Japan is known to the world with its technologies of producing electronic goods and cars, and its economy that had once been one of the greatest in the world.

Japan is a country made up of islands. There are about 3,000 of them in all, forming a long chain down the Pacific coast of northern Asia. Much of the land is mountainous so most people live on the crowded coastal planes, where there are very big cities including Tokyo. Japan lies within an earthquake danger zone like many Pacific nations.