JAPAN IS A COUNTRY BUILT BY TRADITIONS AND INNOVATIONS. THE COUNTRY IS A PIONEER IN THE FIELDS OF DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY AN DFASHION.

JAPAN- THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN CONSISTS OF 6,800 ISLANDS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. THERE ARE FOUR MAIN ISLANDS - HONSHU, HOKKAIDO, KYUSHU AND SHIKOKU, MAKING UP 97 % OF THE LAND OF JAPAN.

JAPAN IS A FASCINATING COUNTRY OF CONTRASTS. THERE’S PROBABLY NO OTHER PLACE ON EARTH THAT BLENDS THE FUTURE WHILE HONORING ITS BELOVED PAST THE WAY JAPAN DOES.

FROM ITS CAPTIVATING ARCHITECTURE TO ITS METICULOUSLY MAINTAINED GARDENS, SHRINES AND TEMPLES, JAPAN NEVER FAILS TO DELIGHT AND INSPIRE. EVEN IN ULTRA-MODERN CITY LIKE TOKYO, ITS EASY TO SLIP INTO TRANQUIL RETREATS OF PROFOUND BEAUTY JUST OUTSIDE THE CITY WHERE SKYSCRAPERS SOAR OVER STUNNING TEMPLES, SHRINES, STROLL GARDENS AND NEIGHBORHOOD SENTO BATH HOUSES.

VERY FEW COUNTRIES CAN MATCH JAPAN FOR ITS TRADITONAL CEREMONIES AND FESTIVALS. AT THE SAME TIME THE YOUTH CULTURE BEHIND JAPAN’S FASHION-FORWARD AND HIGHLY INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY CONSTANTLY PUSHES BACK THE BOUNDARIES OF THE POSSIBLE! THIS IS WHAT MAKES IT SUCH A FASCINATING COUNTRY!

JAPANESE ART , DESIGN, DANCE, AND CRAFTS NOT TO MENTION POP CULTURE (INCLUDING ANIME, MANGA AND VIDEO GAMES) ARE REASON ENOUGH TO VISIT JAPAN! TODAY, THESE ARE AS MUCH A PART OF THE REAL JAPAN AS ITS TRADITIONAL CULTURE .

ESSENTIALS

CURRENCY - Japanese Yen. For one hundred dollars you get today 10,872 yen

CAPITAL - Tokyo

LANGUAGE - Japanese. The Japanese language relies on not one but three different alphabets — hiragana, katakana and kanji — which are differentiated both by their distinct appearances and by their use.

POPULATON - The population of Japan is about 125,000,000, including approximately three million foreign residents.

CLIMATE

The climate in Japan varies strongly in different regions. The climate in most of the major cities, including Tokyo, is temperate to subtropics and consists of four seasons. The winter is mild and the summer is hot and humid. There is a rainy season in early summer, and typhoons hit parts of the country every year during late summer. The climate of the northern island of Hokkaido and the Sea of Japan coast is colder, and snow falls in large amounts. In Okinawa, on the other hand, the mean temperature of January is a warm 17 degrees Celsius.

TRANSPORTATION

The most efficient way to travel around most of Japan is by train. Whether you're being whisked through the countryside aboard the famous Shinkansen bullet train or are winding your way up a wooded mountainside in an electric streetcar, trains in Japan are punctual, comfortable, safe, and clean. In Tokyo, Osaka, and some other large cities, buses serve as a secondary means of public transportation, complementing the train and subway networks.

One of the best things about Japan – and an unexpected highlight for so many travelers – is how beautifully and efficiently everything works. Naturally, this efficiency is by no means limited to transport. Japanese people’s attention to and passion for detail — and profound passion for doing things well — permeates every aspect of life in Japan.