Geography of Japan
Japan is an island nation comprising a stratovolcanic archipelago over along East Asia's Pacific coast. It consists of 6,852 islands. The main islands are Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Hokkaido. The Ryukyu Islands and Nanpō Islands are south of the main islands. The territory extends . It is the largest island country in East Asia and fourth largest island country in the world. Japan has the sixth longest coastline and the eight largest Exclusive Economic Zone of in the world.
Childbirth in Japan
The US then occupied Japan from 1945 to 1952 under General Douglas MacArthur. A new constitution took effect in 1947 according to which the emperor became largely a symbolic head of state. Japan regained its sovereignty in 1952, and in 1972 the US gave back some islands, the Ryukyu, that included Okinawa. Japan's economic growth was swift, relying on new technologies, manufacturing and a protectionist attitude. In 1998, Japan – like much of the region – suffered the worst recession since World War II, which led eventually to the resignation of the prime minister. Since then the economy has improved, but is still plagued by stagnation, a fact that the recent 23-foot tsunami and the largest earthquake in Japanese history that struck on March 11, 2011 did not help. A tsunami triggered by a huge earthquake in 2011 stuck the nuclear power plant (NPP) in Fukushima and lead to the leakage of harmful radioactive materials, such as 131I, 137Cs, and 134Cs, into the environment. As a result, more than 170,000 people in Japan evacuated from the area at the time. The radioactive materials from Fukushima incident were released into the air and water, possibly polluting agriculture and marine life in Japan and other nearby countries.