Japan: 10 Interesting Facts You Might Not Know

There’s a lot that can be said about Japan, an island nation in the Far East. This country is definately on the list of destinations that I want to visit one day. It’s one of the oldest nations on this Earth. There’s far more to it than Samurai swords and Tokyo…

Here are 10 Interesting Facts you might not know about Japan

1. According to myth, the nation was founded in 660 BC, although some historians have claimed that it was actually founded in 25 BC. The Meiji Constitution was adopted in 1890 and the current Japanese constitution was adopted in 1947. In short Japan is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy today. The current Japanese emperor is Akihito and the current Japanese prime minister is Naoto Kan.

2. More than 70% of the country consists of mountains, including more than 200 volcanoes. There are also around 1,500 earthquakes every year in this country.

3. Vending machines in this country sell beer, hot and cold canned coffee, cigarettes and other items. A little known fact is also that raw horse meat is a popular food here. It is not uncommon to eat rice at every meal, even breakfast.

4. There are 4 different writing systems in the country: romaji, katakana, hiragana, and kanji.

5. This country is the largest automobile producer in the world. Toyota, Mazda, Daihatsu, Honda and Suzuki are all Japanese companies.

6. Tsukiji market in Tokyo is the world’s largest fish market.

7. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the capital city of Tokyo (which has over 13 million residents) and several surrounding prefectures is the largest metropolitan areain the world with over 40 million residents.

8. Sumo wrestling is the country’s national sport, although baseball is also very popular.

9. It’s the only country in the world that has been a victim of nuclear weapon attacks. In 1945 the United States bombed Hirosjima and Nagasaki. More than 100,000 people died after the atomic bomb detonated 2,000 feet above ground in Hirosjima and more than 40,000 died in the bombing of Nagasaki.

10. In this country the television show Ally McBeal was called “Ally My Love” because McBeal when said in a Japanese dialect sounds like McBeer.

Bonus Fact:

11. Samurai Spin is not a Japanese casino, but is actualy based in Australia. Read here to find out more about it.

There you go, 10 facts about Japan. If I’ve forgotten anything important about the 10th most populated nation in the world, please comment on this post.

Watch this space for updates in the Facts category on Running Wolf’s Rant.