Group items tagged

The burakumin (people of the village) are ethnically the same as the majority of Japanese. However, their ancestors were members of the former outcast class. The burakumin are often treated unfairly.

Shinto is based on the worship of local spirits in nature.

Japan has a rich and complex culture. Native Japanese traditions have been mixed with cultural styles adapted from China and, later, from the West. Japanese culture and art emphasize understated simplicity, elegance, and grace. For example, the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, flower arranging, and garden design are highly stylized and refined. On the other hand, contemporary Japanese society fully embraces Western-style popular culture—influenced by television, motion pictures, and advertising.

modern Japanese writers include Soseki Natsume, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Osamu Dazai, Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, and Yukio Mishima.

Poetry plays a central role in Japanese culture.

The carefully composed paintings used few brush strokes to suggest a scene in nature.

Japanese No plays are generally short, stylized, and heroic.

Today the martial arts are more important as competitive sports and as aids to physical and mental fitness.

The Japanese economy grew remarkably throughout the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.

Historical records, however, show that Japan was not united as one state until the late 4th or early 5th century AD. It was ruled by the Yamato dynasty.

Meanwhile, Japan was developing trade contacts with the outside world.

By the mid-19th century the Tokugawa shogunate was unable to keep European and United States traders away.

A new government was established under the young emperor Mutsuhito, who took the name of Meiji, meaning “enlightened government.”

Japan soon sought to build an empire. It successfully fought a war with China (1894–95) and with Russia (1904–05).

The Japanese government believed that expansion through military conquest would help the economy.

Under the terms of surrender, Japan had to give up all the territory it had acquired since 1895.

Japan rebuilt its ruined economy, using new technology in every major industry.

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.