- published: 13 Sep 2015
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Japan i/dʒəˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan 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 nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.
Mao Asada (浅田 真央, Asada Mao?, born September 25, 1990) is a Japanese figure skater.
She is the 2010 Winter Olympic silver medalist, a two-time (2008 & 2010) World champion, a two-time (2008 & 2010) Four Continents champion, a two-time (2005–2006 & 2008–2009) Grand Prix Final champion, the 2005 World Junior champion, the 2004–2005 Junior Grand Prix Final champion and a five-time (2006–2009, 2011) Japanese national champion.
At the 2010 Winter Olympics, she became the first woman to land three triple axel jumps in the same competition.
Mao Asada was born in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. She was named after the Japanese actress Mao Daichi. She attended Nagoya International School until the middle of 1st grade. After transferring, she graduated from Takabari Elementary School and Takabaridai Junior High. She received her high school diploma from Chukyo High School on March 15, 2009. After that, she enrolled in Chukyo University.
Her sister Mai Asada (two years older) is also a figure skater and finished 6th at the 2006 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. She is now skating in shows.