SOME FACTS ABOUT JAPAN

Mount Fuji is a sacred mountain for the Japanese. Pilgrimages are made to the mountain every year.

The Japanese word for Japan, Nihon (Nippon), means source of the sun.

The Ainu, the original inhabitants of Japan, are related to the people of Siberia.

Some of the oldest pottery in the world comes from Japan's Jomon Period (10,000 - 300 BC).

Seppuku, or hara-kiri, is ritual suicide by disembowelment and was considered an honorable way of dying, as defeated Roman generals were said to fall on their swords.

Japan has the highest density of robots in the world. There are approximately 800,00 industrial-use robots in operation around the world, and fully half of them in Japan. That's about 1 robot for every 310 people in Japan.

The most-visited amusement park in the world is Tokyo Disneyland. Opened in 1983, more than 17 million people visit it each year.

Japan has more active volcanoes than any other country in the world, with more than 10% of all the earth's volcanoes.

The longest transportation tunnel in the world is the Seikan tunnel connecting the main island of Honshu to Hokkaido.

The longest suspension bridge in the world is the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge connecting Kobe with Awaji Island.