The Kanto Plain, on which the city of Tokyo is located, is only 5,000 square miles in area. Sixty-eight percent of the country is covered by forests, yet the terrain makes timber harvest and tree planting difficult. As a result, the average family farm is less than 3 acres in area and is often located on terraced hillsides or on land reclaimed from the sea. Despite the relative difficulty of agricultural production, farming has been one of the traditional means of livelihood for the Japanese. Importing rice, a staple of the Japanese diet, is an issue surrounded by controversy.
Japan is located primarily in the Northern Temperate Zone.
Yet, the country spans 2,360 miles northeast to southwest, and the climate varies between regions. During the winter, the average temperature ranges from about 60 degrees F. in the south to about 22.8 degrees F. in the northern areas. During the summer, the average ranges from about 83 degrees F. in the south to about 68 degrees F. in the north. The climate in Japan is most comparable to the middle belt of the eastern United States and to the countries of central and southern Europe. If Japan were superimposed on the eastern coast of the United States, the latitudes would run from Montreal in the north to Jacksonville, Florida in the south.