About Japan

About Japan and our town

Japan's Location in the World
Lying in the east of the Asian Continent. The capital of Japan is Tokyo. Tokyo is situated in lat. 35 45" N. and long. 140 E. If you are in America, keep going west from San Francisco, and you will eventually reach Tokyo.
Land of Japan
Japan consists of four large island of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and about three thousand smaller island.
We live in Honshu. Honshu is biggest island in Japan. Our town Izushi is under the jurisdiction of Hyogo Prefecuture, over 500 km west of Tokyo.
The Four Seasons in Japan
There are four seasons in Japan.
- Spring
  Spring comes when the snow melts and animals come out of hibernation. Plum trees bloom first, followed later by the cherry blossoms. The hills and fields are covered with tender greenery.
- Summer
  When the tender shoots turn dark green and you perspire even when you keep still, summer is around the corner.
  My town is located near the Japan Sea. So, we often go to beaches.
- Autumn
  The natural beauty reaches a climax with the hills and fields covered in leaves and the forests carpeted in fall leaves.
- Winter
  Trees wither and winter comes. Mountain ranges running almost the full length of Japan divided the archipelago into the Japan Sea side and the Pacific side. The Japan Sea side, has heavy snowfall in winter.
  In my town, snowfall of over 50 centimeters is not unusual. Because, we can enjoy to ski near here.

Clothing of the Japanese
Many peoples wear western clothes. Very few people, except some eldery peple and those who wear kimono out of professional necessity, wear kimono daily. On New Year's Day of some men and women wear kimono to bask inth holyday mood, and some women wear them to work on the first day of work every year.
Culinary Life of the Japanese>
Japanese eating habits have become quite diverse, with a lot of changes jt has gone through because of westernization. A typcal japanese break fast up to the 1960's consited of rice, miso (bean paste) soup and Japanese style pickles. Sometimes raw eggs, fermented soybeans (natto), dried seaweed (yakinori), dried sardines (mezashi), boiled vegitables (ohitashi), and stewed dishes (nimono) were added according to personal reference. A western style breakfast is also a popular option.
Housing in Japan
A 1993 residential survey shows that the average size of an independent house is about 120 square meters. An average of 89 square meters per hosehold is the size of including condominiums and apartment houses.

Our Town is Izushi, which is small town. Izushi had a population of about 11,000.
Miho introduce Izushi.
Yuuta introduce Izushi.

(since Sep 17, 1996)