1 Japan, known as the Land of the Rising Sun, is a small island country off the east coast of Asia with the capital in Tokyo. It is the home of some of the world's greatest ancient traditions, natural beauty, and art.
2 Japan's land is made up of four main islands and is full of dramatic landscapes. Most of the land in Japan is very mountainous. Several active and dormant volcanoes are located on the Japanese islands, including the well-known Mount Fuji, which stands at 12,388 feet tall. Mount Fuji has been one of the most favorite subjects of Japanese art from the country's ancient history to modern time.
3 Heavy rainfall is common in Japan, which sustains the vegetation cover over much of the land. The rain is also helpful to rice farming, which has been the occupation for many Japanese people for much of the country's history. In fact, some of Japan's early inhabitants brought rice farming with them from China.
4 Rice farmers united to create villages and around 100 B.C. began forming social classes, dividing the rich farm owners from smaller farmers. This formation of communities and classes helped to create Japan's first government under the leadership of an emperor. In early Japanese history, there was no capital city; emperors moved from town to town.
5 The first recorded history of Japanese people can be found in ancient Chinese writings, when some people from Japanese islands came to meet the emperor of China in 57 A.D. A Chinese writer wrote about Japanese people, stating, that "they are very short, eat lots of vegetables, serve food on dishes made of bamboo and there is no stealing among them."