Japan
Japan is situated in northeastern Asia between the North
Pacific and the Sea of Japan. The area of Japan is 377,873
square kilometers, slightly smaller than California. Japan
consists of four major islands, surrounded by more than 4,000
smaller islands.
Japan's topographical features include coastlines with varied
scenery, towering mountains, which are very often volcanic
and twisted valleys that invite visitors into the mysterious
world of nature.
Japan's population is over 126 million. Most Japanese reside
in densely populated urban areas. Japan's capital city is
Tokyo. The population of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area including
the city, some of its suburbs and the surrounding area is
approximately 12 million.
All of Japan is in the same time zone, 9 hours ahead of
G.M.T and 14 hours ahead of EST. No Daylight Saving Time is
practiced in Japan.
HIROSHIMA
Symbol of world peace
Hiroshima is situated at the center of the
Chugoku region in western Honshu (the main island of Japan)
Island. It contains In'noshima Island and 150 other islands
in the Seto Inland Sea. Hiroshima City was leveled by an atomic
bomb in WWII. Today Hiroshima is internationally known as
a city of peace that continues to convey its experiences to
the entire world.
The Chugoku Mountains extend from east to west to the north
of Hiroshima. The Akana-toge Pass and Misaka-toge Pass are
access routes to areas in the Sea of Japan side. The plains
are narrow, and the coastlines are mostly saw-toothed coasts
with mountains drawing close to the shore.
An important cultural property, Itsuku-shima-jinja Shrine,
is located on Miyajima Island, one of the three most beautiful
sights in Japan, and is a special historic site. Its symbol
is the great torii gate (shrine gate) that stands in the sea.
There are other important cultural properties here such as
Mitaki-dera Temple, the Fudo-in Temple built in the mid-14th
century, and many other noted temples.  Hiroshima
is surrounded by the sea and mountains, and has abundant natural
beauty. .
In Hiroshima City, known to the world as the first city
attacked by an atomic bomb, there is the Hiroshima Atomic
Bomb Dome to symbolize the importance of world peace and which
was designated as a World Cultural Heritage with the adjacent
Peace Memorial Park.
NAGASAKI
 Almost
half of the prefectural land area is occupied by 971 inhabited
and uninhabited islands, and it has scenic spots such as Kujuku-shima
Islands of the Saikai National Park, and the main peak Fugen-dake
of the volcano Unzen-dake is situated right in the center
of the Shimabara-hanto Peninsula. Huis Ten Bosch, a theme
park established and named in association with Holland, is
also known as a popular tourist spot.
Nagasaki City, which is the heart of Nagasaki-hanto Peninsula,
is a port city that developed itself even up along the steep
slope of a mountain, while it also stretched horizontally
to hug the Nagasaki Gulf. The line of visitors attracted to
its many tourist spots never ends. The spots include the Peace
Park which tells of facts and memories of horrible damage
that was brought about by the atomic bomb and continues to
appeal to the world its wish for peace, and the Christian
church, O-ura Tenshudo, which, to date, exudes an exotic atmosphere.
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