Facts About Our Country of the Week: Japan!

Japan is an archipelago located in the eastern part of Asia. Its four main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, and it is divided into 47 prefectures. The country’s capital is Tokyo, which is in the Kanto region, southeast Honshu. Japan has amassed a population of 125 million people, who mainly speak Japanese. The nation’s closest neighbours are Korea, Russia, and China.

• Mountains occupy almost 80% of Japan’s land. The Japanese Alps run down the centre of its largest island, Honshu. Its highest peak is Mount Fuji, a cone-shaped volcano and a well-known symbol of Japanese culture.

• In Japan, slurping noodles is considered good manners, as it means that you are enjoying the food and it also cools down the food. If you ever eat at a Japanese restaurant, be sure to be as noisy as you can!

• Long ago, the Japanese considered black teeth as beautiful, because objects of that colour were deemed as pretty. So people started dyeing them that colour in a practice named ohaguro which lasted until the 1800s. This helped to avoid tooth and enamel decay. The tradition is also followed to show maturity.

• The country has an island called Okunoshima, and it is full of…rabbits! The little fur balls were placed there because the Japanese were testing chemical weapons during World War II, which is sad. But nowadays the place is just for tourists that want to receive cuddles from fluffy bunnies.

• On a weirder note, the Japanese enjoy some peculiar ice cream flavours, such as chicken wing, snake, Indian curry, cactus, octopus, sweet potato, corn, scallops, soy sauce, caviar, horse meat, garlic, shark’s fin, and a lot more! Ice cream makers surely experimented a lot…

Bibliography

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Climans K., Henman S., et. al. (2020, November 13th). Historical facts about japan. Factinate. https://www.factinate.com/places/25-historical-facts-japan/

Jansen, M. B., Notehelfer, F. G., et. al. (1998, July 20th). History of Japan. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/History

NatGeo Kids (2020, June 2nd).Japan facts. National Geographic. https://www.natgeokids.com/za/discover/geography/countries/facts-about-japan/

N.A. (2017, February 14th) Ohaguro: The beauty of blackened teeth in Old Japan: Live Japan travel guide. Live Japan. https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0001026/

Travellers.lk Editor (2020, February 24th) Mount Fuji, Japan [Photograph]. Travellers.lk. https://www.travellers.lk/mount-fuji-japan/

Time Photo. (2016, March 24th). See This Japanese Island Totally Taken Over by Cute Bunnies [Photograph]. Time Magazine. https://time.com/4269826/easter-2016-bunnies-japanese-island/

Koichi, J. (2014, June 4th). The Sea Urchin, Squid Ink & Natto Ice Cream of Kita No Aisu Ya San [Photograph]. ToFuGu. https://www.tofugu.com/travel/kita-no-aisu-ya-san-otaru/

N.A. (n.d.) Japan [Photograph]. U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/countries-areas/japan/