The Ryukyu chain to the southwest was
U.S.-occupied from 1945 to 1972, when it reverted to Japanese control, and
the Kurils to the northeast are Russian-occupied.
Constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary
government.
Through the 700s Japan was much influenced by
China, and the Yamato clan set up an imperial court similar to that of
China.
For the following 700 years,
shoguns from a succession of clans ruled in Japan, while the imperial
court existed in relative obscurity.
Suspicious of Christianity and of Portuguese support of a local
Japanese revolt, the shoguns of the Tokugawa period (1603–1867)
prohibited all trade with foreign countries; only a Dutch trading post at
Nagasaki was permitted.
The
Japanese began to take steps to extend their empire.
In World War I, Japan
seized Germany's Pacific islands and leased areas in China.
At the Washington Conference of 1921–1922,
Japan agreed to respect Chinese national integrity, but, in 1931, it
invaded Manchuria.
The dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in 1945 by the United States finally brought the government
to admit defeat. Japan surrendered formally on Sept. 2, 1945, aboard the
battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
The U.S. and Japan signed a security treaty in
1951, allowing for U.S. troops to be stationed in Japan. In 1952, Japan
regained full sovereignty, and, in 1972, the U.S. returned to Japan the
Ryuku Islands, including Okinawa.
A shrewd trade policy gave Japan larger shares in many
Western markets, an imbalance that caused some tensions with the U.S.
During the 1990s, Japan suffered an economic
downturn prompted by scandals involving government officials, bankers, and
leaders of industry. Japan succumbed to the Asian economic crisis in 1998,
experiencing its worst recession since World War II.
The
embattled Mori resigned in April 2001 and was replaced by Liberal Democrat
Junichiro Koizumi—the country's 11th prime minister in 13 years.
Koizumi was overwhelmingly reelected in Sept.
2003 and promised to push ahead with tough economic reforms.
In April 2005, China protested the publication
of Japanese textbooks that whitewashed the atrocities committed by Japan
during World War II.
Princesss Kiko gave birth to a boy in September.
The child's birth spares Japan a controversial debate over whether women
should be allowed to ascend to the throne.
He suffered a stunning blow in July 2007 parliamentary
elections, however, when his Liberal Democratic Party lost control of the
upper house to the opposition Democratic Party.
A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck in northwest
Japan in July 2007, killing 10 people and injuring more than 900. The
tremor caused skyscrapers in Tokyo to sway for almost a minute, buckled
roads and bridges, and damaged a nuclear power plant. About 315 gallons of
radioactive water leaked into the Sea of Japan.
he move followed a string of
scandals and the stunning defeat of his Liberal Democratic Party in July's
parliamentary elections
In June 2008, the upper house of Parliament,
which is controlled by the opposition, censured Fukuda, citing his
management of domestic issues.
The opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which won control of the
upper house of Parliament in 2007, poses a viable threat to the Liberal
Democrats who have been in control for more than 50 years.