Small societies, such as islands were used for many roles since the past. Due to these roles, it can be said that past roles had created particular characteristics for these islands. This essay will examine the particular characteristics using the example of the Honshu Island of Japan. Although Honshu is one of the biggest islands in the world, Japan is one of the most historical and isolated island at all times. The long history of Japan will create particular characteristics that most of isolated small societies have in common. One of the characteristics these small island societies have in common is the aspect of exclusion of particular people. Since the land area is usually limited, it is easier for indigenous or settlers to exclude …show more content…
Islands are distant from the mainland, which creates a new environment for plants and animals to flourish and evolve. In the book, The Song of the Dodo, the author writes that “An ecosystem is a tapestry of species and relationships. Chop away a section, isolate that section, and there arises the problem of unravelling” (Quammen, 1996). Island would evolve in a characteristically because of its distance to the mainland. When looking at the map of Japan, it is rather hilly. According to the website, Worldatlas.com, “Japan, an archipelago of 4 major and over 4,000 smaller islands, is a mostly mountainous country with only 15% of its land cultivable”. Even though Japan is surrounded by 4000 islands, it is not connected with the mainland of China, or Russia. Being an oceanic island, its environment matches with the Darwin’s platform of …show more content…
It has been in Japan since the ancient times, being eaten as one source of protein. Since koi can live in dirty environment, with such a long lifespan. However, when people realized that the beautiful colours of Koi can make money, people started to mate and create new species of Koi as merchandise. These koi were marketed to people especially foreigners who were interested in having them as a pet. Increasing demand of good quality koi created “Environmental and social pressure, particularly as a result of the impact of tourism” (Lockhart& Drakakis-Smith& Schembri, 1993), and marketing. However, spread of these koi had created problems among many countries’ ecosystem because koi is one of the worst alien
Before European contact with Turtle Island, the Native Peoples fully occupied the lands, maintaining extensive trade networks, roads that tied different nations together, and successfully adapted to the specific natural environments across the continent.15 In her book, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz writes of the Natives also adapting the environment to their needs,
Jeffrey Kingston. Japan in Transformation, 1952 – 2000. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2001. 230 pp.
Japan is located on the east coast of Asia. It consists of over 6,852 islands with four main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Almost 80% of Japan’s population lives on Honshu Island. Japan is the sixty-second largest country based on the area measurement, and it is comparable to the state of California. It consists of a coastline, which is 29,751 kilometers in length without any land boundary. The climate varies, with the dominant climates ranging from temperate to subtropical; it is possible for snow to be falling in Hokkaido Island and to have warm temperatures in Okinawa at the same time. As Japan lies in the Pacific ‘region of fire’, the country is highly prone to tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanoes; Japan has about 108 active volcanoes. The following table summarizes information on the geography of Japan:
It allows each person to gain an understanding on what it is like to live in East Asia, their culture, lifestyles, customs, and lets us in on their economic and work life too. Besides describing people and their life, it also describes the characteristics of the city, what it looks like, how it smells, and what makes the place unique. This book has about everything you need to know about Japan besides the climate. Most East Asian countries thrive so well because they base their actions on the teachings of Confucius and keeping the wa. Each person has a lot of responsibility to their community and to themselves to keep their cities
From the animated mega city of Tokyo, to the serene zen gardens with rustic ponds home to the koi fish, Japan has a unique past, present, and future. The alcove ornament samurai houses called, shoin-zukuri are a symbol of the struggling past that Japan escaped. These samurai houses were training centers long ago of judo, sumo, and other martial arts. Lush trees envelope houses, and the religion Shintoism was developed back in 500 A.D. Paintings and drawings capture the grace and beauty the landscape portrays. The Japanese dragons reveal the legends held within themselves, many are associated with rainfall and the ability to reach peace. Seeking farther inland you witness the largest city in the world, Tokyo. Cars, buses, subway systems, taxis, and bicycles are buzzing through every street, going to and from work, quickly advancing technology.
The Korowai are one of the most endangered ethnic groups in the world. Their traditional culture was developed thousands of years ago. They live in small family clans and are hunter-gatherers and live in a horticultural society. The natural resources have allowed them to survive in the harsh rainforest which they depend for living. As population grows in society more and more people are using the earth’s natural resources. Trees are being cut down for extraction of minerals and energy. Lands are being used to create missionary communities. The Korowai territory is surrounded by missionary communities, who have influ...
This shows how language plays a role in Japan by the maintenance of the hierarchical structure of the society.
Therefore their society relies heavily on the ocean as a main food source. In any industry the supply will meet the demand as long as there's a profit to be made, and this is reflected in the overfishing in Japan. Unfortunately, overfishing
Perhaps more than any other nation in the world, Japan is shaped by its geography to a tremendous extent. Technically classified as an archipelago, Japan is a curved chain of four islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, plus over a thousand smaller islands). However, it is first and foremost an island nation, a fact which isolated Japan from the rest of the world. The second largest influence in Japanese geography is the size of the nation. The total area of Japan proper is a little under 143 thousand square miles; the contiguous United States spreads across just over 3 million. To say that
Darwin’s observations from the islands made him want to come up with some explanation to why this occurred. He began to do research of each the species that had lived on these islands and observe all of the characteristics that had. He noticed that the islands h...
Throughout its history, Japan has striven to define its national identity not by its own means, but by those predefined by foreign, and most recently, Western powers. Despite legends of the island archipelago being created by the sun goddess Amaterasu, Japan seems to have consistently maintained a indecisive self-image with respect to its neighbors. In the past, China had represented the pinnacle of culture and technology and had tremendously influenced other surrounding countries in Asia and in the world. Indeed, Japan owes its written language to imported and adapted Chinese characters. Without question, China remained for a long time the most influential force upon Japan. However, island nation maintained a rather precarious self-identity: How could a country like Japan, which was supposedly created by the gods and therefore a divine nation, consider itself the apex of the world, given China’s tremendous influence and power? Could Japan truly consider itself the greatest land in the world if China, or Chugoku in Japanese, literally meant “the central country?” For this reason, Japan never truly accepted a position of “belonging” to Asia. That is, despite a considerable amount of imported culture, Japan was still somehow inherently different from other Asian countries.
Many of us, if not everyone, has heard of the country of Japan through various means. Possibly through popular films such as Godzilla or the renowned horror films which the country produces. Perhaps through the various anime TV shows that have been dubbed in English creating a massive fan base here in the United States, or the massive franchise Nintendo that has filled our child memories with countless hours spent in front of a screen playing Mario or Pokémon. One way or another the Japanese have shared their culture with a huge audience but thats only scratching the surface of the Japanese culture. The country of Japan wasn’t always the islands that we see there today, the formation of the islands occurred during 50,000 BC and ended in 10,000 BC following the end of the last ice age. This is when we find the first signs of civilization in Japan but they are nowhere near the modern day Japanese culture today. The early beginnings of today’s Japanese culture dates back to the year 538 AC with multiple time periods slowly building up to today. The Japanese culture of today shares a few aspects with our American culture we are familiar with, both cultures love baseball, we both have representative democracies as a form of government, and both cultures do not label outsiders differently and accept them just as equally. Even though we may share aspects of our culture with the Japanese our cultures couldn’t be anymore different from each other.
Our preliminary class gave a brief, yet detailed outline of major events affecting the East Asian region. Within that class, prompted by our limited geographical knowledge of Asia, we were given a fundamental explanation of the geographical locations of the various events taking place in the region. In subsequent classes, we were introduced to the major wars, political shifts, and economic interests which shaped Japan, China and Korea to what they are today. We examined the paradigm of pre-modern Japanese governance, the Shogunate, and the trained warriors which defended lord and land, Samurai. In addition, we examined the socio-economic classes of Medieval Japan, which included the Samurai, peasants, craftsmen, and the merchants. We also examined pre-1945 Japan’s policies toward foreign entities, notably the Sakoku Policy, which sought to expunge all foreign presence and commerce in an effort to protect its borders and culture. 1945, however, saw ...
Japan is a large island off to the east of China it is a great country that has a rich culture. The Japanese religion is based off of two main beliefs, the belief in Shinto and Buddhism many Japanese people believe consider themselves both. The Japanese people were known to be around as early as 4,500 B.C. They have constructed their government style to a constitutional monarchy where they do in fact have an emperor, but he has limited power within the country. The main power of the country is held by the Prime Minister of Japan. Japan is made up of many islands that extend along the Pacific coast of Asia. The land area is made up of a lot of forest and mountainous area that cannot be used for agricultural, industrial or residential use. Japan also has one of the largest and growing economies in the world. They are growing every day and it is all because the people of Japan work very hard in order for their economy to flourish as it has.
Overall, Robinson Crusoe’s ship crashing on the island forever changes the ecology, and biodiversity. Robinson colonized the island by introducing invasive species, European crops, and enclosing areas of the island. This colonization would lead to the islands decent in, wildlife habitation, and biodiversity. Although, these concerns would change the ecosystem on the fictional island they are the signs of colonization, and improvement in the lives of the inlands inhabits.