Last Updated on Saturday, 24 October 2009 07:20 Written by Aaron Tuesday, 03 February 2004 01:20

Japan

Japan in Japanese is Nihon or Nippon. Both ways of saying Japan in Japanese are used. Here are the  Kanji and Hiragana for Japan.

 Nippon
 Nihon
(For more information on the writing systems click here.)
Nihon means the land of the rising sun. This is reflected in Japanese National Flag which is called the Hinomaru. The Japanese word for "National Flag" is kokki.

Japanese Geography

Japan is made up of four main islands. The most northern island of Japan is the island of Hokkaido. The main island of Japan is Honshu. The smaller island on the south east of Japan is Shikoku. The small island on the south west is Kyushu. Even more south is a string of islands called the Ryukyu islands, where Okinawa is.
To see a map of Japan click here.

Religion

Japan's indigenous religion is the Shinto religion. This is based on ancestor and nature worship. You will find many Shinto shrines in Japan were one can make an offering and a prayer. Another religion that is practiced highly in Japan is Buddhism. There are many different sects of Buddhism such as Zen Buddhism. Buddhism was brought over to Japan from China around the 6th century. Over time there as been some mixing of the two religions. You will find people who practice both.

Daibutsu in Nara