Yamagata Prefectural Public High School Entrance Examination - Social Studies key terms

Lines of measurement that fix a position on Earth: latitude gives distance north or south of the equator in degrees, and longitude gives distance east or west of the prime meridian.

The ratio between a distance measured on a map and the real distance on the ground. At a scale of 1:25,000, one centimetre on the map stands for 250 metres in the real world.

A line on a topographic map that joins points of equal height above sea level. Where contours are close together the slope is steep; where they are far apart it is gentle.

A cold, damp easterly wind that blows in summer from the Pacific Ocean over northeastern Japan, often bringing fog and low temperatures that damage rice crops in Tohoku.

The climate of the coast facing the Sea of Japan, with heavy winter snowfall brought by moist northwest winds and relatively hot, dry summers compared with the Pacific side.

A broad, flat plain in western Yamagata Prefecture, built up by the Mogami River and facing the Sea of Japan. It is one of Japan's most productive rice-growing areas.

A sharp fall in the population of rural areas as young people move to cities. It leaves ageing communities, closed schools, and difficulty maintaining public services and infrastructure.

A sea area extending up to 200 nautical miles from a country's coastline, where that country has the right to fish and to develop resources such as oil, gas, and minerals.

The difference in clock time between two places at different longitudes. Earth turns 15 degrees each hour, so places 15 degrees apart differ by one hour, with the east ahead.

A fan-shaped deposit of gravel and sand formed where a river leaves a steep mountain valley and spreads onto a plain; water sinks into the coarse soil, so the land is often used for orchards.

The belt of industry and large cities along Japan's Pacific coast, running from the Kanto region through Chubu to northern Kyushu, where ports and factories are concentrated.

A long prehistoric period in Japan, from roughly 13,000 to 300 BCE, when people hunted, fished, and gathered, made rope-patterned pottery, and lived in pit dwellings.

The period from about 300 BCE to 300 CE when wet-rice farming, metal tools, and permanent villages spread through Japan, bringing social differences and small chiefdoms.

A programme of reforms begun in 645 that aimed to strengthen the emperor's rule by putting land and people under state control and copying Chinese-style central government.

The body of law codes and central government institutions adopted in seventh- and eighth-century Japan, which organized land allocation, taxation, and official ranks on Chinese models.

Japan's first warrior government, founded by Minamoto no Yoritomo around 1185, which ruled through samurai vassals and rewarded their military service with land.

Two attempts by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China to invade Japan in 1274 and 1281. Both failed, helped by storms, but their cost weakened the Kamakura shogunate.

A civil war fought in and around Kyoto from 1467 to 1477, begun as a dispute over succession, which destroyed much of the capital and opened the age of warring states.

Surveys ordered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi from the 1580s that recorded the area and estimated yield of each field and named the cultivator responsible for tax.

The Edo shogunate's policy of strictly limiting foreign contact, restricting trade to a few partners, such as the Dutch and Chinese at Nagasaki, and banning most overseas travel.

The political and social changes that followed the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, when Japan built a modern state through industrial, military, and educational reform.

A trend in early twentieth-century Japan toward party government and wider political participation, marked by movements for universal male suffrage, labour rights, and civil liberties.

The period from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s when Japan's economy grew very fast, heavy industry and exports expanded, and millions moved from countryside to cities.

Popular sovereignty, respect for fundamental human rights, and pacifism. These principles underlie Japan's constitution of 1947 and shape how its government is organized.

The idea that political power belongs ultimately to the people, who choose representatives through elections and whose will gives the constitution its authority.

Rights that people hold from birth, which the state must respect and protect, including equality before the law, freedom of thought, and the right to a fair trial.

The division of national government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each with its own powers, so that they check and balance one another.

The authority of courts, with the Supreme Court at the top, to judge whether laws or official acts violate the constitution and to refuse to apply those that do.

A decision by the House of Representatives that it does not support the cabinet. The cabinet must then resign, or dissolve the House and hold a general election.

The principle that people in a municipality or prefecture manage their own affairs through an elected assembly and governor or mayor, as provided by the Local Autonomy Law.

The market forces that determine price: buyers usually want less as prices rise, sellers usually offer more, and the price settles where the two quantities meet.

A strong yen buys more foreign currency, making imports cheaper and exports more expensive abroad; a weak yen does the reverse, helping exporters but raising import prices.

Public schemes that protect people from hardship, including social insurance such as pensions and health insurance, public assistance, and welfare services for children and the elderly.

Direct taxes, such as income and corporate tax, are paid by the person who bears the burden. Indirect taxes, such as consumption tax, are paid to sellers and passed on to buyers.

An international organization founded in 1945 to maintain peace and promote cooperation. Its main organs include the General Assembly, the Security Council, and the Secretariat.