Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan. Japan's name mean "sun-origin" and is often referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun". Japan is a volcanic archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, which comprise about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 126 million people. Honshu's Greater Area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents. Tokyo is Japan's capital and its largest city.

Japan is a major economic and political power, a developed country which has the world's third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the world's fourth-largest economy by purchasing power. Japan ranks high in metrics of prosperity such as the Human Development Index, with the Japanese population enjoying the highest life expectancy of any country in the world and the infant mortality rate being the third lowest globally.

Japan is a leading nation in scientific research, particularly technology, machinery and biomedical research. Nearly 700,000 researchers share a US$130 billion research and development budget, the third largest in the world.

Tourism in Japan attracted 13.4 million foreign visitors in 2014.

The most visited cities of Japan by foreign tourists are: Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto, Himeji, Nagoya, Nara, Nagano, and Hiroshima.

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