Part 1 of Essay
Perhaps more than any other nation in the world, Japan is shaped by its geography to a tremendous extent. Technically classified as an archipelago, Japan is a curved chain of four islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, plus over a thousand smaller islands). However, it is first and foremost an island nation, a f ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... is accurate without a study of Japan’s geography. Before Japan was unified, many different clans held power over different parts of the islands. Centralizing power proved difficult because of the physical disunion. Once a nation, though, Japan’s island geography kept Japan isolated from even its closest neighbor, Korea. Being a group of islands was the main reason Japan could maintain its isolationist ways until just a century ago. It was also the main reason for a strong maritime outlook in the Japanese. It ....