Japan

[[Yokohama]] is the largest incorporated city.

2 Japan was founded on this date by the legendary [[Emperor Jimmu]], first emperor of Japan; it is seen as largely symbolic.

}}

{{otheruses1|the country in East Asia}}

{{nihongo|'''Japan'''|[[Japanese language|Japanese:]] 日本/日本国|''Nihon'' or ''Nippon'',The westernized pronunciation is believed to have arisen from that of a south Chinese dialect, in which it is pronounced /jāk-bəng/{{fact}} officially ''Nihon-koku'' or ''Nippon-koku''}} is an [[Island nation|island country]] in [[East Asia]]. Located in the [[Pacific Ocean]], it lies to the east of [[China]], [[Korea]], and [[Russia]], stretching from the [[Sea of Okhotsk]] in the north to the [[East China Sea]] in the south. The [[kanji|characters]] that make up [[Names of Japan|Japan's name]] literally mean "Sun's Origin", thus Japan is also sometimes known as "''The Land of the Rising Sun''", a name that comes from the country's eastward position relative to [[China]]. Its [[capital]] is [[Tokyo]].

At 377,872 [[square kilometre]]s (145,898 [[square mile|sq mi]]), Japan is the [[List of countries and outlying territories by area|62nd largest country]] by area. It encompasses over 3,000 islands, the largest of which are [[Honshū]], [[Hokkaidō]], [[Kyūshū]] and [[Shikoku]]. Most of Japan's islands are mountainous, and many are [[volcano|volcanic]], including the highest peak, [[Mount Fuji]]. It has the world's [[List of countries by population|10th largest population]], with nearly 128 million people. The [[Greater Tokyo Area]], with over 30 million residents, is the [[Largest Metropolitan Area|largest metropolitan area]] in the world.

[[Archaeology|Archaeological]] research indicates that people were living on the islands of Japan as early as the [[Upper Paleolithic|upper paleolithic]] period. The first written mention of Japan begins with brief appearances in [[History of China|Chinese history]] texts from the 1st century [[AD]]. Japanese history has been marked by alternating periods of long isolation and radical influence from the outside world. Its culture today is a mixture of outside influences and internal developments.

Since it adopted its [[Constitution of Japan|constitution]] on [[May 3]], [[1947]], Japan has maintained a [[unitary state|unitary]] [[constitutional monarchy]] with an [[Emperor of Japan|emperor]] and an elected parliament, the [[Diet of Japan|Diet]], which is one of the oldest legislative bodies in [[Asia]]. Japan is an economic [[world power]] with the world's [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|second largest economy]], and is the sixth largest [[export]]er and [[import]]er and is a member of the [[United Nations]], [[G8]], [[G4 nations|G4]], and [[APEC]].

==History==

===Jomon and Yayoi eras===

[[Image:MiddleJomonVessel.JPG|thumb|left|125px|A Middle [[Jomon]] vessel (3000 to 2000 BC)]]

The first signs of civilization appeared around [[10th millennium BC|10,000 BC]] with the [[Jomon]] culture, characterized by a [[mesolithic]] to [[neolithic]] semi-sedentary [[hunter-gatherer]] lifestyle of pit dwelling and a rudimentary form of [[agriculture]].Many believe that the [[Ainu people|Ainu]], an indigenous people found mostly on the northern island of [[Hokkaidō]], are descended from the Jomon and thus represent descendants of the first inhabitants of Japan. The Jomon people made decorated clay vessels, often with plaited patterns. Some of the oldest surviving examples of [[pottery]] in the world may be found in Japan.Pottery in Japan:

*"The earliest known pottery comes from Japan, and is dated to about 10,500 BC. China and Indo-China follow shortly afterwards" ("Past Worlds" The Times Atlas of Archeology. p. 100, 1995).

*"That end of the Ice Age was accompanied by the first of the two most decisive changes in Japanese history: the invention of pottery. In the usual experience of archaeologists, inventions flow from mainlands to islands, and small peripheral societies aren't supposed to contribute revolutionary advances to the rest of the world. It therefore astonished archaeologists to discover that the world's oldest known pottery was made in Japan 12,700 years ago." Jared Diamond, [http://cwis.livjm.ac.uk/lng/teaching/japanese/japanroo.htm].

*"Japan, however, was the seat of the earliest known development of ceramics" ("The History and Geography of Human Genes", p249, [[Cavalli-Sforza]] ISBN 0-691-08750-4.

*Alternatively, the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]'s Timeline of Art History [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm] notes "Carbon-14 testing of the earliest known shards has yielded a production date of about 10,500 B.C., but because this date falls outside the known chronology of pottery development elsewhere in the world, such an early date is not generally accepted". [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/02/eaj/ht02eaj.htm].

The [[Yayoi period]], starting around 300 BC, marked the influx of new practices such as [[rice]] farming and [[iron]] and [[bronze]]-making brought by migrants from continental [[East Asia]]."[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-23121 The Yayoi period (c. 250 BCÐ'-c. AD 250)]," ''EncyclopÐ"¦dia Britannica''; Jared Diamond, "[http://www2.gol.com/users/hsmr/Content/East%20Asia/Japan/History/roots.html Japanese Roots], " ''Discover'' 19:6 (June 1998); [http://www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/pdf/Japan.pdf Dual origins of the Japanese: common ground for hunter-gatherer and farmer Y chromosomes], Michael F. Hammer, 2005{{PDFlink}}. Japan first appears in written history in 57 AD, in China's [[Book of Later Han]], as "the people of [[Wa (Japan)|Wa]], formed from more than one hundred tribes." In the 3rd century, according to China's [[Book of Wei]], the most powerful kingdom in Japan was called [[Yamataikoku]], and was ruled by the legendary [[Himiko|Queen Himiko]].

===Classical era===

[[Image:TodaijiDaibutsu0224.jpg|150px|thumb|right|The Great [[Buddha]] at [[Todaiji|Tōdaiji]], [[Nara, Nara|Nara]], originally cast in 752]]

The [[Yamato period]], from