GEO 200 Worksheet Week 6

Question Response 2. Physical Characteristics: How would you describe the climate, physiography, landscape, and natural hazards of your selected region? Address at least three of the physical characteristics listed above for this worksheet. Note: This is part of the Place theme of geography. Most of the landscape in Japan is comprised of mountainous areas with steep slopes, encompassing roughly 80 percent of all land, with being most famous for the peak of Mount Fuji, rising 12,388 feet above sea level. Out of all the land area, roughly only 18 percent is even habitable which has forced most of the population along the coastal region with most areas being artificially created from reclaimed land. The climate of Japan varies depending on your geographical location within the country, with the northern area experiencing warm summers and very cold winters with heavy snow fall on the western side of the country, along the Sea of Japan and in high elevations. Eastern Japan experiences relatively the same climate as northern Japan, but with hot and humid summers and cold winters with very heavy snowfall on the Sea of Japan side. Western Japan also has a very hot and humid summer climate, but winters are usually moderately cold. Southern Japan is the most distinct when it comes to climate because it is affected by its subtropical oceanic currents, causing summers to be hot and humid with very mild winters. Due to the location of Japan geographically and being in the Pacific earthquake belt, Japan experiences frequent earthquakes, that in turn, cause tsunamis along the coastline resulting in devastating floods (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, n.a.). With Japan’s climate variation throughout the archipelago, the country is subjected to heavy seasonal rains and typhoons, that causes mass flooding and damage to infrastructure. A natural disaster causing landscape feature that is common to these islands is volcanoes. Japan is home to 111 active volcanoes (Fujita et. al., 2020), all of which could have the potential to erupt and cause mass devastation to the landscape and lives of all within the immediate area. References Fujita, Eisuke., Ueda, Hideki., & Nakada, Setsuya. (202, July 10). A New Japan Volcanological Database. Frontiers in Earth Science. 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00205 Japan Meteorological Agency. (n.a.). Overview of Japan’s Climate. Retrieved from https://www.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/cpd/longfcst/en/tourist_japan.html Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. (n.a.). Disasters and Disaster Prevention in Japan. Retrieved from https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/disaster/21st/2.html Nijman, J., Muller, P. O., & Shin, M. (2020). The World Today: Concepts and Regions in Geography (8th ed.). Wiley Global Education US. https://wileyplus.vitalsource.com/books/9781119577614 World Population Review. (2023). Where is Japan in the World?. Retrieved from https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/japan/location

Question Response 5. Movement: With how much ease and ability do ideas, goods, and people flow in and out of your selected region? What drives this movement? With Japan being an island and its proximity to its neighboring Eastern Asian sub-region territories, this gives the country easy access for movement with its abundance of port locations. The development of ports in Japan was crucial because, as a small island, it lacks the proper natural resources for production and these components must be imported. Despite Japan’s lack of natural resources, it has still become one of the top economic producers in the world. The Port of Tokyo is one of the largest seaports in Tokyo, with an average capacity to accommodate roughly 90 million tons of cargo (Karan, 2022). Due in some part, to the Japanese government taking initiatives and improving key transportation networks, such as air, rail, ports, etc., it has allowed for the increase in tourism, which Japan has recently climbed to the world’s third largest market in this sector, just behind the United States and China (Japan External Trade Organization, 2023). References Japan External Trade Organization. (2023). Tourism Overview. Retrieved from https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/invest/attractive_sectors/tourism/overview.html Karan, C. (2022, January 19). 5 Major Ports in Japan. Marine Insight . Retrieved from https://www.marineinsight.com/know-more/5-major-ports-in-japan/ Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Submit the completed Module One Worksheet. Citations should be formatted according to APA style. Critical Elements Attempted With Minimal or No Functional Issues (100%) Attempted With Key Functional Issues (75%) Not Evident In Submission (0%) Value Location and Connectivity Identifies absolute and relative locations of the region selected and describes how this region connects to others with minimal or no gaps in details or logic Identifies absolute and relative locations of the region selected but does not describe how this region connects to others, or there are key gaps in details or logic Does not identify absolute and relative locations of the region selected and does not describe how this region connects to others 19 Physical Characteristics Identifies and describes at least three aspects of the climate, physiography, landscape, or natural hazards that comprise the physical characteristics of the region selected with minimal or no gaps in details or logic Identifies and describes most aspects that include the physical characteristics of the region selected, but the description contains key gaps in details or logic Does not identify and describe aspects that comprise the physical characteristics of the region selected 19 Human Characteristics Identifies and describes at least three aspects of human characteristics of the region selected with minimal or no gaps in details or logic Identifies and describes at least two aspects of human characteristics of the region selected, but the description contains key gaps in details or logic Does not identify human characteristics of the region selected 19