1.
Japan
–
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.
Japan Standard Time
–
Japan Standard Time or JST is the standard timezone in Japan, and is 9 hours ahead of UTC, i. e. it is UTC+09,00. There is no daylight saving time, though its introduction has been debated several times, during World War II, it was often called Tokyo Standard Time. Japan Standard Time is the same as Korean Standard Time, Indonesian Eastern Standard Time, before the Meiji era, each local region had its own timezone in which noon was when the sun was exactly at its zenith. As modern transportation methods, such as trains, were adopted, in 1886, Ordinance 51 was issued in response to this problem, which stated, Ordinance 51 - July 13,1886 The prime meridian passes through Englands Greenwich Observatory. Longitudes are calculated using the prime meridian, counting 180 degrees either east or west, positive degrees are east, negative degrees are west. On January 1,1888,135 degrees east longitude will be set as the meridian for all of Japan. According to this, the time was set 9 hours ahead of GMT. In the ordinance, the first clause mentions GMT, the second defines east longitude and west longitude, the city of Akashi in Hyōgo Prefecture is located exactly on 135 degrees east longitude and subsequently became known as Toki no machi. While Korea came under Japanese rule in 1910, Korea Standard Time of UTC+8,30 continued to be used until 1912, when it was changed to Central Standard Time. Western Standard Time, which was used in Taiwan and some parts of Okinawa, was abolished by Ordinance 529 in 1937 and replaced by Central Standard Time in those areas. Territories occupied by Japan during World War II, including Singapore and Malaya, adopted Japan Standard Time for the duration of their occupation, more recently there have been efforts to bring back DST in Japan, but so far this has not happened. The two-time-zone system was implemented in Japan between January 1896 and September 1937, From October 1937, Central Standard Time was also used in western Okinawa, the IANA time zone database contains one zone for Japan in the file zone. tab, named Asia/Tokyo. From 1948–51, Japan observed DST between May and September every year under an initiative of the U. S. -led occupation army, since then, DST has never been officially implemented nationwide in Japan. Starting in the late 1990s, a movement to reinstate DST in Japan gained some popularity, aiming at saving energy, in the early 2000s, a few local governments and commerce departments promoted unmandated hour-earlier work schedule experiments during the summer without officially resetting clocks. The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy is expected to propose that the Japanese government begin studying DST in an attempt to combat global warming. Japanese PM Shinzo Abe made a significant effort to introduce daylight saving time, however, it is not clear that DST would conserve energy in Japan. JJY Japanese calendar UTC+09,00 Japanese clock
3.
Geography
–
Geography is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, the features, the inhabitants, and the phenomena of Earth. The first person to use the word γεωγραφία was Eratosthenes, Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of the Earth and its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but how they have changed and come to be. It is often defined in terms of the two branches of geography and physical geography. Geography has been called the world discipline and the bridge between the human and the physical sciences, Geography is a systematic study of the Earth and its features. Traditionally, geography has been associated with cartography and place names, although many geographers are trained in toponymy and cartology, this is not their main preoccupation. Geographers study the space and the temporal database distribution of phenomena, processes, because space and place affect a variety of topics, such as economics, health, climate, plants and animals, geography is highly interdisciplinary. The interdisciplinary nature of the approach depends on an attentiveness to the relationship between physical and human phenomena and its spatial patterns. Names of places. are not geography. know by heart a whole gazetteer full of them would not, in itself and this is a description of the world—that is Geography. In a word Geography is a Science—a thing not of mere names but of argument and reason, of cause, just as all phenomena exist in time and thus have a history, they also exist in space and have a geography. Geography as a discipline can be split broadly into two main fields, human geography and physical geography. The former largely focuses on the environment and how humans create, view, manage. The latter examines the environment, and how organisms, climate, soil, water. The difference between these led to a third field, environmental geography, which combines physical and human geography. Physical geography focuses on geography as an Earth science and it aims to understand the physical problems and the issues of lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, pedosphere, and global flora and fauna patterns. Physical geography can be divided into broad categories, including, Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns. It encompasses the human, political, cultural, social, and it requires an understanding of the traditional aspects of physical and human geography, as well as the ways that human societies conceptualize the environment. Integrated geography has emerged as a bridge between the human and the geography, as a result of the increasing specialisation of the two sub-fields. Examples of areas of research in the environmental geography include, emergency management, environmental management, sustainability, geomatics is concerned with the application of computers to the traditional spatial techniques used in cartography and topography
4.
Honshu
–
Honshu is the largest and most populous island of Japan, located south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Straits. The island separates the Sea of Japan, which lies to its north and west, from the North Pacific Ocean to its south and it is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian island of Java. Honshu had a population of 103 million as of 2005, mostly concentrated in the coastal lowlands, as the historical center of Japanese culture and political power, the island includes several past Japanese capitals, including Kyoto, Nara, and Kamakura. Much of the southern shore forms part of the Taiheiyō Belt. The island is linked to the three major Japanese islands by a number of bridges and tunnels. Its climate is humid and mild, the island is roughly 1,300 km long and ranges from 50 to 230 km wide, and its total area is 225,800 km2, 60% of the total area of Japan, making it slightly larger than Great Britain. Its land area has been increasing with land reclamation and coastal uplift in the north, Honshu has 5,450 kilometres of coastline. Mountainous and volcanic, Honshu experiences frequent earthquakes, the highest peak is the active volcano Mount Fuji at 3,776 m, which makes Honshu the worlds 7th highest island. There are many rivers, including the Shinano River, Japans longest, the northernmost point on Honshu is the tip of the Shimokita Peninsula in Ōma, Aomori, Cape Kure lies at the southern extreme in Kushimoto, Wakayama. The islands eastern extremity is Todogasaki in Miyako, Iwate, and its western one is Bishanohana in Shimonoseki, Honshu spans more than eight degrees of latitude and 11 degrees of longitude. Honshu is connected to the islands of Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku by tunnels or bridges, the island is divided into five nominal regions and contains 34 prefectures, including metropolitan Tokyo. Administratively, some islands are included within these prefectures, notably including the Ogasawara Islands, Sado Island, Izu Ōshima. Fruits, vegetables, grains, rice and cotton are grown in Honshu, niigata is noted as an important producer of rice. The Kantō and Nōbi plains produce rice and vegetables, yamanashi is a major fruit-growing area, and Aomori is famous for its apples. Rare species of the lichen genus Menegazzia are found only in Honshu, yields of zinc, copper, and oil have been found on Honshu
5.
Greater Tokyo Area
–
The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan, including the Tokyo Metropolis, as well as the prefecture of Yamanashi. In Japanese, it is referred to by terms, the most common of which being National Capital Region. A2016 United Nations estimate puts the population at 38,000,000. It covers an area of approximately 13,500 km², giving it a density of 2,642 person/km². It is the second largest single area in the world in terms of built-up or urban function landmass at 8,547 km². The area has the largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a total GDP of approximately $2 trillion in 2008. According to research published by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the agglomeration of Tokyo had a total GDP of $1.5 trillion in 2008, there are various definitions of the Greater Tokyo Area, each of which tries to incorporate different aspects. Each definition has a different population figure, granularity, methodology, notes & Sources, All figures issued by Japan Statistics Bureau, except for Metro Employment Area, a study by Center for Spatial Information Service, the University of Tokyo. Abbreviations, CF for National Census Final Data, CR for Civil Registry, the government ordinance defined it as Tokyo and all six prefectures in the Kantō region plus Yamanashi Prefecture. While this includes all of Greater Tokyo, it also includes sparsely populated areas as well as far-flung Bonin Islands which are administered under Tokyo. Other metropolitan areas such as Greater Jakarta are considerably more compact as well as densely populated than Greater Tokyo. The South Kantō region is an ambiguous term. Informally, it may mean the One Metropolis, Two Prefectures, in informal occasions, the term National Capital Region often means Greater Tokyo Area. Officially, the term refers to a larger area, namely the whole Kantō region. Tokyo is legally classified as a to, which translates as metropolis, the metropolis is administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as a whole. Central Tokyo, situated in the portion of Tokyo Metropolis, was once incorporated as Tokyo City. Its subdivisions have been reclassified as special wards, the twenty three special wards currently have the legal status of cities, with individual mayors and city councils, and they call themselves cities in English. However, when listing Japans largest cities, Tokyos twenty three wards are often counted as a single city. go, if they are included, Greater Tokyos population would be around 39 million
6.
Prefectures of Japan
–
The Prefectures of Japan consist of 47 prefectures. They form the first level of jurisdiction and administrative division of Japan and they consist of 43 prefectures proper, two urban prefectures, one circuit or territory and one metropolis. The Meiji Fuhanken sanchisei administration created the first prefectures to replace the provinces of Japan in 1868, each prefectures chief executive is a directly-elected governor. Ordinances and budgets are enacted by an assembly whose members are elected for four-year terms. Under the current Local Autonomy Law, each prefecture is subdivided into cities and districts and each district into towns, for example, Hokkaido has 14 subprefectures that act as branch offices of the prefecture. Some other prefectures also have offices that carry out prefectural administrative functions outside the capital. Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is a merged city-prefecture, the Wests use of prefecture to label these Japanese regions stems from 16th-century Portuguese explorers and traders use of prefeitura to describe the fiefdoms they encountered there. Its original sense in Portuguese, however, was closer to municipality than province and those fiefs were headed by a local warlord or family. Though the fiefs have long since been dismantled, merged, and reorganized multiple times, and been granted legislative governance and oversight, the Meiji government established the current system in July 1871 with the abolition of the Han system and establishment of the prefecture system. Although there were initially over 300 prefectures, many of them being former Han territories, this number was reduced to 72 in the part of 1871. The Local Autonomy Law of 1947 gave more power to prefectures. In 2003, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi proposed that the government consolidate the current prefectures into about 10 regional states, the plan called for each region to have greater autonomy than existing prefectures. This process would reduce the number of administrative regions and cut administrative costs. As of August 2012, no reorganization has been scheduled, the central government delegates many functions to the prefectures and municipalities, but retains the overall right to control them. Although local government expenditure accounts for 70 percent of government expenditure, the central government controls local budgets, tax rates. Historically, during the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate established bugyō-ruled zones around the nine largest cities in Japan, and 302 township-ruled zones elsewhere. When the Meiji government began to create the system in 1868, the nine bugyō-ruled zones became fu, while the township-ruled zones. Later, in 1871, the government designated Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto as fu, during World War II, in 1943, Tokyo became a to, a new type of pseudo-prefecture
7.
Gunma Prefecture
–
Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the northwest corner of the Kantō region on the main Honshu island. Japan was without horses until around the fifth century CE, the ancient province of Gunma was a center of the horsebreeding and trading activities for the newly immigrated continental peoples. The arrival of horses and the remains of horse-tackle coincides with the arrival of a migration from the mainland. From this point forward, the became a vital part of Japanese military maneuvers. When Mount Haruna erupted in the late 6th century, Japan was still in the pre-historical phase, the Gunma Prefectural archaeology unit in 1994 was able to date the eruption through zoological anthropology at the corral sites that were buried in ash. In the past, Gunma was joined with Tochigi Prefecture and called Kenu Province and this was later divided into Kami-tsu-ke and Shimo-tsu-ke. The area is referred to as Jomo. For most of Japanese history, Gunma was known as the province of Kozuke, the first modern silk factories were built with Italian and French assistance at Annaka in the 1870s. The modern Japanese army gunned down farmers with new repeating rifles built in Japan, the farmers in Gunma were said to be the first victims of the Murata rifle. In the twentieth century, the Japanese aviation pioneer Nakajima Chikushi of Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture, the factory now produces Subaru motorcars and other products under the name of Fuji Heavy Industries. In the 1930s, German architect Bruno Julius Florian Taut lived and conducted research for a while in Takasaki, the Girard Incident, which disturbed US-Japanese relations in the 1950s, occurred in Gunma in 1957, at Soumagahara Base near Shibukawa. Four modern prime ministers are from Gunma, namely, Takeo Fukuda, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Keizo Obuchi, and Yasuo Fukuda, one of only eight landlocked prefectures in Japan, Gunma is the northwestern-most prefecture of the Kantō plain. Except for the central and southeast areas, where most of the population is concentrated, to the north are Niigata and Fukushima prefectures, while to the east lies Tochigi Prefecture. To the west lies Nagano Prefecture, and Saitama Prefecture is to the south, some of the major mountains in Gunma are Mount Akagi, Mount Haruna, Mount Myōgi, Mount Nikkō-Shirane and Mount Asama, which is located on the Nagano border. Major rivers include the Tone River, the Agatsuma River, and this is because of the kara-kaze, a strong, dry wind which occurs in the winter when the snow falls on the coasts of Niigata. The wind carrying clouds with snow are obstructed by the Echigo Mountains, for this reason, the wind changes into the kara-kaze. More traditional industries include sericulture and agriculture, gunmas major agricultural products include cabbages and konjacs. Gunma produces 90% of Japans konjacs, and two-thirds of the farms in the village of Tsumagoi are cabbage farms, also, the city of Ōta is famous for car industry, notably the Subaru factory
8.
Tochigi Prefecture
–
Tochigi Prefecture is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshu, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya, Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture. Other famous parts of Tochigi include a region called Nasu known for onsen and local sake, the Imperial Family has a villa in Nasu. Nasu-Shiobara is a major Shinkansen station, situated among the inland prefectures of the northern part of the Kantō region, Tochigi is contiguous with Ibaraki, Gunma, Saitama, and Fukushima Prefectures. The climate of Tochigi may be classified as a temperate zone with broad variations in temperature. Winters are arid with dry winds, while summers are humid with frequent thunderstorms, the population of Tochigi as of November 2010 is approximately 2,005,096. Located in the center of the prefecture is the largest open plain in the Kantō region, shirane, Nantai and Nasudake mountain are in the northern part of the area. Kinugawa, Nakagawa, and Watarase River originate in this region, Tochigi is the 20th largest prefecture in Japan with a total area of 6,408 square km. As of 1 April 2012, 21% of the land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely Nikkō National Park, Oze National Park. Before the Meiji Restoration, Tochigi was known as Shimotsuke Province, in the early 15th century, Ashikaga Gakko, Japans oldest school of higher education, was re-established, holding over 3,000 students by the 16th century. Saint Francis Xavier introduced Ashikaga to the world as the best university in Japan, in the early 17th century, Japan was unified by the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu. After his death, Tōshō-gū shrine was built in Nikko on what the thought of as holy ground to protect. The establishment of the Nikkō Tōshō-gū in 1617 brought Nikkō to national attention, the Tokugawa shogunate developed the Nikkō Kaidō and required lavish processions to worship Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa line of shoguns. In the late 19th century, the Tokugawa Shogunate fell and the new government established the prefectures, the prefectural capital was established in the city of Tochigi after the unification of Utsunomiya Prefecture and Tochigi Prefecture in 1873. By 1884, however, the capital was transferred to Utsunomiya, in March 2011, following the Fukushima I nuclear accidents, levels of radioactivity in Utsunomiya were 33 times higher than normal. The chief city of Utsunomiya is famous for its many gyoza specialist shops, also located in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture has one of the largest shopping malls in the North Kantō region, Bell Mall. Industrial manufacturing accounts for 36. 6% of the total output. Vehicle parts and accessories are the products, followed by vehicles, radios and televisions, pharmaceuticals
9.
Ibaraki Prefecture
–
Ibaraki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan, located in the Kantō region on the main island of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province, in 1871, the name of the province became Ibaraki. It also has a border on the southwest with Saitama Prefecture, the northernmost part of the prefecture is mountainous, but most of the prefecture is a flat plain with many lakes. As of 1 April 2012, 15% of the land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park. The Hitachi company was founded in the Ibaraki city of the same name, as of March 2011, the prefecture produced 25% of Japans bell peppers and Chinese cabbage. Ibarakis population is increasing modestly as the Greater Tokyo region spreads out, Ibaraki is known for nattō, or fermented soybeans, in Mito, watermelons in Kyōwa, and chestnuts in the Nishiibaraki region. Ibaraki is famous for the art of Aikido founded by Ueshiba Morihei. Ueshiba spent the part of his life in the town of Iwama, now part of Kasama. There are castle ruins in many cities, including Mito, Kasama, Kasama is famous for Shinto, art culture and pottery. The capital Mito is home to Kairakuen, one of Japans three most celebrated gardens, and famous for its over 3,000 Japanese plum trees of over 100 varieties, however, the correct pronunciation is Ibaraki. According to the author of Not Ibaragi, Ibaraki, this is most likely due to a mishearing of the softening of the k sound in Ibaraki dialect. Official Ibaraki Prefecture homepage The E-Ibaraki Report, articles and commentary of foreigners living in Ibaraki, produced by the International Affairs Division, Ibaraki Prefecture Ibaraki Japan
10.
Saitama Prefecture
–
Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama and this prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitamas cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large number of residents commute each day. According to Sendai Kuji Hongi, Chichibu was one of 137 provinces during the reign of Emperor Sujin, Chichibu Province was in Saitamas western part. Saitama Prefecture was formerly part of the old Musashi Province, in the fifth year of the Keiun era, deposits of copper were reported to have been found in the Chichibu District of what is now Saitama Prefecture. The Saitama area was known as a fertile agricultural region which produced much of the food for the Kantō region. During the Edo period, many fudai daimyōs ruled small domains within the Saitama area, most of the cities in the prefecture are closely connected to downtown Tokyo by metropolitan rail, and operate largely as residential and commercial suburbs of Tokyo. Saitama Prefecture is bordered by Tokyo, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Nagano and it is located central-west of the Kanto region, measuring 103 km from east to west and 52 km from north to south. At 3,798 km2, it ranks as the ninth-smallest prefecture, the eastern border with Chiba Prefecture is defined by the Edo River. The northern and north-western border lines with Gunma Prefecture are marked by the Tone River and the Kanagawa River, the southwestern border is defined by the drainage divides of the Arakawa River, Tama River, and Fuefuki River. The eastern section of the border line, however, does not overlap with any geological feature. The topography of Saitama Prefecture is largely divided by the Hachiōji Tectonic Line, which runs through Kodama, Ogawa, and Hannō, into the mountain area. The altitude, highest on the side, gradually lowers eastward from mountain ranges to hills to plateaus to lowlands. The eastern lowlands and plateaus occupy 67. 3% of the area, the eastern side, part of the Kantō Plain, can be further divided into nine separate expanses of hills and ten plateaus. The former occupy small areas neighboring the Kantō Mount Range, including the Hiki Hills, the latter are mainly surrounded by alluvial flood plains. In the southeastern portion of the prefecture, the Ōmiya Plateau stands in a direction, sandwiched by the Furutone River to the east. The western side of the prefecture belongs to the Kantō Mountain Range with Chichibu Basin located in its center, the area to the west of the basin features high peaks such as Mount Sanpō and Mount Kōbushi, in which the Arakawa River has its source. Most of the land is contained in Chichibu Tama Kai National Park, the area to east of the basin consists of relatively low mountains. Forty cities are located in Saitama Prefecture, These are the towns and villages in district, Radial transportation to
11.
Tokyo
–
Tokyo, officially Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan and one of its 47 prefectures. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous area in the world. It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government, Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Formerly known as Edo, it has been the de facto seat of government since 1603 when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters. It officially became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from the old capital of Kyoto in 1868, Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture and the city of Tokyo. The Tokyo metropolitan government administers the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo, the metropolitan government also administers 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the wards is over 9 million people. The prefecture is part of the worlds most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 37.8 million people, the city hosts 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked third in the International Financial Centres Development IndexEdit, the city is also home to various television networks such as Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon Television, NHK and the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Tokyo ranked first in the Global Economic Power Index and fourth in the Global Cities Index. The city is considered a world city – as listed by the GaWCs 2008 inventory – and in 2014. In 2015, Tokyo was named the Most Liveable City in the world by the magazine Monocle, the Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked first in the world in the Safe Cities Index, the 2016 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked Tokyo as the 3rd-best city in the world to be a university student. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, the 1979 G-7 summit, the 1986 G-7 summit, and the 1993 G-7 summit, and will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo was originally known as Edo, which means estuary. During the early Meiji period, the city was also called Tōkei, some surviving official English documents use the spelling Tokei. However, this pronunciation is now obsolete, the name Tokyo was first suggested in 1813 in the book Kondō Hisaku, written by Satō Nobuhiro. When Ōkubo Toshimichi proposed the renaming to the government during the Meiji Restoration, according to Oda Kanshi, Tokyo was originally a small fishing village named Edo, in what was formerly part of the old Musashi Province. Edo was first fortified by the Edo clan, in the twelfth century
12.
Chiba Prefecture
–
Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. The sixth most populous prefecture, and 27th largest by area, Chiba is on the east coast of Honshu and largely consists of the Bōsō Peninsula. The name of Chiba Prefecture in Japanese is formed from two kanji characters, the first, 千, means thousand and the second, 葉 means leaves. The name first appears as an ancient kuni no miyatsuko, or regional command office, the name was adopted by a branch of the Taira clan, which moved to the area in present-day Chiba City in the late Heian period. The branch of the Taira adopted the name and became the Chiba clan and this compound is used in terms such as the Keiyō Line, Keiyō Road, Keiyō Rinkai Railway Rinkai Main Line, and the Keiyō Industrial Zone. Chiba Prefecture was settled in times, as evidenced by the Jōmon period remains in every part of the region. The prefecture holds the largest kaizuka sea shell mounds in Japan, evidence of a population in the prefecture that relied on the rich marine products of the Pacific Ocean. Kofun burial mounds are found across the prefecture, with the largest group being in Futtsu along Tokyo Bay, in the Asuka period, under the Taika Reform of 645, the administrative structure of present-day Chiba Prefecture changed significantly. Awa Province at the south of Chiba Prefecture, was separated from Kazusa Prefecture in 718 and these administrative units existed until they were abolished and merged into Chiba Prefecture after the Meiji restoration. The central government established a provincial temple in each province. The imperial court gradually extended its authority over the three provinces in the Nara and Heian periods, shōen feudal estates were established across the three provinces, and the region became an important source of tax revenue, agricultural and other products to the capital in Kyoto. As the Heian period progressed, however, the provincial governors came to exert military power independent of the central government in Kyoto. The Chiba clan broke entirely with the court and was instrumental in the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate. Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15,1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture, the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake caused widespread destruction in Chiba Prefecture, notably in the southernmost part of the Bōsō Peninsula, where 1,300 residents were killed. Koreans in several neighborhoods of Yachiyo were killed, and a tower was erected in 1972 near Yachiyodai Station to memorialize those killed in the incident, the militarization of Chiba Prefecture dates to the Russo-Japanese War. Coastal fortifications were built along Tokyo Bay as far south as Tateyama to protect the capital of the Japanese Empire from attack, after the United States took control of Saipan the northern part of the prefecture, most notably the city of Chiba and Chōshi, were firebombed. Much of the north of the prefecture was destroyed. Operation Coronet, one of two parts of Operation Downfall, was the land invasion of Tokyo in March 1946 by the United States
13.
Kanagawa Prefecture
–
Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture located in southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital of the prefecture is Yokohama, Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. Kanagawa Prefecture is home to Kamakura and Hakone, two highly popular side trip destinations from Tokyo, the prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period. About 3,000 years ago, Mount Hakone produced an explosion which resulted in Lake Ashi on the western area of the prefecture. It is believed that the Yamato dynasty ruled this area from the 5th century onwards, in the ancient era, its plains were very sparsely inhabited. In medieval Japan, Kanagawa was part of the provinces of Sagami, Kamakura in central Sagami was the capital of Japan during the Kamakura period. During the Edo period, the part of Sagami Province was governed by the daimyō of Odawara Castle, while the eastern part was directly governed by the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo. Commodore Matthew Perry landed in Kanagawa in 1853 and 1854 and signed the Convention of Kanagawa to force open Japanese ports to the United States. Nearby Yokosuka, closer to the mouth of Tokyo Bay, developed as a port and now serves as headquarters for the U. S. 7th Fleet. After the Meiji period, many lived in Yokohama City. The Meiji Government developed the first railways in Japan, from Shinbashi to Yokohama in 1872, the epicenter of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 was deep beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay. It devastated Tokyo, the city of Yokohama, surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka. The sea receded as much as 400 metres from the shore at Manazuru Point, at Kamakura, the total death toll from earthquake, tsunami, and fire exceeded 2,000 victims. At Odawara, ninety percent of the buildings collapsed immediately, Yokohama, Kawasaki and other major cities were heavily damaged by the U. S. bombing in 1945. Casualties amounted to more than several thousand, after the war, General Douglas MacArthur, the chief commander of Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers for the Occupation of Japan, landed in Kanagawa, before moving to other areas. U. S. military bases remain in Kanagawa, including Camp Zama, Yokosuka Naval Base. In 1945, Kanagawa was the 15th most populous prefecture in Japan, in the years after the war, the prefecture underwent rapid urbanization as a part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The population as of September 1,2014, is estimated to be 9.1 million, Kanagawa became the second most populous prefecture in 2006
14.
Demography of Japan
–
As of October 1,2015, the population was 127,094,745 making it the worlds tenth-most populous country at the time. It had declined by 0.8 percent from the time of the five years ago. Mexicos population was less than Japans in 2015, with projections suggesting Mexico will soon pass Japan. Current statistics do not indicate much difference in population numbers, Japans population size can be attributed to high growth rates experienced during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Using the annual estimate for October of each year, the population peaked in 2008 at 128,083,960 and had fallen 285,256 by October 2011, Japans population density was 336 people per square kilometer. By that time, more than 40% of the population is expected to be over age 65 in 2060. In 2012, the population had for six consecutive years declined by 212,000, in 2014, a new record of population drop happened with 268,000 people. In 2013, more than 20 percent of the population are age 65, the population ranking of Japan dropped from 7th to 8th in 1990, to 9th in 1998, and to 10th in the early 21st century. In 2015 it dropped further to 11th place, according to both the UN and PRB, over the period of 2010–2015, the population shrank by almost a million. Japan collects census information every five years and it ranks 37th in a list of countries by population density, ranking directly above India and directly below Belgium. Between 1955 and 1989, land prices in the six largest cities increased 15, urban land prices generally increased 40% from 1980 to 1987, in the six largest cities, the price of land doubled over that period. For many families, this trend put housing in central cities out of reach, the result was lengthy commutes for many workers in the big cities, especially in Tokyo area where daily commutes of two hours each way are common. In 1991, as the economy started to collapse, land prices began a steep decline. After a decade of declining prices, residents began moving back into central city areas, as evidenced by 2005 census figures. Despite nearly 70% of Japan being covered by forests, parks in many major cities—especially Tokyo, as of 2014, parkland per inhabitant in Tokyo is 5.78 square meters, which is roughly half of the 11.5 square meters of Madrid. Nevertheless, major cities, especially Tokyo, Yokohama, and Chiba, Japan has a high population concentration in urban areas on the plains since 75% of Japan’s land area is made up of mountains, and also Japan has a forest cover rate of 68. 5%. The 2010 census shows 90. 7% of the total Japanese population live in cities, Japan is an urban society with about only 5% of the labor force working in agriculture. Many farmers supplement their income with jobs in nearby towns
15.
Kamakura period
–
The Kamakura period is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun, Minamoto no Yoritomo. The period is known for the emergence of the samurai, the warrior caste, the Kamakura period marks the transition to land-based economies and a concentration of advanced military technologies in the hands of a specialized fighting class. Lords required the services of vassals, who were rewarded with fiefs of their own. The fief holders exercised local military rule, once Minamoto Yoritomo had consolidated his power, he established a new government at his family home in Kamakura. He called his government a bakufu, but because he was given the ancient high military title Seii Tai-shōgun by the Emperor, Yoritomo followed the Fujiwara form of house government and had an administrative board Mandokoro, a board of retainers, and a board of inquiry. After confiscating estates in central and western Japan, he appointed stewards for the estates and constables for the provinces, as shogun, Yoritomo was both the steward and the constable general. The Kamakura shogunate was not a regime, however, and although it controlled large tracts of land. The regime continued warfare against the Northern Fujiwara, but never brought either the north or the west under complete military control, however, the 4th leader of the Northern Fujiwara Fujiwara no Yasuhira was defeated by Yoritomo in 1189, and the 100-year-long prosperity of the north disappeared. The old court resided in Kyoto, continuing to hold the land over which it had jurisdiction, despite a strong beginning, Yoritomo failed to consolidate the leadership of his family on a lasting basis. Intrafamily contention had long existed within the Minamoto, although Yoritomo had eliminated most serious challengers to his authority. When he died suddenly in 1199, his son Minamoto no Yoriie became shogun and nominal head of the Minamoto, but Yoriie was unable to control the other eastern warrior families. By the early century, a regency had been established for the shogun by Hōjō Tokimasa—a member of the Hōjō clan. Often the Shikken was also the Tokuso and Rensho, under the Hōjō, the shogun became a powerless figurehead. The Hōjō forces easily won the war, and the court was brought under the direct control of the shogunate. The shoguns constables gained greater powers, and the court was obliged to seek Kamakuras approval for all of its actions. Although deprived of power, the court retained extensive estates. Several significant administrative achievements were made during the Hōjō regency, in 1225 the third regent Hōjō Yasutoki established the Council of State, providing opportunities for other military lords to exercise judicial and legislative authority at Kamakura. The Hōjō regent presided over the council, which was a form of collective leadership
16.
Edo period
–
The Edo period or Tokugawa period is the period between 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when Japanese society was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the countrys 300 regional daimyō. The period was characterized by growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies. The shogunate was established in Edo on March 24,1603. The period came to an end with the Meiji Restoration on May 3,1868, instrumental in the rise of the new bakufu was Tokugawa Ieyasu, the main beneficiary of the achievements of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Already powerful, Ieyasu profited by his transfer to the rich Kantō area, after Hideyoshis death, Ieyasu moved quickly to seize control from the Toyotomi family. Ieyasus victory over the western daimyōs at the Battle of Sekigahara gave him control of all Japan. He rapidly abolished numerous enemy daimyō houses, reduced others, such as that of the Toyotomi, Ieyasu still failed to achieve complete control of the western daimyōs, but his assumption of the title of shogun helped consolidate the alliance system. After further strengthening his base, Ieyasu installed his son Hidetada as shogun. The Toyotomi were still a significant threat, and Ieyasu devoted the next decade to their eradication, in 1615, the Tokugawa army destroyed the Toyotomi stronghold at Osaka. The Tokugawa period brought 250 years of stability to Japan, the political system evolved into what historians call bakuhan, a combination of the terms bakufu and han to describe the government and society of the period. In the bakuhan, the shogun had national authority and the daimyōs had regional authority and this represented a new unity in the feudal structure, which featured an increasingly large bureaucracy to administer the mixture of centralized and decentralized authorities. The feudal hierarchy was completed by the classes of daimyō. Closest to the Tokugawa house were the shinpan, or related houses and they were twenty-three daimyōs on the borders of Tokugawa lands, all directly related to Ieyasu. The shinpan held mostly honorary titles and advisory posts in the bakufu, the second class of the hierarchy were the fudai, or house daimyōs, rewarded with lands close to the Tokugawa holdings for their faithful service. By the 18th century,145 fudai controlled such smaller han, members of the fudai class staffed most of the major bakufu offices. Ninety-seven han formed the group, the tozama, former opponents or new allies. The tozama were located mostly on the peripheries of the archipelago, because the tozama were least trusted of the daimyō, they were the most cautiously managed and generously treated, although they were excluded from central government positions. The Tokugawa not only consolidated their control over a reunified Japan, they also had unprecedented power over the emperor, the court, all daimyōs and the religious orders
17.
Yokohama
–
Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan by population and most populous municipality of Japan. It is the city of Kanagawa Prefecture. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. It is a commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area. Yokohamas population of 3.7 million makes it Japans largest city after the Special Wards of Tokyo, Yokohama was a small fishing village up to the end of the feudal Edo period, when Japan held a policy of national seclusion, having little contact with foreigners. It was initially agreed that one of the ports to be opened to ships would be the bustling town of Kanagawa-juku on the Tōkaidō. However, the Tokugawa shogunate decided that Kanagawa-juku was too close to the Tōkaidō for comfort, the Port of Yokohama was officially opened on June 2,1859. Yokohama quickly became the base of trade in Japan. Kannai, the trade and commercial district, was surrounded by a moat. To protect British commercial and diplomatic interests in Yokohama a military garrison was established in 1862, with the growth in trade increasing numbers of Chinese also came to settle in the city. Recreational sports introduced to Japan by foreign residents in Yokohama included European style horse racing in 1862, cricket in 1863, after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the port was developed for trading silk, the main trading partner being Great Britain. In 1887, a British merchant, Samuel Cocking, built the citys first power plant, at first for his own use, this coal-burning plant became the basis for the Yokohama Cooperative Electric Light Company. The city was incorporated on April 1,1889. The early 20th century was marked by growth of industry. Entrepreneurs built factories along reclaimed land to the north of the city toward Kawasaki, much of Yokohama was destroyed on September 1,1923 by the Great Kantō earthquake. The Yokohama police reported casualties at 30,771 dead and 47,908 injured, fuelled by rumours of rebellion and sabotage, vigilante mobs thereupon murdered many Koreans in the Kojiki-yato slum. Many people believed that Koreans used black magic to cause the earthquake, martial law was in place until November 19. Rubble from the quake was used to land for parks
18.
World War I
–
World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
19.
Operation Downfall
–
Operation Downfall was the codename for the proposed Allied plan for the invasion of Japan near the end of World War II. The planned operation was abandoned when Japan surrendered following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The operation had two parts, Operations Olympic and Coronet, later, in the spring of 1946, Operation Coronet was the planned invasion of the Kantō Plain, near Tokyo, on the Japanese island of Honshu. Airbases on Kyūshū captured in Operation Olympic would allow land-based air support for Operation Coronet, if Downfall had taken place, it would have been the largest amphibious operation in history. The Japanese planned an all-out defense of Kyūshū, with left in reserve for any subsequent defense operations. Casualty predictions varied widely, but were extremely high, depending on the degree to which Japanese civilians would have resisted the invasion, estimates ran up into the millions for Allied casualties. Leahy, and Generals of the Army George Marshall and Hap Arnold, at the time, MacArthur was also being considered for promotion to a special super rank of General of the Armies, so as to be granted operational authority over other five-star officers. However, the proposal to promote MacArthur was only at the level of discussion by the time World War II ended. Once the atomic bomb became available, General Marshall envisioned using it to support the invasion if sufficient numbers could be produced in time, throughout the Pacific War, the Allies were unable to agree on a single Commander-in-Chief. A unified command was deemed necessary for an invasion of Japan, interservice rivalry over who it should be was so serious that it threatened to derail planning. Ultimately, the Navy partially conceded, and MacArthur was to be given command of all forces. The primary considerations that the planners had to deal with were time, prior to the Quebec Conference,1943, a joint British-American planning team produced a plan which did not call for an invasion of the Japanese home islands until 1947–48. The American Joint Chiefs of Staff believed that prolonging the war to such an extent was dangerous for national morale, instead, at the Quebec conference, the Combined Chiefs of Staff agreed that Japan should be forced to surrender not more than one year after Germanys surrender. The United States Navy urged the use of a blockade and airpower to bring about Japans capitulation, the Army, on the other hand, argued that such a strategy could prolong the war indefinitely and expend lives needlessly, and therefore that an invasion was necessary. They supported mounting a large-scale thrust directly against the Japanese homeland, physically, Japan made an imposing target, distant from other landmasses and with very few beaches geographically suitable for sea-borne invasion. Only Kyūshū and the beaches of the Kantō plain were realistic invasion zones, the Allies decided to launch a two-stage invasion. Operation Olympic would attack southern Kyūshū, airbases would be established, which would give cover for Operation Coronet, the attack on Tokyo Bay. While the geography of Japan was known, the US military planners had to estimate the forces that they would face
20.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
21.
United States Armed Forces
–
The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
22.
Naval Air Facility Atsugi
–
Naval Air Facility Atsugi is a naval air base located in the cities of Yamato and Ayase in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is the largest United States Navy air base in the Pacific Ocean and houses the squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Five, service members stationed at Atsugi also work in conjunction with the Kamiseya Naval Radio Receiving Facility. CVW-5 shares the base with the Headquarters Fleet Air Force and Fleet Air Wing 4 of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, despite its name, the base is 4 nautical miles east northeast from the city of Atsugi, and is not adjacent to the city. The Imperial Japanese Navy constructed the base in 1938 to house the Japanese 302 Naval Aviation Corps, aircraft based at Atsugi shot down more than 300 American bombers during the firebombings of 1945. Eventually, these pilots gave up and left Atsugi, general Douglas MacArthur arrived at Atsugi on 30 August to accept Japans surrender. The 49th moved to Chitose Airfield on Hokkaido in mid February 1946, the 418th NFS to Okinawa in June, during the occupation, the base housed the overflow from nearby Camp Zama, it was not refurbished to handle military air traffic until the Korean War. The Seabees came to the base in 1950 and prepared it for re-opening that December as Naval Air Station Atsugi, NAF Atsugi was a major naval air base during both the Korean War and Vietnam War, serving fighters, bombers, and transport aircraft. One of the aircraft based at Atsugi at least since 1957 was the U-2 spy plane, the plane made local Japanese headlines when it ran low on fuel and made an emergency landing at a glider-club landing strip. This same plane was piloted by Gary Powers, which provoked an incident when it was downed over the Soviet Union. Lee Harvey Oswald was based at Atsugi during his time in the United States Marines and he was a radar operator assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron 1. He was stationed there from September 1957 to November 1958, in 1964 a United States Marine Corps F8U-2 Crusader based at the airfield crashed in nearby Machida, Tokyo. The pilot ejected and was not seriously injured, but the crash killed four and injured 32 people on the ground and destroyed seven houses. In 1972, the U. S. and Japanese governments agreed to share ownership of the base, in 1973 Yokosuka became the home port of the carrier USS Midway. As a consequence the carriers air wing was based at Atsugi, in 1977, a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II based at the facility suffered a mechanical failure and crashed into a residential neighborhood in nearby Yokohama. The crew ejected and survived, but two boys, aged 1 and 3, were killed and 7 others injured. Elements of the Naval Security Group and rotational squadrons of EP-3 Aries that are now stationed at Misawa Air Base were formerly stationed at Atsugi until the 1990s, in February 9,1999 a fire broke out at a terminal, no injuries were reported. On April 3,2003 a faction of the leftist group Kakurōkyō attacked the facility, around the same time the same group also attacked Yokota Air Base and the National Defence Agency. In 2004 a McDonnell Douglas MD900 Explorer operated by the Aero Asahi made a crash-landing at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, on 14 November 2009 a fire in Hangar 183 at the base injured three Japanese employees of Obayashi Corporation
23.
Yokota Air Base
–
Yokota Air Base, is a United States Air Force base in the city of Fussa, one of 26 cities in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo. The base occupies an area of 7.07 km2 and has a 3,353 m ×61 m runway. The host unit at Yokota is the 374th Airlift Wing and is used for airlift missions throughout East Asia. The 374th includes four groups, operations, mission support, maintenance, each group manages a various number of squadrons in order to carry out the wings mission. 374th Operations Group The 374th Operations Group maintains a presence by providing rapid responsive movement of personnel, equipment. 374th Maintenance Group The 374th Maintenance Group maintains C-130H1, C-12 and UH-1N aircraft supporting intratheater airlift, 374th Medical Group The 374th Medical Group, ensures medical readiness of 374 AW,5 AF, and US Forces Japan personnel. They also maintain 64 War Reserve Materiel projects, including the USAFs largest Patient Movement Item inventory, associate/Tenant Units U. S. Forces, Japan -- a nonoperational, politico-military unit that serves as the USPACOM front for US-Japanese military discussions. Fifth Air Force -- the air component to USFJ, 730th Air Mobility Squadron Air Force Band of the Pacific-Asia Stars & Stripes American Forces Network U. S. Coast Guard Activities Far East. Yokota Cadet Squadron, Civil Air Patrol The Civil Air Patrols Yokota Cadet Squadron conducts operations at Yokota Air Base, the newly renovated Air Mobility Command Passenger Terminal is on the main part of the base next to the flightline. The facility which houses Yokota Air Base was originally constructed by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1940 as Tama Airfield, and used as a flight test center. During World War II Yokota became the center of Japanese Army Air Forces flight test activities, Tama was first identified by United States military forces in November 1944 by a 3d Reconnaissance Squadron F-13 Superfortress photo-reconnaissance aircraft, flying from Tinian in the Marianas. It was identified as being associated with a nearby Musashino-Nakajima aircraft manufacturing plant, along with the Showa Air Base to the northwest, and Tachikawa Air Base to the east, it was compared to the aircraft development complex of the USAAF Wright-Paterson Field in Ohio. According to the USAAF intelligence at the time, the three bases conducted all IJA flight testing, in the spring of 1945, XXI Bomber Command attacked the base eight times along with the aircraft manufacturing plant, but each time heavy clouds forced the bombers to attack secondary targets. The Nakajima plant was attacked in April 1945, but the Tama airfield never was bombed. With the end of hostilities and the Japanese surrender in September 1945, the airfields buildings were largely intact, and some 280 of the IJAs most modern aircraft were discovered in hangars. When the old runway deteriorated under heavy usage, the runway was repaired, additional construction during the 1940s and 1950s was completed and the base reached its current size around 1960. On the occasion of extension, the course of Hachiko Line and national highway Route 16 was changed, 6th Night Fighter Squadron Inactivated and personnel, mission and equipment transferred to 339th Fighter Squadron with F-82F/G Twin Mustangs at Nagoya AB Japan. During the Korean War, Yokota was used for missions over North and South Korea
24.
United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka
–
The United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka or Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka is a United States Navy base in Yokosuka, Japan. CFAY is the largest strategically important U. S. naval installation in the western Pacific, as of August 2013, it was commanded by Captain David Glenister. The 55 tenant commands which make up this installation support U. S, when Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan in 1853, using naval pressure to open up Japan to foreign trade, Yokosuka was a quaint, native fishing village. He called upon the French Consul General, Léon Roches, and asked for the assistance of the French government to build a shipyard, the French engineer Léonce Verny was sent to Japan to accomplish the task. After the inspection of several sites it was discovered that Yokosuka topographically, if on a scale, resembled the port of Toulon. It was decided to establish the shipyard here and it would be called the Yokosuka Iron Works. In 1871, the name was changed to the Yokosuka Navy Yard and it was the French engineer Louis-Émile Bertin 1840-1924 who reorganized Yokosuka Navy Yard completely from 1886. Major Naval aircraft were designed at the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal. During World War II, activities at the Yokosuka Navy Yard reached their peak, by 1944, the Yard covered 280 acres and employed over 40,000 workers. In addition to the plant, the yard also had a gun factory, ordnance and supply depots, a fuel storage facility, a seaplane base. On 30 August 1945, Vice Admiral Michitaro Totsuka, Commander of the Yokosuka Naval Base, surrendered his command to Rear Admiral Robert Carney, Marines of the 6th Marine Division, British Royal Marines and U. S. Naval personnel. Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka was created shortly after the occupation in 1945, as the Base became organized, the shipyard was deactivated and much of the equipment was sent to other countries as part of reparations. The Public Works Department was also established, the best known Commander of Fleet Activities was the one who served there the longest, Captain Benton W. Benny Decker, who was in command from April,1946 until June,1950. When he assumed command, the base was fairly well-organized, and Captain Decker, buildings which had once housed war equipment were converted into schools, churches and hospitals for the people of Japan. In May,1946, the Marines at Yokosuka were redesignated Marine Barracks, in April,1947, the Ship Repair Department was organized, and the shops and dry docks were reactivated to maintain the ships of the U. S. With the onset of the Korean War on 25 June 1950, Yokosuka Navy Base suddenly became very important, the U. S. although still an occupying power in Japan, turned its full efforts to the support of South Korea. The Navy Dispensary was enlarged and expanded and was commissioned a U. S. Naval Hospital in 1950, the Naval Communications Facility, Yokosuka, was commissioned in January,1951. In April 1951, the Ship Repair Department became a component command and it was redesignated the Ship Repair Facility
25.
Camp Zama
–
Camp Zama is a United States Army post located in the cities of Zama and Sagamihara, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about 40 km southwest of Tokyo. Camp Zama is home to the U. S. Army Japan /I Corps, Camp Zama is close to the Sagami River near the foothills of the Tanzawa Mountain Range, Kanagawa Prefecture. The installation falls in the Zama City limits while the two housing areas, Camp Zama and Sagamihara Family Housing Area, are located in the adjacent Sagamihara City, once considered rural, this area has transformed into an urban area. New housing developments and communities along with shopping centers have increased the population, traveling from Tokyo and outlying U. S. military installations to Camp Zama averages from 1.5 to 3 hours depending on the time of day. However traveling from other parts of Kanagawa was made easier with the opening of the nearby Sagamihara/Aikawa Interchange which connects with the Ken-Ō Expressway in May 2012. The recommended method to travel to Camp Zama during times of peak traffic is via the extremely reliable local public transportation train system. The closest train station to Camp Zama is the Odakyū Lines Sōbudai-mae Station, Camp Zama is located on the former site of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, which was named Sōbudai by Emperor Showa. Route 51 is the road to Camp Zama that was built in order for the Emperor to travel to review the graduating classes from Machida Station. The Emperor Showa visited Camp Zama in 1937, Camp Zama also houses an emergency shelter for the Emperor, and to this day, it has been maintained by the U. S. Army Garrison Japan. The Camp Zama theater workshop is one of the few remaining buildings from the pre-occupation era and it is a large hall that was used for ceremonies by the Imperial Japanese Army. Additionally, the recreation center still stands currently used by the Camp Zama Tours and Travel Office and Boys Scouts. In November 1984, Mother Teresa of Calcutta visited Camp Zama, the camp has been attacked several times by terrorists. First when a bomb was exploded outside the camp in 2002 by the Revolutionary Army, there was a further attack in 2007, which was speculated to be an Al-Qaida attack but responsibility was claimed by so-called Revolutionary Army responsible for the 2002 attack. There was another attempted attack in May 2015, in 2004 Charles Jenkins, a U. S. Army sergeant who had deserted to North Korea in 1965, turned himself into Camp Zama. He was sentenced to a 30-day jail sentence and given a dishonourable discharge and he later gained permanent residency in Japan to live with his Japanese wife and family. In 2005 a live anthrax sample was sent to the base in error, in March 2007, Michael Jackson visited the camp to greet 3,000 plus U. S. troops and their families. “You people are among the most special in the world because you haven chosen a life of service, because of you here today and others who have given their lives, we can enjoy our freedom at home. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I love you, col. Robert M. Waltemeyer, Commander U. S. Army Garrison Japan, presented Jackson with a Certificate of Appreciation for his devotion to U. S
26.
Hakone
–
Hakone is a town in Ashigarashimo District in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of June 2012, the town had an population of 13,492. The total area was 92.82 km², Hakone has been designated as a Geopark by UNESCO. Hakone is located in the far west of the prefecture. Most of the town is within the borders of the volcanically active Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, during the Genpei War, Minamoto no Yoritomo prayed at this shrine for victory over his enemies, after his defeat at the Battle of Ishibashiyama, which was fought in neighboring Manazuru. As with the rest of Sagami Province, the area came under the control of the late Hōjō clan of Odawara during the Sengoku period, after the start of the Edo period, Hakone-juku was a post station on the Tōkaidō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto. It was also the site of a barrier and official checkpoint on the route known as the Hakone Checkpoint. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, all travellers entering and leaving Edo along the Tōkaidō were stopped here by officials and their travel permits and baggage were examined to enforce Tokugawa laws that restricted the travel of women and weapons. After the start of the Meiji Restoration, Hakone became a part of the short-lived Ashigara Prefecture before becoming part of Ashigarashimo District in Kanagawa prefecture in August 1876, Hakone attained town status in 1889. The imperial household established the summer Hakone Imperial Villa close to the lake, after merger with five neighboring towns and villages in September 1956, it reached its present boundaries. The economy of Hakone is strongly dominated by the tourist industry, Hakone is noted for its onsen hot spring resorts, which attract both Japanese and international visitors due to its proximity to the greater Tokyo metropolis and to Mount Fuji. Sights include the volcanically active Owakudani geysers and Hakone Shrine on the shore of the lake, in April the cherry blossoms and in autumn the Miscanthus sinensis are noted sights. Hakone has a number of art museums, including the Hakone Open-Air Museum, a noted local handicraft is parquetry. From Odawara, the Hakone Tozan Line continues into various towns in Hakone. Odakyu also runs the Romancecar limited express between Shinjuku and Hakone-Yumoto, from Gōra, the terminus of Hakone Tozan Line, the Hakone Tozan Cable Car funicular goes to Sōunzan. Ōwakudani can be reached by Hakone Ropeway from Sounzan and the lake, there is also Hakone Komagatake Ropeway, which goes to the top of Mount Komagatake. A popular Hakone Free Pass, allowing unlimited use of most forms of transport for several days, is available
27.
Kansai region
–
The Kansai region or the Kinki region lies in the southern-central region of Japans main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, while the use of the terms Kansai and Kinki have changed over history, in most modern contexts the use of the two terms is interchangeable. The urban region of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto is the second most populated in Japan after the Greater Tokyo Area, the Kansai region is the cultural and historical heart of Japan with 11% of its land area and 22,757,897 residents as of 2010. In the north the region is bordered by the Sea of Japan, to the south by the Kii Peninsula and Pacific Ocean, four of Japans national parks lie within its borders, in whole or in part. The area also contains six of the seven top prefectures in terms of national treasures, other geographical features include Amanohashidate in Kyoto Prefecture and Awaji Island in Hyōgo. The Kansai region is compared with the Kantō region, which lies to its east and consists primarily of Tokyo. This East-West rivalry has deep roots, particularly from the Edo period. With a samurai population of less than 1% the culture of the merchant city of Osaka stood in sharp contrast to that of Edo, many characteristic traits of Kansai people descend from Osaka merchant culture. Catherine Maxwell, an editor for the newsletter Omusubi, writes, Kansai residents are seen as being pragmatic, entrepreneurial, down-to-earth and possessing a strong sense of humour. Kanto people on the hand are perceived as more sophisticated, reserved and formal, in keeping with Tokyo’s history and modern status as the nation’s capital. Kansai is known for its food, especially Osaka, as supported by the saying Kyotoites are ruined by overspending on clothing, popular Osakan dishes include takoyaki, okonomiyaki, kitsune udon and kushikatsu. Kyoto is considered a mecca of traditional Japanese cuisine like kaiseki, Kansai has many wagyu brands such as Kobe beef and Tajima cattle from Hyōgo, Matsusaka beef from Mie and Omi beef from Shiga. Sake is another specialty of the region, the areas of Nada-Gogō, as opposed to food from Eastern Japan, food in the Kansai area tends to be sweeter, and foods such as nattō tend to be less popular. The dialects of the people from the Kansai region, commonly called Kansai-ben, have their own variations of pronunciation, vocabulary, Kansai-ben is the group of dialects spoken in the Kansai area, but is often treated as a dialect in its own right. Kansai is one of the most prosperous areas for baseball in Japan, two Nippon Professional Baseball teams, Hanshin Tigers and Orix Buffaloes, are based in Kansai. Koshien Stadium, the stadium of the Hanshin Tigers, is also famous for the nationwide high school baseball tournaments. In association football, the Kansai Soccer League was founded in 1966, cerezo Osaka, Gamba Osaka, and Vissel Kobe belong to J. League Division 1 and Kyoto Sanga F. C. belongs to J. League Division 2, the top professional leagues in Japan. The terms Kansai, Kinki, and Kinai have a deep history
28.
Synonym
–
A synonym is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy, the word comes from Ancient Greek sýn and ónoma. An example of synonyms are the words begin, start, commence, words can be synonymous when meant in certain senses, even if they are not synonymous in all of their senses. For example, if one talks about a time or an extended time, long. Some academics call the former type cognitive synonyms to distinguish them from the latter type, some lexicographers claim that no synonyms have exactly the same meaning because etymology, orthography, phonic qualities, ambiguous meanings, usage, etc. make them unique. Different words that are similar in meaning usually differ for a reason, feline is more formal than cat, long and extended are only synonyms in one usage, synonyms are also a source of euphemisms. In the figurative sense, two words are said to be synonymous if they have the same connotation. a widespread impression that. Metonymy can sometimes be a form of synonymy, as when, for example, thus a metonym is a type of synonym, and the word metonym is a hyponym of the word synonym. The analysis of synonymy, polysemy, hyponymy, and hypernymy is inherent to taxonomy and it has applications in pedagogy and machine learning, because they rely on word-sense disambiguation and schema. Synonyms can be any part of speech, as long as both words belong to the part of speech. Such like, he expired means the same as he died, in English, many synonyms emerged in the Middle Ages, after the Norman conquest of England. While Englands new ruling class spoke Norman French, the lower classes continued to speak Old English, thus, today we have synonyms like the Norman-derived people, liberty and archer, and the Saxon-derived folk, freedom and bowman. For more examples, see the list of Germanic and Latinate equivalents in English, the purpose of a thesaurus is to offer the user a listing of similar or related words, these are often, but not always, synonyms. The word poecilonym is a synonym of the word synonym. It is not entered in most major dictionaries and is a curiosity or piece of trivia for being a word because of its meta quality as a synonym of synonym. Antonyms are words with opposite or nearly opposite meanings, for example, hot ↔ cold, large ↔ small, thick ↔ thin, synonym ↔ antonym Hypernyms and hyponyms are words that refer to, respectively, a general category and a specific instance of that category. For example, vehicle is a hypernym of car, and car is a hyponym of vehicle, homophones are words that have the same pronunciation, but different meanings. For example, witch and which are homophones in most accents, homographs are words that have the same spelling, but have different pronunciations
29.
Earthquake prediction
–
Prediction can be further distinguished from earthquake warning systems, which upon detection of an earthquake, provide a real-time warning of seconds to neighboring regions that might be affected. In the 1970s, scientists were optimistic that a method for predicting earthquakes would soon be found. Demonstrably successful predictions of earthquakes have not occurred and the few claims of success are controversial. For example, the most famous claim of a prediction is that alleged for the 1975 Haicheng earthquake. A later study said there was no valid short-term prediction. Extensive searches have reported many possible earthquake precursors, but, so far, predictions are deemed significant if they can be shown to be successful beyond random chance. Therefore, methods of statistical hypothesis testing are used to determine the probability that a such as is predicted would happen anyway. The predictions are then evaluated by testing whether they correlate with actual earthquakes better than the null hypothesis, in many instances, however, the statistical nature of earthquake occurrence is not simply homogeneous. Clustering occurs in space and time. In southern California about 6% of M≥3.0 earthquakes are followed by an earthquake of magnitude within 5 days and 10 km. In central Italy 9. 5% of M≥3.0 earthquakes are followed by an event within 30 km and 48 hours. It has been shown that a method based solely on clustering can successfully predict about 5% of earthquakes. E. g. it has reported that members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences were purged for having ignored scientific predictions of the disastrous Tangshan earthquake of summer 1976. But warning of an earthquake that does not occur also incurs a cost, not only the cost of the emergency measures themselves, false alarms, including alarms that are canceled, also undermine the credibility, and thereby the effectiveness, of future warnings. This was prompted by more than 30 unofficial earthquake warnings, in the past three years, none of which has been accurate. The acceptable trade-off between missed quakes and false alarms depends on the valuation of these outcomes. The rate of occurrence of both must be considered when evaluating any prediction method and he found that earthquakes kill less than ten people per year in Greece, and that most of those fatalities occurred in large buildings with identifiable structural issues. Therefore, Stiros stated that it would be much more cost-effective to focus efforts on identifying and upgrading unsafe buildings, Earthquake prediction may be intrinsically impossible
30.
House of Representatives (Japan)
–
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors is the upper house, the House of Representatives has 475 members, elected for a four-year term. Of these,180 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation,238 seats are required for a majority. The overall voting system used to elect the House of Representatives is a parallel system, under a parallel system the allocation of list seats does not take into account the outcome in the single seat constituencies. Therefore, the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives is not proportional. In contrast, in such as the German Bundestag the election of single-seat members and party list members is linked. The House of Representatives is the powerful of the two houses, able to override vetoes on bills imposed by the House of Councillors with a two-thirds majority. It can be dissolved by the Prime Minister at will, the most recent was by Shinzō Abe on November 21,2014, japanese nationals aged 18 years and older may vote. Japanese nationals aged 25 years and older may run for office in the lower house, the House of Representatives has several powers not given to the House of Councillors. If a bill is passed by the house but is voted down by the upper house the House of Representatives can override the decision of the House of Councillors by a two-thirds vote in the affirmative. However, in the case of treaties, the budget, and the selection of the minister, the House of Councillors can only delay passage. As a result, the House of Representatives is considered the more powerful house. Members of the House of Representatives, who are elected to a maximum of four years, sit for a shorter term than members of the House of Councillors, who are elected to full six-year terms. The lower house can also be dissolved by the Prime Minister or the passage of a nonconfidence motion, thus the House of Representatives is considered to be more sensitive to public opinion, and is termed the lower house. While the legislative term is nominally 4 years, early elections for the house are very common. Parties who vote with the government in the Diet, but are not part of the cabinet are not shaded, the elected House of Representatives served as the lower house of the Imperial Diet. The government and the minister leading it were neither responsible to nor elected by the Imperial Diet. But the right to vote on legislation and more importantly the budget gave the House of Representatives leverage to force the government into negotiations
31.
Yamanashi Prefecture
–
Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the main island of Honshu. The capital of the prefecture is the city of Kōfu, the Maruyama and Choshizuka Kofun located on Sone Hill of Nakamichi Town are believed to have been built from the end of the 4th century. From these remains it can be assumed that the people of Sone Hill had great influence, during the Heian period, Kai Province was created in this area. Among the many Kaigenji generations, those of the Takeda, Ogasawara, during the Sengoku period of the 16th century, Takeda Shingen attained the status of daimyō and built Tsuzuji Mansion and the Yōgai Castle in Kōfu. From this base, he attempted to unify and control Japan, after Takeda’s death in 1582, Kai-no-Kuni came under the control of the Oda and Toyotomi clans before being subsumed into the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period. Beneath the Edo shogunate, the Kofu clan and the Yamura clan were formed, with the development of the Kōshū Kaidō and Fuji River transport, goods, materials and culture flowed into the region. By the mid-19th century, the contradictions of military government and clan system caused stability to erode and resistance to erupt across Japan, preceding the Kōshū-Katsunuma battle, Kofu Castle had been captured by troops loyal to the Emperor Meiji. The province was renamed Kōfu Prefecture in 1869 and then Yamanashi Prefecture in 1871, the anniversary of this event on November 20,1872, is now celebrated as Prefectural Citizen’s Day in Yamanashi. In the early part of the Meiji period, industrial promotion policies furthered sericulture, silk textile production and wine making industries. In 1903, after seven years of construction, including the building of a three mile long tunnel at the Sasago Pass, the Chūō Railway Line from Hachiōji and central Tokyo finally reached Kōfu. The reduced journey times to the capital and the port of Yokohama brought significant change to local industry, agricultural production in farming communities was still on a small scale at the turn of the century and land reforms had yet to be introduced. From the 1920s however, tenancy and contract disputes between landowners and farmers in Yamanashi grew increasingly common, in 1926, the Minobu Railway Line connecting Kōfu with Shizuoka Prefecture opened, bringing an end to Fuji River transportation. The capital city, Kōfu, suffered damage during a major air raid on the night of 6 July 1945. Small scale manufacturing industries and commerce grew at rapid speed during the expansion of the post-war Japanese economy, the maglev line is designed to ultimately connect Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka with a station also planned to the South of Kofu. Central Government permission to proceed with an extension to the existing test track was granted on May 27,2011, at the end of 2013 construction was already well advanced as far as Fuefuki. Yamanashi Prefecture is bordered by Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, Saitama Prefecture, Shizuoka Prefecture, the prefecture is landlocked, with high mountains surrounding the central Kōfu Basin. Mount Fuji and the Fuji Five Lakes region is located on the border with Shizuoka. Mt. Fuji provides rain shadow effects, and as a result, 78% of the prefecture is covered by forests, making it one of the most densely wooded prefectures in Japan
32.
Keirin
–
Keirin racing wheels is a form of motor-paced cycle racing in which track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan around 1948 for gambling purposes and became an event at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Races are about 2 kilometres long,8 laps on a 250 m track,6 laps on a 333 m track,5 laps on a 400 m track. Lots are drawn to determine starting positions for the sprint riders behind the pacer, which is usually a motorcycle, riders must remain behind the pacer for a predetermined number of laps. Initially it makes circuits at about 25 km/h, gradually increasing to about 50 km/h, the pacer usually leaves the track approximately 600–700 m before the end. The winners finishing speed is around 70 km/h, competition keirin races are often conducted over several rounds with one final. Sometimes eliminated cyclists get the opportunity to try again in the repechages, Keirin has been a UCI mens World Championship event since 1980 and a UCI womens World Championship event since 2002. Danny Clark of Australia and Li Na of China were the first UCI world champions, the 2013 mens and womens world champions are Jason Kenny and Becky James of the United Kingdom. Keirin made its debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney as a mens event, the womens event was added for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Four members of the body were later arrested in Tokyo. Professional Track cycling began as a sport in Japan in 1948. In 1957, the Nihon Jitensha Shinkōkai was founded to establish a system of standards for the sport in Japan. Today keirin racing is regulated by the JKA Foundation, in 2011, the sum of bets placed on keirin races exceeded ¥600 billion, and the number of attendees in the races was approximately 4.9 million people. Aspiring professional keirin riders in Japan compete for entrance into the Japan Keirin School, the 10 percent of applicants who are accepted then undergo a strict 15-hours-per-day training regimen. Those who pass the exams, and are approved by the NJS become eligible for professional keirin races in Japan. Japanese races for women were reintroduced in July 2012, under the title of Girls Keirin, women were previously permitted to participate from 1949 until 1964. Like the men, the women must also undergo a training regimen at the Keirin School. At that time, many leading sprint riders were from the Eastern bloc countries, katsuaki Matsumoto is the all-time professional keirin athlete with the most wins -1341 - over his career
33.
Shizuoka Prefecture
–
Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. The capital is the city of Shizuoka, while Hamamatsu is the largest city by population, Shizuoka Prefecture was formed from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces. The area was the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu held the region until he conquered the lands of the Hōjō clan in the Kantō region and placed land under the stewardship of Oda Nobunaga. After becoming shogun, Tokugawa took the back for his family. With the creation of Shizuoka han in 1868, it again became the residence of the Tokugawa family. Shizuoka Prefecture is an elongated region following the coast of the Pacific Ocean at the Suruga Bay, in the west, the prefecture extends deep into the Japan Alps. In the east, it becomes a narrower coast bounded in the north by Mount Fuji, until it comes to the Izu Peninsula, throughout history, a disastrous earthquake called the Tokai earthquake has hit Shizuoka every 100 to 150 years. On Tuesday, March 15,2011, Shizuoka Prefecture was hit with a magnitude 6.2 earthquake approximately 42 km NNE of Shizuoka City, ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5, OCLC58053128 Official Shizuoka Prefecture website Official Shizuoka Guide
34.
NHK
–
NHK is Japans national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has identified itself to audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two television services, two satellite television services, and three radio networks. NHK also provides a broadcasting service, known as NHK World. NHK World is composed of NHK World TV, NHK World Premium, World Radio Japan also makes some of its programs available on the Internet. NHK is an independent corporation chartered by the Japanese Broadcasting Act, NHK World broadcasting is funded by the Japanese government. The annual budget of NHK is subject to review and approval by the Diet of Japan, the Diet also appoints the 12-member Board of Governors that oversees NHK. NHK is managed on a basis by an Executive Board consisting of a President, Vice President. The Executive Board reports to the Board of Governors, NHK is funded by reception fees, a system analogous to the license fee used in some English-speaking countries. The Broadcast Law which governs NHK’s funding stipulates any television equipped to receive NHK is required to pay, the fee is standardized, with discounts for office workers and students who commute, as well a general discount for residents of Okinawa prefecture. This incident sparked debate over the fairness of the fee system, in 2006, the NHK opted to take legal action against those most flagrantly in violation of the law. NHK General TV broadcasts a variety of programming, the following are noteworthy, NHK offers local, national, and world news reports. NHK News 7 which airs daily is broadcast bilingually in both Japanese and English audio tracks on NHK General TV and NHKs international channels TV Japan and NHK World Premium. The flagship news program News Watch 9 is also bilingual and also air on NHK General TV and NHKs international channels TV Japan, World news are aired on NHK BS1 with Catch. Sekai no Jiten in the morning and International News Report at night with the airing on NHK World Premium. News on NHK BS1 are aired at 50 minutes past the hour except during sport events. NHK also offers news for the deaf, regional news and children’s news, newsline is an English newscast designed for foreign viewers and airs on NHK World. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 NHK was criticised for underplaying the dangers from radioactive contamination, under the Broadcast Act, NHK is under the obligation to broadcast early warning emergency reporting in times of natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis
35.
Tokyo Bay
–
Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel and its old name was Edo Bay. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous and largest industrialized area in Japan, in ancient times, Japanese knew Tokyo Bay as the uchi-umi or inner sea. By the Azuchi-Momoyama period the area had become known as Edo Bay, the bay took its present name of Tokyo Bay in modern times, after the Imperial court moved to Edo and renamed that city as Tokyo in 1868. Tokyo Bay juts prominently into the Kantō Plain and it is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture to the east and the Miura Peninsula in Kanagawa Prefecture to the west. The shore of Tokyo Bay consists of a plateau and is subject to rapid marine erosion. Sediments on the shore of the bay make for a smooth, in a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line from Cape Kannon on the west of Miura Peninsula to Cape Futtsu on the east Bōsō Peninsula. This area covers about 922 square kilometres, in a broader sense, Tokyo Bay includes the Uraga Channel. By this definition the bay opens from a north of the straight line from Cape Tsurugisaki on the east of Miura Peninsula to Cape Sunosaki on the west of the Boso Peninsula. This area covers about 1,100 square kilometres, the area of Tokyo Bay combined with the Uraga Channel covers 1,500 square kilometres. The shoal between Cape Futtsu in Chiba Prefecture and Cape Honmaku in Yokohama is known as Nakanose, and has a depth of 20 metres, north of this area the bay has a depth of 40 metres and an uncomplicated submarine topography. Areas south of Nakanose are significantly deeper moving towards the Pacific Ocean, the only natural island in Tokyo Bay is Sarushima at Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. Sarushima was one of the locations fortified with coastal artillery during the Bakumatsu period and was incorporated into the Tokyo Bay Fortress during the Meiji period. The Imperial Japanese Navy maintained a station on the island until the end of World War II. The island is now uninhabited and is a marine park, many artificial islands were built as naval fortifications in the Meiji and Taishō period. After World War II these islands were converted to residential or recreational use, Odaiba, also known as Daiba, was one of six artificial islands constructed in 1853 as a fortification to protect the Tokugawa shogunate at Edo, and was known as the Shinagawa Daiba. After World War II Odaiba was incorporated into Tokyo and redeveloped for commercial and recreational use, after World War II Yumenoshima was planned as a solution to dispose of the large quantities of garbage from the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. The island was constructed between 1957 and 1967 and hosts numerous recreational facilities, hakkei Island, formerly Landfill Number 14, was constructed in 1985 and is home to Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise
36.
Kawasaki, Kanagawa
–
Kawasaki is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, located between Tokyo and Yokohama. It is the 9th most populated city in Japan and one of the main cities forming the Greater Tokyo Area, Kawasaki is governed by mayor Norihiko Fukuda, an independent elected on 27 October 2013. The city assembly has 63 elected members, Kawasaki mayoral election,2005 Kawasaki Stadium, Located in Kawasaki-ku. Opened in 1952, and was used as a field for professional baseball teams from 1954 to 1991. The stands were taken down in 2001, and is used for American football games. Kawasaki Todoroki Baseball Stadium, Located in Nakahara-ku, used for preliminary rounds of high school baseball and American football games. Todoroki Arena, Seating capacity for 6,500 spectators, Home playing ground of the Toshiba Brave Thunders Kanagawa, Todoroki Athletics Stadium, Located in Nakahara-ku. Opened in 1964, the stadium underwent several renovations before becoming the field for the Kawasaki Frontale. Also used frequently for track & field competitions, Kawasaki Prefectural Gymnasium, Located in Kawasaki-ku. Opened in 1956, and is used for Puroresu matches,20 minutes walking distance from Kawasaki Stations east entrance. Kawasaki Todoroki Arena, Located in Nakahara-ku, international field athletics and volleyball matches are held here, in addition to various musical concerts. Velodrome, Kawasaki Velodrome Kawasaki Keiba Fujitsus Main Branch is located in Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki has several factories and development bases of the companies of heavy industry and high technology. In 1997 it became the first municipality to allow non-Japanese nationals to take civil service employment, Todoroki Ryokuchi, athletic park Fujiko F. Fujio Museum, also known as Doraemon museum, opened on September 3,2011, in Tama-ku Ward. Kawasaki is twinned with the cities in Japan and worldwide
37.
Saitama, Saitama
–
Saitama is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture in Japan, situated in the south-east of the prefecture. Its area incorporates the cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono. It is a city designated by government ordinance, being in the Greater Tokyo Area and lying 15 to 30 kilometres north of central Tokyo, many of its residents commute into Tokyo. As of 1 February 2016, the city had an population of 1,226,656. Its total area was 217.43 square kilometres, the city was founded on May 1,2001, and was designated on April 1,2003 as a government ordinance. For the histories of Urawa, Ōmiya and Yono before the merger, see, Urawa-ku, Saitama Ōmiya-ku, Saitama and Yono, Saitama, on April 1,2005, Saitama absorbed the city of Iwatsuki to its east, which became a new ward, Iwatsuki-ku. The name Saitama originally comes from the Sakitama district of what is now the city of Gyōda in the part of what is now known as Saitama Prefecture. Sakitama has an ancient history and is mentioned in the famous 8th century poetry anthology Manyōshū, the pronunciation has changed from Sakitama to Saitama over the years. With the merger of Urawa, Ōmiya, and Yono it was decided that a new name, the prefectural name Saitama was changed from kanji into hiragana, thus Saitama City was born. It is the prefectural capital in Japan whose name is always written in hiragana. However, Saitama written in hiragana actually finished in place in public polling to Saitama written in kanji. Despite this, government officials decided to name the new city Saitama in hiragana, in third place in the poll was Ōmiya. In fourth was Saitama, written with a kanji for sai which means colorful. The sai used in the name is a rare form of a common character that means cape or promontory. The city is located 20 to 30 km north of central Tokyo, the western portion of the city lies on the lowland created by the Arakawa River along with those created by small rivers such as the Moto-Arakawa River, Shiba River, and Ayase River. The rest of the area mostly resides on the Ōmiya Plateau lying in the north-south direction, dispersed in this region, major rivers flow southward, almost paralleling to one another. The city is one of commercial centers of the Greater Tokyo area and serves Saitama Prefecture, North Kanto. Saitama is also home to manufacturers, exporting automotive, food, optical, precision
38.
Chiba, Chiba
–
Chiba is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It sits about 40 kilometres southeast of the center of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay, Chiba City became a government-designated city in 1992. In February 2016, its population was 972,861, with a density of 3,580 people per square kilometer. The city had an area of 271.76 square kilometres, Chiba City is one of the Kantō regions primary seaports, and is home to Chiba Port, which handles one of the highest volumes of cargo in the nation. Much of the city is residential, although there are factories and warehouses along the coast. Chiba is famous for the Chiba Urban Monorail, the longest suspended monorail in the world, the name of Chiba in the Japanese language is formed from two kanji characters. The first, 千, means thousand and the second, 葉 means leaves, the name first appears as an ancient kuni no miyatsuko, or regional command office, as the Chiba Kuni no Miyatsuko. The name was adopted by a branch of the Taira clan, the branch of the Taira adopted the name and became the Chiba clan, which held strong influence over the area of the prefecture until the Azuchi–Momoyama period. Tsuneshige was appointed as administrator of Sōma District, but was transferred to the same position in Chiba District two years later. Tsuneshiges son, Chiba Tsunetane was instrumental in aiding Minamoto Yoritomo with the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, tsuneshige built a spacious residence and numerous temples in present-day Chiba City, and in the same period he transferred his power base from Ōji Castle to Inohana Castle on Mount Inohana. The area of present-day Chiba City became jōkamachi, or castle town, the clans power extended in the region until the Muromachi period. The Chiba clans power and influence declined because of wars around the Kantō region during the Nanboku-cho, in the 16th century, instead of the Chiba clan, the Hara clan, which was one of the servants of Chiba clan, wielded power in this region. In the Sengoku period, the Hara clan was removed by Ashikaga Yoshiaki. Then, Ashikaga Yoshiaki was also removed by the Sakai clan, finally both the Chiba and Sakai clans were annihilated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In the Edo period, the Oyumi, Morikawa clan, a part of the area was also governed directly by the Tokugawa Bakufu. The Oyumi clan governed their territory stably, finally the Hotta clan stabilized the governance of their territory. Chiba prospered in this period as a shukuba post-town of the Tokugawa shogunate, after the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and the advent of the railroad in Japan Chiba became the political, economic, and cultural capital of the Chiba Prefecture. Chiba City founded on January 1,1921, numerous small villages and towns were merged into the previous town of Chiba, a process that continued until 1944
39.
Geography of Japan
–
Japan is an island nation in East Asia comprising a stratovolcanic archipelago extending along the continents Pacific coast. It lies between 24° to 46° north latitude and from 123° to 146° east longitude, the closest neighboring country to Japan is the Russian Federation. The major islands, sometimes called the Home Islands, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, there are 6,852 islands in total, including the Nansei Islands, the Nanpo Islands and islets, with 430 islands being inhabited and others uninhabited. In total, as of 2006, Japans territory is 377,923.1 km2, location, Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula. Ownership of the Senkaku Islands and Liancourt Rocks is in dispute, natural resources, small deposits of coal, oil, iron, and minerals. Japans highest mountain is Mount Fuji, with an elevation of 3,776 m, Japans forest cover rate is 68. 55% since the mountains are heavily forested. The only other developed nations with such a high forest cover percentage are Finland, since there is little level ground, many hills and mountainsides at lower elevations around towns and cities are often cultivated. As Japan is situated in a zone along the Pacific deeps, frequent low-intensity earth tremors. Destructive earthquakes occur several times a century, hot springs are numerous and have been exploited as an economic capital by the leisure industry. The mountainous islands of the Japanese archipelago form a crescent off the eastern coast of Asia and they are separated from the mainland by the Sea of Japan, which historically served as a protective barrier. The national territory also includes the Volcano Islands such as Iwo Jima, excluding disputed territory, the archipelago covers about 377,000 square kilometers. No point in Japan is more than 150 kilometers from the sea, the four major islands are separated by narrow straits and form a natural entity. The Ryukyu Islands curve 970 kilometers southward from Kyūshū, the distance between Japan and the Korean Peninsula, the nearest point on the Asian continent, is about 200 kilometers at the Korea Strait. The Japanese islands are the summits of mountain ridges uplifted near the edge of the continental shelf. About 73 percent of Japans area is mountainous, and scattered plains, a long chain of mountains runs down the middle of the archipelago, dividing it into two halves, the face, fronting on the Pacific Ocean, and the back, toward the Sea of Japan. On the Pacific side are steep mountains 1,500 to 3,000 meters high, with deep valleys and gorges. Central Japan is marked by the convergence of the three mountain chains—the Hida, Kiso, and Akaishi mountains—that form the Japanese Alps, several of whose peaks are higher than 3,000 meters, the highest point in the Japanese Alps is Mount Kita at 3,193 meters. The highest point in the country is Mount Fuji, a volcano dormant since 1707 that rises to 3,776 meters above sea level in Shizuoka Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan side are plateaus and low mountain districts, with altitudes of 500 to 1,500 meters
40.
Google Books
–
Books are provided either by publishers and authors, through the Google Books Partner Program, or by Googles library partners, through the Library Project. Additionally, Google has partnered with a number of publishers to digitize their archives. The Publisher Program was first known as Google Print when it was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2004, the Google Books Library Project, which scans works in the collections of library partners and adds them to the digital inventory, was announced in December 2004. But it has also criticized for potential copyright violations. As of October 2015, the number of scanned book titles was over 25 million, Google estimated in 2010 that there were about 130 million distinct titles in the world, and stated that it intended to scan all of them. Results from Google Books show up in both the universal Google Search as well as in the dedicated Google Books search website, if Google believes the book is still under copyright, a user sees snippets of text around the queried search terms. All instances of the terms in the book text appear with a yellow highlight. The four access levels used on Google Books are, Full view, Books in the domain are available for full view. In-print books acquired through the Partner Program are also available for full view if the publisher has given permission, usually, the publisher can set the percentage of the book available for preview. Users are restricted from copying, downloading or printing book previews, a watermark reading Copyrighted material appears at the bottom of pages. All books acquired through the Partner Program are available for preview and this could be because Google cannot identify the owner or the owner declined permission. If a search term appears many times in a book, Google displays no more than three snippets, thus preventing the user from viewing too much of the book. Also, Google does not display any snippets for certain reference books, such as dictionaries, Google maintains that no permission is required under copyright law to display the snippet view. No preview, Google also displays search results for books that have not been digitized, in effect, this is similar to an online library card catalog. Google also stated that it would not scan any in-copyright books between August and 1 November 2005, to provide the owners with the opportunity to decide which books to exclude from the Project. It can let Google scan the book under the Library Project and it can opt out of the Library Project, in which case Google will not scan the book. If the book has already been scanned, Google will reset its access level as No preview and this information is collated through automated methods, and sometimes data from third-party sources is used. This information provides an insight into the book, particularly useful when only a view is available
41.
Wayback Machine
–
The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
This article incorporates public domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studies document "Kanto".
