Japan: The Land of the Rising Sun

Written by: Natalie Yao

Japan is one of the most beautiful places on our planet with many different landscapes. It is filled with complex and harmonious culture that can be seen in everyday life, and it is very interesting to learn about!

Geography

Located in East Asia, Japan is surrounded by many other nations across the sea including China, Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Japan is made up of many islands, large and very small. In fact, the total number of islands in Japan is 14,125! Yet, only 400 of those islands have people living on them because of the great number of mountains. The four main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. The largest island, Honshu, has a mountain range running down the middle named the Japanese Alps, and it covers about 80 percent of the island! Japan’s most famous and iconic mountain is Mount Fuji, shown in countless paintings and drawings. 

The charming landscape of Japan is filled with waterfalls and forests, along with the mountains previously mentioned. In Japanese culture, these features are considered sacred and they make it a very important deal to protect the nature that surrounds them. However, since over a hundred million people inhabit the tiny livable land, it is very challenging to take care of wildlife. To try and make the issue better, they control pollution very closely in cities.

Cuisine

Trapped by water, there is always a plentiful amount of fish in the waters. Japanese cuisine utilizes the nature and resources they are around, so fish and seafood is one of the most vital and important parts of the Japanese diet. In addition to fish, rice and vegetables are also part of the key foundation of their cuisine. Unlike the Western diet, Japanese food does not include much fat, dairy, and meat which makes it more healthy. Different seasonings are also a very important part of their food, such as miso, soy sauce, ponzu (combination of soy sauce, rice wine, rice vinegar, kelp, and citrus), vinegar, and salt.

Some dishes include:

• Ramen and udon, broth soup based noodles, udon being thicker

• Mochi, a rice cake dessert that can be filled with different toppings such as red bean, taro, and black sesame

• Sushi, small portions of rice rolled with fish, vegetables, and seafood

• Edamame, green beans that are boiled then sprinkled with salt on top

Tradition

Ceremony in Japan are very significant, along with connection to nature. One tradition that shows this are Tea Ceremonies, a slow step by step process of making tea, which places emphasis on tranquility, harmony, and respect. Shrines are also a large part of Japanese tradition, most of which are of the Shinto and Buddhist religions, and are places for people to worship. Lastly, Onsen is the ritual of communal bathing in hot springs to clean ones body physically and mentally. 

After learning about the different aspects of Japanese culture, one can see its uniqueness from its gorgeous forests to its complex cuisine, showing that Japan is one of richest cultures on our planet!