Japan History

While geography is not destiny, the fact that Japan is located on islands on the outermost edge of Asia has had a profound influence on Japan’s history. Just close enough to mainstream Asia, yet far enough to keep itself separate, much of Japanese history has been the alternation of periods of closure and openness. Until recently, Japan has been able to turn on or off its connection to the rest of the world, internalizing foreign cultural influences in fits and starts. It is comparable with the relationship between Britain and the rest of Europe, but with a much wider channel. Shinto is the older animist religion of traditional Japan. At just over twelve hundred years in Japan, Buddhism is the more recent imported faith. These two religions have intertwined and influenced each other and Japanese culture. You can continue to find them side by side in cities, towns, and peoples lives. The capital of the country has moved over the centuries from Nara to Kyoto and now Tokyo. Likewise, Japan has seen a range of political structures from periods of divinely endowed Imperial rule, feudal warring clans, the shogunate as military police state, a restored Imperial house, a one party democracy, and the current unsettled state of political affairs. One constant is the Imperial family, the oldest continuous royal family in the world. (Article from/based on Wikitravel article and may be copied freely) | | |