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2 Politics

Main article: Politics of Japan

2.1 The Diet

Japan is generally considered to be a constitutional monarchy. The "highest organ of state power" is its bicameral parliament, the Kokkai or "Diet." The Diet consists of a House of Representatives (Lower House or Shugi-in ) containing 480 seats, elected by popular vote every four years, and a House of Councillors (Upper House or Sangi-in ) of 247 seats, whose popularly elected members serve six-year terms. There is universal adult (over 20 years old) suffrage with a secret ballot for all elective offices.

The Cabinet is composed of a Prime Minister and ministers of state, and is responsible to the Diet. The Prime Minister must be a member of the Diet and is designated by his colleagues. The Prime Minister has the power to appoint and remove ministers, a majority of whom must be Diet members. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been in power since 1955, except for a short-lived coalition government formed from its opposition parties in 1993; the largest opposition party is the Democratic Party of Japan.

2.2 The Imperial Household

The Imperial Palace in Tokyo is the primary residence of the Emperor Japan's head of state is the Emperor, but under the current constitution he performs only ceremonial duties and holds no real power, not even emergency reserve powers. Sovereignty, previously embodied in the Emperor, is vested in the Japanese people by the Constitution, and the Emperor is defined as the symbol of the State and of national unity.

Akihito (明仁) is the current and 125th Emperor of Japan. He assumed the throne after the death of his father, Hirohito, on January 7 1989, formally becoming the 125th Japanese monarch on November 12 1990. His son, Crown Prince Naruhito, married a commoner, Masako Owada, and the couple gave birth to a girl, Princess Aiko. The Imperial Household Law of 1947 limits succession to males: since neither of the former Emperor Hirohito's sons have a direct male descendant, some public and parliament members perceive Chrysanthemum Throne continuity to be in jeopardy despite a line of succession seven levels deep. This perception and a new regard for women's rights led some to call for revision of imperial law to allow succession through females. Such a change would likely improve Crown Princess Masako's mental and physical health, which has deteriorated under pressure from Imperial Household bureaucrats to bear a male child.

3 Geography

Main article: Geography of Japan

Japan, a country of islands, extends along the eastern or Pacific coast of Asia. The main islands, running from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu (or the mainland), Shikoku, and Kyushu. Naha on Okinawa in the Ryukyu archipelago is over 600 km to the southwest of Kyushu. In addition, about 3,000 smaller islands may be counted in the full extent of the archipelago that comprises greater Japan.

About 73% of the country is mountainous, with a chain running through each of the main islands: the highest mountain, Mount Fuji, has a height of 3,776 m. Since flat land is limited, many hills and mountainsides are cultivated all the way to the summits, and major cities have developed on every sizable plain.

Japan is situated in a volcanic zone on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Frequent low intensity earth tremors and occasional volcanic activity are felt throughout the islands. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunamis, occur several times a century. The most recent major quakes include the 2004 Chuetsu Earthquake and the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. Hot springs are numerous and have been developed as resorts.

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JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh	Japanese languageThe Japanese language is a spoken and written language used mainly in Japan. The Japanese name for the language is Nihongo . History and classification Historical linguists do not all agree about the origin of the Japanese language; there are several comp	JapaneseThe term Japanese can have several meanings: Japan Mainland Japan Japanese people people of Japanese ancestry living in Japan Ethnic Japanese people of Japanese ancestry living outside Japan Japanese-American an article primarily about the immigration and
Japanese knotweedJapanese knotweed or Polygonum cuspidatum is a large, herbaceous perennial plant, native to Asia (Japan, China and Korea). A member of the Polygonaceae family, Japanese knotweed is also known by the scientific names Fallopia japonica and Reynoutria japoni	Japanese American InternmentThe Japanese American internment refers to the exclusion and subsequent removal of approximately 112,000 to 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans, officially described as "persons of Japanese ancestry", 62% of whom were United States citizens, from the	Japanese AmericanEric Shinseki of Hawaii became the first Asian American military chief of staff. Community leaders are currently courting him to run for Governor or U. Japanese Americans or Nikkei , are a group of people who trace their ancestry to Japan or Okinawa and a
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