Japan is made up of four main islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Rice has been the dietary staple since prehistoric times. Only a small portion of the land is level and farmable so that the population is clumped along the coastland plains. Honshu, the biggest island, is also the most heavily populated. Though dwarfed by China, the Japanese islands contain a territoy larger than Great Britain. Historically, Japanese has been more culturally isolated than other Asian cultures.