Japan--Geography and History

Japan is a land of great beauty. Mountains and hills cover most of the country. The Japanese islands are made up of the rugged upper part of a great mountain range that rises from the floor of the North Pacific Ocean.

Japan suffers from many earthquakes. The Japanese islands have about 1,500 earthquakes a year. The Japanese islands also have more than 60 volcanoes that could erupt at any time.

About how many earthquakes happen in Japan in a year?

• 800

• 1,500

• 234

• 150

The four main islands, from largest to smallest, are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Thousands of smaller islands lie near these islands. Japan's land also includes the Ryukyu and Bonin island chains.

What are the four main islands of Japan?

• Taiwan, Hong Kong, Guam, Iwo Jima

• Canary, Verde, Madagascar, Cyprus

• Bahama, Nassau, Trinidad, Tobago

• Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku

Honshu is Japan's largest island. Most of the Japanese people live on this island. Japan's tallest and most famous peak, Mount Fuji, or Fujiyama, rises on Honshu. It is a volcano, but it is no longer active, which means it does not erupt.

What is the name of the volcano on Honshu island?

• Mount Fuji

• Hokidu

• Shogun

• Yamamoto

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island. Many of the people of Hokkaido work in dairy farming, fishing, and forestry. Many people visit the island for fun and relaxation.

What do most of the people do for work?

• visit for fun and relaxation

• hunting

• manufacturing

• dairy farming, fishing and forestry

Kyushu is the southernmost of Japan's main islands. After Honshu, Kyushu has the most people. Parts of Kyushu have many volcanoes.

What does this island have a lot of?

• volcanoes

• trees

• coal mines

Shikoku is the smallest of the main Japanese islands. Most of the people of this island live in the north. Farmers grow rice and different kinds of fruits along the Inland Sea there.

What do farmers grow along the Inland Sea?

• corn

• barley

• rice and different kinds of fruits

• llamas

The early people of Japan borrowed many Chinese ideas about how to organize society and government. More than 1,000 years ago, warriors called samuri <<SAM uh ry>> became important in Japan. The head of the government was the emperor. But from the 1100's to the mid-1800's, real power was in the hands of a military leader called the shogun <<SHO guhn>>.

What was a Samuri?

• tax collector

• warrior

• farmer

• peasant

During the mid-1500's, the first Europeans arrived in Japan. Trade began with several European countries. During the early 1600's, however, the rulers of Japan decided to cut the country off almost entirely from the rest of the world. This lasted until 1853, when Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the United States sailed his warships into Tokyo Bay. A few years later, Japan agreed to trade with the United States.

What American Naval officer first visited Japan?

• Tokyo Bay

• Brad Pitt

• Tom Hanks

• Commodore Matthew C. Perry

During the 1870's, the Japanese government began to work toward making the country more modern. By the early 1900's, Japan had become a great business leader and military power.

What did the Japanese government begin to work toward?

• building more ships

• making the country more modern

• planting more trees

• catching more fish

During the 1930's, Japan's military leaders gained control of the government. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This brought the United States into World War II (1939-1945). In August 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in a war on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. It dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki two days later. On September 2, 1945, Japan gave up, and World War II ended.

What brought the United States into World War II?

• the first atomic bomb

• Nagasaki

• Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

• Vietnam attacking the U.S.