few facts about japan

japan is also known as the land of the rising sun the kanji translates to sun origin this is because from a chinese point of view the sun rises from japan japan consists of over 6 800 islands the four largest islands are honshu hokkaido kyushu and shikoku these four islands make up about 97 of japan's land area there are 47 prefectures in japan more than 70 of japan is mountainous mount fuji is the tallest mountain in japan at 3 76 meters there are more than 1 500 earthquakes a year japan has a population of around 126 million people which is less than half of the population of the united states yet the area of japan is just slightly larger than the area of california japan has the third largest economy in the world behind the united states and china japan has the second highest life expectancy women's life expectancy is 87 while the men can expect to live until 80.japanese is the official language of japan japan has a prime minister and not a president but japan also has an emperor who is the constitutional monarch and ceremonial head of state japan enjoys all four seasons summer is quite hot and humid in many parts of japan there is a rainy season that lasts for about six weeks from early to mid-summer winter is especially cold in the north part of honshu and hokkaido autumn is a very popular time of the year with many people taking in the beautiful autumn colors in and around the countryside spring is an especially popular time for friends family and co-workers to gather in the park for cherry blossom season each season also is associated with special foods for example various dishes made with bamboo shoots in the spring cool noodles and watermelon in the summer chestnuts and apples in autumn and one pot cuisine called nabe in the winter of course there's a lot more about japan i could go on and on about this beautiful country hot springs temples castles shopping food and lots more but i'll save it all for the next lesson .