Japan is located in the Pacific archipelago, it is about a thousand islands with a humid maritime climate. Only on the island of Hokkaido do snowy winters with low temperatures and moderately warm summers prevail.
The landscape in Japan consists mostly of mountain forests. They occupy more than half of the country’s territory. It is a seismically active zone with frequent small earthquakes. In total, there are 40 active volcanoes and 160 dormant ones. Another territorial danger is the Pacific typhoons, which bring great destruction to coastal cities.
The number of Japanese is almost equal to the population of Russia, but the area of the country is 50 times smaller. Therefore, the population density per 1 sq. km. is 336 people. 60% of Japan’s population lives in urban areas. Tokyo’s largest city is the country’s capital, where ultra-modern traditional neon-lit skyscrapers and ancient temples mix. Tokyo with its suburbs is the world’s largest agglomeration with a population of 37 million people.
Yokohama is Japan’s largest port city. It is famous for the 296-meter skyscraper Landmark Tower, as well as the futuristic Minato Mirai district. Osaka and Yokohama are known for their modern architecture, vibrant nightlife and amazing food. Sapporo – the capital of Hokkaido – this northern city has become famous for its ski resorts with beer bars and hot tubs. Every year a winter festival is held here, which attracts more than 2,000,000 tourists.
Japan has fast public transport, mostly trams. Intercity transport is trains, sea and air transport. The Japanese prefer to get to work by bicycle and public transport, it is inconvenient and unpopular to do this by car. For this reason, traffic jams in cities are not very large. By the way, it is forbidden to talk on a mobile phone in public transport so as not to disturb others by talking on the road.
Rail communication is very popular here. Japan is proud of its famous bullet trains. For example, the Shinkansen train reaches a maximum speed of 320 kilometers per hour. The Japanese are developing a system of high-speed trains on magnetic rails. In 2015, a speed record was set on the test site – 603 kilometers per hour.
Japan is the largest car dealer in the world after China and the USA. There is a special type of cars here – kei cars – they are marked with yellow license plates and stand out strongly in appearance. Such cars are miniature with unremarkable design, but their drivers receive insurance benefits for taxes. I must say that in Japan, gasoline is expensive and paid parking is very popular. Therefore, even slight savings matter.
