Talk:Japan

Clarification request

From the article: 'The Koizumi government is attempting to privatize Japan Post, one of the country's largest private banking and insurance institutions, by 2007.'

That phrase doesn’t make sense, how do you privatize a private institution? And are we sure that Japan Post is a banking and insurance institution?? My guess is that instead of a ',' there should be a 'and', but in that case what is the name of that 'largest private banking and insurance institutionE Could someone with the correct knowledge on the topic fizz this? Thank you.

Japan Post is not a private company yet, it is a public company operated by the government. It is now planned to divide the company into four, which are postal services, postal savings services ("Yucho"; banking), postal life insurance services ("Kampo") and window networks (post offices), and privatize each on April 2007. ref: http://www.japanpost.jp/top/profile/english/3.html However, I am doubting if this phrase should be in this place (too much in detail, isn't it?). NOR 12:24, 23 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Influences on Japanese Government

Someone added a phrase indicating that the Japanese government was influenced by the British system, but I was always under the impression it was the Prussian/German model that the Japanese were most influenced by. Anyone know more? CES 02:12, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

My way-old college studies taught me that the Japanese founders were influenced by the constitutional monarchy of UK but the Prussian/German model jurisprudence. I would try to find some type of reference to support this however, I could be wrong and the influences were more in certain eras (Meiji) versus others (post war). Revmachine21 10:09, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

In the Meiji era, Japan adopted British political institutions and a German legal system. Large parts of the Japanese civil codes are still basically translations of the German civil codes today, but the prewar Diet, peerage system, etc. were much closer to the British monarchy. (This sort of thing happened across the board: their army was based on Prussia's, but their navy was based on Britain's [which is why they still eat British-style curry, or so the story goes].) During the postwar era, they adopted a few American institutions, like a written constitution, two elected chambers in the Diet, etc., mostly because the people running the show were Americans. So there's quite a lot of influencing going on from various parts of the Anglo-German sphere. Sekicho 04:59, Apr 5, 2005 (UTC)

Biased Article

I think this article has a large bias towards a Western view of Japan. In particular the claim that Perry "forced" the opening of Japan seems somewhat suspect. I just edited the religion section because the previous writer claimed that Japanese religion is dead or dying out. Let me know if you agree that this page needs major changes.

Could you give us some references? I remember I was taught that Perry forced the bakufu to open Japan. Besides, what is a Japanese religion? Have you heard of British religion, American religion? -- Taku 03:38, Apr 18, 2005 (UTC)

Shinto is a definitely Japanese religion. There are also local superstitions of the Ainu and other isolated Japanese. The person proclaiming that Japanese religion is dying would need to show figures, not someone not saying anything about it. Someone needs to quote figures to show that these are not being practiced widely, or some sort of evidence that its more custom than spirituality (not by using P.O.V. sources).--ZayZayEM 07:36, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I am making several changes to the religion section based on the following quote from the Lonely Planet guide to Japan:

In many respects, the term 'religion' can be misleading for Westerners when it is applied to either Japan or China. In the West and in Islamic culture, religion is connected with the idea of an exclusive faith. Religions in Japan, for the most part, are not exclusive of each other.

Shinto (the native 'religion' of Japan), Buddhism, Confucianism and even Christianity all play a role in contemporary Japanese social life, and are defining in some way of the Japanese world view. If you are sceptical of the inclusion of Christianity, you need only attend a Japanese wedding to find certain Christian elements mingling happily with more traditional practices.

I also call attention to the statistics on NationMaster [1] where they say the Japanese "observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)" The other facts I mention can also be verified if people are sceptical.

Of course, we have to do more researches on this. But I don't think your change reflects the figures or the quote you cite at all. For example, there is no Japanese religion just like there is no American religion, and you have not shown there is one. Also, the Japanese "observe both Shinto and Buddhist" does not mean they would say they profess to believe in Shinto and Buddhist. In any case, I will try to find some authentic sources. -- Taku 03:00, Apr 24, 2005 (UTC)

For the time being, the religion section should reflect its main article Religions of Japan. I don't think your new version is in line with this. -- Taku 03:02, Apr 24, 2005 (UTC)

Empire

It is obvious that Japan is still an empire formally at least, since the emperor system exists still. -- 10.56, 22 Apr. 2005 (UTC)

Any opinions on the Liancourt Rocks issue?

The last line was added by the same IP address that blanked the Japan article and replaced it with the text "Alright pinkos, the show is over. Japan is an enemy to the majority as far as I am concerned. Go get out of your mom's basement you 40 year old loser. Please?" My opinion is that we should not use Talk:Japan to run a flame war about this subject.

I THINK THIS ARTICLE IS TOTAL BIASED. WHERE'S THE PART OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR?? THE PART WHICH JAPAN INVADED CHINA?? GONE??

In History of Japan and more specific articles. This article is just a brief overview. — Gwalla | Talk 00:45, 14 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

There's also a prominent map of the empire. I agree with Gwalla: this summary covers Japan from prehistory to the present. All periods could use more detail, and the separate articles provide it. Fg2 01:11, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

Culture

I question the influence of "Greco-Buddhist" influence in Japan. It seems to me that by the time Buddhism reached Japan, it became much more Chinese in character then Indian, much less Greek. Also I think that anime and manga, as well as video games deserve more then just a mention as part of a list here. These are subtle points but ones I think need to be made.

I think we ought as well add Japanese pronogrpahy's link at the bottom since japanese fetishes and sexual pervert video are so world famous and shokcing that we, at wikipedia, actually have an extensive article that proves that japanese culture is far more related with their porns than any other nation that existed on earth. so, why not add this link.

and since, we mentioned anime, why don't we mention Hentai?

I am going to add those two links and maybe someone with more scholarly commnents into japanese perversiity can edit the matin article introduce about their bdsm, bondage sex, a little bit; since those are inevtiably parts of the japanese culture, as proved in the japanese pornography article at wikipedia.

thehammerspake at thehammerspake-at-yahoo.com

Sorry, I removed those links (one was repeated twice); I don't object (or hold a strong opinion, for that matter), but I think the sexual cultural influences need to be better qualified, rather than somewhat mechanically added to that particular passage (itself a bit problematic). El_C 08:02, 5 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

RE: Ok, i see that you revised your reply and it is MUCH clear what you meant. thank you for making yourself comprehesible to others; it is a great helpt to the rest of us and the whole wikipedia community!

                                                    thehammerspake

Japanese Religion

Taku,

I am convinced that you don't really understand what Buddhism and Shintoism is all about. There has historically been almost no conflict between the two, for one. The second thing is that Buddhism and Shintoism are indeed moral philosophies, in the sense that they offer a means of guidance for a pure life. I think you are too hung up on the idea that someone must believe in only one religion. I want to make several changes in the next few days that reflect this both on this page and the Religions in Japan page.

-Thomas

I think you are still missing the point. Both region section and religions of Japan are not about Shinto and Buddhism. Thus, those articles should not discuss the conflict between the two for one. And I have no disagreement to that Buddhism and Shinto teaches moral philosophies. This is just not about Buddhism and Shinto. If you think both section and article state that a Japanese person in genera believes in Buddhism and not in Shinto. That is completely not what I intend to say.

I think you are confusing that both section and article are about "religions that originated in Japan". It is just not the case. -- Taku 05:33, Apr 24, 2005 (UTC)

Give me specific evidence for the following statement "Today, Japanese people's attitude towards religion tend to be indifference and their concerns are usually related to traditions, everyday customs and mythology rather than the source of morality or the guidance for one's life." Otherwise I will delete it, and other statements like it as I don't believe that this is true.

Please make sure you sign your statements with four tildas, it's getting a little hard to tell who's saying what. I tend to agree with the sentiment that the phrase Japanese people's attitude towards religion tend to be indifference is at the very least vague and unsupported ... it seems to be contradicted by the later phrase parents and children cerebrate Shinto rituals, students pray before exams, couples holds a wedding at a Christian church and one goes to a funeral at Buddhist temple. I guess a point of discussion is whether syncretism = indifference. CES 14:36, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

My point is that it certainly does not have to be true that syncretism=indifference, and I believe this is the case with religions in Japan.--Scipantheist 15:39, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Please don't hesitate to reword the phrases if needed. Maybe indifferent is not a right word. As was in the article, my intent is to say that Japanese are not religious in the sense Christians or Muslims are. I think we all agree that that Japanese people have the same kind of attitude towards religions as other people in the world is just not true. -- Taku 16:40, Apr 24, 2005 (UTC)

I have having a difficult time parsing that last sentence, with the double negatives. Can you please rephrase Taku? Personally, I think Japanese have a very similar attitude toward religion to "other people" (Americans, Europeans, other Asians). However, such a discussion starts into a land of such incredible generalisations that any approach in this area should be a warning sign toward NPOV. Davejenk1ns 21:36, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Well, saying that their view on religion is different is one thing, but saying they don't have believe in their religion as strongly is something else entirely. I view Christianity and Islam as exclusivist in the sense that they insist that there is only one path to salvation (theirs). Buddhism and Shintoism are not like that, but I think they are followed just a strongly, if not more strongly then religions in the west. See the changes I suggest. Also I will look for proof, but I think that Theravada Buddhism is pretty much nonexistant in Japan. --Scipantheist 22:03, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I did some research. The results are added to Wikipedia:Notes for Japan-related articles. For one, I never found that Japanese believe in Japanese religion, as again there is no such thing as Japanese religion. I am not sure inclusivist is a good term to express the Japanese people's attitude to religions. No thing I found so far supports this. I think that the bottom line, as Davejenk1ns suggests wisely, we should avoid comparing if Japanese are more or less religious or spiritual than the westerners. Especially saying Japanese believe in Shinto and Buddhism as strongly as people in the west do is quite misleading and is wrong to my knowledge. If you find more references, please consider adding them to Wikipedia:Notes for Japan-related articles. -- Taku 03:41, Apr 25, 2005 (UTC)

First of all, thanks for accepting some of my changes here. I think that when you say that they believe in Shinto and Buddhism less strongly then people in the west believe in their religions, this is also wrong. Eastern religion is a difficult thing to grasp for a westerner, which seems to include most of the sources you are citing. Nirvana is exemplified by the blowing out of a candle analogy. Where does the flame go? Buddhism exists to STOP the endless cycle of rebirth into a world of suffering. Therefore Buddhists essentially desire to return to nothingness. Again, please give me a specific source that says,"The teachings of any religion are usually not well known among people." Otherwise this should not be included. Also, in defense of the Japanese Religion category, you allow a Japanese Buddhism page. The difference between Religions of Japan and Japanese Religion(s) is only in semantics.--Scipantheist 15:27, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

So to say, the visit to the "Yasukuni" Shinto-shrine is as like the presence to a religious ceremony of a "church of Hakenkreuz". [04:00, 04 May 2005 (UTC)]

Who the hell changed the emperor of Japan to 'Kennedy'? Sad little f*cker.

Emperor

A common fool, probably one of the many annonymous political nut cases that get off on tampering with articles, changed the emperor to 'Kennedy'. This was on the article for the past 6 months (at least). I have now returned it to it's original form.

It is certain that Japan is still an empire formally at least.

Japan is an empire same as that Sweden is a kingdom, since Japanese Emperor system still exists. But Japan's Government has called Japan "Japan" as the formal name and will do so. Perhaps Japan's Government wants to avoid that Japan may become "notorious" as an empire. [17:00, 05 May 2005 (UTC)]

The Japanese Emperor system may still exist, but the emperor no longer holds any political power and is simply a national symbol. He is strictly banned to take part in any form of politics, and is only a figurehead who sometimes presides over certain government events. Therefore, I would not go as far as to say that Japan is still an empire. I am not sure what exactly you are trying to imply when you say "Perhaps Japan's Government wants to avoid that Japan may become "notorious" as an empire," but I doubt that is the case.

Youth suicide

Someone added the following line: "People have speculated that the high stress academic life might be the reason for high suicide rates." I've heard this kind of comment before, but I thought I'd also heard that Japan having an unusually high youth suicide rate is not true (and media hype is to blame for this perception). Personally I have no idea which is true. Does anyone have concrete data so we know if this comment should be kept or not? CES 03:37, 19 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

According to this, Japan's youth suicide rates seem about average. Of course it may still be true that those suicides which do occur are prompted by academic stress. Mark ¹ 03:42, 19 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I just removed the sentence without seeing the comments here; I think it's a subject area worth writing about, but not as a speculatice one liner (who are "people"? How is "academic life" defined - there are - I believe - big differences between university and pre-university schooling for example). Ianb 06:06, 19 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The main article Education in Japan can go into education-related subjects in greater depth. Similarly, the sentence "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." might find a better place in another article such as Imperial Household of Japan, or might be judged speculation and removed. Fg2 07:37, May 19, 2005 (UTC)

Geography of Japan

The post read:

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 (12,388 feet). 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.

I changed it to:

Japan is the 16th most densly populated country in the world List of countries by population density. However since about 73% of the country is mountainous, with a chain running through each of the main islands, flat land is limited. The population density is exacerbted by a traditional shinto belief that the hills were for the gods and hence there is very little agricultural or architectural development on Japan's mountains. Partly as a result major cities have developed on every sizable plain.

WHY:

Firstly the Fuji Height information is already in the article

Secondly it is just untrue that many hills and mountains are ‘cultivated all the way to the summits’. There is little or no human activity in Japan's mountains except for the shinto shrines on almost every hill. Source for this are my own experience of living here and travelling around. However there is mention of this issue in 'Dogs and deamons; tales from the dark side of japan' by Alex Kerr.

I added the population desnsity in order to clarify what ‘limited’ means in terms of flat land and population generally.

-- Have you never been to Okayama, Niigata, Shimane, Shizuoka, or even remote places in Kyoto Pref.? Did you fail to see the terraced rice paddies all over the hills, especially in places such as Sado Island? I would suggest a rewording of the section, leaving this part in. Any opposing opinions? (BTW- it helps discussions to sign your posts). --Christophernicus 01:55, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Living in Shimane I know that many hills are cultivated to the tip, but no mountains....

Hello original poster here Gorgonz sorry for not signing my comments. I Live in Miyagi but have travelled around a bit. I am an architect and am very interested in why Japan's hills and mountains aren't developed more. Although I have seen some (at most a few) low hills which are terraced with rice paddies (and it may be true that there are lots I haven't seen) I would not say that it is true to say that "many hills and mountainsides are cultivated all the way to the summits" which was the original point.

Heisei Era

OK, I'll give you the argument that the current emperor is not called specifically the "Heisei Emperor" yet. However, I think this article is lacking in two areas: 1) There is absolutely no mention of the current era as "Heisei" or the calculation of dates by era names. 2) Although every official document I fill out (outside of the immigration office) uses these era names, there is no mention of either the Showa or Heisei periods, yet most Japanese today identify most with these eras. Any comments? --Christophernicus 02:06, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I don't know. Is it really noteworthy that the current era is Heisei or any other mention of era names? The criterion for inclusion is, because this is an article about Japan as a topic, if it is helpful understand Japan. -- Taku 04:10, Jun 11, 2005 (UTC)

I think it's worth talking about. When my coworker came to Japan, she always confused by written dates in part because she's used to European date order (which is backwards from Japanese order) and in part because she wasn't aware that it's the year 17 over here. I think it's worth say, "Imperial reign years are still in common use in Japan, and officially required for government documents. The reign of Emperor Akihito is referred to as the Hesei Era…" --Carl 15:46, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I don't have a strong position on this. The question is how. The relationship between an Japanese emperor and era name is not that simple as the above. Technically, Heisei is not an era referring to the reign of Emperor Akihito. This is the very reason why it is wrong to call Akihito the Heise Emperor. What usually happens is that when an emperor dies and a new emperor gets to the throne, "as a convention", an era name changes as well. This convention was adopted, I think, after Meiji restoration. In other words, it is perfectly ok (whatever ok means here) to rename the era name or keep it regardless of changes in emperor. With those in mind, try to come up with some idea. -- Taku 23:03, Jun 14, 2005 (UTC)

As far as I am aware the convention of re-naming an era without any direct relation to the Emperor is PRE-Meiji, hence several emperors in the Edo period ruled over more than one era. After the Restoration it was decided to tie the era to the emporer, so it is not incorrect to refer to the Emperor Shouwa or Emperor Meiji. However, I agree that we cannot refer to the Emperor Heisei...one usually only uses the era name to refer to a deceased emperor (possibly related to the Bhuddist custom of granting post-mortem names?). Of course I may just be speaking out of my rear... ShimaneD

Regions

In the regions section of the article, the map illustration is clearly numbered, but the article reads "From north to south...". Can someone who knows which are which number these regions so as to eliminate confusion, and take advantage of an otherwise ugly feature of the illustration? siafu 22:55, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Done. It should be some kind of mistake made when someone was editing the article. -- Taku

Classes

I was interested in the presence of a class hierarchy in today's Japanese society and ran across this article: http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Japanese%20class%20system

I was thinking this information deserves a place here, maybe as a subheading under culture or history. --Lenehey 23:43, July 15, 2005 (UTC)

Unique?

I find the use of the word "unique" in the Japanese culture section baseless. The first paragraph and half of the second paragraph talks about all the outside influences Japanese culture received from China, Korea, and elsewhere and then suddenly the article claims that "Japan developed a unique original culture, in its arts, crafts, and traditions, as well as a unique cuisine." Is there any justification for the use of the word "unique" twice in a single paragraph?

Can someone please explain to me what is so unique anyhow? Do the Japanese paint with their feet and make clothing out of glass? Do they eat trees and greet each other with burping noises?

Or do they do calligraphy (like the Chinese and Koreans), make celadon pottery (like the Chinese and Koreans), drink green tea (like the Chinese and Koreans), eat soy products (like the Chinese and Koreans), and bow to each other when greeting (like the Chinese and Koreans)?

The Japanese are famous for telling foreigners about the "uniqueness" of their culture. They even claim their four seasons are unique. I think this kind of cultural propaganda should be removed.

Japanese culture is not unique. In fact, no culture on Earth can be truly unique unless it has been completely isolate and uncontanimated. Even then, universal human traits can be observed.

The third paragraph of this article then talks about European and American influences in modern-day Japan. So, how could a culture that has received so much outside influence be truly "unique"?

The view that Japanese culture is somehow "unique" is not only false, but antiquated and even... dangerous. I cannot understand how this type of racial ideology can be accepted in a discussion of Japan when certainly such a claim in an article about the Aryan race in one about Germany would cause an uproar.

That's why I'm editing this now.

I am also deleting the influence of Central and South Asia from the second paragraph and adding "rice farming, ceremonial burial, pottery, painting, writing, poetry, etiquette" as it is really these imports from China and Korea that had a bigger impact on Japanese culture.--Sir Edgar 07:29, 19 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I do not see what the problem is in the statement that "Japan developed a unique culture." You seemed to have drawn a parallel with the Aryan race, but that is clearly irrelevant. The article is NOT claiming that "Japan has a superior race" or that "Japanese culture stands out like a brillliant star"; it is simply saying that Japan has a culture that is different from those of other countries. Yes, I am aware that certain cultural practices in Japan are also performed in other countries such as China or South Korea (i.e. tea drinking, calligraphy, bowing, etc.), but that does not automatically make Japanese culture "non-unique". Just because Japanese, Chinese and South Korean cultures share some features, it does NOT make them identical (Surely if you lived in Japan, South Korea or China, you would know that their cultures have many differences). If you think about it, it should be obvious that every culture is unique in its own way. By saying "unique", the author is not implying that "everything about Japan is completely original and cannot be found anywhere else on earth." My guess is that the author of the article stated "Japan developed a unique culture" because he feared that many people would wrongly believe that Japan has an identical culture to South Korea or China (since he mentioned that Japan borrowed from various cultures). Also, to answer your question, "how could a culture that has received so much outside influence be truly "unique"?" --- First of all, the question should be "how could it NOT be unique?" With such an enormous diversity of ideas and cultural influences permeating into Japan, it would have been easy, even natrual, for something unique to develop. Bits and pieces of Chinese culture, Korean culture, etc., would all be picked out according to Japanese tastes, mixed in with indigenous culture, and mashed into something distinctly Japanese. Yes, no one will deny that there was cultural borrowing, but can you honestly name a country that has NEVER borrowed anything from anyone? the United States borrowed bits and pieces of culture from Brittain, Central America, Canada and even the Native Americans, so following your logic, would that make the United States "non-unique" too? If you have ever been to the United States and Brittain, you would know that they are very different, and that both are unique.

Anonymous User, please calm yourself down. Then go and edit every country's article adding the word "unique" to the culture section.--Sir Edgar 07:12, 5 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Pre-history

This section does not conform to widely accepted and proven theories on Japan's origins. That's why I'm going to edit it.--Sir Edgar 00:00, 27 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Geography of Japan (AGAIN)

Like the issue of 'Unique' in Japan I feel that there is a something incorrect about this paragraph of the geography section:

"However about 73% of the country is mountainous and unsuitable for agricultural, industrial or residential use due to the generally steep elevations, climate and risk of landslides due to earthquakes and heavy rain".

I think this (like unique culture or the unique four seasons) is another myth: that japan is subject to uniquely severe forces of nature. There are other countries in the world with similar geological and climatic conditions yet with many hill/mountain top towns and extensive agricultural development. Italy, California (San Franscisco), Chile and Peru jump to mind.

You seem to have something against Japan when you so fervently argue that "Japan is NOT unique." First of all, the paragraph never even mentioned that "japan is subject to uniquely severe forces of nature." It NEVER boasted that Japan is in any way special, or that "Japan is superior because it has to endure harder climatic conditions." All it said was that "the Japanese people do not find the mountains suitable for development because of what they deem to be sufficient reasons." Yes, there are many mountain top towns in Italy, San Francisco, Chile and Peru, but how is that relevant? The people of those countries chose to build on mountains, but the Japanese believe it is risky, and that is all there is to it. Are you going to force the Japanese to build on their mountains? Also, in case you were not aware, the geological and climatic conditions of the regions you mentioned (Italy, San Francisco, Chile and Peru) are not exactly similar to those of Japan. True, the regions you mention DO experience earthquakes like Japan, but they do not experience the monsoons and the accompanying heavy rainfalls that swipe across Asia (Some may argue that California experiences the North American monsoon, but anyone who has visited California and Japan would know that San Francisco is much drier and Japan is much more humid). So please, let Japan make its own judgements about whether or not to build on its mountains --- I think the people living there would know enough about their own land and climate to make their own decisions.

What evidence is there that 73% of Japanese land is really unsuitable for development?

The reasons for Japan's lack of development in the hills and mountains I believe are as anthropological as they are geographical and I feel this is not being represented. There are of course many steep and volcanic mountains in Japan which are not suitable for development however there are also many small hills which are but remain untouched. I changed this before to mention the cultural idea (from the Shinto religion) that the mountains were where the gods lived, this was deleted. Perhaps it was too simplistic... I think something a bit less cliched needs to be said about this.

I will have to disagree with you on your idea that "Japan's lack of development in the hills & mountains is due to their cultural belief (in particular Shinto) that the mountains are the dwelling places of the gods." I am Japanese, and my grandparents on my mother's side follow Shinto to a great extent. It is true that Shinto emphasizes respect and reverence for nature. It is also true that there exists a Shinto belief that deities reside in natural objects or places (i.e. rivers and mountains). However, having lived in Japan, I find it hard to believe that these religious beliefs are the chief reasons why the mountains are undeveloped. According to Shinto, deities also resided in the plains, but that did not prevent the people and industrialism from building huge cities (ie. Tokyo) on top of them. I am not implying that the Japanese have completely lost respect for nature and their religion; I am simply saying that religion nowadays is not a strong enough force to fight off industrial development (as is the case with most industrialized nations). In other words, if the Japanese could safely and effectively build atop these mountains, they probably would have done so by now. In my personal opinion, I think there are more realistic reasons why the Japanese do not develop atop these mountains --- i.e. cost, danger, steepness, elevation, distance from cities, etc.

What does everyone else think? --Gorgonz

It's very good idea to eliminate writings from the point of view that Japan is unique. In writing a travel guide or introducing Japan to people from other countries, it is helpful to stress the differences, how Japan differs and most importantly, how it is unique. But in writing an encyclopedia article, it cannot be right. -- Taku 12:08, July 31, 2005 (UTC)

Removal of International rankings

I removed "International rankings", which I think is uninteresting. The infobox already lists GDP rankings, and the text already contains a lot of mentions of ranking like density, area, etc. In addition, it is practically impossible to list every ranking. For example, the rank in Reporters Without Borders is important but irrelevant to the article. -- Taku 12:08, July 31, 2005 (UTC)

Number of Japanese Islands?

Are there 6,800 islands or 3,000 islands? The introduction says 6,800 islands, but the Geography section says 3,000 islands.--Sir Edgar 01:45, 1 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I've edited it to 3,000 islands. According to Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, Japan has four main islands and "more than 3,000 small islands".--Sir Edgar 04:45, 1 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I must apology. I thought a vandal changed 6,800 to 3,000. -- 07:01, August 1, 2005 (UTC)

"japanese culture" is a misnomer!

I have browsed other countries articles on wikipedia, especially other developed countries' cultures such as Germany and France, and I found that whatever that is under the headline culture inevitably is either about great mathematicians of the heyday, musicians, philosophers, scientists, artists, world famous novelists, or else otherwise worthwhile intellectual creations such as the Simpsons But under the head of Japanese culture, we see anime and manga!

 Let me be the first to point out:  those are not culture!  I am not looking for a dicitonary explanation of the word; i am looking at the fact that this japanese culture section in no way conforms with any of the English articles about culture on this encyclopedia.
 Manga, Hentai, japanese pornography, anime, pukemom, and digimom are not culture!  They should be called "japanese commercialism"!
  And if no one can come up with anything trully cultural about japan, then we can only conclude that Japan has no true culture!
                                                  --thehammerspake

This is too much. The entire article on section culture has to be redone! IT's all wrong! I will do my best to improve this but all the rest of you out there has to help! to help make a good article!

The section on culture tries to sum up many thousands of years of Japanese culture in several paragraphs. It has more in it than say France, and links to individual articles which expound on various areas, especially Culture_of_Japan. It could probably be improved (the link "architecure" leads to Machiya, which is just one aspect), but certainly anime and co are not the only subjects mentioned. As the above comments aren't signed, I can't say whether the section was different when the comments were posted. Ianb 15:32, 14 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

eimoji?

The section on language states: Modern Japanese is written in a mixture of hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Modern Japanese texts may also include rōmaji (the way of writing Japanese with the Latin alphabet), eimoji (non-Japanese words written in their own script), and various special symbols.

What are eimoji? 英文字?? I don't recall ever hearing it in the context described here, and it would be a total misnomer anyway, as there are no such things as "English" characters. Neither the Japanese wiki nor my 広辞苑 know such a term. Ianb 15:51, 14 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Redirect

Until recently, both Nippon and Nihon redirected to Japan. Now only Nihon does and Nippon has been made into a stub article. I believe this should be reverted as it would become more consistent with other countries such as Hellas and Bharat --Grmagne 17:14, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

Request for section

Could someone please add a "Name origin" section and explain Nippon and Nihon? -- Reinyday, 03:24, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Hi Reinyday, You're in luck! There's already a whole article on it. Simply click on "Land of the Rising Sun" in the first line to see the article. Thanks for the request! Fg2 04:04, September 1, 2005 (UTC)