Yamanashi Entrance Social Studies study plan

Map Japan's eight regions and all 47 prefectures from memory, then label a blank outline map without reference material

Explain the formation of Japan's four major plains and three major mountain ranges and connect each to where people actually live

Classify Japan's climate zones (Pacific side, Sea of Japan side, Seto Inland Sea, Hokkaido, Nansei Islands) and predict seasonal precipitation patterns for each

Interpret one population pyramid and one age-distribution table for a Japanese prefecture and state two policy implications

Trace the postwar shift of Japan's industrial belts from the Pacific Belt to dispersed interior and overseas locations

Compare primary, secondary, and tertiary sector shares across three decades using a real statistical table

Explain why agriculture in Yamanashi and similar basins specializes in fruit cultivation rather than rice

Describe the three largest metropolitan areas and rank them by population and economic function

Sequence the major periods from Jomon through Heian and attach one defining political feature to each

Explain how the ritsuryo system was modeled on Tang China and where it diverged in practice

Identify the causes and consequences of the shift from emperor-centered rule to warrior government

Read a short excerpt of a primary chronicle or edict and extract who wrote it, when, and for what purpose

Contrast the unification policies of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, especially land surveys, sword hunts, and castle regulation

Explain the main instruments of Tokugawa control: the alternate-attendance system, domain relocation, and the status order

Describe how sakoku was implemented and what actually continued to flow through Nagasaki and the Ryukyu and Satsuma routes

Trace the commercial growth of Edo-period towns and name the social tensions it produced

Order the events from the arrival of Western powers to the Meiji Restoration and explain the internal causes of the shogunate's collapse

Summarize the main reforms of the Meiji period in politics, education, military, and industry

Explain the causes and outcomes of the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars in one paragraph each

Connect the interwar breakdown of the Washington treaty system to Japan's path toward war

Outline the occupation reforms and the 1951 peace and security arrangements

Explain the constitutional revision of 1946 and name the three principles of the Japanese Constitution

Describe the roles of the Emperor, the Diet, the Cabinet, and the courts and how they check one another

Explain the difference between the two houses of the Diet and how a bill becomes law

Outline the postwar party system and how the 1955 system and its later breakup changed governance

Explain the significance of Article 9 and the debate over its interpretation

Explain the roles of the Bank of Japan, fiscal policy, and the national budget process in Japan

Distinguish direct from indirect taxes and describe Japan's consumption tax and its regressive character

Explain the causes and consequences of Japan's public debt burden using a debt-to-GDP figure

Describe Japan's trade structure, its major partners, and its role in the WTO and regional trade agreements

Explain the main UN bodies and one current international development issue

Practice reading graphs, tables, and maps under time pressure and extract the one conclusion each supports

Identify common distractors in data-interpretation questions, such as confusing correlation with causation or misreading axes

Review your weakest two domains using your own error log from weeks 1 through 7

Complete a full timed practice set and record your score by domain