Japan: The Land of the Rising Sun Quiz

Answer: Honshu

Located on Honshu island, Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. In addition, it is a well known mountain, often depicted in art and photographic images. Mount Fuji is classed as a stratovolcano, with a near perfect symmetrical cone, covered in snow much of the year.

Although, Mt. Fuji last erupted in the early 18th century, the 2011 Tôhoku earthquake and tsunami caused a number of fumaroles (cracks) and faults to open up in the vicinity of Mt. Fuji, heightening fears that the volcano would erupt.

Despite the fear of eruption, Mt, Fuji is a popular tourist destination, with UNESCO adding Mt. Fuji to their list of World Heritage Sites of cultural significance in 2013. Included in this list are a number of shrines, lodging houses, and landscape features found in the Mt. Fuji area.

Answer: Toyota

Situated in Aichi Prefecture on the island of Honshu, what is now known as the city of Toyota was previously known as Komoro. Evidence of Komoro's earliest inhabitants has been dated back to the Japanese Paleolithic era. Later the area came under the control of the Mononobe clan, whilst during the Edo period of Japanese history, the city was under control of Hatamoto class administrators, speaking on behalf of the Japanese government in Edo, now known as Tokyo.

Under the Emperor Meiji, Komoro flourished as a centre for producing silk, profiting from the emperor opening up Japan to trade, investing in industry and bringing in economic reforms.

When silk manufacturing declined in the early 20th century, the son of a loom manufacturer - Kiichiro Toyoda - decided to take his father's company in a different direction founding what became known as Toyota in the 1930s. Komoro changed its name to Toyota in 1959 in recognition of the importance Toyota Motor Corporation had as a major employer in the area due to the number of manufacturing facilities being placed in the city.

Answer: Yes

Capital of the Hiroshima Prefecture in the west of Honshu Island, Hiroshima was established by Môri Terumoto in the late 16th century on a river delta, close to the Seto Inland Sea. Over time Hiroshima became more industrialised - particularly in the 19th century - whilst in the early part of the 20th century, production of military equipment began during the Russo-Sino War of 1904.

During World War II, Hiroshima had a number of military bases, along with a port at Ujina. Although a number of Japanese cities were exposed to the Americans in the latter stages of World War II, Hiroshima had largely escaped being attacked. However, fears of being devastated by the firebombing attacks by the American Air Force meant that even children were educated to tackle fires.

All this changed though on August 6th, 1945 when a Boeing B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb to be dropped on an enemy target.

It has been estimated that around 80,000 people died immediately after the bomb exploded above Hiroshima, rising to from between 100,000 to 166,000 as the effects of radiation from the bomb affected the citizens of Hiroshima. In addition, almost two thirds of all buildings in Hiroshima were destroyed

Despite the fact that Hiroshima was rebuilt after World War II, the Genbaku Dômu - pictured in the image - was left as it was after the attack on Hiroshima, becoming the centre for the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. Originally the building was the Hiroshima Prefectural Products Exhibition Hall, used for education and art exhibitions.

Three days after the attack on Hiroshima, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki hastened the end of World War II, with Japan surrendering on the 15th of August, 1945.

Answer: Twin Ring Motegi

Constructed in the late 1990s, Twin Ring Motegi was built by the Honda Corporation - whose subsidiary company, Mobilityland, owns Suzuka. The circuit was built with the intent of bringing the American Indy Car series to Japan. The circuit features two tracks, an oval and a road course. and is notable for being the track where Danica Patrick became the first female driver to win an Indycar race in 2008. The 2011 earthquake that struck Japan damaged the oval track, leading to the final Indycar race to be held that year using the road course.

Motor racing is a popular spectator sport in Japan, with Japan having a number of motor racing circuits. The first Japanese Grand Prix was held in the mid 1970s at the Fuji Speedway. In the first Grand Prix to be held there in 1976, heavy rain affected the race, leading to James Hunt winning the F1 World Drivers Title after his rival, Niki Lauda withdrew - Lauda still recovering from the horrific injuries he had received in the German Grand Prix of the same year.

The following year, a crash involving Gilles Villeneuve and Ronnie Peterson led to the deaths of two spectators. This led to a suspension of the Japanese Grand Prix for nearly a decade until it returned in the 1980s, this time in Susuzka, where the majority of the Japanese Grand Prix have been held. However, in 2007 and 2008, the Japanese Grand Prix returned to a redesigned Fuji Speedway.

The only other circuit in Japan to hold a Grand Prix up until 2015 was the Okayama International Circuit - AKA the TI Circuit - Aida. This circuit held the Pacific Grand Prix in 1994/95. The remoteness of the circuit, along with its tight turns meant it was never a popular circuit and further F1 races at the circuit were cancelled.

Answer: They sit in a thermal spring.

Also known as "Snow Monkeys", the Japanese macaque is the most northerly non human primate found in the world. An old world monkey, the Japanese macaque is a terrestrial monkey living in a matrilineal society where females remain with the group longer than males once the male reaches sexual maturity.

Although many of the macaques that inhabit the islands of Japan live in a much warmer climate on the southern islands, there are some groups that live in much colder areas, with snow on the ground for some months of the year. This has led to those macaques sitting in thermal springs to keep warm. Since the Japanese macaques are good swimmers as well the water does not seem to bother them. In addition, some macaques have even been observed playing in the snow.

The Japanese macaque is also a very intelligent primate, with one female having been observed washing her food and even dipping it in sea water to season it. This soon led to other macaques in her group copying this behaviour pattern.

Although not under direct threat, some macaques have found their natural habitat under threat from commercial forestry. However, some macaques have lost their fear of humans, to the point some groups now live in urban areas.

Answer: Godzilla

Created for Ishirô Honda's film of the same name and released in 1954, Godzilla is one of the world's most famous Kaiju monsters from film and television not only in Japan, but also Hollywood. The name Godzilla derives from a combination of Japanese words for gorilla (gorira) and whale (kujira). In the Kunrei-shiki romanization system, this name became Gozira.

Although Godzilla's origins are not clear, Godzilla is usually portrayed as an aquatic sea monster, altered by nuclear radiation. As such, Godzilla's appearance is based around the Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus and Iguanodon. Given that Godzilla was genetically altered by radiation, the creature's main weapon is "atomic breath" a heat ray emitted from inside Godzilla. In addition, Godzilla's size and power meant it was able to also tear apart buildings.

Initially, Godzilla's distinctive roar was created by composer Akira Ifukube using a pine-tar-resin-coated glove, run along the string of a double bass. However, as other films were made, different sound effects were used to create what has been described as in comic book versions of Godzilla as a "Skreeeonk!".
At first, it was conceived that Godzilla would be created using stop-motion filming techniques. Budget constrictions meant that a latex costume was created in the form of Godzilla, worn by an actor. More recent films featuring Godzilla have used CGI effects.

Answer: NHK

National broadcaster NHK first started began broadcasting in 1925 as the Tokyo Broadcasting Station, before merging with the Japan Broadcasting Corporation in 1926. Since then NHK - which stands for Nippon Hôsô Kyôkai, the Japanese word for Japan Broadcasting Corporation - has gone on to be one of Japan's largest independent broadcasters.

Although initially a radio broadcaster, in the 1920s NHK was reorganised along the lines of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in that it was funded by listeners of its broadcasts. However, post World War II, NHK has also become a commercial broadcaster in that NHK is not only privately owned, but also permitted to broadcast advertising commercials.

With the boom in TV manufacturing in Japan post World War II, NHK has been on the forefront of television development, aiming to deliver high quality picture resolution. As such, Japan is usually ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to developments in new TV formats. However, as technology progresses, previous TV resolution formats become quickly obsolete.

Although 4k resolution only just starting to begin broadcasting in some countries across the world, NHK are developing 8K resolution broadcasting, aiming to have full coverage by 2020 in time for the Olympic games to be held in Japan.

Answer: True

The first use of Katana to describe a type of sword that differentiated from the Tachi sword once favoured by the Samurai (Japanese Military Noble) occurred between the 12th and 14th centuries in Japan. Initially, Katana swords were associated with the lower class. However, circa 1400 A.D, the name Katana was also associated with the style in which similar Tachi type of swords were worn with the blade facing upwards.

Since the wearing of a Tachi sword in the Katana style meant the signature of the sword smith would be facing downwards, Katana swords were signed so the signature would be the right way up when worn. Since wearing the Katana with the blade facing upwards offered a the user greater flexibility to draw the sword from its scabbard and strike an opponent in one motion, the Katana sword gained popularity with the Samurai, often being coupled with the swordknown as a Wakizashi.

The blade of a Katana sword is long and slender, curved with a single cutting edge traditionally made from a type of steel known as Tamahagane, a smelting process that creates layers with different levels of carbon content. These layers are then laminated by forging and folding until the impurities are hammered out.

The blade is then hardened by coating various parts of the blade with different levels of a clay mixture, which helps to harden the blade in certain areas, whilst at the same time helping to form the Katana's curve. In addition, what is known as a Hamon, a ripple effect line, runs the length of the sword creating a light and dark area. The final part of making a Katana sword involves polishing, giving the blade a mirror finish, except for the cutting edge which usually has a matte finish.

Answer: Tsunami and Earthquake

In March, 2011, Japan was struck by what became known as the Tôhoku earthquake and tsunami. The earthquake of 9.0 (Mw) magnitude occurred 70 kilometres (43 mi) to the east of the Oshika Peninsula, located in the Tôhoku region of Honshu - Japan's largest island. In one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit Japan, the Island of Honshu was moved a few metres east, as well as creating a slight tilt in the Earth's axis.

As a result of the undersea earthquake, a tsunami was triggered, hitting the coast of not only Japan, but triggering tsunami warnings as far away as the western seaboard of America and Canada. Since parts of the coastline of Japan were lowered as a result of the earthquake, the tsunami was able to travel inland much further than it would normally have, causing even more widespread destruction. In 2015, it was reported that around 15,000 people died as a result of the earthquake and tsunami, with around 6,000 injured and approximately 2,500 people missing.

In addition, around 400,000 buildings were destroyed or partially collapsed, with around another 750,000 suffering minor damage. One of the more major buildings damaged was the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. As the earthquake and tsunami hit the plant, failures in the cooling equipment led to a number of meltdowns in the reactors. In addition nuclear material was released into the atmosphere leading to a level seven event as classified on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES).

As such, the disaster which occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant ranks it as one of the worst nuclear accidents to have occurred since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 that destroyed part of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.

Answer: Fugu

Taking its name from the Japanese word for Pufferfish, Fugu is well known for causing fatalities by poisoning unsuspecting diners if not prepared properly.
Consumption of Pufferfish can be traced back to the Jômon period of Japan's history. However, during the Tokugawa Shogunate consumption was banned and also during the Meiji era.

Amongst the species of Pufferfish that are consumed are Takifugu, Lagocephalus, Sphoeroides, and in addition, porcupinefish, of which Takifugu (tiger blowfish) is the most sought after. In their wild habitats, Pufferfish have a defence mechanism by which they are able to inflate themselves by ingesting water. However, they have a secondary defence mechanism in that many of their organs - and even is some cases skin - contain large amounts of Tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin capable of causing paralysis and ultimately, death.

As such, only licensed chefs can prepare Fugu - that involves completing up to a three year apprenticeship. The test to gain a license is so strict, that even the small error made during the test can result in failure. In addition, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare also provides guides to the various parts of a Pufferfish that can be consumed. Although prepared in restaurants in Japan, in 2012 the purchase of pre-prepared Fugu from licensed practitioners was permitted.