Tokyo streets are among the most polluted in the world, and traffic policemen must wear masks. Shoguns and Samurai From 1254 to 1868, Japan was effectively ruled not by the emperor, but by strong military leaders called shoguns. Each shogun was served by a powerful brotherhood of warriors called samurai. Company workers Japanese workers tend to work for the same company all their lives. Workers often take holidays together, exercise together and may even sing the company song every day.
Managers are so proud of their business that they often spend many evenings working.
However, the pressures such a regime of hard work can bring are too much for some people, and Japan has a high suicide rate. Buildings in Tokyo are knocked down to make way for new ones every 6 years or so. Japanese children do 5 hours of homework a day at the age of 7. The Japanese writing system uses over 3000 characters.