The first archaeological signs of Japanese civilization appear in the Pacific around 10,000 BC. Japan’s first written records date to 57 AD, in the text of China's Book of Later Han. It was Japan’s medieval period that saw the first emergence of Samurai, a philosophical warrior class, on the Island. Based on the Samurai model, a culture developed among the Japanese of fierce feudal loyalty and isolation, and by 1639, Japan effectively closed its doors to outsiders. Traders were refused entry until the mid 1800s, when the U.S. Navy forced its ports open.

The country then began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became an international power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1937, Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China and Southeast Asia, along the way committing atrocious war crimes in hundreds of prisoner of war camps. Japan attacked the US fleet in Hawaii in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II. After its defeat, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US.

Capital: Tokyo
Official Language: Japanese
Population: 127,463,611
Currency: Yen
What's Popular: Drifting: Drivers compete by taking
sharp turns on curved tracks, skidding sideways