Japan Chapter 12 Flashcards
1
Q
What do the characters that make up the name Japan mean? What nickname has it granted Japan?
A
They mean “Sun” and “Origin”. So it is often referred to as “The Land of the Rising Sun”.
2
Q
What neighbours is Japan geographically isolated from?
A
Korea (north and south), China, and Russia.
3
Q
Why is Japan isolated from Korea (north and south), China, and Russia?
A
It is an island, so it is geographically isolated from its neighbours.
4
Q
Why have few people traveled to and from the mainland and Japan?
A
The water between is rough. Even though it is less than 200km to the mainland, the waterway is dangerous.
5
Q
What is an archipelago?
A
A group of islands.
6
Q
What is Japan with regards to geography?
A
An archipelago, or group of islands.
7
Q
How many islands make up Japan?
A
It is made up of 4 main islands and a series of smaller islands making up over 6000 islands in total.
8
Q
What is Japan’s mainland made of?
A
Mountainous ranges.
9
Q
What are most cities in Japan? Why?
A
Most cities are port cities as they have been built around the coast.
10
Q
What is Japan’s capital? What was it previously?
A
The capital of Japan is Tokyo. It was previously Kyoto.
11
Q
How big is Japan?
A
380 000 square km.
12
Q
How much farmland and flat land is there to live on in Japan? (2)
A
Very little; the largest flat area of Japan is less than 200km across, and only 18% of the country is level enough to permit agriculture or settlement.
13
Q
What is the majority of Japan made up of? (2)
A
80% of the land is covered by forested mountains and steep valleys.
14
Q
How big is the habitable land in Japan?
A
About 200km across.
15
Q
Is the population big or small?
A
Densely populated.
16
Q
What size is Japan (in comparison)?
A
60% the size of Alberta.
17
Q
Why is travel difficult?
A
The 185km between Japan and Asia is very rough, making travel difficult.
18
Q
What are the seasons like in Japan?
A
They are very distinct?
19
Q
Where can the distinct seasons of Japan be best experienced?
A
The main island of Honshu.
20
Q
How do Japan’s regions affect the weather?
A
The northern islands can experience subarctic temperatures, whereas the Okinawa islands are tropical.
21
Q
How are seasons significant in the lives of the Japanese?
A
They each play an important role in their lives, especially when it comes to their rituals and ceremonies.
22
Q
What are cherry blossoms to the Japanese?
A
They are the most beloved flowers among the Japanese and the spring blooming of the cherry trees is a time of celebration. They also represent many things to the Japanese.
23
Q
What things do the cherry blossoms represent? (3)
A
- New beginnings.
- Beauty.
- The shortness of beauty and life.
24
Q
What are natural disasters Japan faces? (3)
A
- Earthquakes.
- Tsunamis.
- Volcanoes.
25
How are earthquakes significant in Japan?
In the last 10 years, Japan has had over 20 earthquakes measuring over a magnitude of 6. There are many earthquakes that happen daily but don't measure as high.
26
How are tsunamis significant in Japan?
Earthquakes and volcanoes that occur on the ocean floor are also common in the Pacific. These may cause devastating tidal waves.
27
How are volcanoes significant in Japan?
Japan has over 100 active volcanoes, more than almost any other country and accounts alone for about 10% of all active volcanoes in the world.
28
Why is Japan targeted by earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes?
Japan is located in an area where several continental and oceanic tectonic plates meet. Earthquakes are caused by shifts in these plates. While they are usually minor in nature, every few decades a major earthquake strikes Japan. Japan is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire at the junction of four tectonic plates. The Pacific, Philippine, Eurasian, and North American plates. Whenever these plates move, the countries on the Pacific RIm are affected.
29
What does Ainu mean?
Humans.
30
How long was the Ainu Culture around?
It extended from about 1400 to the early 1700s.
31
Where did the Ainu live?
In the northern island of Japan called Hokkaido.
32
When were the Ainu oppressed? By whom?
In the mid-16th century, the Japanese people invaded the Ainu lands and oppressed them.
33
What happened after the Japanese people invaded the Ainu lands?
The Japanese oppressed the Ainu and forced them to assimilate and forget their own way of life.
34
What happened in 1899, during the Meiji period?
The Hokkaido Aborigine Protection Act was passed.
35
When was the Hokkaido Aborigine Protection Act passed?
In 1899, during the Meiji period.
36
What did the Hokkaido Aborigine Protection Act do?
The act officially recognized the Ainu people but did nothing to distinguish between the Japanese and the Ainu.
37
What were the Ainu given? What is the problem with that?
They were given farming land, but they are a hunting/fishing society.
38
Does discrimination against the Ainu still exist?
Yes.
39
What did the Ainu consider gods, or Kamyu?
Things useful to them or beyond their control.
40
What did the Ainu call their gods?
Kamyu.
41
What did the Ainu regard things useful to them or beyond their control as?
Gods, or Kamyu.
42
What did the Ainu do in daily life?
They prayed to and performed various ceremonies for the gods.
43
What did the gods of the Ainu include?
Nature (fire, water, wind, thunder), animal (bears, foxes, spotted owls, and grampuses), Plant (aconite, mushroom, and mugwort), object (boats, pots), gods which protect houses, gods of mountains, and gods of lakes.
44
What is Shinto?
The ancient religion of Japan?
45
What is the most important aspect of Shinto?
The love of nature.
46
What belief is Shinto based on?
The sacred spirits called Kami take the form of objects in nature such as mountains, trees, and stones.
47
What is the most important kami in the Shinto religion?
The sun goddess Amaterasu.
48
How do human beings become kami according to the Shinto religion?
When they die and are honoured by their families.
49
What do the Shinto believers do to please and celebrate the kami?
They hold festivals called matsuri throughout the year.
50
Which matsuri festivals are considered hte most important in Shintoism?
The Spring and Fall festivals.
51
What does Shinto not have? (2)
1. A founder.
| 2. Religious laws.
52
What did the Japanese turn to for the religious laws and the founder the Shinto religion lacked?
They turned to faiths from China (Buddhism and Confucianism).
53
What did borrowing aspects of these Chinese religions result in?
A distinctly Japanese form of worship.
54
What do many Japanese households have? (2)
1. A Buddhist altar called a butsudan
| 2. A small shrine called a kamidana. Water and rice are offered in both shrines.
55
How does Japan have a dense population? (4)
1. It has the 10th highest population in the world at about 127 000 000 people.
2. Canada's population is about 1/3 of Japan's.
3. About 10% of the entire population live in Tokyo, making it one of the densest cities in the world.
4. About 20% of the entire population lives around Tokyo in the nearby cities and prefectures.
56
What is Japan religion-wise?
About 98.5% of the people there are ethnically Japanese.
57
How is Japan experiencing a serious population problem?
People are living longer and fewer children are being born. Over 20% of Japan's population is 65+ years of age.
58
What is a homogenous society? Japan is homogenous.
It consists of people who see themselves as having a similar nature and character.
59
What assisted in making Japan a homogenous society?
The geographical factor that most assisted the development of this homogenous society in Japan was the sea. Most of the society lives along the seas, creating a communication and trading corridor for them. Ideas, beliefs, and values were exchanged.
60
What is the national language of Japan?
Japanese.
61
Japanese sounds different depending on...
...which region of Japan a person is from.
62
How is the Japanese writing system quite unique?
It has three different sets of characters. These are katakana, hiragana, and kanji. Kanji are Japanese characters borrowed from Chinese characters.
63
What is a prefecture?
It is like a province or state.
64
How many prefectures does Japan have?
47, each with their own smaller governments.
65
Where is Tokyo?
In central Honshu.
66
What is the second-largest city in Japan? Where is it?
Osaka. In southeast Honshu.
67
What is special about Tokyo and Osaka besides size?
They are their own prefectures because the cities grew so big.
68
What three cities in Japan are likely to be the most attractive to tourists? Why?
Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Kyoto used to be the seat of government (the capital of Japan), so it has a large number of historical buildings and sites.
69
What are the three branches of government in Japan?
1. Legislative (the Diet), Judicial (the courts), and Executive (the cabinet).
70
What is the role of the Emporer in Japan?
He doesn't really hold any power. He is more of a representive figure for Japan.
71
In which branch of government is the most power?
The Diet, or Legislative.
72
What is the Diet?
A parliamentary system, just like in Britain and Canada.
73
What does the Diet consist of?
A House of Representatives and a House of Councilors.
74
What do Diet members elect?
The Diet members elect a prime minister amongst themselve.s Unlike the US, the Japanese do not ELECT a president.
75
What does Japan's flag symbolize?
Japan's flag is white with a red circle, which symbolizes the sun. Each of Japan's prefectures and even the cities within the prefectures have their own flags.
76
What does rice symbolize?
Rice was the main food in Japan. Although the poorest Japanese could afford rice only occasionally, it was, and remains, the food most associated with Japan and its culture. Even today, the emperor tends a few rice plants, symbolically nurturing the Japanese culture and its people.
77
Did Japan trade much before 1853?
They had relatively little trade with other countries compared to the countries of Renaissance Europe.
78
How did Japan survive and prosper without much trade? (8)
1. Japan's farmers and fishers provided sufficient food to feed the people.
2. A temperate climate and dependable rainfall provide a longer growing season than is available in Canada.
3. Wood for building and for fuel came from the abundant forests.
4. Silkworms and cotton plants provided material for clothing.
5. Clever artisans made use of the available metals.
6. The seas provided fish, one of the main sources of protein in Japan.
7. Another staple crop is seaweed, which is high in vitamins and mineral salts.
8. Soy is also an important part of the Japanese diet.
79
How big is Japan's economy?
Today, Japan has one of the world's largest economys (top 5), and is a major exporter and importer of goods.
80
What was the Japanese money system?
For centuries, it was rice.
81
How was the value of land determined for tax purposes in Japan?
By the estimated amount of rice that it could produce.
82
What was a person's worth determined by?
Rice production.
83
What was a lord's rank and wealth related to?
The toal rice production of his territory.
84
In Japan, children are required to attend school until...
...high school.
85
What happens when students complete elementary school?
They attend their local middle school.
86
What happens after middle school?
Most students choose to continue on to high school.
87
What is this time like when students choose to continue on to high school? Why?
It is a very stressful time when they have to take entrance exams to get into competitive high schools.
88
Why are there no school buses?
Since Japanese cities are crowded and the public transportation system is advanced.
89
How do students get to school?
They walk, bike, or take the public bus or train to school.
90
How far do some students travel to go to high school?
Outside of their prefectures.
91
Define kamikaze.
A ferocious storm that destroyed most of the Mongol fleet in 1274; "divine wind" sent by the gods to defend Japan.
92
Define matsuri.
Festivals held every spring and fall to please the kami of each Japanese clan and village.
93
Define isolated.
When a person or group is set apart or cut off from others by geographic, ecologic, or social barriers.
94
Define tsunami.
A strong, destructive wave caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions on the ocean floor.
95
Define rituals.
A celebration or ceremony observed with regularity.
96
Define stoic.
Used to describe a person who can control his or her emotions and endure difficult experiences with patience.
97
Define Ainu.
Japan's Indigenous people.
98
Define arable.
Land suitable for farming and agriculture.
99
Define kamuy and kami (separate things).
Kamuy: the gods of nature of the Ainu.
Kami: Any of the sacred beings worshipped in Shinto, conceived as spirits abiding in natural phenomena.
100
Define monsoon.
Strong winds in Asia, blowing from the south-west in Summer.
101
Define homogenous.
A group of people similar in nature and character.
102
Define indigenous.
Someone born in a country; the first inhabitants of an area.
103
Define assimilation.
Forcing a group of people to acquire the characteristics of a majority group.
104
Define origin.
The point or place where something begins, arises, or is derived.
105
Define Shinto.
a Japanese religion dating from the early 8th century and incorporating the worship of ancestors and nature spirits and a belief in sacred power ( kami ) in both animate and inanimate things. It was the state religion of Japan until 1945.
106
Define kanji.
a system of Japanese writing using Chinese characters.
107
Define kana.
the system of syllabic writing used for Japanese, having two forms, hiragana and katakana.
108
Define temperate.
relating to or denoting a region or climate characterized by mild temperatures.
109
Define haiku.
a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.
110
Define staple crop.
Food staples are eaten regularly—even daily—and supply a major proportion of a person's energy and nutritional needs.
