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.
Akihito
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Akihito is the reigning Emperor of Japan. He is the 125th emperor of his line according to Japans traditional order of succession, Akihito succeeded his father Shōwa and acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 7 January 1989. There has been ongoing coverage of his possible abdication due to age,31 December 2018 and 1 January 2019 has been mentioned as possible dates of such abdication. In Japan, the Emperor is never referred to by his given name, in writing, the Emperor is also referred to formally as The Reigning Emperor. The Era of Akihitos reign bears the name Heisei, and according to custom he will be renamed Emperor Heisei by order of the Cabinet after his death, at the same time, the name of the next era under his successor will also be established. Akihito was born in the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Tokyo City, Japan, and is the elder son and the fifth child of the Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun. Titled Prince Tsugu as a child, he was raised and educated by his private tutors, unlike his predecessors in the Imperial family, he did not receive a commission as an army officer, at the request of his father, Hirohito. During the American firebombing raids on Tokyo in March 1945, Akihito and his younger brother, during the American occupation of Japan following World War II, Prince Akihito was tutored in the English language and Western manners by Elizabeth Gray Vining. He briefly studied at the Department of Political Science at Gakushuin University in Tokyo, Akihito was heir-apparent to the Chrysanthemum Throne from the moment of his birth. His formal Investiture as Crown Prince was held at the Tokyo Imperial Palace on 10 November 1952, in June 1953 Akihito represented Japan at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in London. Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko made official visits to thirty-seven countries, upon the death of Emperor Hirohito on 7 January 1989, his eldest son the Crown Prince Akihito succeeded to the throne, with an enthronement ceremony taking place on 12 November 1990. In 1998, during a visit to the United Kingdom. Emperor Akihito underwent surgery for cancer on 14 January 2003. Since succeeding to the throne, Emperor Akihito has made an effort to bring the Imperial family closer to the Japanese people, the Emperor and Empress of Japan have made official visits to eighteen countries and to all forty-seven Prefectures of Japan. The Emperor and Empress also made a visit on Wednesday,30 March 2011 to a temporary shelter housing refugees of the disaster and this kind of event is also extremely rare, though in line with the Emperors attempts to bring the Imperial family closer to the people. Later in 2011 he was admitted to suffering from pneumonia. In February 2012 it was announced that the Emperor would be having a coronary examination, however, senior officials within the Imperial Household Agency have denied that there is any official plan for the monarch to abdicate. A potential abdication by the Emperor would require an amendment to the Imperial Household Act, on 8 August 2016, the Emperor gave a rare televised address, where he emphasized his advanced age and declining health, this address is interpreted as an implication of his intention to abdicate
4.
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
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.
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
7.
Great Hanshin earthquake
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The Great Hanshin earthquake, or Kobe earthquake, occurred on January 17,1995 at 05,46,53 JST in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, known as Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and 7 on the JMA Shindo intensity scale, the tremors lasted for approximately 20 seconds. The focus of the earthquake was located 17 km beneath its epicenter, up to 6,434 people lost their lives, about 4,600 of them were from Kobe. Among major cities, Kobe, with its population of 1.5 million, was the closest to the epicenter and this was Japans worst earthquake in the 20th century after the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, which claimed more than 105,000 lives. Earthquakes of these types are especially frequent in the regions of northeastern Japan. The Great Hanshin earthquake belonged to a type, called an inland shallow earthquake. Earthquakes of this type occur along active faults, even at lower magnitudes, they can be very destructive because they often occur near populated areas and because their hypocenters are located less than 20 km below the surface. The Great Hanshin earthquake began north of the island of Awaji and it spread toward the southwest along the Nojima Fault on Awaji and toward the northeast along the Suma and Suwayama faults, which run through the center of Kobe. Observations of deformations in these faults suggest that the area was subjected to east-west compression, the Mj 7.3 earthquake struck at 05,46 JST on the morning of January 17,1995. During this time the side of the Nojima Fault moved 1.5 meters to the right and 1.2 meters downwards. There were four foreshocks, beginning with the largest at 18,28 on the previous day and it was the first time that an earthquake in Japan was officially measured at a seismic intensity of the highest Level 7 on the scale of Japan Meteorological Agency. After the earthquake, seismic intensity observation in Japan was fully mechanized, tremors were valued at seismic intensity of Levels 4 to 6 at observation points in Kansai, Chūgoku, Shikoku and Chūbu regions, Level 6 in the cities of Sumoto and Kobe. Level 5 in the cities of Toyooka, Hikone and Kyoto, Level 4 in the prefectures of Hyōgo, Shiga, Kyoto, Fukui, Gifu, Mie, Osaka, Nara, Wakayama, Tottori, Okayama, Hiroshima, Tokushima, Kagawa and Kōchi. Damage was extremely widespread and severe, structures irreparably damaged by the quake included nearly 400,000 buildings, numerous elevated road and rail bridges, and 120 of the 150 quays in the port of Kobe. The quake triggered around 300 fires, which raged over large portions of the city, disruptions of water, electricity and gas supplies were extremely common. In addition, residents were afraid to return home because of aftershocks that lasted several days, the majority of deaths, over 4,000, occurred in cities and suburbs in Hyōgo Prefecture. A total of 68 children under the age of 18 were orphaned, one in five of the buildings in the worst-hit areas were completely destroyed. About 22% of the offices in Kobes central business district were rendered unusable, high rise buildings that were built after the modern 1981 building code suffered little, however, those that were not constructed to these standards suffered serious structural damage
8.
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
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The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, or JMSDF, is the naval branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. It is the de facto navy of Japan and was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy after World War II, the JMSDF has a fleet of 154 ships and 346 aircraft. Its main tasks are to control of the nations sea lanes. It also participates in UN-led peacekeeping operations and Maritime Interdiction Operations, Japan has a long history of naval interaction with the Asian continent, involving the transportation of troops, starting at least with the beginning of the Kofun period in the 3rd century. Following the attempts at Mongol invasions of Japan by Kublai Khan in 1274 and 1281, Japan undertook major naval building efforts in the 16th century, during the Warring States period, when feudal rulers vying for supremacy built vast coastal navies of several hundred ships. Around that time, Japan may have developed one of the worlds first ironclad warships, in 1588, Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued a ban on Wakō piracy, the pirates then became vassals of Hideyoshi and comprised the naval force used in the Japanese invasion of Korea. Japan built her first large ocean-going warships in the beginning of the 17th century, in 1613, the Daimyo of Sendai, in agreement with the Tokugawa Bakufu, built the Date Maru. This 500 ton galleon-type ship transported the Japanese embassy of Hasekura Tsunenaga to the Americas, from 1604 onwards, about 350 Red seal ships, usually armed and incorporating European technology, were also commissioned by the Bakufu, mainly for Southeast Asian trade. From 1868, the restored Meiji Emperor continued with reforms to industrialize and militarize Japan to prevent the United States, on 17 January 1868, the Ministry of Military Affairs was established, with Iwakura Tomomi, Shimazu Tadayoshi and Prince Komatsu-no-miya Akihito as the First Secretaries. On 26 March 1868, the first Naval Review was held in Japan, with 6 ships from the private domainal navies of Saga, Chōshū, Satsuma, Kurume, Kumamoto and Hiroshima participating. The total tonnage of ships was 2252 tons, far smaller than the tonnage of the single foreign vessel that also participated. This formed the core of the new Imperial Japanese Navy, an 1872 edict officially separated the Japanese Navy from the Japanese Army. Politicians like Enomoto Takeaki set out to use the Navy to expand to the south of Japan in similar fashion to the Armys northern and western expansion. The Navy sought to upgrade its fleet to a blue water navy, enomotos policies helped the Navy expand and incorporate many different islands into the Japanese Empire, including Iwo Jima in 1889. The navy continued to expand and incorporate political influence throughout the twentieth century. Following Japans defeat in World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy was dissolved by the Potsdam Declaration acceptance, ships were disarmed, and some of them, such as the battleship Nagato, were taken by the Allied Powers as reparation. The minesweeping fleet was transferred to the newly formed Maritime Safety Agency. The prevalent view in Japan is that this allows for military forces to be kept for the purposes of self-defense
9.
Osaka Prefecture
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Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture located in the Kansai region on Honshu, the main island of Japan. The capital is the city of Osaka and it is the center of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area. Osaka is one of the two prefectures of Japan, Kyoto being the other. Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Osaka prefecture was known as Kawachi, Izumi, Osaka Prefecture was created on June 21,1868, at the very beginning of the Meiji era. During the instigation of Fuhanken Sanchisei in 1868, the received its suffix fu. On September 1,1956, the city of Osaka was promoted to a city designated by government ordinance, in 2000, Fusae Ota became Japans first female governor when she replaced Knock Yokoyama, who resigned after prosecution for sexual harassment. On April 1,2006, the city of Sakai was promoted to a city designated by government ordinance, in 2008, Tōru Hashimoto, previously famous as a counselor on television, was elected at the age of 38 as the youngest governor in Japan. In the 2011 local elections the association was able to win the majority of the prefectural seats, the plan was narrowly defeated in the 2015 referendum. Osaka Prefecture neighbors the prefectures of Hyōgo and Kyoto in the north, Nara in the east, the west is open to Osaka Bay. The Yodo and Yamato Rivers flow through the prefecture, prior to the construction of Kansai International Airport, Osaka was the smallest prefecture in Japan. The artificial island on which the airport was built added enough area to make it larger than Kagawa Prefecture. This represented approximately 48% of the Kinki region, the per capita income was ¥3.0 million, seventh in the nation. Commercial sales the year was ¥60.1 trillion. Overshadowed by such globally renowned electronics giants as Panasonic and Sharp, the number of SMEs based in Osaka in 2006 was 330,737, accounting for 99. 6% of the total number of businesses in the prefecture. The Osaka Securities Exchange, specializing in such as Nikkei 225 Futures, is based in Osaka. There are many electrical, chemical, pharmaceutical, heavy industry, food, and housing companies in Osaka Prefecture. According to the 2005 Population Census of Japan, Osaka prefecture has a population of 8,817,166, as of 2013 this prefecture has about 200,000 ethnic Korean persons, the largest such population of any prefecture in Japan. As of 2013 most ethnic Korean children attend ordinary Japanese public schools, although some Korean schools operated by the Chongryon, during the Japanese rule of Korea many ethnic Koreans came to the Osaka area to look for work
