Japan geography and nature

Japan is a collection of over three thousand islands. Imagine having to remember the names of all of those! These islands are in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Asia. Most of Japan is made up of forest and mountains, and because of how steep a lot of these parts are, they are not places where people can live. Japan is also prone to earthquakes and volcanoes!

population

Over 110 million people live in Japan. Even though Japan is not a very big country, this is the 10th largest population in all the world! Since a lot of the land in Japan is not land that people can live on, this means that the cities are very crowded.

capital city & important cities

The capital city of Japan is Tokyo, which has 8 million people who live in the city, and somewhere around 30 million who live in and around the city! Other major cities in Japan include Yokohama and Osaka. Japan has really cool buildings that are different from the buildings you would find anywhere else in the world, and these major cities are the main places where you can see these buildings.

flag

Japan’s flag is called the “sun-mark flag” or the “sun disc.” It is a white flag with a red circle in the middle. This flag is considered a powerful symbol to the Japanese people.

food

The Japanese eat food that usually has rice or noodles and some sort of meat. Seafood is an important part of the Japanese diet, which is not surprising since Japan is surrounded by the ocean! The Japanese also make a lot of soup dishes, and over the last 100 years bread has also become a popular part of Japan’s diet. While these are the most basic parts of the Japanese diet, the spices that they use in their food is what really sets them apart from other Asian food!

music-dance

Japanese music has a very, very big range. Over all of history, Japan has put a lot of importance on their music, and they have different kind of traditional music that has been around for ages! In recent years, Japan has become big fans of music from America, and a lot of U.S. musicians travel to Japan for part of their concert tours. Japan is also a leader in instrumental music. If you have ever thought that instrumental music is boring, you just might change your mind after listening to the music that the Japanese make!

currency

The Japanese use the Japanese yen for their money. Even though Japan is a small country, the yen is one of the strongest currencies in all the world, right up there with the U.S. dollar, the British pound, and the European euro.

language

The official language in Japan is…want to take a guess? Japanese! More than 99% of the country speaks Japanese, which is very similar to Chinese. Nowadays, a lot of schools are also making students learn English as a second language. Since a lot of worldwide business is done with English, Japan hopes to keep their future bright with this plan of teaching students a second language.

Online Japanese lessons for kids: dinolingo.com