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Overview

Steeped in centuries of Asian culture and history, Japan, an archipelago of 4 major and over 4,000 smaller islands, is a mostly mountainous country with only 15% of its land cultivable.

Anyone who's eaten sushi or used a Sony Walkman feels they know something about this slinky archipelago of some 6800 volcanic islands tucked away off the far eastern coast of Asia, and yet, from the moment of arrival in this oddly familiar, quintessentially Oriental land it's almost as if you've touched down on another planet.

Japan is a place of ancient gods and customs, but is also the cutting edge of cool modernity. High-speed trains whisk you from one end of the country to another with frightening punctuality. You can catch sight of a farmer tending his paddy field, then turn the corner and find yourself next to a neon-festooned electronic games parlour in the suburb of a sprawling metropolis. One day you could be picking through the fashions in the biggest department store on earth, the next relaxing in an outdoor hot-spring pool, watching cherry blossom or snowflakes fall, depending on the season.

Few other countries have, in the space of a few generations, experienced so much or made such an impact. Industrialized at lightning speed, Japan shed its feudal trappings to become the most powerful and outwardly aggressive country in Asia in a matter of decades, easily transformed herself to a wonder economy, the envy of the globe. Japan is fabulously wealthy and intent on reinvention for the twenty-first century. In 2002, together with South Korea, it became the first Asian nation to host soccer's World Cup.

Cities guide
Kyoto Nagoya Osaka	Tokyo Fukuoka Hiroshima	Kobe Nagasaki Sapporo	Yokohama Okinawa-Island Karatsu

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