Melbourne Cup

For a list of Melbourne Cup winning horses see List of Melbourne Cup winners. Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
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News stories from Wikinews. In 2000 it was estimated that 80 percent of the adult Australian population placed a bet on the race that year [2]. Japan's involvement in the Iraq war, however, marked the first overseas use of its military since World War II. In Melbourne and surrounding areas, the race day is a public holiday, but around the country a majority of people watch the race on television and gamble, either through direct betting or participating in workplace cup "sweeps". Japan's current constitution prohibits the use of military forces to wage war against other countries. Raceday fashion has occasionally drawn almost as much attention as the race itself, The miniskirt received worldwide publicity when model Jean Shrimpton wore one on Derby Day during Melbourne Cup week in 1965. Following American Occupation after World War II, the only time in Japan's recorded history where it had been occupied by a foreign power, the Imperial Army was dissolved in 1945 and replaced in 1954 by the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

The requirement for elegant hats almost single-handedly keeps Melbourne's milliners in business. Following centuries of feudalism, Japan established two separate military services in the late 1800s, the Imperial Japanese Army (modeled upon the army of Germany) and the Imperial Japanese Navy (modeled upon the Royal Navy of the UK). 'Fashions On The Field' is a major focus of the day, with substantial prizes awarded for the best-dressed male and female racegoers. Japanese culture has attracted many devotees in Europe and North America as well. For which in 2005 Makybe Diva truly left her mark in history by winning the Cox Plate only 9 days before going on to win the Melbourne Cup. Especially notable contributions of modern Japan to the rest of the world include animation (anime) and graphic novels (manga). They regard the Cox Plate, a 2,040 metre Weight for Age race, as a true indication of the best horses in Australia. Today, Japan is a major exporter of such culture, which has gained popularity around the world, particularly in the other countries of East Asia.

Racing purists and "serious" betters dislike the Cup, as the unusually long distance and handicap rules make the result highly unpredictable and allows mediocre horses to win. Also, the Japanese are the largest spenders of money on luxury goods in the world. In the past, such weightings were in theory established to give each horse an equal chance of winning the cup, but in recent years the rules have been adjusted to that of a "quality handicap" where superior horses are given less severe weight penalties than would be the case under pure handicap rules. This influence is apparent in Japan's contemporary popular culture, which combines Asian, European, and, 1950-onward, American influences in its fashion, films, literature, television, video games, and music. Older horses are given more weight than younger ones, and weightings are further adjusted according to the horse's previous results. From the mid-19th century onward, Western influence prevailed, with American influence becoming especially predominant following the end of World War II. The Melbourne Cup is run as a "handicap", in which the weight of the jockey, and riding gear is adjusted with ballast to a nominated figure. In the pre-modern era, Japan developed a distinct culture, in its arts: (ikebana, origami, ukiyo-e), crafts (dolls, lacquerware, pottery), performances (bunraku, dance, kabuki, noh, rakugo), traditions (games, onsen, sento, tea ceremony, architecture, gardens, swords), and cuisine.

A large rose bowl trophy was presented 1915-1918 and the current loving cup design was introduced in 1919. Historically, China and Korea have been the most influential starting with the development of the Yayoi culture from around 300 BC and culminating with the introduction of rice farming, ceremonial burial, pottery, painting, writing, poetry, etiquette, the Chinese writing system, and Mahayana Buddhism by the 7th century AD. It was a chalice centred on a long base which had a horse at each end. Japanese culture has evolved greatly over the years, from the country's original Jomon culture to its contemporary hybrid culture, which combines a number of influences from Asia, Europe, and America. The last Melbourne Cup trophy manufactured in England was made for the 1914 event. Many other Japanese literary works were also written by women. A silver plated base sporting three silver horses was added in 1888, but in 1891 the prize changed to being a 15 inch high, 24 inch long trophy showing a Victory figure offering an olive wreath to a jockey There were no races 1894-1898 because of a depression, and on resumption the trophy was in the form of silver galloping horse embossed on a 3 foot long plaque, although it was said to look like a greyhound by some people. Japanese literature reached a high point during the 11th century with the Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji) by Lady Murasaki Shikibu.

It had two handles and an engraving of a horse race set at Flemington. The oldest surviving Japanese book written in hiragana is the Tosa Diary (935) by Ki no Tsurayuki. The first Australian-made and gold trophy was introduced in 1876. It was written in a mixture of Chinese, used both ideographically, phonetically, and otherwise to create Japanese meanings. From 1867 to 1875, a silver trophy was presented showing "Alexander Taming the Horse" and a figure of a female with wings. The oldest surviving book written in Japan is the Kojiki (712). The first trophy was a gold watch, until a silver bowl manufactured in England, with two ornate handles with a horse and rider on top, was introduced in 1865. Much vocabulary also has been imported from Chinese, or created on Chinese models.

The trophy changed in appearance greatly over the years since the first trophy was awarded in 1861, with several of them featuring model horses. Written Japanese has been heavily influenced by Chinese although Chinese language itself belongs in a different language family. The winning trainer and jockey also receive a miniature replica of the cup and the strapper is awarded the Tommy Woodcock Trophy, named after the strapper of the incomparable Phar Lap. Japanese texts may also include rōmaji (letters from the Latin alphabet) as well as various special symbols. The trophy currently awarded (since 1919) is a gold loving cup worth $75,000 at 2005 prices. Modern Japanese is written with a mix of Chinese characters (kanji) and a modified syllabary, kana, also originally based on Chinese characters. Trainer Lee Freedman said after the race, "Go and find the youngest child on the course, because that's the only person here who will have a chance of seeing this happen again in their lifetime.". It is distinguished by a system of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary which indicate the relative status of speaker and listener.

Makybe Diva made history by becoming the only horse to win three in a row. Japanese language is an agglutinative language that belongs in the the Altaic language family. The 2005 Melbourne Cup was held before a crowd of 106,479. Almost all children continue their education at a three-year senior high school, and 96% of high school graduates attend a university, junior college, trade school, or other post-secondary institution. In 2004 Makybe Diva became the first mare to win consecutive cups, and also the first horse to win twice with different trainers, after David Hall moved to Hong Kong and transfered her to the Lee Freedman stables. Since 1947, compulsory education consists of elementary school and middle school, which lasts for 9 years (from age 6 to age 15). She also won the Caulfield Cup, a 2400 metre race also held in Melbourne, and therefore has won the "Cups Double". Compulsory education was introduced into Japan in 1872 as one result of the Meiji Restoration.

The 2001 the Melbourne Cup was won by New Zealand mare Ethereal, trained by Sheila Laxon, the first woman to formally train a Melbourne Cup winner. Also, since the mid-19th century, many religious sects called Shinkosyukyo, and later shinshukyo, emerged. The attraction for foreigners to compete, however, was the far less visible change to the new "quality handicap" weighting system. A minority profess to Christianity (0.7%) and other religions (4.7%) like shamanism, Islam, and Hinduism. Most have failed to cope with the conditions, with only Irish trainer Dermott Weld successful in 1993 with Vintage Crop and 2002 with Media Puzzle. This results in a variety of practices such as parents and children celebrating Shinto rituals, students praying before exams, couples holding a wedding at a Christian church and funerals being held at Buddhist temples. The race has undergone several alterations over the past decade, the most visible being the arrival of many foreign horses to contest the race in the last decade (notwithstanding the many winners from New Zealand including the famous Phar Lap. Nonetheless, most of the people are not atheists, and the tendency is often identified with syncretism, secularism, and even irreligion.

Many sympathetic owners boycotted the race which started with only seven horses, the smallest number in the history of the cup. When asked to identify their religion, most would profess to believe in either Shintoism (54%) or Buddhism (40%), for simple reasons like their family has belonged to some sect of Buddhism or to avoid contention with religious foreigners. Archer won again the following year, but because the owner's nomination form arrived late the next year, Archer was unable to contest a third cup. The Japanese people's concern towards religion is mostly related to mythology, traditions, and neighborhood activities rather than the source of morality or the guideline for one's life, for which sometimes Confucianism, or even Taoism, tends to serve as the basis for the moral code. A crowd of 4000 watched the race, although it has been suggested this was less than expected because of news reaching Melbourne of the death of explorers Burke and Wills. Immigration, however, is not publicly popular as recent increased crime rates are often attributed to foreigners living in Japan. It has been said that the winner, Archer, walked 800km to the course from Nowra, New South Wales, but it is possible he travelled by ship. Immigration and birth incentives are sometimes suggested as a possible solution to provide younger workers to support the nation's aging population.

Seventeen horses contested the first Melbourne Cup in 1861, racing for a gold watch and 170 pounds cash. The main problem will be the financial crisis that comes from having a higher and higher dependency ratio (nonworking young and old compared to working ages.) Demographers and government planners are currently in a heated debate over how to cope with this problem.[3]. In 2005 a total of 383,784 race fans attended the Melbourne Cup Carnival annual event [1]. Assuming current birth and death rates, the 2005 population of 128 million will decline to 100 million in 2050, and 64 million in 2100-- and keep falling. The event is one of the most popular spectator events in Australia, with over 110,000 people, some dressed in traditional formal raceday wear and others in all manner of exotic and amusing costumes, attending the race. The population started declining in 2005, as the 1.067 million births were exceeded by the 1.077 million deaths. . The changes in the demographic structure have created a number of social issues, particularly a potential decline in the workforce population and increases in the cost of social securities like the public pension plan.

The present record holder is the 1990 winner Kingston Rule with a time of 3min 16.3sec. By 2007, over 20% of the population will be over the age of 65. This reduced the distance by 61ft 6in, and Rain Lover's 1968 race record of 3min.19.1sec was accordingly adjusted to 3min.17.9sec. Japan has the highest life expectancy in the world (85.2 years for women and 78.3 years for men in 2002 [2]). The race was originally held over two miles, about 3,218 metres, but following Australia's adoption of the metric system in 1972 the current distance of 3200 metres was adopted. The Japanese population is rapidly aging, the effect of a post-war baby boom followed by a decrease in births as the country modernized in the latter part of the 20th century (notable aspects including the shift from agricultural to urban lifestyles and the increasing tendency for women to remain in the workplace). It is generally regarded as the most prestigious "two-mile" handicap in the world. Thus, they have been subject to discrimination.

The event has been held on the first Tuesday in November since 1861 by the Victoria Racing Club, on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. Sometimes these returnees are not considered truly Japanese and suspected of being descendants of the Burakumin "unclean" caste of feudal times, a group of people known to have immigrated to South American countries. Billed as The race that stops a nation, it is for three-year-olds and over, and covers a distance of 3200 metres. People of Japanese heritage returning from overseas have citizenship if their birth in a foreign country was registered in Japan on their behalf by a family member. The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major annual thoroughbred horse race. Monolingual Japanese-speaking minorities often reside in Japan for generations under permanent residency status without acquiring citizenship in their country of birth. Simply being born in Japan does not assure citizenship.

Japanese citizenship is conferred on an infant when a family member registers the infant's birth in the family registry held by a neighborhood ward office. About 99% of the population speaks Japanese as their first language. Japanese society is ethnically and linguistically homogeneous, with small populations of primarily Ryukyuans (1.5 million), North and South Koreans (1 million), Chinese and Taiwanese (0.5 million), Filipinos (0.5 million), and Brazilians — mostly of Japanese descent — (250,000), as well as the indigenous Ainu minority in Hokkaido. The Koizumi government is attempting to privatize Japan Post, one of the country's largest providers of savings and insurance services, by 2007.

Banking, insurance, real estate, retailing, transportation, and telecommunications are all major industries. Japan's service sector accounts for about three-fourths of its total economic output. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength. Construction has long been one of Japan's largest industries, with the help of multi-billion-dollar government contracts in the civil sector.

Japan also holds a large market share in high-technology industries such as semiconductors, industrial chemicals, machine tools, and (in recent years) aerospace. Internationally, Japan is best known for its automotive and electronics industries, as the home of big manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Sony, Matsushita, Toshiba, Nikon, Suzuki and Hitachi. Industry, one-fourth of Japan's GDP, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. Japan has also sparked controversy by supporting quasi-commercial whaling.

Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch, prompting some claims that Japan's fishing is leading to over depletion in fish stocks such as tuna. Although Japan is usually self-sufficient in rice (except for its use in making rice crackers and processed foods), the country must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops, and relies on imports for most of its supply of meat. Imported rice, the most protected crop, is subject to tariffs of 490% and restricted to a quota of only 3% of the total rice market. Japan's small agricultural sector, however, is also highly subsidized and protected, with government regulations that favor small-scale cultivation instead of large-scale agriculture as practiced in North America.

Japanese agriculture has one of the world's highest levels of productivity per unit area. Japan uses a system of terrace farming to build in a small area due to lack of available land. Although the effectiveness of these laws is still ambiguous, the economy has begun to respond, but Japan's aging population is expected to place further strain on growth in the near future. The current government of Junichiro Koizumi has enacted or attempted to pass (sometimes with failure) major privatization and foreign-investment laws intended to help stimulate Japan's dormant economy.

Recently, Japanese companies have begun to abandon some of these norms in an attempt to increase profitability. Distinguishing characteristics of the Japanese economy include the cooperation of manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and banks in closely-knit groups called keiretsu; the powerful enterprise unions and shuntō; cozy relations with government bureaucrats, and the guarantee of lifetime employment (shushin koyo) in big corporations and highly unionized blue-collar factories. However, the economy has seen signs of strong recovery and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects 2% growth in 2005. Government efforts to revive economic growth have met with little success and were further hampered in 2000 to 2001 by the slowing of the US and Asia economies.

Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s largely due to the after-effects of over-investment during the late 1980s and domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. For three decades, overall real economic growth had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Government-industry cooperation, aid from the United States following World War II, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, emphasis on education, and a comparatively small defense allocation have helped Japan advance with extraordinary speed to become the second largest economy in the world, after the U.S. Each prefecture has an administrative bureaucracy.

Voters in each prefecture elect a governor and a legislative assembly. The Local Government Law of Japan divides the country into 47 prefectures, which carry out administrative duties, independently of the central government. From north to south, these are:. The other islands constitute one region each.

Honshu, by far the largest and most populated island, is typically divided into five (or more) regions. Japan is commonly divided into regions. They range from subtropical moist broadleaf forests in the Ryukyu and Bonin islands, to temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the mild climate regions of the main islands, to temperate coniferous forests in the cold, winter portions of the northern islands. Japan is home to nine forest ecoregions which reflect the climate and geography of the islands.

Japan's varied geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones:. In late summer and early autumn, typhoons develop from tropical depressions generated near the equator, and track from the southwest to the northeast, often bringing heavy rain. The rainy season begins in most of Honshu around the 8th of June and ends (tsuyu-ake) around the 20th of July. Japan's main rainy season begins (tsuyu-iri) in early May in Okinawa, and the stationary rain front responsible for this gradually works its way north until it dissipates in northern Japan before reaching Hokkaido in late July.

Due to severe water pollution, these reefs are now dying. The waters of the Kuroshio Current also warm the Pacific side of Japan, sustaining the coral reefs of Japan, the northernmost coral reefs in the world. The climate is also affected by the seasonal winds, blown from the continent to the ocean in winters and vice versa in summers. Because of its great length from north to south, Japan's climate varies from region to region: the far north is very cold in the winter, while the far south is subtropical.

Japan's average temperature for the summer time is 30°C, and for the winter, it is 4.7°C. Japan is a temperate region with four seasons of varying severity--five, if the rainy season is included. Hot springs are numerous, and have been developed as resorts. The most recent major quakes include the 2004 Chuetsu Earthquake and the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995.

Twenty percent of the world's earthquakes magnitude 6.0 and higher are epicentered in Japan. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunamis, occur several times each century. Frequent low-intensity earth tremors and occasional volcanic activity are felt throughout the islands. Japan is situated in a volcanic zone on the Pacific Ring of Fire, at the juncture of the Philippine Plate, Pacific Plate, Eurasian Plate, and North American Plate.

This has resulted in an extremely high population density in the habitable zones that are mainly located in coastal areas. About 73% of the country is mountainous, and unsuitable for agricultural, industrial, or residential use, due to the generally steep elevations, climate, and risk of landslides caused by earthquakes, soft ground, and heavy rain. Japan is the 18th most densely populated country in the world (see also the list of countries by population density). In addition, about 3,000 smaller islands may be counted in the full extent of the archipelago that comprises greater Japan.

Naha on Okinawa, in the Ryukyu archipelago, is over 600 km to the southwest of Kyushu. The main islands (sometimes referred to as the Home Islands), running from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu (or the mainland), Shikoku, and Kyushu. Japan, a country of islands, extends along the eastern or Pacific coast of Asia. Japan also has an ongoing dispute with North Korea over its abduction of Japanese citizens and nuclear weapons program.

The disputes are in part about the control of marine and natural resources, such as possible reserves of crude oil and natural gas. They are the four southern islands of the Kuril Islands, administered by Russia, as well as the Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo in Korean, Takeshima in Japanese), administered by South Korea, and the Senkaku Islands (Diaoyutai in Chinese), administered by Japan, but claimed by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan). Japan has territorial disputes over islands that were controlled by Japan before World War II. [1].

Japan is a member state of the United Nations, the G8, and the G4 nations, and is a major donor in international aid and development efforts, donating 0.19% of its Gross National Income in 2004. It seems likely that the law will be amended to permit women to ascend the throne (as eight have in Japan's recorded history). The Imperial Household Law of 1947 limits succession to males, but there is ongoing and widespread public discussion of the Japanese Imperial succession controversy. His son, Crown Prince Naruhito, married Masako Owada, who gave birth to a girl, Princess Aiko, in 2001.

He assumed the throne after the death of his father, Hirohito, on January 7, 1989. Akihito (明仁) is the current and 125th Emperor of Japan. In academic studies, Japan is generally considered a constitutional monarchy, based largely upon the British system. Though his official status is disputed, on diplomatic occasions the emperor tends to behave (with widespread public support, it should be noted) as though he were a head of state.

Sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people by the constitution. He performs ceremonial duties and holds no real power; not even emergency reserve powers. The Constitution of Japan defines the emperor to be "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". The Imperial Household of Japan is headed by the emperor.

The liberal conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been in power since 1955, except for a short-lived coalition government formed from its opposition parties in 1993; the largest opposition party is the liberal-socialist Democratic Party of Japan. The Prime Minister has the power to appoint and remove ministers, a majority of whom must be Diet members. The Prime Minister must be a member of the Diet, and is designated by his colleagues. The Cabinet is composed of a Prime Minister and ministers of state, and is responsible to the Diet.

There is universal adult (over 20 years old) suffrage, with a secret ballot for all elective offices. The Diet consists of a House of Representatives (Lower House or Shūgi-in) containing 480 seats, elected by popular vote every four years or when dissolved, and a House of Councillors (Upper House or Sangi-in) of 242 seats, whose popularly-elected members serve six-year terms. The Constitution of Japan states that the nation's "highest organ of state power" is its bicameral parliament, the National Diet. Despite a major stock market crash in 1990, from which the country is recovering gradually, Japan remains a global economic power today and is now bidding for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

assistance, Japan achieved spectacular growth to become one of the largest economies in the world. After the occupation, under a program of aggressive industrial development and U.S. In 1947, Japan adopted a new pacifist constitution, seeking international cooperation and emphasizing human rights and democratic practices. forces still retain important bases in Japan, especially in Okinawa.

Official American occupation lasted until 1952, although U.S. The war cost millions of lives in Japan and other countries, especially in East Asia, and left much of the country's industries and infrastructure destroyed. Emperor Hirohito, however, was given immunity and retained his title. The Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal was convened on May 3, 1946 to prosecute Japanese war crimes, including atrocities like the Nanking Massacre.

The Japanese eventually agreed to an unconditional surrender to the Allies on August 15, 1945 (V-J Day). After a long campaign in the Pacific Ocean, Japan lost its initial territorial gains, and American forces moved close enough to begin strategic bombing of Tokyo, Osaka, and other major cities, as well as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Roosevelt demanded that Japan withdraw its forces from China, Japan attacked the United States naval base in Pearl Harbor as well as British and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia, bringing itself and the United States into World War II. In 1941, after US President Franklin D.

During this period, Japan invaded China, occupying Manchuria in 1931, and continued its expansion into China proper in 1937, starting the Second Sino-Japanese War, which lasted until the end of World War II. In 1936, however, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, joining with Germany and Italy to form the Axis alliance. World War I enabled Japan, which fought on the side of the victorious Allies, to expand its influence in Asia, and its territorial holdings in the Pacific. The early 20th century saw a brief period of "Taisho democracy" overshadowed by the rise of Japanese expansionism.

By 1910, Japan controlled Korea, Taiwan, and the southern half of Sakhalin. These reforms helped transform the Empire of Japan into a world power, defeating China in the First Sino-Japanese War and Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. Japan adopted numerous Western institutions during the Meiji period, including a modern government, legal system, and military. Subsequently, the shogunate resigned, and the Meiji Restoration returned the emperor to power.

The perceived weakness of the shogunate led many samurai to revolt, leading to the Boshin War of 1867 to 1868. In 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa. This period of isolation lasted for two and a half centuries, a time of tenuous political unity known as the Edo period, considered to be the height of Japan's medieval culture. Thus, the country became more isolated than ever before.

The Manchus subjugated Korea in 1637, and the Japanese feared an invasion. They also became more conscious of trade with China, especially after the Manchu conquered China and established the Qing Dynasty. The Tokugawa shogunate, suspicious of the influence of Catholic missionaries, barred all relations with Europeans, except for severely restricted contacts with Dutch merchants at the artificial island of Dejima, near Nagasaki. Toyotomi reunified the country, and following his death, Tokugawa seized power by defeating his enemies at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, moving the capital to Edo (now Tokyo) and founding the Tokugawa shogunate.

During the last quarter of this century, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu established increasingly strong control over the warring states of Japan. During the 16th century, traders and missionaries from Portugal reached Japan for the first time, initiating the Nanban ("southern barbarian") period of active commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West (and even China). The "Warring States" or Sengoku period ensued. Its successor, the Ashikaga shogunate, was much weaker, and Japan soon fell into warring factions.

The Kamakura shogunate lasted another fifty years. The shogunate managed to repel Mongol invasions from Mongol-occupied Korea in 1274 and 1281. After Yoritomo's death, another warrior clan, the Hojo, came to rule as regents for the shoguns. In the year 1185, general Minamoto no Yoritomo was the first to break the tradition of ruling alongside the emperor in Kyoto, holding power in distant Kamakura.

Japan's medieval era was characterized by the emergence of a ruling class of warriors, the samurai. The imperial court later moved briefly to Nagaoka, and later Heian-kyo (now Kyoto), starting a "golden age" of classical Japanese culture called the Heian period which lasted for nearly four centuries and was characterized by the regency regime of the Fujiwara clan. The Nara period of the 8th century marked the first strong Japanese state, centered around an imperial court, in the city of Heijo-kyo (now Nara). This paved the way for the dominance of Confucian philosophy in Japan until the 19th century.

Through the Taika Reform Edicts of 645 AD, Japanese intensified the adoption of Chinese cultural practices and reorganized the government in accordance with the Chinese administrative structure. Nonetheless, for most of Japan's history, real power has been in the hands of the court nobility, the shoguns, the military, or, more recently, prime ministers. However, historians believe the first emperor who actually existed was Emperor Ojin, though the date of his reign is uncertain. It is claimed that he started a line of emperors that remains unbroken, to this day.

According to traditional Japanese mythology, Japan was founded in the 7th century BC by the ancestral Emperor Jinmu, a direct descendant of the Shinto deity Amaterasu. Though Japan did not appear in written history until 57 AD, when it is first mentioned in Chinese records as the nation of "Wa" (in Chinese, "Wo"), or "dwarf state", these chronicles tell a much different and much more legendary history of Japan, deriving the people of Japan from the gods themselves. The beginning of Japanese historical writing culminated in the early 8th century AD with the massive chronicles, Kojiki (The Record of Ancient Matters, 712 AD) and Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan, 720 AD). The Japanese did not start writing their own histories until the 5th and 6th centuries AD, when the Chinese writing system, Buddhism, advanced pottery, ceremonial burial, and other aspects of culture were introduced by aristocrats, artisans, scholars, and monks from Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

Most people were farmers; others were fishermen, weavers, potters, artisans, armorers, and ritual specialists. Based upon the Chinese model, they developed a central administration and an imperial court system and society was organized into occupation groups (Ritsuryo). The Yamato court, concentrated in the Asuka region, suppressed the clans and acquired agricultural lands, increasing their power. The Yayoi period was succeeded around 250 AD by the Kofun era, characterized by the establishment of strong military states centered around powerful clans.

As the population increased and society became more complex, they wove cloth, lived in permanent farming villages, constructed buildings of wood and stone, accumulated wealth through landownership and the storage of grain, and developed distinct social classes. The start of the Yayoi period around 300 BC, marked the influx of new technologies such as rice farming, shamanism, and iron and bronze-making brought by migrants from the Korean peninsula and China. This led to the manufacture of the earliest-known form of pottery in the world. Around that time, however, the Jomon people started to make clay vessels, decorated with patterns made by impressing the wet clay with braided or unbraided cord and sticks (Jomon means "patterns of plaited cord").

Weaving was still unknown and clothes were often made of bark. The first signs of civilization appeared around 10,000 BC with the Jomon culture, characterized by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer lifestyle of pit dwelling and a rudimentary form of agriculture. Other evidence also suggests that some may have later come by sea from Southeast Asia during a period of migration toward the Pacific Ocean. Archaeological research indicates that the earliest inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago migrated over land bridges from Northeast Asia about 30,000 years ago.

. The Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa, are southwest of the main islands. The largest and main islands are, from north to south, Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū. One of the world's leading industrialized countries, the "Land of the Rising Sun" is composed of over 3,000 islands.

To the west is Korea (North and South), to the north Russia, and to the southwest China and Taiwan. Japan (Japanese: 日本, Nihon or Nippon, literally "sun source") is an East Asian country surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan, the Philippine Sea, the East China Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk. Van Wolferen, The Enigma of Japanese Power, Vintage, 1990 (ISBN 0679728023). Totman, A History of Modern Japan, 2d ed., Blackwell, 2005 (ISBN 1405123591).

Press, 2003 (ISBN 0521529255). Sugimoto et al., An Introduction to Japanese Society, Cambridge Univ. Reischauer, Japan: The Story of a Nation, McGraw-Hill, 1989 (ISBN 0075570742). Lonely Planet Japan, Lonely Planet Publications, 2003 (ISBN 1740591623).

Norton, 1996 (ISBN 0393314502). Johnson, Japan: Who Governs?, W.W. Japan At A Glance, Kodansha, 1998 (ISBN 4770020805). Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan, Belknap, 2000 (ISBN 0674003349).

Henshall, A History of Japan, Palgrave Macmillan, 2001 (ISBN 0312233701). De Mente, The Japanese Have a Word For It, McGraw-Hill, 1997 (ISBN 0844283169). Press, 1993 (ISBN 0521403529). The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Japan, Cambridge Univ.

(ISBN 4770023847). Japan a Profile of Nation, Kodansha International, 1999. (ISBN 0226195589). Eisenstadt, Japanese Civilization: A Comparative View, University of Chicago 1995.

N. S. Typhoons are common; in 2004 a record 10 typhoons reached the main islands. Precipitation is very heavy, especially during the rainy season.

Nansei-shoto (Ryukyu) or Southwest Islands: The Ryukyu Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Pacific Ocean: Experiences cold winters with little snowfall and hot, humid summers due to the southeast seasonal wind. Seto Inland Sea (Seto-naikai): The Mountains of the Chugoku and Shikoku regions block the seasonal winds, bringing mild weather throughout the year. Precipitation is light.

Central Highlands (Chuo-kochi): A typical inland climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter, and between day and night. In the summer, the region is cooler than the Pacific area, though it sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures, due to the Föhn wind phenomenon. Sea of Japan: The northwest wind in the wintertime brings heavy snowfall. Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snow banks in the winter.

Hokkaido: Hokkaido has a temperate climate with long, cold winters and cool summers. Lowest elevation: Hachinohe Mine -130 m (-426 ft). Highest peak: Mount Fuji: 3776 m (12,385 ft). Coastline: 29,751 km.

Major islands: Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku. Area: 377,835 km² (including 3,091 km² of territorial water).