III.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
1. Climate
2. Vegetation
3. Landforms

IV. CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS

1.Language
2.Food and clothing

Climate

- Temperate zone
- 4 distinct seasons
- Climate varies : cool temperate in the North
subtropical in the South

Climate

Subarctic climate
l
a
c
i
trop

a
r
t
x
E
e
t
a
clim

Subtropical climate

Vegetation
Around 5000 to 6000 species of plant
Varies from subtropical to coniferous forest

Cherry tree National symbol

Vegetation

Mangroves

Cycads
Subtropical zone

Ferns

Vegetation

Cool temperate

Japanese beech

Spruce

Vegetation

Japanese blue cedar

Vegetation

Japanese red pine

Japanese black pine

Vegetation
Around 130 kinds of land mammal
Pika
Japanese Racoondog
Over 600 species bird

Hokkaido fox

Japanese macaque

Landforms
Mountain Ranges

A great percentage of the

island nation is mountainous
Mt. Fuji (12.388 feet)- The highest
mountain in Japan

Landforms
Mountain Ranges

Mt. Haku (8738 feet)

Mt. Tate (9892 feet)

Landforms

Landforms
Beaches

Nishihama
beach

Nagasaki beach

Landforms
Lakes and Rivers
-A popular scenic
attraction
-An important source
of freshwater and fish
-A local transportation
artery
Biwa Lake The largest lake

Landforms
Lakes and Rivers

An important source
of freshwater species

Kasumigaura Lake The second

largest lake

Landforms
Lakes and Rivers
Dry season : low water levels
Rainy period and after snows melt : many
flood
Chains of reservoirs and multiple dams

Shinano River
The longest and largest.

Sumida River

Language

Japanese

125 million speaker

Member of Japonic ( JapaneseRyukyuan) language family
3 alphabets : Kanji , Hiragana ,
Katakana

Language
Kanji
- The oldest written
alphabet
- Major alphabet
- Using for words

Language
Hiragana

- The basis of Japanese writing system

- Using for particles and tenses

Language

- Based on almost exclusively Chinese

characters
- Using for transcribing foreign words , names
into Japanese

Language
3 major Japanese dialects
Tohoku dialect
Tohoku

Standard
Japanese

Kansai dialect

Food
The unique of Japanese food :
Simplicity: complex combinations of ingredients
and simple cooking techniques
Seasonality : food according to the season

Food

Sushi
Sukiyaki

Sashimi
Tempura

Food

Soba

Udon

Clothing

Clothing

*Zori
-Made of various
materials
-Appropriate for
formal occasions
*Geta
-Elevated on teeth
- Always higher than Zori

Clothing
Modern style
Like in the Western clothing

CONCLUSION