JAPAN
japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of theSea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's namemean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is often referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshu, Hokkaido,Kyushu, and Shikoku, which together comprise about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Due to its location in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan is substantially prone to earthquakes and tsunami, having the highest natural disaster risk in the developed world. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 126 million people. Honshū's Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de factocapital of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan 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 nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. From the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a long period of isolation in the early 17th century, which was only ended in 1853 when a United States fleet pressured Japan to open to the West. Nearly two decades of internal conflict and insurrection followed before the Meiji Emperor was restored as head of state in 1868 and the Empire of Japan was proclaimed, with the Emperor as a divine symbol of the nation. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victories in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. TheSecond Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revisedconstitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected legislature called the Diet.
Japan is a member of the UN, the G7, the G8, the G20. A major economic great power, Japan is adeveloped country and has the world's third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the world's fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer. Although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the world's eighth largest military budget, used for self-defense andpeacekeeping roles. Japan ranks high in metrics of prosperity such as the Human Development Index, with Japanese women enjoying the highest life expectancy of any country in the world and theinfant mortality rate being the third lowest globally.
The Japan National Tourism Organization or JNTO provides information about Japan to promote travel to and in the country. Its headquarters are in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo. It operates Tourist Information Centers (TICs) as well as a website. The JNTO disseminates information about transportation, lodging, food and beverage, and sight-seeing. It distributes photographs of Japan suitable for computer wallpaper or printing for personal use.
JNTO is an Independent Administrative Institution of the government of Japan. Its publications and website assist in preparing travel itineraries within Japan, providing a wide range of travel information in English and other languages on transportation, accommodations, shopping and events. The materials are updated frequently.
While traveling in Japan, visitors may take advantage of the nationwide "i" Information System, which numbered 113 outlets in 2004. Each "i" center is an information source for the area it represents. The "i" centers are ordinarily located at railway stations or in city centers, and are easily recognized by their logo, a red question mark with the word "information" printed underneath.
FUJI
JNTO sponsors a Goodwill Guide Program, through which some 47,000 bilingual volunteers assist visitors from abroad. They earn the right to wear the program's identifying badge, a white pigeon superimposed upon a globe. Throughout Japan, there are 77 Systematized Goodwill Guide groups (SGG) consisting mostly of students, housewives and retirees who engage in a variety of activities using their foreign language skills. Some groups offer a free preset walking tour, for which the visitor only needs to go to a pre-established place at a certain date and time, while others are available to meet tourists on request. There is no charge for the service of the Goodwill Guides, as they are volunteers, only their travel expenses and their admissions to tourist facilities, and for shared meals.
Services of professional guides and interpreters may be retained through the Japan Guide Association or the Japan Federation of Licensed Guides. A total of some 1,550 licensed guide-interpreters are registered with these organizations.
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