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Perhaps more than any other nation in the world, Japan is shaped by its geography to a tremendous extent. Technically classified as an archipelago, Japan is a curved chain of four islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, plus over a thousand smaller island ....

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.... geography. Before Japan was unified, many different clans held power over different parts of the islands. Centralizing power proved difficult because of the physical disunion. Once a nation, though, Japan’s island geography kept Japan isolated from even its closest neighbor, Korea. Being a group of islands was the main reason Japan could maintain its isolationist ways until just a century ago. It was also the main reason for a strong maritime outlook in the Japanese. It has over 17 thousand miles of coastline, which means almost all the centers of population (lowlands) have sea frontage. The term “center of population” isn’t fair t ....