Cities of Japan: the 10 largest cities in Japan

Have you already decided that you want to go to Japan? With the plane ticket in hand, and the certificate of eligibility and the visa in process, now you have to look for an accommodation in the Japanese country.
This country is so far removed from our western culture that you can completely abstract yourself and relax both your body and your mind.

Shibuya, Tokyo. Doesn’t it seem incredible that so many people live here?: Cities of Japan: the 10 largest cities in Japan

The Japanese population numbers 127 million people spread over four major islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku) of “only” 377,962 km 2 . To give you an idea, Spain has an area of ​​505,990 km² and a total population of 46.56 million.
More than a dozen Japanese cities have more than a million inhabitants. Here is our top 10 of the largest cities in the Japanese archipelago :
Tokyo-Kawasaki-Yokohama (42.8 million inhabitants).
Osaka-Kyoto-Kobé (20 million inhabitants),
Nagoya (10 million inhabitants),
Fukuoka-Kitakyushu (2.5 million inhabitants),
Sapporo (2 million inhabitants),
Hiroshima (1.2 million inhabitants),
Sendai (1 million inhabitants),
Shizuoka (million inhabitants),
Saitama (1.2 million inhabitants),
Niigata (808 268 inhabitants).
The capital of Japan is one of the largest cities in the world. Tokyo is a famous metropolis especially for being surprising, amazing, impressive … A walk through the central neighborhoods (Shibuya, Akihabara, Asakusa, etc.) will allow you to fully immerse yourself in the Tokyo universe, unique in the world.
Do not miss the imposing Mount Fuji either, which is located near the capital and is the main protagonist of the postcards of Japan.
In Kyoto, the former imperial capital of Japan (from 794 to 1868, from the shogunate period to the Meiji Restoration ), is an open-air museum that is opened for its visitors.
To fully enjoy your walk through Tokyo, we recommend that you learn Japanese, at least that you acquire a minimum basis that allows you to do the shopping or take the train. The good thing is that in all Japanese urban areas there are Japanese language schools where you can enjoy great classes.
Unfortunately, Japan is a country known throughout the world for its seismic risk: we all remember (if only through the media) the earthquakes (of magnitude 9) of March 11, 2011, in the region from Sendai and Fukushima.
The tsunami that followed the earthquake killed 18,079 people (three times more than the one that took place in Kobe in 1995).

History of Japan: the great Japanese emperors

Why don’t you take advantage of your trip to Japan to discover its history? Who ruled the country since the beginning of time? What have been the regimes in Japan that have managed to turn the country into the cultural and economic power that it is now?
Knowing in detail the times, eras and dates of the reign of the great Japanese emperors can be very interesting, especially because it will allow you to enrich your general culture and enjoy your trip to Japan even more.
Imagine the rigor of the social codes of the shogunate.
Let’s take a brief tour through the history of the Japanese archipelago.
Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a tripartite distribution of powers (executive, legislative and judicial) since 1947.
The Cabinet of Japan is the one that governs the country and not its emperor (Akihito), who has an honorary title. The Emperor of Japan is the head of the state, the symbol of the state, and the head of the Shinto religion.
The Cabinet (charged with directing the nation’s policy) is made up of ministers of state and the Prime Minister, the head of government. In the current Cabinet (the 97th in Japanese history) is Shinzō Abe, elected Prime Minister on December 24, 2014.
But let’s now go back centuries: the first emperor and legendary founder of Japan was Jinmu (-711, -585). His successors were:
Switzerland: -581, -549,
Annei: -549, -511,
Itoku: -510, -477,
Kosho: -475, -393,
Koan: -392, -291,
Korei: -290, -215,
Kogen: -214, -158,
Kaika: -157, -98,
Sujin: -97, -30,
Suinin: -29, +70,
Keiko: 71, 130,
Seimu: 131, 191,
Chuai: 192, 200.
The reign of the emperors of whose dates we are sure dates back to the third century of our era, when Ojin (201-301) was in power.
Japanese antiquity extends to the year 1198, when the country reels into the shogunate, in feudal times. Sixty-five emperors succeeded each other during the ancient period and 32 emperors shared the throne between 1198 and 1611.
The shogun is a “great general pacifier of barbarians”, designated leader of Japan.
The pre-modern era is famously named Edo, which saw 16 emperors pass and lasted from 1611 to the restoration of Meiji in 1868. The latter became the first Emperor of Japan: an absolute monarchy of divine right, and a military dictatorship during world war II.
The last emperor of the Empire of Japan was Hirohito (1901-1989). There were emperors with absolute power (until 1945) for more than 1700 years.
There were many cases of succession in feudal times in which it was not the first-born who inherited the imperial throne, as was the case in the countries of Europe. In fact, the throne could be inherited by cousins, brothers, uncles …