Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 72:
Early in its history, Japan adopted many customs and institutions from [[Chinese culture|China]] and [[Korean culture|Korea]]. During the 8th century, the emergence of an indigenous culture sparked a "golden age" in Japan called the [[Heian period]], characterized by aesthetic refinement and aristocratic sophistication. Although Japan was [[sakoku|closed to the outside world]] beginning in 1603, the arrival of the "[[Black Ships]]" and the signing of the [[Convention of Kanagawa]] in 1854 signaled the opening of the country to [[Western world|the West]]. After the [[Meiji Restoration]] of 1868, Japan adopted many [[Europe]]an and [[United States|America]]n customs and institutions. [[Japanese culture]] today is a mixture of these many influences.
Presently Japan is the world's [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|second-largest economy]] and one of the world's [[G8|leading industrialized countries]]. It is a [[unitary state|unitary]] [[constitutional monarchy]] with an [[Emperor of Japan|emperor]] and an elected parliament, called the [[Diet of Japan|
Japan's name in the [[kanji]] writing system is often translated as "Land of the Rising Sun", and comes from the country's ___location on the east coast of [[Asia]].
|