Japan is situated in North Eastern Asia between the North Pacific and the Sea of Japan. The area of Japan is 377,873 square kilometers This is nearly equivalent to Germany and Switzerland combined, or slightly smaller than California. Japan consists of four major islands, surrounded by more than 4,000 smaller islands. Japanese is the only official language spoken in Japan. However, many Japanese are able to understand English to some degree since English is a foreign language that must be learned as part of compulsory education. Japan's population is over 126 million. Most Japanese reside in densely populated urban areas. The capital city is Tokyo, the population of which, including some of it’s suburbs and the surrounding area, is approximately 12 million. The green line on the map below is the Shinkansen. The famous Japanese high speed Bullet Train. Shinkansen literally means "New Trunk Line". The initial Tokaido Shinkansen opened in 1964 running at 210 km/h (130 mph).
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