ABSTRACT
The Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea, which once presented obstacles to invaders from the continent and gave security to the archipelago, are nowadays the avenue of the nation's intercourse with the neighbours across the waters. The people now known as the Japanese have inhabited, ever since the dawn of their history, the group of islands skirting Eastern Asia. When they first appear on the stage of history they are fairly united as a people, though still crude in civilization. In spite of diverse elements and the constant influx of new blood, the people of Japan were able to achieve national unity comparatively early in their history, and a noteworthy fact is that there exists among them hardly any sense of race division or antagonism. Speaking in a general way, Shinto, the indigenous religion, was an outcome of the people's life and temperament, closely connected with national traditions and social institutions.
