Japan: History, Geography, Economy & Culture
Japan: History, Geography, Economy & Culture
This is the story of Japan. In this video, I explore the long and unique history of Japan, the diverse geography of Japan - an archipelago of mountains, forests and volcanoes, the Japanese Economy - perhaps the most sophisticated in the world, and the remarkably rich Japanese culture that has influenced the world in so many ways.
đCHAPTERSđ
đ0:00 Opening Montage
đ1:57 Introduction and Titles
đ3:15 Origins and Early History
đ7:14 Modern History
đ15:16 Government
đ17:01 Physical Geography
đ22:17 Human Geography and Language
đ25:13 Economy
đ28:07 Culture and Summary
đ31:22 Outro
Japanâs history as old and rich as any, and is strongly influenced by its geography, an island chain isolated at the end of the Eurasian continent. Its origins begin in the myths of the first Emperor of Japan, with recorded history beginning in the with the Yamato state of the 1st Century AD. Buddhism came to Japan in the 6th Century and fused with the native Shinto religion, which has continued to this day. Various dynasties went forward in the Asuka Period, the Nara Period where the capital of Japan moved to Kyoto, the Heian Period and the Kofun Period where the power of the Shogun, a military commander with greater power than the Emperor began.
But the Shogunâs power waned until by the 15th Century, competing warlords (âDaimyoâ) fought each other in what became known as the Sengoku Period (âWarring Statesâ). Samurai warriors, who ruled their lives by the Bushido Code, fought each other for 150 years. Oda Nobunaga was the one who ultimately triumphed out of the chaos, but he was soon assassinated, and his successor Tokugawa Ieyasu became Shogun after one final contest, the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. The Shogun Tokugawa moved his court to Edo, later renamed Tokyo, and for the next 250 years, peace and isolation reigned in this Edo Period, as foreigners were expelled.
The Edo Period came to an end in 1860 as Admiral Perry of the USA forced Japan to open up. The Shogun was deposed and the emperor restored to power in what became known as the Meiji Restoration. In the next few decades, Japan went from a feudal society to a modern industrialised nation. But this progress was overshadowed by the rise of ultra-nationalist politicians under Hideki Tojo, who invaded China, leading to the Nanking Massacre, and the entry of Japan into World War II. The Empire of Japan was short lived, however, as Great Britain and the USA pushed back its forces, and the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki saw the unimaginable surrender of the country in August 1945.
Since the war, the Japanese Economic Miracle took place, as Japan went from ruins to the #2 Economy in the world by the early 1970s. It soon dominated electronics, robotics and automotive sectors, with Japanese brands such as Sony, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Canon and Panasonic becoming household names.
The geography of Japan comprises four main islands Hokkaido in the north, the largest island of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu in the south. Okinawa is also notable, part of the Ryukyu island chain that extends as far as Taiwan. Earthquakes are a continual menace to Japan, with the most recent devastating Tohoku Earthquake of 2011 resulting in a devastating tsunami that led to the loss of 10,000s and the nuclear disaster of Fukushima.
Japanese culture is easily among the worldâs richest, with its art, ikebana, bonsai and Japanese garden design prized around the world. It has a rich tradition of martial arts, from samurai to judo, karate to sumo. Its cuisine of ramen, sushi, teppan and teriyaki is sophisticated and popular the world over. Manga and anime are the latest globally desired trend of a tradition of centuries of illustration. Japanese strength in both electronics, art and story-telling resulted in its early entry into video games, which it continues to dominate to the present.
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Content
117.689 -> A volcanic archipelago on the eastern edge
of the Eurasian continent.
123.359 -> A land of stunning natural beauty enhanced
by centuries of unique art.
129.869 -> Having a history completely unlike any other
nation - it has maintained a unique and distinctive
135.42 -> culture to the present day.
138.54 -> This is the country that rose from the ashes
of defeat in war to become a global economic
143.45 -> superpower, being a global leader in automotive
and electronics.
145.62 -> This is the land of samurai and judo, sushi
and bonsai, manga and Godzilla.
153.12 -> This is the land of the rising sun.
155.36 -> This, is Japan.
196.44 -> Japan is an archipelago lying off the eastern temperate coast of Asia and is a country that
201.269 -> is the home of the people of the same name â the Japanese.
204.5 -> They call their own country Nihon or
Nippon, which literally means âsunâs originâ,
210.66 -> referring to the fact that it is the first
significant place in Asia to receive the sunrise each day.
216.12 -> The word has been in use to describe the country
since around 700AD.
219.84 -> The English word for this country â Japan
â is believed to come through a corruption
224.609 -> of Nippon via Portuguese, Malay or Mandarin Chinese.
229.54 -> The Japanese archipelago has been inhabited by humans at least as far back as 16,000 years,
235.139 -> by hunter gatherers known as the Jomon.
238.34 -> But around 300BC, the Yayoi people began to
move into the islands from the mainland, bringing
243.709 -> with them the ancestor of todayâs Japanese
language as well as Chinese influences in
248.419 -> art and architecture.
250.77 -> The first mention of Japan in written records
was in the Chinese Book of Han in 111AD, and
256.759 -> the later Chinese Records of the Three Kingdoms
mention Yamato as being the most powerful
261.42 -> of a number of states on the archipelago.
264.57 -> Buddhism arrived around the 6th Century from
the Korean peninsula, and was mixed with the
268.699 -> traditional Shinto religion of the island.
271.92 -> A gradual centralisation of power took place
between the 6th and 8th centuries in the Asuka
277.47 -> period, but the first truly recognisable Japanese
state began in the Nara period of the 8th
282.48 -> century, with the first emperor ruling from
a Chinese-styled court.
286.75 -> The capital moved to Kyoto in 794, where it
would remain until almost the present day.
293.32 -> Introverted into the politicking of the imperial
court, the emperorâs power declined over
297.44 -> the following centuries, and regional clans
filled the vacuum.
301.49 -> Civil war erupted in the 12th Century, with
the Minamoto clan coming out on top, and their
306.041 -> head becoming the first Shogun, a military
ruler with true power, with the emperor merely
311.52 -> a figurehead.
313.099 -> Japan would more or less be under military
rule for the next seven centuries.
318.82 -> During these next centuries, power shifted
back and forth between the regional clans,
322.68 -> and their armies of samurai, and the Shogun.
326.18 -> These clans united to beat off two attempted
Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281, but by
332.639 -> 1467 the Shogunâs power was broken, and
the country descended into violent civil war,
338.43 -> with more than a dozen clans ruled by feudal
warlords known as Daimyo fighting it out over
343.4 -> the next century, in what became known as
the Sengoku period, the stories of which have
347.91 -> gone into legend, to be retold time and again.
352.069 -> This period was further complicated by the
first arrival of Europeans, principally the
356.599 -> Portuguese, but later the Dutch and English,
who brought with them ChristianityâŚ
361.68 -> and guns.
363.69 -> This period was finally concluded in the year
1600, at the battle of Segikahara where the
369.24 -> warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu was triumphant, and
all other rival clans defeated.
374.91 -> While the powerless emperor remained in Kyoto,
the Shogun Tokugawa moved his court to Edo,
381.07 -> later renamed Tokyo, and his successors held
absolute power for the next
385.35 -> two and a half centuries.
386.71 -> Christianity was viewed as a threat to the
Shogunâs power, and was outlawed under penalty of death.
392.32 -> To go further, all external influences would
be prevented as Japan closed itself off from
397.13 -> the outside world â Japanese were forbidden
to travel abroad.
401.81 -> No foreigners were permitted to enter Japan,
with only a sole Dutch outpost being permitted.
407.77 -> No other country in world history has enacted
such a wide-reaching policy of isolation for
412.63 -> so long.
413.949 -> Despite the isolation, Japan flourished economically
and artistically, and its population expanded
420.43 -> considerable, reaching thirty million by the
year 1700, with Edo being the largest city
425.32 -> in the world by 1721.
427.41 -> At this time also, private schools flourished
and it is thought that Japan may have been
431.83 -> the most literate country in the world at
that time.
435.46 -> By the mid-1800s however, the power of the
Shogun was waning, as a result of growing
440 -> unrest from government ineptitude and economic
stagnation.
442.949 -> But it took a foreign power to act as the
catalyst for change.
447.71 -> In 1852, a fleet of United States warships
led by Commodore Perry was given a mission
452.55 -> by the President to force Japan to open up
to trade.
456.57 -> The following year, this fleet arrived in
Edo Bay, and used displays of its superior
461.419 -> military might and technology to intimidate
the Japanese authorities, who eventually had
465.83 -> to concede in allow foreigners to visit and
trade with the country.
470.29 -> This change destabilised the Shogunate, and
after a brief civil war, was deposed in 1868,
476.229 -> with the emperor restored to power, in what
became known as the Meiji restoration, named
480.54 -> after the emperorâs dynastic name.
483.3 -> It was at this time that the capital was moved
from Kyoto to Edo, and that city renamed to
488.41 -> Tokyo, meaning âKyoto of the Eastâ.
492.8 -> In the following decades, the fastest modernisation
of any country in history took place, with
498.13 -> Japan developing from an almost feudal society
into an industrialised nation.
503.46 -> Westerners were brought in in their thousands
to advise and supervise in the construction
507.2 -> of railways and factories, and the traditional
dress of the rulers and armies of Shogunate
511.919 -> was replaced by European-style uniforms.
515.209 -> Despite this westernisation, however, the
Japanese held firm to their traditional mix
519.209 -> of Buddhist and Shinto culture and traditions.
522.81 -> It was during this period that the last and
most northerly of the main islands of the
526.25 -> archipelago, Hokkaido, began to be colonised.
530.17 -> Throughout all the preceding centuries, the
island was inhabited by the ethnically distinct
534.13 -> Ainu people, and there had been little interest
in it by the Shogunate and the main clans
538.82 -> due to its harsh winter climate.
540.99 -> But this changed with the growth of Japan
into a modern nation, as its lands were seen
545.35 -> as a means of feeding the growing population,
as well as ensuring that a firm presence there
549.889 -> would resist the threat of a Russian takeover.
553.74 -> Between 1850 and 1950, the population on the
island exploded from just 70,000
560.22 -> to over 4 million.
561.22 -> The native Ainu people were assimilated into
the larger population, their distinctive culture
565.949 -> all but extinguished.
568.889 -> There had never been a democratic tradition
in Japan, and so although an elected House
573.64 -> of Representatives was part of the new constitution,
only 2% of Japanese could vote, and ultimately,
580 -> all nominal power was held by the emperor.
583.07 -> The military began to gain power and influence
throughout the government, believing that
586.69 -> the only way to ensure Japanâs survival
in this age of Western Colonialism was to
591.139 -> use its new industrial power to seize colonies
of its own, gaining Taiwan in 1894 and, emboldened
597.74 -> by the defeat of the Russian fleet in 1905,
occupying Korea in 1910.
604.41 -> This process of military control accelerated
rapidly in the late 1920s and early 1930s,
610.26 -> inspired by fascism from Europe, with moderates
and dissidents murdered.
614.24 -> In 1931, the large northern Chinese province
of Manchuria was occupied, and in 1937 Japan
620.86 -> began a full-scale invasion of China, the
latter weakened by its own civil war which
625.18 -> had been raging since the disposal of the
Chinese emperor in 1911.
629.8 -> Such actions brought condemnation from the
United States and the United Kingdom, who
633.5 -> saw the growth of Japanese regional power
as a threat to their own colonies and influence
637.351 -> in the region.
639.21 -> Japan responded by allying itself to fascist
powers in Europe â Germany and Italy â in
644.36 -> 1940, further worsening relations with the
US and Britain.
648.15 -> With the Japanese invasion of French Indochina
â what is today Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
653.32 -> â Western trade embargos culminated in an
oil embargo, and without oil, Japan would
658.87 -> not be able to continue its industrialised
warfare, and had to act.
663.83 -> Realising it could not win a long war with
the United States, Japan aimed to knock them
668.26 -> out of the Pacific with a devastating blow,
and so on December 7, 1941, launched the surprise
674.95 -> attack on the US Pacific Fleet stationed in
Pearl Harbor in Hawaiâi as a pretext to
679.89 -> a declaration of war.
681.62 -> At the same time, Japanese forces invaded
British South East Asia, and within weeks,
687.04 -> Singapore had fallen, in what is regarded
as the worst defeat in British military history.
691.89 -> The Philippines and the Dutch East Indies,
what is now Indonesia, were also occupied
696.23 -> in rapid succession.
697.73 -> It seemed that Japanese military power was
unstoppable.
702.22 -> And so it is that we enter what I consider
to be the darkest part in Japanese history.
706.56 -> For the peoples of those subject nations,
and the allied soldiers captured as prisoners
711.17 -> of war, life under Japanese rule was nothing
short of hell.
715.76 -> Through a twisting of the traditional bushido
samurai code, defeated armies and peoples
720.13 -> were viewed as sub-human by the ruling military
and their armies were
724.3 -> ordered to treat them brutally.
726.12 -> Allied PoWâs were starved, put into forced
labour, tortured and executed, while subject
731.1 -> peoples in China, Korea, the Philippines and
elsewhere were subject to massacres, mass-rape
736.74 -> and forced prostitution.
739.32 -> By this same twisted code, the Japanese soldiers
were taught that to be taken alive by the
743.13 -> enemy was worse than death, and so as the
allies finally began to turn the tide of war
747.77 -> in late 1942, the slow process of expelling
the Japanese from their occupied territories
752.89 -> was met with ferocious resistance, with soldiers
fighting to the death rather than be captured,
758.12 -> and in the ultimate symbol of nationalistic
sacrifice, pilots of the Japanese navy turned
762.7 -> themselves into guided missiles in suicidal
kamikaze attacks on US ships.
768.52 -> The battle of the Pacific, one of the most
brutal and savage in any of history, reached
772.99 -> an ultimate, and truly apocalyptic crescendo
in mid-1945.
778.269 -> In the face of such suicidal resistance, it
was estimated that a full-scale invasion of
782.46 -> the Japanese main islands would result in
half a million deaths of US servicemen, and
787.56 -> a decision was made by US President Truman,
to use the ultimate weapon against the enemy.
792.75 -> On August 6 and 9th of 1945 two atomic bombs
were dropped on the south-western cities of
798.87 -> Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
801.97 -> Between them almost a quarter of a million
people were killed, mostly civilians.
807.06 -> It is the only time in history where atomic
or nuclear weapons have been used in war.
814.8 -> After such a devastating shock, Japan had
no choice but to think the unthinkable, and
819.92 -> it surrendered unconditionally.
821.839 -> The country was in ruins â the two atomic
bombs just the final blow after months of
827.33 -> conventional bombing that had devastated all
major cities.
830.81 -> For the first time in its long history, Japan
was occupied by a foreign power
836.46 -> â the United States.
838.56 -> The leadership of the Japanese military under
Tojo, were tried and executed as war criminals,
842.7 -> but the allies decided to let the Japanese
keep their Emperor, Hirohito, to prevent total
847.72 -> humiliation of the nation and any potential
unrest in the general population.
852.76 -> In the following years of occupation, up until
1952, major reforms were made to ensure that
857.6 -> democracy and an orientation to peaceful methods
would survive into the future, and this has
862.98 -> borne out in the seven decades since, with
the country not having fought a war, but instead
867.269 -> focusing on economic growth and power.
870.279 -> Mirroring, in a way, the incredible transformation
from feudal to industrial power in the late
876.48 -> 1800s, Japan pulled off another economic miracle,
rising from the ashes of World War II to becoming
881.76 -> the worldâs second largest economy by the
late 1960s.
885.399 -> The economy grew each year on average by 10%
from 1956 until 1973 and by 1968, only the
893.63 -> United States had a higher economic output.
897.019 -> Due largely to trends in overall demographics,
however, the economic boom came to an end
901.529 -> in 1989 with a stock market and property-price
crash, and throughout the 1990s there was
907.42 -> virtually no growth in what became known as
the lost decade.
911.709 -> Since 2000 growth has recovered, albeit slowly.
914.11 -> The reasons for this failure to recover are
the subject of much debate among global economists.
916.01 -> Japan is a unitary state, meaning that the
central government has supreme authority,
919.94 -> as opposed to federal systems like the United
States.
923.76 -> The country is divided into 47 counties, called
Prefectures, and some of the larger prefectures,
928.93 -> such as Hokkaido, are divided into sub-prefectures.
932.22 -> At the base of the state administration are
municipalities, numbering over 1,700 in total.
938.139 -> Some of the larger cities like Tokyo and Osaka
have their own exceptional governmental structures.
943.79 -> Since the new constitution was created in
1947, the Emperor has no formal powers, and
948.829 -> so Japan is now a constitutional monarchy,
governed by an executive of a prime minister
953.24 -> and cabinet elected from the parliament, known
as the National Diet.
957.899 -> The Diet is bicameral, meaning it is composed
of two houses, a 465-seat lower House of Representatives
964.88 -> elected by universal suffrage every four years,
and a 245-seat upper House of Councillors
971.01 -> elected again by all Japanese citizens over
the age of 18, serving six-year terms.
977 -> The conservative Liberal Democratic Party
has been in power for all but 9 of the years
981.06 -> since 1955, and dominate Japanese politics,
making some international commentators describe
986.459 -> Japan as a flawed democracy.
989.2 -> The current emperor is Naruhito, son of Akihito
who abdicated in 2019, and grandson of Hirohito,
995.86 -> who had lived through all the turbulence of
the nationalist takeover of Japan, the most
1000.2 -> violent of all wars, its defeat and subsequent
occupation by the United States, and its rise
1005.139 -> economically afterwards.
1007.82 -> Ultimately these emperors trace their lineage
back to the 7th Century BC according to legend,
1012.92 -> although the first historically verifiable
emperor dates to the 6th Century AD.
1017.209 -> Either way, Japan is regarded as the worldâs
oldest surviving monarchy.
1022.93 -> Japan is an archipelago of over 6,800 islands
occupying the north western Pacific.
1029.419 -> All but four of these islands are comparatively
small and outlying and it is on the four main
1034.209 -> islands where the vast majority of the population
live.
1037.069 -> A fifth, Okinawa, in the far south half-way
to Taiwan, is a notable exception to this rule.
1043.48 -> The main four are, from north to south, Hokkaido,
Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu.
1049.84 -> It is possible to travel across all four main
islands by train, and from tip to tip would
1054.38 -> take you 29 hours, thanks to the remarkable
bullet trains that run all the way from Sapporo
1058.95 -> in the north to Kagoshima in the south.
1061.889 -> A car journey would take you 37 hours by comparison,
and involves a ferry crossing from Hokkaido
1066.88 -> to Honshu in the north.
1069.24 -> Japanâs total land area is around four hundred
thousand square kilometres [377,975.24 km2
1073.24 -> (145,937.06 sq mi)], making it the 4th largest
island nation in the world, and 61st overall.
1078.74 -> It has the sixth longest coastline of any
nation.
1082.59 -> Its highest point is Mount Fuji at 3776m,
a dormant volcano that last erupted in 1708,
1090.059 -> and owing to its near-perfect profile, a national
symbol, and the most photographed natural
1094.61 -> feature on Earth.
1096.929 -> Japan is bordered by the Pacific Ocean all
along its south-eastern flank.
1101.61 -> To the north-west it faces the Korean peninsula,
the Sea of Japan, and extreme south-east of
1106.159 -> Russia around their port of Vladivostok.
1109.399 -> To the north is Sakhalin and the Kuril islands,
also a part of Russia, but with the closest
1114.179 -> four being claimed by Japan.
1117.28 -> To the south runs the long chain of the Ryukyu
islands that face China across
1122.279 -> the East China Sea.
1123.84 -> Japan spans about 20 degrees of latitude,
from 24 degrees north at the bottom of the
1128.12 -> Ryukyu chain to 45 north at the tip of Hokkaido.
1132.25 -> Consequently, it sees great variation in climate.
1135.97 -> The far southern islands are subtropical,
bordering on tropical.
1140 -> As we head north along the Ryukyu chain and
onto the main islands, the Humid Subtropical
1145.159 -> (Cfa) climate of hot summers and cool winters,
with year round precipitation dominates all
1149.649 -> but mountain areas and is regarded as the
principle climate of Japan.
1153.249 -> Itâs only until we move into the north of
Honshu island where the winters start to become
1158.11 -> cold and consistently snowy, and where we
find a hot summer continental (Dfa) climate.
1163.299 -> Finally, in the far north, these hot summers
give way to only warm ones and in combination
1168.25 -> with cold winters, the island of Hokkaido
is therefore dominated by the warm summer
1172.71 -> continental climate (Dfb).
1175.45 -> The Humid Subtropical and Continental climates
are characterised by four distinct seasons,
1180.65 -> and being present in Japan, have become a
part of their culture and art history.
1185.62 -> The snows and chill of winter contrast with
the full green leaf and sweltering heat of
1190.21 -> summer, while autumn bursts into vivid colour,
thanks to so many maples being present on
1195.139 -> the islands.
1196.139 -> But itâs the spring that is celebrated the
most, specifically the flowering of the cherry
1200.809 -> tree, the blossom that the Japanese call sakura.
1204.71 -> The blossom lasts no more than a week or so
in one location, but the wave of blossom travels
1209.369 -> up the country from south to north over March
and April.
1213.59 -> During this festival, known as hanami, family
and friends celebrate with food and drink
1217.94 -> together beneath the trees in a tradition
that goes back centuries.
1222.94 -> The north-west coast of Japan has a peculiarity
of being one of the snowiest
1227.09 -> places in the world.
1228.34 -> This is owing to a rare combination of cold
winds blowing over water onto the land â in
1233.269 -> this case the dry cold winds that consistently
blow out from central Siberia each winter.
1238.749 -> As they roll over the Sea of Japan, they gather
moisture, then deposit it heavily onto cities
1243.69 -> like Sapporo and Niigata.
1246.33 -> This unusual effect is the winter part of
the Eastern Asian Monsoon, the worldâs largest
1250.769 -> weather system, which effects all islands
in Japan.
1254.58 -> In summer, winds move in the opposite direction,
from the Pacific Ocean toward the Eurasian
1258.899 -> mainland, laden with moisture.
1261.37 -> As most of the populated cities are on the
SE side of the islands, these cities experience
1265.97 -> higher rainfall in summer than winter as a
result.
1270.519 -> Owing to its heavily mountainous geography,
two thirds of the land is not suitable for
1273.929 -> either agriculture or urban development, and
so much of the country has retained the natural
1278.35 -> biome of temperate broadleaf forest.
1281.549 -> In the far north, this forest gives way to
coniferous boreal forest, while in the far
1285.789 -> southern islands, a form of tropical rainforest
is present.
1290.149 -> That mountainous geography has a single cause,
one that is perhaps Japanâs biggest curse,
1296.149 -> tectonics.
1297.6 -> Japan lies adjacent to fault lines that separate
the giant Pacific plate with others on the
1301.989 -> eastern edge of Asia.
1304.24 -> This has produced volcanoes, such as Mount
Fuji just mentioned, but more importantly,
1308.789 -> earthquakes, and especially the tsunami that
can sometimes be produced when these occur
1312.58 -> over water.
1314.549 -> In fact, the word tsunami is one we have borrowed
from Japanese, so much that these destructive
1319.169 -> forces have dominated their history, with
the most recent being the Tohoku earthquake
1323.679 -> of 2011.
1325.859 -> This magnitude 9 quake killed 16-20,000 people,
the vast majority of whom were drowned by
1331.249 -> the tsunami, and led to the nuclear disaster
at Fukushima,
1336.399 -> whose effects are still ongoing today.
1338.32 -> Japan has a population of 126 million, ranked
11th in the world, with 80% of them living
1344.62 -> on the largest island of Honshu.
1347.72 -> Almost a third of them â 38 million, live
in the Greater Tokyo Area, which is the most
1352.659 -> populous metropolitan area in the world.
1356.19 -> The second largest conurbation is that of
Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, having 20 million people.
1362.72 -> Between them, these two conurbations account
for half of Japanâs population.
1367.619 -> Already one of the most densely populated
nations in the world, and with most of the
1371.419 -> land area mountainous, this population is
crammed into the cities that occupy the relatively
1376.619 -> rare coastal plains.
1379.14 -> The vast majority of Japanâs population
- over 98% - are ethnic Japanese, sometimes
1383.229 -> referred to as Yamato, making the country
one of the most ethnically homogenous in the world.
1388.22 -> At 83.5 years, Japan is ranked #2 in the world
for life expectancy, with the island of Okinawa
1394.789 -> having the highest proportion of centenarians
found anywhere in the world.
1399.549 -> With an increasingly aging population due
to a reduction in the birth rate in recent
1403.45 -> decades, it is expected to fall considerably
to 95 million by 2050, which will have significant
1409.94 -> effects on the economy, housing and so on.
1413.44 -> The Japanese language is spoken by virtually
all the inhabitants of the archipelago.
1418.289 -> Its origins are uncertain, but it is believed
to have come across from the mainland by the
1423.169 -> Yayoi people around two millennia ago.
1426.269 -> It is the dominant member of the small Japonic
language group, with Ryukyuan being the other,
1432.019 -> spoken only by older people in the Ryukyu
islands, and now facing extinction.
1436.909 -> Japanese was greatly influenced by Chinese
in the 8th and 9th centuries, with as many
1441.879 -> as half the words today believed to have come
from this period of importation.
1446.809 -> The written language is one of the most complicated
in the world, being a combination of three
1450.279 -> different scripts â kanji, hiragana and
katakana.
1454.869 -> Kanji, derived from Chinese, uses thousands
of different pictograms to describe meaning,
1460.369 -> and is used for most content words.
1462.749 -> Hiragana and katakana represent spoken syllables,
and are used to perform grammatical linkages
1468.229 -> and borrowed foreign words respectively.
1471.919 -> Shinto and Buddhism are the countryâs primary
religions.
1475.279 -> Shinto is exclusive to the archipelago, and
is based on the belief that kami, or spirits
1479.72 -> are present throughout nature as well as people.
1483.509 -> Buddhism arrived in Japan around a millennium
after its birth in India in the 6th Century BC.
1490.07 -> Japanâs flag is unmistakable, being a simple
red disc in the centre of a field of white,
1495.809 -> representing the rising sun.
1497.76 -> It has been in use formally since 1870, although
the use of a sun flag to represent the Japanese
1502.95 -> imperial court goes back as early as the 8th
century.
1507.229 -> Japan has no coat of arms, but the chrysanthemum
is considered a national emblem and represents
1512.58 -> the emperor.
1514.529 -> Japanâs economy is the third largest in
the world, after the United States and China,
1519.749 -> and ranks as number one in the world by the
Economic Complexity Index.
1523.34 -> It is dominated by an advanced manufacturing
sector that exports electronics, cars, motorcycles,
1529.359 -> robots and dozens of other types of finished
products or components built to a quality
1533.299 -> and precision that is the envy of the world.
1536.409 -> Japanâs rise as an economic superpower â the
original âTiger economyâ - is a truly
1542.149 -> remarkable story when one considers it was
barely out of the feudal era a century and
1546.559 -> a half ago.
1547.729 -> The manufacturing techniques that originated
in Japan, such as Just-in-Time logistics,
1552.419 -> have been emulated today by most Western economies,
as well as other Tiger economies of the Far
1557.59 -> East such as Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and
finally China.
1562.09 -> Japan was the first country to develop high-speed
rail systems, with their world-famous Shinkansen
1566.809 -> or âbulletâ trains first appearing in
1964, and continue today to link all the major
1571.82 -> cities across the four main islands.
1575.33 -> Japanese manufacturing brands are household
names globally.
1579.389 -> In the automotive sector these include Toyota,
the worldâs largest by volume of production,
1584.7 -> Nissan, Honda, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Mazda,
Yamaha, Kawasaki, Subaru, Isuzu and Daihatsu.
1595.489 -> Until the recent ramp up of Chinese production,
Japan was making more cars, trucks and motorcycles
1600.239 -> than any other country in the world, and is
still the world largest automotive exporter.
1604.87 -> In electronics, Japan dominated for decades,
although recent competition from South Korea,
1610.789 -> Taiwan and China has reduced their market
share.
1613.639 -> Nonetheless, its electronics industry is still
the worldâs largest, and Japanese brands
1618.519 -> of televisions, cameras, video recorders,
camcorders, video game systems and laptops
1623.249 -> are legend.
1624.33 -> Past and present, they include Sony, Panasonic,
Canon, Nintendo, Yamaha, Epson, Toshiba, Hitachi,
1632.549 -> Sega, Nikon, Sharp, Konica-Minolta, Fujitsu,
Casio, JVC, Pioneer, Sanyo, Ricoh and NEC.
1642.75 -> These corporations were leaders in the development
and mass-market production of the transistor
1647.11 -> radio, the personal cassette player, digital
watches, video recorders and laptops.
1652.299 -> Tokyo has the third largest stock exchange
in the world after the NYSE and NASDAQ, while
1658.58 -> the Japanese currency, the Yen, is the third
most widely traded currency in the world after
1662.62 -> the US Dollar and the Euro.
1665.029 -> The âlost decadeâ of the 1990s and early
2000s saw economic activity contract, and
1670.429 -> this is part of the reason why Japan has by
far the highest national debt of any developed
1674.82 -> nation, at an eye-watering 236% of GDP in
2017.
1679.85 -> With the aforementioned demographic issues
of a declining population, the economic future
1685.009 -> of the country remains unclear.
1688.309 -> Japanese culture is one of the most distinct
and globally recognised in the world.
1693.21 -> It is a complex fusion of both East Asian
and western influences, but at its centre
1697.499 -> is a rich body of customs and art that originated
within the archipelago.
1703.119 -> The Japanese unique take on calligraphy, illustration,
painting, flower arranging, garden design,
1709.519 -> poetry, theatre and clothing are admired globally,
and have led to many Japanese words finding
1714.87 -> their way into English, including, bonsai,
haiku, ikebana, kabuki, origami, geisha, kimono
1722.999 -> and karaoke.
1725.08 -> Japanese traditional warfare has been a magnet
for aficionados around the world for many
1729.279 -> years, with the costumes, traditions and weapons
of the samurai, particularly from the warring
1733.69 -> states period of the 16th century being instantly
recognisable.
1738.86 -> Its martial arts are world famous, and include
karate, sumo, aikido and kendo, with judo
1744.94 -> in particular being internationally popular,
and taught in schools around the world.
1751.229 -> And on a related subject, ninjas, anyone?
1755.499 -> More recent global influences have come from
Japan fusing its power in the electronics
1759.339 -> industry with its long tradition of art and
story-telling in the video games industry,
1764.929 -> being a major player in this market since
the 1970s.
1768.96 -> Japanese cartoons and comics - manga and anime
are the latest incarnations in a tradition
1774.64 -> of illustration that goes back centuries â and
now enjoy a huge audience globally in addition
1779.979 -> to the domestic market.
1782.299 -> Japanese cinema is as old as any in Europe
or North America, and had a golden age in
1786.73 -> the 1950s, with Kurosawaâs Seven Samurai
regarded in many polls as one of the finest
1792.1 -> films in cinema history.
1795.139 -> And, dare we mentionâŚ
1797.119 -> Godzilla â a prehistoric sea monster awakened
and empowered by nuclear radiation to become
1802.62 -> a global pop icon.
1805.57 -> And I havenât even mentioned food.
1807.789 -> The Japanese have developed a distinctive
and refined cuisine across the centuries,
1812.179 -> with ramen noodles, fried tempura, teriyaki
meats and sushi being the most popular around
1817.48 -> the world.
1819.219 -> Any country that can make raw fish not only
edible, but desirable,
1823.809 -> deserves particular credit.
1826.129 -> For a relatively small country - isolated
on the eastern fringe of the continental land
1830.669 -> mass of Eurasia â Japanâs global reach
is astonishing.
1835.999 -> As a gaijin who has studied this country,
its history and its art for the longest time,
1840.539 -> I still have to scratch my head when trying
to understand the fundamental essence of the
1844.95 -> country and its people.
1847.419 -> What is Japan?
1848.5 -> Who are the Japanese?
1850.359 -> There are few, if any, non-Western countries
that have so successfully taken the expansion
1856.749 -> of Western culture and fused it into their
own rich historical traditions and art.
1862.44 -> And how does one reconcile the softness and
perfection of their manners with the savagery
1867.269 -> that has marked the darker episodes in their
history?
1870.549 -> I, for one, cannot.
1873.129 -> Japan is as much a mystery as it is a fascination,
and will likely continue to be so in the centuries
1879.229 -> to come.
1883.499 -> And thatâs Japan.
1884.559 -> I hope you enjoyed this whirlwind tour of
that unique archipelago and its people.
1889.889 -> If you did, then please like and share this
video.
1893.74 -> Let me know your thoughts in the comments,
especially if youâre from this country,
1897.539 -> and if I missed out anything you feel is important.
1899.889 -> If you havenât done so already, then please
click the Subscribe button so you donât
1904.539 -> miss future episodes.
1905.95 -> And if youâd like to support future development
of this channel, then please consider becoming
1909.909 -> a Patreon supporter.
1912.349 -> Thanks again for watching, and Iâll see
you in the next episode.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQX8UwV87Os