Japan is an archipelago located in East Asia. It has over 127 million people living on islands that are mountainous with little arable land. Japan has experienced significant cultural influence from China, adopting Chinese writing and Confucian ideals. For over 200 years starting in the 1600s, Japan had a feudal system and isolated itself from other nations. In the 1800s, the US forced Japan to open trade, starting a period of modernization and westernization that transformed Japan into an industrial and military power. During WWII, Japan invaded other Asian countries but was ultimately defeated by the US's atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Today Japan has a strong economy and culture that blends traditional and modern

1. Japan

3. Map of Japan

6. Feudal Structure

18. Hiroshima before the bombing

19. Hiroshima after the bombing

20. Hiroshima after the bombing

23. Kabuki Theatre

24. Haiku’s As the wind does blow Across the trees, I see the Buds blooming in May Falling to the ground, I watch a leaf settle down In a bed of brown.