Gifu Entrance Social Studies cheat sheet

Japan's 47 prefectures divide into 8 regions (Hokkaidō, Tōhoku, Kantō, Chūbu, Kinki, Chūgoku, Shikoku, Kyūshū-Okinawa); the four main islands north-to-south are Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, Kyūshū, with Okinawa lying far southwest in the subtropics.

Latitude/longitude reference: Japan spans roughly 20°N–46°N and 123°E–146°E; the 135°E meridian sets Japan Standard Time (UTC+9), and the 140°E line is used on many Japanese maps as the central meridian.

Climate: most of Japan is temperate humid (Cfa/Cwa); the Japan Sea side gets heavy winter snow from northwest monsoon winds crossing the sea, the Pacific side has dry, sunny winters and wet summers; Setonaikai is the driest region; Okinawa is subtropical with typhoons peaking Aug–Sep.

Landforms: about 70% of Japan is mountainous; the Japan Alps (Hida, Kiso, Akaishi) and Mt. Fuji (3,776 m, highest) are in Chūbu; the Fossa Magna trench splits Honshū; plains (Kantō, Nōbi, Osaka) are small coastal lowlands where population and farming concentrate.

Rivers are short and steep (Shinano longest, Tone largest basin) causing rapid runoff and floods; Lake Biwa is the largest lake; because rivers fall fast, hydroelectric power and irrigation depend on dams, and water is a recurring conflict issue.

Population: total about 124 million, declining since 2008; birth rate ~1.2 (below replacement 2.1); over-65 share about 29% (world's highest); population concentrates in the three major metropolitan areas (Kantō, Chūkyō, Kinki).

Industry belts: Keihin (Kantō, machinery/printing), Chūkyō (Aichi, automobiles), Hanshin (Kinki, chemicals/steel), plus Kitakyūshū steel and Setouchi petrochemicals; these depend on imported raw materials, port access, and flat reclaimed coastal land.

Agriculture: rice self-sufficiency near 100% but overall food self-sufficiency ~38% on a calorie basis; Hokkaidō leads in wheat, potatoes, dairy; Tōhoku in rice; Kōchi in greenhouse vegetables; Uwajima and Ehime in citrus and fisheries.

Trade and transport: Japan relies on imports for most energy and minerals; main ports are Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe; Narita and Haneda are international gateways; the Shinkansen network links major cities and the Seikan Tunnel connects Honshū and Hokkaidō.

Period order: Jōmon → Yayoi (wet rice, bronze/iron from continent) → Kofun (keyhole tombs, Yamato court) → Asuka (Suiko, Shōtoku's 17-article code, Taika Reform 645) → Nara (710, ritsuryō, Tōdaiji) → Heian (794, Fujiwara regency, samurai rise) → Kamakura (1192, Hōjō regents, Mongol invasions 1274/1281) → Muromachi (1336, Ashikaga, trade with Ming) → Azuchi-Momoyama (Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, sword hunts and land survey) → Edo (1603, Tokugawa).

Ritsuryō state: Taika Reform (645) and Taihō Code (701) created a centralized emperor-led government with handen land allotment and tax in grain, cloth, and labor; the system eroded as private estates (shōen) grew in the Heian period.

Cultural borrowing: envoys to Sui (Ono no Imoko) and Tang (kentōshi) brought Buddhism, Chinese characters, and Tang law; Kūkai and Saichō founded Shingon and Tendai; the Tale of Genji and Kokinshū mark Heian court literature; gunpowder and printing reached Japan via China and Korea.

Kamakura-Muromachi: Minamoto no Yoritomo set up the bakufu at Kamakura; the jitō and shugo were warrior governors; the Jōkyū War (1221) confirmed bakufu power over the court; Ashikaga Yoshimitsu traded with Ming China under the tally system and built Kinkaku-ji.

Sengoku to unification: Oda Nobunaga (Nagashino, 1575) used firearms and abolished toll barriers; Toyotomi Hideyoshi conducted the Taikō land survey (kenchi) and the sword hunt (katanagari), and twice invaded Korea (1592, 1597).

Edo order: Tokugawa Ieyasu won Sekigahara (1600) and founded the bakufu in 1603; the sankin-kōtai system kept daimyō in Edo every other year; the shi-nō-kō-shō class order and the alternate-residence rule stabilized control; the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–38) preceded the ban on Christianity.

Sakoku and foreign contact: from the 1630s Japanese were barred from overseas travel; trade with the Dutch and Chinese was confined to Nagasaki (Dejima); Korea sent missions through Tsushima; the Ryūkyū kingdom traded with China while under Satsuma control; the Ainu traded in Ezo.

Edo economy and society: peace and irrigation doubled farmland and population to about 30 million by 1700; Osaka became the rice market; Genroku culture (ukiyo-e, kabuki, haikai) and later Kasei and Tempo reforms responded to famines and fiscal crisis.

Opening and Meiji Restoration: Perry's squadron arrived in 1853; the Kanagawa Treaty (1854) opened two ports; unequal treaties (Harris 1858) fixed low tariffs and extraterritoriality; the Boshin War led to the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and the Charter Oath.

Meiji reforms: the 1871 abolition of domains (haihan-chiken) created prefectures; the 1873 conscription law and land-tax reform built a modern army and stable revenue; the Iwakura Mission (1871–73) studied Western institutions; the 1889 Meiji Constitution made the emperor sovereign with a bicameral Diet and limited franchise.

Industrialization and expansion: government-run model factories were sold to zaibatsu; the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) won Taiwan and the Liaodong cession (returned), and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05) won southern Sakhalin and the South Manchuria Railway zone; the 1910 annexation of Korea followed.

Taishō democracy and interwar years: universal male suffrage came in 1925 alongside the Peace Preservation Law; the Washington Naval Treaty (1922) limited capital ships; the Great Depression hit silk exports; the 1931 Manchurian Incident and 1932 Manchukuo led to Japan's 1933 withdrawal from the League of Nations.

Wartime: the 1937 Marco Polo Bridge Incident began full war with China; the Tripartite Pact (1940) aligned Japan with Germany and Italy; the attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec 1941) opened the Pacific War; the Potsdam Declaration (July 1945) and atomic bombings preceded surrender on 15 August 1945.

Occupation reforms (1945–52): SCAP under MacArthur dissolved the military, purged wartime leaders, tried war criminals (Tokyo Trial), broke up zaibatsu, redistributed farmland, and wrote the 1946 Constitution effective 3 May 1947; the San Francisco Peace Treaty took effect in April 1952, with the US–Japan Security Treaty.

Postwar growth: the 1960 income-doubling plan and 1964 Tokyo Olympics symbolized rapid growth (average ~10% in the 1960s); Japan joined the IMF/GATT in 1955 and the OECD in 1964; the 1973 oil shock ended high growth and pushed energy-saving industry.

Recent politics: the 1955 system pitted the LDP against the JSP; the 1991 bubble burst led to the lost decade; the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and Fukushima nuclear accident reshaped energy policy; the voting age was lowered to 18 in 2015.

Constitutional pillars: popular sovereignty, fundamental human rights, and pacifism (Article 9 renounces war and forbids maintaining armed forces with war potential); the emperor is a symbol with no political power (Article 1).

Three principles of the Constitution: the guarantee of fundamental human rights, the people's sovereignty, and pacifism; the Constitution is the supreme law and any law contrary to it is void (Article 98).

Rights categories: equality (Art. 14, no discrimination by race, sex, etc.), freedom (thought, religion, speech, assembly, association), social rights (education, work, minimum standard of living), and participation rights (suffrage, referendum, petition).

Public welfare and limits: rights are guaranteed to the extent they do not conflict with the public welfare (Art. 13, 12); the Constitution protects 'the essential content' of rights; the Supreme Court's 1948 statement and later cases set limits on censorship and assembly.

Diet: the highest organ of state power and the only law-making body; House of Representatives has 465 members (289 single-member districts, 176 proportional) and the House of Councillors 248 (100 proportional, 148 district); a two-thirds vote in the Lower House can override an Upper House rejection of a budget or treaty.

Cabinet: headed by the Prime Minister chosen by the Diet; a majority of ministers must be Diet members; the Cabinet is collectively responsible to the Diet; a no-confidence vote forces resignation or dissolution of the Lower House within 10 days.

Courts: the Supreme Court is the final court and has the power of judicial review; judges are appointed by the Cabinet and reviewed by the people in the first general election after appointment; lower courts include high, district, family, and summary courts.

Local government: the 1947 Local Autonomy Law gives prefectures and municipalities their own assemblies and governors/mayors elected by residents; residents have direct-democracy rights including initiative for ordinance enactment and recall of officials.

Elections: the Public Offices Election Law sets the system; the voting age is 18; the Lower House uses a parallel system of single-member districts and proportional representation, while the Upper House mixes district and proportional seats.

GDP measures the market value of goods and services produced domestically in a year; GNP/GNI counts income earned by nationals abroad; nominal GDP is at current prices, real GDP is adjusted for inflation, and per-capita GDP divides by population.

Business cycle: expansion is driven by rising demand, employment, and prices; recession by falling demand; governments use fiscal policy (spending, taxes) and the Bank of Japan uses monetary policy (interest rates, money supply) to smooth cycles.

Price and money: inflation raises nominal but not real income; deflation is a sustained fall in prices; the Bank of Japan targets 2% inflation and issues banknotes; the money supply is measured as M1, M2, and M3.

Public finance: the national budget is drafted by the Ministry of Finance and approved by the Diet; tax revenue is the main source, but Japan has issued deficit-financing bonds, so outstanding government debt exceeds 200% of GDP; consumption tax is currently 10%.

Tax types: direct taxes (income tax, corporate tax, inhabitant tax) are progressive; indirect taxes (consumption tax) are regressive; the '900,000 yen wall' and spouse deductions affect household work choices.

Trade and exchange: Japan runs a trade surplus when exports exceed imports; a weaker yen helps exporters but raises import costs; the balance of payments records trade, services, and investment income; the current account surplus reflects overseas investment income.

International organizations: the UN (Japan joined 1956) has a Security Council with five permanent members; the WTO governs trade rules; the IMF and World Bank handle finance and development; Japan is a member of the G7 and the OECD.

Regional and global issues: the ODA Charter guides aid; Japan is a top donor; climate goals under the Paris Agreement target net zero by 2050; the SDGs set 17 goals by 2030; Japan's aging and low birth rate strain social security finances.

Japan's 47 prefectures divide into 8 regions; the four main islands north-to-south are Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, with Okinawa far southwest in the subtropics.

Japan spans roughly 20°N–46°N and 123°E–146°E; the 135°E meridian sets Japan Standard Time (UTC+9), and the 140°E line is used as the central meridian on many Japanese maps.

The Japan Sea side gets heavy winter snow from northwest monsoon winds crossing the sea; the Pacific side has dry, sunny winters and wet summers; Setonaikai is the driest region.

About 70% of Japan is mountainous; Mt. Fuji (3,776 m) is highest; the Kantō, Nōbi, and Osaka plains are small coastal lowlands where population and farming concentrate.

Rivers are short and steep (Shinano longest, Tone largest basin), causing rapid runoff and floods; Lake Biwa is the largest lake; dams supply hydroelectric power and irrigation.

Population is about 124 million and declining since 2008; the birth rate is around 1.2, the over-65 share about 29%, and people concentrate in the Kantō, Chūkyō, and Kinki metropolitan areas.

Industry belts: Keihin (Kantō, machinery and printing), Chūkyō (Aichi, automobiles), Hanshin (Kinki, chemicals and steel), plus Kitakyūshū steel and Setouchi petrochemicals.

Food self-sufficiency is about 38% on a calorie basis; rice is near 100% self-sufficient; Hokkaidō leads in wheat, potatoes, and dairy; Tōhoku in rice; Ehime and Kōchi in citrus and greenhouse vegetables.

Japan imports most energy and minerals; main ports are Yokohama, Nagoya, and Kobe; Narita and Haneda are international gateways; the Shinkansen and Seikan Tunnel link major cities and Hokkaidō.

Period order: Jōmon → Yayoi (wet rice, bronze and iron from the continent) → Kofun (keyhole tombs, Yamato court) → Asuka (Shōtoku's 17-article code, Taika Reform 645) → Nara (710, ritsuryō, Tōdaiji) → Heian (794, Fujiwara regency) → Kamakura (1192, Hōjō regents, Mongol invasions 1274 and 1281) → Muromachi (1336, Ashikaga, Ming trade) → Azuchi-Momoyama → Edo (1603).

The Taika Reform (645) and Taihō Code (701) created a centralized emperor-led state with the handen land allotment and tax in grain, cloth, and labor; the system eroded as private estates (shōen) grew.

Envoys to Sui and Tang brought Buddhism, Chinese characters, and Tang law; Kūkai and Saichō founded Shingon and Tendai; the Tale of Genji and Kokinshū mark Heian court literature.

Minamoto no Yoritomo set up the bakufu at Kamakura; jitō and shugo were warrior governors; the Jōkyū War (1221) confirmed bakufu power over the court; Ashikaga Yoshimitsu traded with Ming China under the tally system.

Oda Nobunaga (Nagashino, 1575) used firearms and abolished toll barriers; Toyotomi Hideyoshi conducted the Taikō land survey and the sword hunt, and twice invaded Korea (1592, 1597).

Tokugawa Ieyasu won Sekigahara (1600) and founded the bakufu in 1603; sankin-kōtai kept daimyō in Edo every other year; the shi-nō-kō-shō class order stabilized control; the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–38) preceded the ban on Christianity.

From the 1630s Japanese were barred from overseas travel; trade with the Dutch and Chinese was confined to Nagasaki (Dejima); Korea sent missions through Tsushima; the Ryūkyū kingdom traded with China while under Satsuma control.

Peace and irrigation doubled farmland and population to about 30 million by 1700; Osaka became the rice market; Genroku culture (ukiyo-e, kabuki, haikai) flourished, and later Kansei and Tempo reforms responded to famines and fiscal crisis.

Perry's squadron arrived in 1853; the Kanagawa Treaty (1854) opened two ports; the Harris treaty (1858) fixed low tariffs and extraterritoriality; the Boshin War led to the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

Meiji reforms: the 1871 abolition of domains created prefectures; the 1873 conscription law and land-tax reform built a modern army and stable revenue; the Iwakura Mission (1871–73) studied Western institutions.

The 1889 Meiji Constitution made the emperor sovereign with a bicameral Diet and limited franchise; the Cabinet answered to the emperor, not the Diet.

The Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) won Taiwan; the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05) won southern Sakhalin and the South Manchuria Railway zone; the 1910 annexation of Korea followed.

Universal male suffrage came in 1925 alongside the Peace Preservation Law; the Washington Naval Treaty (1922) limited capital ships; the Great Depression hit silk exports.

The 1931 Manchurian Incident and 1932 Manchukuo led to Japan's 1933 withdrawal from the League of Nations; the 1937 Marco Polo Bridge Incident began full war with China.

The Tripartite Pact (1940) aligned Japan with Germany and Italy; the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941) opened the Pacific War; the Potsdam Declaration (July 1945) and atomic bombings preceded surrender on 15 August 1945.

Occupation reforms (1945–52): SCAP under MacArthur dissolved the military, tried war criminals, broke up zaibatsu, redistributed farmland, and wrote the 1946 Constitution effective 3 May 1947; the San Francisco Peace Treaty took effect in April 1952.

The 1960 income-doubling plan and 1964 Tokyo Olympics symbolized rapid growth; Japan joined the IMF and GATT in 1955 and the OECD in 1964; the 1973 oil shock ended high growth; the 1991 bubble burst led to the lost decade.

Constitutional pillars: popular sovereignty, fundamental human rights, and pacifism (Article 9 renounces war and forbids maintaining armed forces with war potential); the emperor is a symbol with no political power (Article 1).

The Constitution is the supreme law, and any law contrary to it is void (Article 98); the three principles are fundamental human rights, popular sovereignty, and pacifism.

Rights categories: equality (Article 14, no discrimination by race, sex, etc.), freedom (thought, religion, speech, assembly, association), social rights (education, work, minimum standard of living), and participation rights (suffrage, referendum, petition).

Rights are guaranteed to the extent they do not conflict with the public welfare (Articles 13 and 12); the Constitution protects the essential content of rights, and courts have set limits on censorship and assembly.

Diet: the highest organ of state power and the only law-making body; the House of Representatives has 465 members (289 single-member districts, 176 proportional) and the House of Councillors 248 (100 proportional, 148 district).

The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister chosen by the Diet; a majority of ministers must be Diet members; the Cabinet is collectively responsible to the Diet; a no-confidence vote forces resignation or dissolution of the Lower House within 10 days.

The Supreme Court is the final court and has the power of judicial review; judges are appointed by the Cabinet and reviewed by the people in the first general election after appointment; lower courts include high, district, family, and summary courts.

The 1947 Local Autonomy Law gives prefectures and municipalities their own assemblies and governors or mayors elected by residents; residents have direct-democracy rights including initiative for ordinances and recall of officials.

The Public Offices Election Law sets the system; the voting age is 18; the Lower House uses a parallel system of single-member districts and proportional representation, while the Upper House mixes district and proportional seats.

GDP measures the market value of goods and services produced domestically in a year; GNP/GNI counts income earned by nationals abroad; nominal GDP uses current prices, real GDP is adjusted for inflation, and per-capita GDP divides by population.

Expansion is driven by rising demand, employment, and prices; recession by falling demand; governments use fiscal policy (spending, taxes) and the Bank of Japan uses monetary policy (interest rates, money supply) to smooth cycles.

Inflation raises nominal but not real income; deflation is a sustained fall in prices; the Bank of Japan targets 2% inflation and issues banknotes; the money supply is measured as M1, M2, and M3.

The national budget is drafted by the Ministry of Finance and approved by the Diet; tax revenue is the main source, but Japan has issued deficit-financing bonds, so outstanding government debt exceeds 200% of GDP; the consumption tax is 10%.

Direct taxes (income tax, corporate tax, inhabitant tax) are progressive; indirect taxes (consumption tax) are regressive; the '900,000 yen wall' and spouse deductions affect household work choices.

Japan runs a trade surplus when exports exceed imports; a weaker yen helps exporters but raises import costs; the balance of payments records trade, services, and investment income; the current account surplus reflects overseas investment income.

The UN (Japan joined 1956) has a Security Council with five permanent members; the WTO governs trade rules; the IMF and World Bank handle finance and development; Japan is a member of the G7 and the OECD.

The ODA Charter guides aid, and Japan is a top donor; the Paris Agreement targets net zero by 2050; the SDGs set 17 goals by 2030; Japan's aging and low birth rate strain social security finances.