Toyama Prefectural Public High School Entrance Examination - Social Studies flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Pacific Belt

Japan's densely industrialized coastal zone stretching from the Kantō region through Chūkyō to Kansai, concentrating factories, ports, and population along the Pacific coast.

Seto Inland Sea climate

A mild climate with relatively low rainfall year-round, because mountains on both sides block seasonal winds; it lies between Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū.

Contour lines

Map lines connecting points of equal elevation; closely spaced lines indicate steep terrain, while widely spaced lines indicate gentle slopes.

Food self-sufficiency ratio

The share of a country's food supply produced domestically, measured by calories; Japan's figure is roughly 38 percent, low among developed nations.

Chūkyō industrial region

The industrial area around Nagoya and Aichi Prefecture, known for automobile manufacturing and related machinery, centered on the Nōbi Plain.

Sea of Japan side climate

A climate with heavy winter snowfall caused by the northwest monsoon picking up moisture over the Sea of Japan and releasing it over the mountains.

Megalopolis

A vast continuous urban region formed when large cities and their suburbs merge, such as the belt from Tōkyō through Nagoya to Ōsaka.

Jōmon period

A prehistoric era of Japan (roughly 14,000 BCE to 300 BCE) characterized by cord-marked pottery, hunting, gathering, and small settlements.

Taika Reform

A 645 CE reform that placed land and people under imperial control and modeled a centralized government on Tang China, followed by the ritsuryō codes.

Kamakura shogunate

Japan's first warrior government (1185–1333), led by shōguns with the Hōjō as regents, which repelled the Mongol invasions of 1274 and 1281.

Sankin-kōtai

An Edo-period system requiring daimyō to reside in Edo in alternate years, a policy that strengthened shogunal control and spurred road and city growth.

Meiji Restoration

The 1868 overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate that launched rapid modernization, including domain abolition, conscription, land-tax reform, and industrialization.

Ritsuryō system

A centralized legal and administrative order based on Chinese models, codified in the Taihō Code of 701, organizing land, taxes, and officials under the emperor.

Sakoku policy

The Edo shogunate's restriction of foreign contact from the 1630s, limiting trade mainly to Dutch and Chinese merchants at Nagasaki while banning Christianity.

Heian period

An era (794–1185) when the capital was Heian-kyō, marked by aristocratic culture, kana writing, and works such as The Tale of Genji.

Treaty of Kanagawa

An 1854 agreement forced by Commodore Perry that opened two Japanese ports to U.S. ships, ending seclusion and leading to unequal treaties.

Treaty of Shimonoseki

The 1895 treaty ending the First Sino-Japanese War, in which China ceded Taiwan and recognized Korean independence under Japanese influence.

Treaty of Portsmouth

The 1905 treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War, mediated by the United States, which recognized Japan's interests in Korea and southern Manchuria.

San Francisco Peace Treaty

The 1951 treaty that formally ended World War II between Japan and many Allied nations and restored Japanese sovereignty the following year.

Kentōshi

Japanese envoys sent to Tang China during the seventh to ninth centuries, who brought back Buddhism, writing systems, and governmental institutions.

Opium War

A conflict (1840–1842) in which Britain defeated Qing China over the opium trade, exposing Western imperial pressure on Asia and influencing Japan.

Manchurian Incident

A 1931 explosion staged by Japanese forces in Manchuria, used as a pretext to seize the region and leading Japan's withdrawal from the League of Nations.

Article 9

The clause of Japan's 1947 Constitution renouncing war as a sovereign right and the threat or use of force to settle international disputes.

Popular sovereignty

The constitutional principle that political authority ultimately rests with the people, who choose representatives through elections.

Separation of powers

The division of government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches that check one another to prevent concentration of authority.

Cabinet responsibility

The principle that Japan's Cabinet must retain the confidence of the House of Representatives and resign or dissolve the house if it loses it.

Universal suffrage

The right of all adult citizens to vote regardless of wealth, gender, or status; Japan grants it to citizens aged 18 and over.

Market economy

An economic system in which prices and production are largely determined by supply and demand in markets, with government providing regulation and public services.

Consumption tax

A tax levied on the purchase of goods and services, collected by sellers; in Japan it is a major indirect tax contributing to national and local revenue.

United Nations Security Council

The UN body with primary responsibility for peace and security, with five permanent members holding veto power and several elected members.

Aging population

A demographic condition where the share of elderly people rises while births decline, increasing social security costs and shrinking the workforce.

Bank of Japan

Japan's central bank, which issues currency and adjusts interest rates and money supply to pursue price stability and economic stability.