Japan, officially known as Japan, is located in eastern Asia, in the northwest of the Pacific Ocean. The country name means “Land of the Rising Sun”. Its territory consists of four major islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—along with over 7,200 small islands, covering a total area of 378,000 square kilometers. The main ethnic group is the Yamato people, and Japanese is the common language. The total population is approximately 126 million. Japan is a highly developed capitalist country and the world's third-largest economy after the United States and China. It is poor in resources and extremely dependent on imports, with its advanced manufacturing industry serving as the main pillar of the national economy. Its scientific research, aerospace, manufacturing, and education levels rank among the world's top. In addition, its cultural industry, led by anime and gaming, and its developed tourism industry are also important symbols. Japan is exemplary in many aspects such as environmental protection and resource utilization, and its citizens generally enjoy good education, a high standard of living, and high civic qualities. To this day, it still well preserves traditional Japanese culture represented by tea ceremony, flower arrangement, incense ceremony, and calligraphy. Geographical Location:Japan is located in the eastern part of the Eurasian continent and the northwest of the Pacific Ocean. Its territory consists of four major islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and more than 7,200 other small islands, so it is also called “the Country of a Thousand Islands”. Japan's land area is approximately 377,900 square kilometers. To the east and south of Japan lies the vast Pacific Ocean, to the west the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, and to the north the Sea of Okhotsk. Across the sea, it faces North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, the Philippines, and other countries. In Hokkaido, Japan, there is one of the world's most famous fishing grounds, ——the Hokkaido Fishing Ground, which is formed by the convergence of the Kuril Cold Current and the Japan Warm Current. Transportation:Japan's transportation industry is developed and has formed a modern transportation system centered on maritime transport and closely integrating sea, land, and air. In international shipping, freight is mainly by sea and passenger transport mainly by air. Domestic passenger transport is mainly by rail and road, while freight is mainly by road and sea. Japan has a huge ocean fleet with routes connecting to all parts of the world. Famous seaports include Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, and Kobe. The capital's Haneda Airport and Narita Airport are Japan's main air arteries. In the 2008 world airport service quality rankings, Tokyo Haneda Airport ranked first. The airports of Hakodate, Fukuoka, Osaka, Kansai, Kitakyushu, and Naha are all air traffic hubs in Japan. Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Hokkaido International Airlines, and Skymark Airlines (SKY) (Japan Transocean Air JTA is a subsidiary of Japan Airlines) are Japan's four major airlines and important symbols of Japan's air traffic. Most of Japan's land transportation relies on rail transit such as subways, light rail, and railways. The Shinkansen is Japan's high-speed railway passenger dedicated line system, famous for “bullet trains”, and is a modern symbol of rail transit.