LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Japan
built 193 days ago
Japan is a study in contrasts and contradictions. Many Japanese corporations dominate their industries, yet if you read the financial news it seems like Japan is practically bankrupt. Cities are as modern and high tech as anywhere else, but tumbledown wooden shacks can still be spotted next to glass fronted designer condominiums. On an average subway ride, you might see childishly cute character toys and incredibly violent pornography - sometimes enjoyed by the same passenger, at the same time! Japan has beautiful temples and gardens which are often surrounded by garish signs and ugly buildings. In the middle of a modern skyscraper you might discover a sliding wooden door which leads to a traditional chamber with tatami mats, calligraphy, and tea ceremony.
Source:
The first European contact with Japan was made by Portuguese sailors in 1542. A small trade with the West developed. Christianity was introduced by St. Francis Xavier, who reached Japan in 1549. In the late 16th cent. three warriors, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu, established military control over the whole country and succeeded one another in the dictatorship. Hideyoshi unsuccessfully invaded Korea in 1592 and 1596 in an effort to conquer China. After Hideyoshi's death, Ieyasu took the title of shogun, and his family ruled Japan for over 250 years.
Source:
Japan does not have a ballistic missile development program, but its space program includes a number of technologies that could potentially be adapted to long-range missiles. The solid-fueled M-5 rocket system, first launched in 1995, includes technologies that could be adapted to develop intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capabilities roughly similar to those of the U.S. MX Peacekeeper missile. Japan's two-stage H-2 rocket is capable of placing a two-ton payload into orbit, but the H-2 is not optimal for ballistic missile applications due to its reliance on cryogenic liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel. Japan lacks sophisticated command and control systems, as well as some guidance and warhead technology that would be necessary to develop operational missiles. Japan is an active member of the MTCR and was involved in drafting the International Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (ICOC). Recently, Japan has become more assertive in the field of space activities.
Source:
Most political parties in Japan are small and do not have broad, mass memberships; their members are mainly professional politicians. Japan currently has more than 10,000 parties, most of them local and regional. The Liberal Democratic party (LDP) held the majority of seats in the diet from 1955, when the party was formed, to 1993, when an opposition coalition formed a government; ... it was back in power in 1996. Relatively conservative, the LDP has supported the alliance with the United States and the mutual security pacts between the two countries. The Social Democratic party (SDP, formerly the Socialist party), which has opposed the security treaties with the United States, was long the chief LDP rival; in 1994–99, however, the party formed a governing coalition with the LDP. Other significant parties tended to be somewhat fluid groupings in the 1990s; important ones currently include the Democratic party of Japan, which is now Japan's largest opposition party, and New Komeito.
Source:
Japan has partnered with the United States to research, develop and deploy ballistic missile defense systems.(BMD). After the 1998 Taepodong-1 missile test by North Korea, Japan decided to undertake research and development of missile defense systems in cooperation with the United States. In December 2003, the Japanese government decided to introduce the multi-layered defense system. As regional security concerns over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile program intensified, Japan decided to accelerate missile defense deployment. The United States deployed a ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC)-3 unit at Kadena Air base in Okinawa in October 2006 and Japan deployed its first PAC-3 at Iruma Air Base in Saitama prefecture in March 2007. Its second PAC-3 interceptor system was deployed in November 2007 at the Air Self-Defense Force Narashino base in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo. Nine more installments are scheduled by March 2011.
Source:
In 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, a naval base of the United States and destroyed or damaged many ships and airplanes. This started the United States' involvement in World War 2. American and Japanese forces fought each other in the Pacific. Once airbases were established within range of the Japanese mainland America began to win, and started dropping bombs on Japanese cities. With unrestricted bombing access to most major population centers Japan was soon brought to its knees. Because the Japanese refused to surrender, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan and killed 130,000 Japanese citizens in just a few seconds.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Japan