ABSTRACT
Japan is a country of islands. It is made up of about 7,000 islands stretching along the Pacific coast of Asia. The islands lie over a large area bounded by latitudes 24° to 46°N and longitudes 122° to 146°E. Japan’s islands are in a volcanic zone called the Pacific Ring of Fire. They are primarily the result of large oceanic movements occurring over hundreds of millions of years. In fact, at one time Japan was attached to the Eurasian continent until the subducting plates pulled Japan eastward which resulted in the sea of Japan (Barnes, 2003).
