JAPAN
(Island State of Japan)

Capital: Tokyo

Flag: the flag of the Hi-no-Maru consists of a red circle on a white background.

MOTTO: (de facto) Kimigayo ("Kingdom of our emperor") with the words relating to the ninth century.

MONETARY BLOCK: The yen (Y) at a rate of the 100th hay is given in coins of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 yens and notes of 500, 1000, 5000 and 10000 yens. Y 1 = $0,00917 (or $1 = Y 109) as of 2005.

WEIGHT AND MEASURES: the metric system is the legal standard.

HOLIDAYS: New year, on January 1; Day of adults, on January 15; Nation basis Celebration, on February 11; Day of the vernal equinox, on March 20 or 21; Day of greens, on April 29; Constitution day, on May 3; Children's Day, on May 5; Respect by lifelong day, on September 15; Day of an autumn equinox, on September 23 or 24; Day of sport and sport, on October 10; Culture Day, on November 3; The Labor Day - Thanksgiving Day, on November 23; Birthday of the emperor, on December 23.

TIME: 9th evenings = midday of GMT.

ARRANGEMENT, SIZE AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Japanese archipelago located on east region of the Asian continent is limited on the Sea of Okhotsk, in the east of the Pacific Ocean, at the southeast Chinese sea and at the sea of Japan. The total area of Japan is 377 835 sq.km (145 883 quarter. Miles). Rather, the area occupied by Japan is a little less than State of California. It stretches for 3,008 km (1,869 miles) of a не-sw and 1,645 km (1,022 miles) of se-nw and has the general coastline of 29 751 km (18 486 miles).

Five areas - Honshu, Hokkayd, to Cuche, Shikoku and Okinawa. Each of five areas consists of the same name of the island and hundreds of surrounding islands.
From thousands of smaller islands four matter: Tsushima, in passages between Korea and Japan; In Osim's Ohms, the northern islands of Ryukyu in the southern part of the Japanese archipelago; The Island of Sado in the Sea of Japan from the Honshu center; and the island of Awaji located between Shikoku and Honshu. Two groups of islands returned by the United States to Japan in 1968 are located approximately in 1300 km (800 miles) to the east from Ryukyus: the Ogasawara Islands (Bonin), approximately in 885 km (550 miles) to the south from Tokyo and in Kazan (Vulcan), directly to the south from group Ogasawara.

The main island of Japan is Honshu on which the capital of Tokyo, the main cities and plains and also the main industrial regions are located. This island is divided into five regions: Tohoku, from Kanto's North to Tsugaru Strait; Kanto covering seven prefectures near Tokyo-Yokohama; To the Forelock or the central region, from the West from Tokyo to the area Nagoya; Kinki, including the important cities of Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Nar; and to Chugok, the narrow peninsula extending to the west from Kinki between the Sea of Japan and the Closed sea who is between the southern Honshu and the island of Shikoku.