ABSTRACT
In Japan, the seacoast is nearby, and throughout almost all the land, mountains are visible. The compact character of the habitable remainder is possibly the explanation for the Japanese love of landscapes and the tendency to reproduce them on a small scale, for example, in tiny trees (bonsai) and in miniature gardens. Geologists view the Japanese archipelago riot so much as islands as immense mountains on the globe. The Japanese have become so inured to nature's might that in the 1970s a novel titled Nihon chimbotsu was widely read with fear and fascination. The mountains, the seas, and the relative location of the plains between them do, of course, work their effects on Japan's climate. Geographers tend to use the term "settlements," but often find themselves puzzling over how to explain the differences among governmental units, traditional and modern metropolitan regions, and actual areas in Japan.
