1. Japan is an island nation located in East Asia comprising over 6,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean, between China, Korea, and Russia. The capital is Tokyo. 2. The official language is Japanese and the currency is the yen. About 70-80% of the country is forested and mountainous. Shintoism and Buddhism are the main religions. 3. Japan has four distinct seasons and climate varies from cool temperate in the north to subtropical in the south. The government is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy and the current emperor is Akihito.