Japan ( "Nippon" or "Nihon" ; formally "" or "Nihon-koku", meaning "State of Japan") is a sovereign island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the southwest. 

The kanji that make up Japan's name mean "sun origin". 日 can be read as "ni" and means "sun", while 本 can be read as "hon" or "pon" and means "origin". Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet "Land of the Rising Sun" in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area and often are referred to as home islands. The country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions, with Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one. The population of 127 million is the world's eleventh largest. Japanese people make up 98.5% of Japan's total population. Approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. 

Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, particularly from Western Europe, has characterized Japan's history.

What are the answers to this following set of questions:

1. When do they think Japan was inhabited?
2. What type of research did they use to establish this?
3. When is Japan first noted in writing?
4. Where was it found?
5. Where is Japan located?
6. which ocean is it in?
7. What is the formal meaning of Japan?
8. How is it often referred by?
9. What is that in reference to?
10. How many islands does it include?
11. How many islands make up 97% of Japan?
12. What are they?
13. What are they referred to as?
14. How many people live in Tokyo?
15. Is it the captial?
16. How many regions does Japan encompass?
17. Is it divided up even further?
18. Into what?
19. What is the most northern region?

Numbered answers:
1. the Upper Paleolithic period.
2. Archaeological
3. 1st century AD.
4. Chinese history texts
5. East Asia
6. Pacific
7. sun origin
8. Land of the Rising Sun
9. its Japanese name.
10. about 6,852
11. four
12. Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku
13. home islands.
14. Approximately 9.1 million
15. Yes
16. eight
17. Yes
18. 47 prefectures
19. Hokkaido