Anchorage, the flight was instructed by air traffic control to turn to a heading of 220 degrees, approximately 90 seconds later, ATC directed the flight to proceed direct Bethel when able. Upon arriving over Bethel, Alaska, flight 007 entered the northernmost of five 50-mile wide airways, known as the NOPAC routes, KAL 007s particular airway, R-20, passes just 17.5 miles from what was then Soviet airspace off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The autopilot system used at the time had four basic modes, HEADING, VOR/LOC, ILS
10.
Tokyo Disneyland
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Tokyo Disneyland is a 115-acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside the United States, the park was constructed by Walt Disney Imagineering in the same style as Disneyland in California and Magic Kingdom in Florida. It is owned by The Oriental Land Company, which licenses the theme from The Walt Disney Company, Tokyo Disneyland and its companion park, Tokyo DisneySea, are the only Disney parks not wholly or partly owned by the Walt Disney Company. The park has seven themed areas, the World Bazaar, the four classic Disney lands, Adventureland, Westernland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, many of these areas mirror those in the original Disneyland as they are based on American Disney films and fantasies. Fantasyland includes Peter Pans Flight, Snow Whites Scary Adventures, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, based on classic Disney films, the park is noted for its extensive open spaces, to accommodate the large crowds that visit the park. In 2013, Tokyo Disneyland hosted 17.2 million visitors, to all of you who come to this happy place, welcome. Here you will discover enchanted lands of Fantasy and Adventure, Yesterday, may Tokyo Disneyland be an eternal source of joy, laughter, inspiration, and imagination to the people of the world. And may this magical kingdom be a symbol of the spirit of cooperation. The initial contract for the construction of Disneyland in Tokyo was signed in April 1979, Japanese engineers and architects visited California to tour Disneyland and prepare to construct the new park. The construction of the park began a year later and was covered by hundreds of reporters as an indication of the expectations for the park in the future. The final cost of Disneyland Tokyo was 180 billion yen rather than the projected 100 billion yen, despite this, Disneyland Tokyo has been a constant source of pride since opening day over 30 years ago. With a few exceptions, Tokyo Disneyland features the same found in Disneyland. World Bazaar is the entry corridor and primary shopping area of Tokyo Disneyland. World Bazaar has a permanent canopy covering the Main Street and Center Street areas, Adventureland consists of two distinct yet complementary areas, A New Orleans-themed area and a jungle-themed area. It is roughly a combination of the New Orleans Square and Adventureland areas found in Disneyland Park in the United States, Westernland is an old west themed area, the counterpart of Frontierland in other Magic Kingdom-style parks. Critter Country is an area of the park and is dominated by a single major attraction. Like other Magic Kingdom theme parks, Fantasylands central entryway is a castle, in this case Cinderella Castle, like its counterparts in other Disney theme parks, Toontown is heavily inspired by the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit
