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Kagoshima Prefecture

Kagoshima Prefecture

Kagoshima Prefecture (鹿児島県 Kagoshima-ken) is located on Kyushu island, Japan. The capital is the city of Kagoshima.

History

Kagoshima Prefecture corresponds to the ancient Japanese provinces Osumi and Satsuma. This region played a key role in the Meiji restoration, and the city of Kagoshima was an important naval base during Japan's 20th Century wars and the home of admiral Togo Heihachiro.

Geography

Kagoshima Prefecture is located at the southwest tip of Kyushu. Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, Kumamoto Prefecture to the north, and Miyazaki Prefecture to the east, it has 2,632km of coastline (including the 28 islands). It has a bay called Kagoshima bay (Kinkowan), which is sandwitched by two peninsulas, Satsuma and Osumi. Its position made it a 'gateway' to Japan at various times in history. The prefecture boasts active and dormant volcanoes, including the great Sakurajima, which towers out of the Kagoshima bay opposite Kagoshima city. A steady trickle of smoke and ash emerges from the caldera, punctuated by louder mini-eruptions on an almost daily basis. On some days in Kagoshima city an umbrella is advisable to ward off the ash. Sakurajima is one of Japan's most active volcanoes. Major eruptions occurred in 1914, when the island mountain spilled enough material to become permanently connected to the mainland, and a lesser eruption in 1960. Volcanic materials in the soil make Sakurajima a source for world record 'Daikon' radishes, roughly the size of a basketball. Many beaches around the Kagoshima Bay are littered with well-worn pumice stones. A crater lake in the southwestern tip of the prefecture, near the spa town of Ibusuki, is home to a rare species of giant eel.

Cities

- Akune
- Ibusuki
- Izumi
- Kagoshima (capital)
- Kanoya
- Kaseda
- Kokubu
- Kushikino
- Makurazaki
- Naze
- Nishinoomote
- Okuchi
- Satsumasendai
- Tarumizu

Towns and villages

These are the towns and villages in each district.

Mergers and changes of municipalities

Merger: Sensatsu Area (12 October 2004)

The City of Sendai, the Towns of Hiwaki, Iriki, Kedoin and Togo and the Villages of Sato, Kamikoshiki, Shimokoshiki and Kashima were merged to form the City of Satsumasendai (Satsumasendai-Shi). [http://w3.satsumasendai.jp/sensatsu/ The Merger Council of Sensatsu Area (in Japanese)]

Absorption: Kagoshima Area (1 November 2004)

The Towns of Kooriyama, Matsumoto, Kiire ,Sakurajima and Yoshida were absorbed into the City of Kagoshima (Kagoshima-Shi).

Merger: Eastern Area of Satsuma (22 March 2005)

The Towns of Miyanojo, Tsuruda and Satsuma are to be merged to form the Town of Satsuma (Satsuma-Chō). [http://www.satumatobu-gappei.kagosima.jp/ The Merger Council of the Eastern Area of Satsuma (in Japanese)]

Merger: Yoshimatsu and Kurino (22 March 2005)

The Towns of Kurino and Yoshimatsu are to be merged to form the Town of Yusui (Yūsui-Chō). [http://www.yoshikuri-gappei.jp/ The Merger Council of Yoshimatsu and Kurino (in Japanese)]

Merger: Onejime and Tashiro (22 March 2005)

The Towns of Onejime and Tashiro are to be merged to form the Town of Kinko (Kinkō-Chō). [http://www.town.onejime.kagoshima.jp/o-t_gappei/DEFAULT.HTM The Merger Council of Onejime and Tashiro (in Japanese)]

Merger: Minami-Osumi (31 March 2005)

The Towns of Nejime and Sata are to be merged to form the Town of Minamiosumi (Minamiōsumi-Chō). [http://www.synapse.ne.jp/~nejimecho/gappei/index.htm The Merger Council of Minami-Osumi (in Japanese)] Thus, by 1 April 2005, the number of the municipalities in Kagoshima Pref. will have been reduced to 78: 14 cities, 59 towns and 5 villages. There are more merger projects that are underway in this prefecture. See [http://www.pref.kagoshima.jp/home/chihoka/gappei/ Kagoshima Merger Information Corner (in Japanese)]

Economy

GPP: 4,834,400m Yen
Agricultural products: Sweet potato, Radish, Satsuma pottery, Pongee rice.

Demographics

Culture

Tourism

Prefectural symbols

Miscellaneous topics

No other prefecture has more Pachinko parlours per capita than Kagoshima. Birthplace of Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai.

External links

- [http://www.pref.kagoshima.jp/home/english/index.html Official Kagoshima Prefecture homepage]
- Category:Kyushu region ko:가고시마 현 ja:鹿児島県

Wikipedia:WikiProject Japanese prefectures

First, an important note for everyone to remember: A few Wikipedians have gotten together to make some suggestions about how we might organize data in articles about Japanese prefectures. These are only suggestions, things to give you focus and to get you going, and you shouldn't feel obligated in the least to follow them. But if you don't know what to write or where to begin, following the below guidelines may be helpful. Mainly, we just want you to write articles! -----

Disclaimer

This document is still an early draft.

Title

WikiProject Japanese prefectures

Scope

This WikiProject aims primarily at having a standard guidlines for Japanese prefecture pages.

Parentage

Parent wikiprojects are: WikiProject Geography. Wikiproject Countries, Wikipedia:WikiProject Subnational entities

Descendant Wikiprojects

- Wikipedia:WikiProject Japanese districts and municipalites

Similar Wikiprojects

WikiProjects with a similar scope are:
- WikiProject Chinese provinces
- WikiProject French departements
- WikiProject German districts
- WikiProject U.S. States

Participants

- synthetik
- Taku
- Araisyohei
- Curzon
- Ashibaka (Fukuoka only)
- User:MC MasterChef (Saga)

Structure

Most Japanese prefectures are named after their capital and to avoid disambiguation the article should start with the prefecture's name followed by the word prefecture. e.g. Hiroshima prefecture. As a rule for using Kanji, Hiragana and/or Katakana ensure that users without Japanese reading skills will be able to pronounce these words if e.g. Tokyo prefecture (東京都; Tōkyō-to). For more guidance see the Template below (for the time being).

Hierarchy Definition

No classification of Japanese prefectures has been defined. If you have any suggestions feel free to add start the definition. As a reference here is a good example on dividing a topic into a hierarchy.

General Strategy, Discussion forum and Status

- /General
- /Strategy
- /Status

Resources

- /Images

Template

Don't forget to replace the "_" with the name of the article being converted or the appropriate information described. For the table, replace the X's with the proper information. ------ __name of article__ (__name of prefecture Kanji__; __romaji__) is located __name of region__. Its capital is the city of __name of capital__.

History

Include:
- How and when the prefecture came to be
- Worldly events that occurred here

Geography

See Wikipedia:WikiProject Japanese districts and municipalites for naming of places.

Cities

- Put them in alphabetical order

Districts

- Put them in alphabetical order May also include:
- Climate e.g. Rainfall per Year or on Monthly basis
- Topography
- Mountains, peaks
- River and body of water
- Neighboring prefectures
- Include map if available

Economy

Include:
- Agriculture: List of produce ordered by percentage
- Major industries
- Major outputs
- SEZ if available
- Stock Exchange (where applicable e.g. Tokyo, Osaka)

Demographics

Include:
- Demographics by gender, age, profession (if available)
- List major cities ordered by size of population

Culture

Include:
- Cuisine
- Festivals

Tourism

Include:
- City sites
- Historical sites
- Natural sites
- World Heritage sites
- Transportation

Prefectural symbols

Include:
- Name of Flower, Tree, Bird, Fish, Animal with the scientific name if known. Try to write a small paragrah for each symbol.

Miscellaneous topics

Include:
- Sports teams
- Famous people from this prefecture
- List major Colleges and Universities

External links

Include:
- The official site to the prefecture if possible in English.

Regions of Japan

Japanese prefectures Category:Regions of Japan Category:Regional WikiProjects

Island

in New York, USA]] An island or isle is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water. Very small islands are called islets. Although seldom adhered to, it is also proper to call an emergent land feature on an atoll an islet, since an atoll is a type of island. A key or cay is also another name for a relatively small island. Groups of related islands are called archipelagos. There are three main types of islands: continental islands, river islands, and volcanic islands. There are also some artificial islands. The word island derives ultimately from the Old English word igland. It was originally spelled phonetically: iland. The letter "s" was added out of the mistaken belief that it derived from isle (< Old French < Latin insula) + land, where no such etymological relationship existed.

Continental islands

Continental islands are bodies of land that are connected by the continental shelf to a continent. That is, these islands are part of an adjacent continent and are located on the continental shelf of that continent. Examples include Greenland and Sable Island off North America, Barbados and Trinidad off South America, Sicily off Europe, Sumatra and Java off Asia, New Guinea and Tasmania off Australia. A special type of continental island is the microcontinental island, which results when a continent is rifted. The best example is Madagascar off Africa. The Kerguelen Islands and some of the Seychelles are also examples. Another subtype is the barrier island: accumulations of sand on the continental shelf.

River islands

River islands occur in river deltas and in large rivers. They are caused by deposition of sediment at points in the flow where the current loses some of its carrying capacity. In essence, they are river bars, isolated in the stream. While some are ephemeral, and may disappear if the river's water volume or speed changes, others are stable and long-lived.

Volcanic islands

Volcanic islands are built by volcanoes. Mid-ocean examples are not geologically part of any continent. One type of volcanic island is found in a volcanic island arc. These islands arise from volcanoes where the subduction of one plate under another is occurring. Examples include the Mariana Islands, the Aleutian Islands, and most of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean. Some of the Lesser Antilles and the South Sandwich Islands are the only Atlantic Ocean examples. Another type of volcanic island occurs where an oceanic rift reaches the surface. There are two examples: Iceland, which is the world's largest volcanic island, and Jan Mayen—both are in the Atlantic. The last type of volcanic island are those formed over volcanic hotspots. A hot spot is more or less stationary relative to the moving tectonic plate above it, so a chain of islands results as the plate drifts. Over long periods of time, this type of island is eventually eroded down and "drowned" by isostatic adjustment, becoming a seamount. Plate movement across a hot-spot produces a line of islands oriented in the direction of the plate movement. An example is the Hawaiian Islands, from Hawaii to Kure, which then extends beneath the sea surface in a more northerly direction as the Emperor Seamounts. Another chain with similar orientation is the Tuamotu Archipelago; its older, northerly trend is the Line Islands. The southernmost chain is the Austral Islands, with its northerly trending part the atolls in the nation of Tuvalu. Tristan da Cunha is an example of a hotspot volcano in the Atlantic Ocean. An atoll is an island formed from a coral reef that has grown on an eroded and submerged volcanic island. The reef rises above the surface of the water and forms a new island. Atolls are typically ring-shaped with a central, shallow lagoon. Examples include the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and Bora Bora in the Pacific.

External links

- [http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part8.htm Definition of island] from United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Category:Islands Category:Landforms zh-min-nan:Tó-sū ko:섬 ms:Pulau ja:島 simple:Island th:เกาะ

Osumi Province

Ōsumi (大隅国; -no kuni) was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Kagoshima prefecture. Osumi bordered on Hyuga and Satsuma Provinces. Osumi's ancient capital was near modern Kokubu. During the Sengoku and Edo periods, Osumi was controlled by the Shimazu clan of neighboring Satsuma, and did not develop a major administrative center. The Osumi region has developed its own distinct local dialect. Although Osumi is part of Kagoshima prefecture today, this dialect is different from that spoken in Kagoshima city. There is a notable cultural pride in traditional poetry written in Osumi and Kagoshima dialects. Category:Old provinces of Japan ja:大隅国

Meiji Restoration

The Meiji Restoration (Japanese: 明治維新, Meiji-ishin), also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to a change in Japan's political and social structure. It occurred from 1866 to 1869, a period of 4 years that transverses both the late Edo (often called Late Tokugawa shogunate) and beginning of the Meiji Era. Probably the most important foreign account of the events of 1862-69 is contained in A Diplomat in Japan by Sir Ernest Satow. The formation in 1866 of the Satcho Alliance between Saigo Takamori, the leader of the Satsuma domain, and Kido Takayoshi, the leader of the Choshu domain, marks the beginning of the Meiji restoration. These two leaders supported the emperor and were brought together by Sakamoto Ryoma for the purpose of challenging the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate (bakufu) and restoring the emperor to power. The Tokugawa bakufu came to an official end on November 9, 1867, when the 15th Tokugawa Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu "put his prerogatives at the emperor's disposal" (Beasley, 52) and then resigned his position 10 days later. This was effectively the "restoration" (Taisei Hōkan) of imperial rule, although Yoshinobu retained considerable power. Shortly thereafter in January 1868, the Boshin War (War of the Year of the Dragon) started with the Battle of Toba Fushimi in which an army led by forces from Choshu and Satsuma defeated the ex-shogun's army and forced the Emperor to strip Yoshinobu of all power. Some shogunate forces escaped to Hokkaido, where they attempted to set up the breakaway Republic of Ezo, but this came to an early end in May 1869 with the siege of Hakodate, Hokkaido. The defeat of the armies of the former shogun (led by Hijikata Toshizo) marked the end of the Meiji Restoration; all defiance to the emperor and his rule ended. The leaders of the Meiji Restoration, as this revolution came to be known, claimed that their actions restored the emperor's powers. This is not in fact true. Power simply moved from the Tokugawa Shogun to a new oligarchy of the daimyo who defeated him. These oligarchs were mostly from the Satsuma Province (Okubo Toshimichi and Saigo Takamori), and the Choshu province (Ito Hirobumi, Yamagata Aritomo, and Kido Koin.)

Leaders

These were leading figures in the Meiji Restoration when the Japanese emperors retook power from the Tokugawa shoguns. Some of them went on to become Prime Minister of Japan.
- Okubo Toshimichi (1830-1878)
- Kido Takayoshi (1833-1877)
- Saigo Takamori (1827-1877)
- Iwakura Tomomi (1825-1883)
- Ito Hirobumi (1841-1909)
- Kuroda Kiyotaka (1840-1900)
- Matsukata Masayoshi (1835-1924)
- Oyama Iwao (1842-1916)
- Saigo Tsugumichi (1843-1902)
- Yamagata Aritomo (1838-1922)
- Inoue Kaoru (1835-1915)
- Saionji Kinmochi (1849-1940)

Effects

The Meiji Revolution was the catalyst towards industrialization in Japan that led to the rise of the island nation as a military power by 1905, under the slogan of "National Wealth and Military Strength" (fukoku kyohei). The Meiji oligarchy that formed the government under the rule of the Emperor first introduced measures to consolidate their power against the remnants of the Edo period government, the shogunate, daimyo and the samurai class. In 1868, the Emperor took all land from the Tokugawa and put is under his own control. In 1869, the daimyos of the Toza han, Hizen han, Satsuma han and Choshu han domains, who were pushing most fiercely against the shogunate, were persuaded to return their domains to the Emperor. Other damiyos were subsequently persuaded to do so. Finally, in 1871, the daimyos, past and present, were summoned before the Emperor, where it was declared that all domains were now to be returned to the Emperor. The about 300 domains (han) were turned into prefectures, each under the control of a state-appointed governor. Until 1888, several prefectures were merged in several steps to reduce their number to 75. The damiyo were promised 1/10 of their fiefs income as private income. Furthermore, their debts and payments of samurai stipends were to be taken over by the state. The oligarchs also endeavoured to abolish the four divisions of society. Together, the samurai accounted for 1.9 million of the population, more than 10 times the size of the French privileged class at the 1789 French Revolution. With each samurai being paid fixed stipends, their upkeep presented a tremendous financial burden. Whatever their true intentions, the oligarchs embarked on a similarly slow and deliberate process to abolish the samurai class. First, in 1873, it was announced that the samurai stipends were to be taxed on a rolling basis. Later, in 1874, the samurai were given the option to convert their stipends into government bonds. Finally, in 1876, this commutation was made compulsory. To reform the military, the government instituted nation-wide conscription in 1873, mandating that every 21-yr-old male serve in the armed forces for 3 years. One of the primary difference between the samurai and peasant class was the right to bear arms; this ancient privilege was suddenly extended to every male in the nation. There was a series of riots. The one led by Saigo Takamori, the Satsuma rebellion, even turned in to a civil war. This rebellion was however put down swiftly by the newly formed imperial army, trained in Western tactics and weapons, even though the core of the new army was the Tokyo Police force, which was formed in great parts of former samurai. This sent a strong message to the dissenting samurai that their time was indeed up.

Reference and further reading

Beasley, W. G. The Rise of Modern Japan: Political, Economic and Social Change Since 1850. St. Martin's Press, New York 1995. The names of the Meiji Oligarchists were taken from: Murphey, Rhoades. East Asia: A New History. Addison Wesley Longman, New York 1997. Further reading: A Diplomat in Japan by Sir Ernest Satow ISBN 4925080288 Akamatsu, Paul. Meiji 1868: Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Japan. Trans. Miriam Kochan. New York: Harper & Row, 1972. Beasley, W. G. The Meiji Restoration. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1972. Craig, Albert M. Chōshū in the Meiji Restoration. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961. Jansen, Marius B. and Gilbert Rozman, eds. Japan in Transition: From Tokugawa to Meiji. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986. Jansen, Marius B. The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000. Wall, Rachel F. Japan's Century: An Interpretation of Japanese History since the Eighteen-fifties. London: The Historical Association, 1971.
- ja:明治維新

20th century

The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar. Common usage sometimes regards it as lasting from 1900 to 1999, but this is incorrect since counting of calendar years begins with the year 1. The 20th century is also sometimes known as the nineteen hundreds (1900s). Decades are almost always considered as starting with the "0" year and named accordingly ("1960s", etc.). However, a number of arguments have been used to justify the common usage. One was advanced, erroneously, by Stephen Jay Gould. He claimed that the first decade had only nine years, thus contradicting the definition of decade equaled 10 years. Another argument is that the astronomical year numbering system for years does have a year zero, the year normally known as 1 BC. In 2000 the International Organization for Standardization clarified ISO 8601 to use the astronomical year numbering system, which could be interpreted as retrospectively endorsing all the people who had celebrated the new century a few months earlier. The term is also used to describe various periods that overlap with the calendar definition, most notably the Short twentieth century, which claims that the 20th Century spanned from 1914 to 1989, rendering the pre-WWI 1900s into the 19th Century and putting the 1990s at the beginning of the 21st Century. Indeed, the part of the 20th Century before World War I is quite identical to the late 1800s culturally and technologically and the 1990s decade pointed in many ways (such as the rise of the Internet) to the 21st Century and is seen by some as not being truly a part of the 20th Century.

Overview

The twentieth century saw a remarkable shift in the way that vast numbers of people lived, as a result of technological, medical, social, ideological, and political innovations. Terms like ideology, world war, genocide, and nuclear war entered common usage and became an influence on the lives of everyday people. War reached an unprecedented scale and level of sophistication; in the Second World War (1939-1945) alone, approximately 57 million people died, mainly due to massive improvements in weaponry. The trends of mechanization of goods and services and networks of global communication, which were begun in the 19th century, continued at an ever-increasing pace in the 20th. In spite of the terror and chaos, the 20th century saw many attempts at world peace. As the 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy said: :What kind of peace do we seek? I am talking about a genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living. Not merely peace in our time, but peace in all time. Our problems are man-made, therefore they can be solved by man. For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's future, and we are all mortal. Virtually every aspect of life in virtually every human society changed in some fundamental way or another during the twentieth century and for the first time, any individual could influence the course of history no matter their background. Arguably, the 20th century re-shaped the face of the planet in more ways than any previous century.
- Death rates
- Infant mortality
- Infectious disease
- Life expectancy
- Maternal death rates
- Battles Scientific discoveries such as relativity and quantum physics radically changed the worldview of scientists, causing them to realize that the universe was much more complex than they had previously believed, and dashing the hopes at the end of the preceding century that the last few details of knowledge were about to be filled in. For a more coherent overview of the historical events of the century, see The 20th century in review. The 20th century has sometimes been called, both within and outside the United States, the American Century, though this is a controversial term.

Important developments, events and achievements

Science and technology

- The assembly line and mass production of motor vehicles and other goods allowed manufacturers to produce more and cheaper products. This allowed the automobile to become the most important means of transportation.
- The invention of heavier-than-air flying machines and the jet engine allowed for the world to become "smaller". Space flight increased knowledge of the rest of the universe and allowed for global real-time communications via geosynchronous satellites.
- Mass media technologies such as film, radio, and television allow the communication of political messages and entertainment with unprecedented impact
- Mass availability of the telephone and later, the computer, especially through the Internet, provides people with new opportunities for near-instantaneous communication
- Applied electronics, notably in its miniaturized form as integrated circuits, made possible the above mentioned rise of mass media, telecommunications, ubiquitous computing, and all kinds of "intelligent" appliances; as well as many advances in natural sciences such as physics, by the use of exponentially growing calculation power (see supercomputer).
- The development of Nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides resulted in significantly higher agricultural yield.
- Advances in fundamental physics through the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics led to the development of nuclear weapons (known informally as "the Bomb" and dropped on the industrial town of Hiroshima and the historic one of Nagasaki), the nuclear reactor, and the laser. Fusion power was studied extensively but remained an experimental technology at the end of the century.
- Inventions such as the washing machine and air conditioning led to an increase in both the quantity and quality of leisure time for the middle class in Western societies.
- Most influential inventions in the 20th century: antibiotics, oral contraceptives, new plastics, transistors, Internet
- More...

Wars and politics

- Democratic nations began to extend voting privileges to all adults.
- Rising nationalism and increasing national awareness were among the causes of World War I, the first of two wars to involve all the major world powers including Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United States and the British Commonwealth. World War I led to the creation of many new countries, especially in Eastern Europe. Ironically, it was said by many to be the 'War to end all Wars'.
- The economic and political aftermath of World War I led to the rise of Fascism and Nazism in Europe, and shortly to World War II. This war also involved Asia and the Pacific, in the form of Japanese aggression against China and the United States. While the First World War mainly cost lives among soldiers, civilians suffered greatly in the Second -- from the bombing of cities on both sides, and in the unprecedented German genocide of the Jews and others, known as the Holocaust.
- During World War I, in Russia the Bolshevik putsch led to the Russian Revolution of 1917. After the Soviet Union's involvement in World War II, Communism became a major force in global politics, spreading all over the world: notably, to Eastern Europe, China, Indochina and Cuba. This led to the Cold War and proxy wars with the western world, including wars in Korea (1950-53) and Vietnam (1957 - 75).
- The "fall of Communism" in the late 1980s freed Eastern and Central Europe from Soviet supremacy. It also led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia into successor states, many rife with ethnic nationalism, and left the United States as the world's superpower.
- Through the League of Nations and, after World War II, the United Nations, international cooperation increased. Other efforts included the formation of the European Union, leading to a common currency in much of Western Europe, the euro around the turn of the millennium.
- The end of colonialism led to the independence of many African and Asian countries. During the Cold War, many of these aligned with the USA, the USSR, or China for defense.
- The creation of Israel, a Jewish state in a mostly Arab region of the world, fueled many conflicts in the region, which were also influenced by the vast oil fields in many of the Arab countries.
- The term Southeast Asia coined.

Culture and entertainment

- Movies, music and the media had a major influence on fashion and trends in all aspects of life. As many movies and music originate from the United States, American culture spread rapidly over the world.
- After gaining political rights in the United States and much of Europe in the first part of the century, and with the advent of new birth control techniques women became more independent throughout the century.
- Rock and Roll and Jazz styles of music are developed in the United States, and quickly become the dominant forms of popular music in America, and later, the world. The Beatles, a 1960s British Rock and Roll band, becomes one of the most successful acts of all time, and is credited, in their experimental later albums, with permanently changing what was thought possible in popular music.
- Modern art developed new styles such as expressionism, cubism, and surrealism.
- The automobile provided vastly increased transportation capabilities for the average member of Western societies in the early to mid-century, spreading even further later on. City design throughout most of the West became focused on transport via car. The car became a leading symbol of modern society, with styles of car suited to and symbolic of particular lifestyles.
- Sports became an important part of society, becoming an activity not only for the privileged. Watching sports, later also on television, became a popular activity.

Disease and medicine

- Although the availability and quality of medicine continued to improve, epidemic diseases continued to spread, aided by modern transportation. An influenza pandemic, the Spanish Flu, killed 25 million between 1918 and 1919, while AIDS is yet uncured and treatments remain too expensive for wide use in developing countries.
- Advances in medicine, such as the invention of antibiotics, decreased the number of people dying from diseases. Contraceptive drugs and organ transplantation were developed. The discovery of DNA molecules and the advent of molecular biology allowed for cloning and genetic engineering.

Natural resources and the environment

- The widespread use of petroleum in industry -- both as a chemical precursor to plastics and as a fuel for the automobile and airplane -- led to the vital geopolitical importance of petroleum resources. The Middle East, home to many of the world's oil deposits, became a center of geopolitical and military tension throughout the latter half of the century. (For example, oil was a factor in Japan's decision to go to war against the United States in 1941, and the oil cartel, OPEC, used an oil embargo of sorts in the wake of the Yom Kippur War in the 1970s).
- A vast increase in fossil fuel consumption leads to depletion of natural resources, while air pollution has led to the develoment of an ozone hole and, many believe, global warming and both local and global climate change. The problem is increased by world-wide deforestation, also causing a loss of biodiversity. The problem of a depletion of natural resources is decreased by advances in drilling technology which led to a net increase in the amount of fossil fuel that is readily obtainable at the end of the century, as compared with the amount considered obtainable at the beginning of the century.

Significant people

Kyushu

Kyushu (九州 kyūshū) is the third largest island of Japan and most southerly and westerly of the four main islands. It is considered the birthplace of the Japanese civilization. Its alternate ancient names include Kyukoku (九国), Chinzei (鎮西), and Tsukushi-shima (筑紫島). The ancient region Saikaido consists of Kyushu and its surrounding islands. Population: 13.44 million (1995). Area: 35,640 km².

Geography

The island is mountainous, and Japan's largest active volcano, Aso at 1,592 m, is on Kyushu. There are many other signs of tectonic activity, including numerous areas of hot springs. The most famous of these are in Beppu, in the North East, and Aso, in central Kyushu. The Kyushu region (九州地方, kyūshū-chiho) includes the seven prefectures on Kyushu as well as the outlying island of Okinawa.
- Fukuoka
- Kagoshima
- Kumamoto
- Miyazaki
- Nagasaki
- Oita
- Saga The largest city on the island by population is Fukuoka - a port and major centre for heavy industry. Kitakyushu is also a designated city and Omuta is an industrial centre. Nagasaki is the main port.

Economy

Parts of Kyushu have a subtropical climate, particularly the Miyazaki and Kagoshima regions. Major agricultural products are rice, tea, tobacco, sweet potatoes, and soy; silk is also widely produced. The island is noted for various types of porcelain e.g. Arita, Agano, Satsuma and Hizen. Heavy industry is concentrated in the north around Kitakyushu and Oita and includes chemicals and metal processing.

Education

Universities in Kyushu include: Kurume University, Kyushu University [http://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/], Nagasaki University, Kumamoto University, Kagoshima University, Oita University, Miyazaki University, Kyushu Institute of Technology, The University of Kitakyushu.

External Links

-
- [http://www.jonwilks.com/articles.html Articles on Life, History & Culture in Kyushu] ko:규슈 ja:九州

Pacific Ocean

:For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). The Pacific Ocean (from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan) is the world's largest body of water. It encompasses a third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 179.7 million km² (69.4 million sq miles). Extending approximately 15,500 km (9,600 miles) from the Bering Sea in the Arctic to the icy margins of Antarctica's Ross Sea in the south (although the Antarctic regions of the Pacific are sometimes described as part of the circumpolar Southern Ocean)the Pacific reaches its greatest east-west width at about 5°N latitude, where it stretches approximately 19,800 km (12,300 miles) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia. The western limit of the ocean is often placed at the Strait of Malacca. The lowest point on earth—the Mariana Trench—lies some 10,911 m (35,797 ft) below sea level. The Pacific contains about 25,000 islands (more than the total number in the rest of the world's oceans combined), the majority of which are found south of the equator. (See: Pacific Islands.) Along the Pacific Ocean's irregular western margins lie many seas, the largest of which are the Celebes Sea, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Sea of Japan, South China Sea, Sulu Sea, Tasman Sea, and Yellow Sea. The Straits of Malacca joins the Pacific and the Indian Oceans on the west, and the Straits of Magellan links the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east. As the Pacific straddles the ±180° longitude where East becomes West, the Asian side of the ocean (where latitudes are E) is correctly referred to as East Pacific and the opposite side (eastwards) where latitudes are W is the West Pacific. To retain the popular "left is western" and "right is eastern" means of reference, the Western Pacific is thus the East Pacific and the Eastern Pacific the West Pacific. The International Date Line follows the ±180° longitude to the greater part of its North-South demarcation but veers far eastwards around Kiribati (Caroline Island, which, not coincidentally, was renamed Millennium Island) and westwards round the Aleutian Islands as can be seen on the map at International Date Line. For most of Ferdinand Magellan's voyage from the Straits of Magellan to the Philippines, the Portuguese explorer indeed found the ocean peaceful. However, the Pacific is not always peaceful. Many typhoons and hurricanes batter the islands of the Pacific and the lands around the Pacific rim are full of volcanoes and often rocked by earthquakes. Tsunamis, caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and wiped out whole towns. Tsunami

Ocean bottom

The ocean floor of the central Pacific basin is relatively uniform, an abyssal plain with a mean depth of about 4270 m (14,000 ft). The major irregularities in the basin are the extremely steep-sided, flat-topped submarine peaks known as seamounts. The western part of the floor consists of mountain arcs that rise above the sea as island groups, such as the Solomon Islands and New Zealand, and deep oceanic trenches, such as the Mariana Trench, the Philippine Trench, and the Tonga Trench. Most of the trenches lie adjacent to the outer margins of the wide western Pacific continental shelf. Along the eastern margin of the Pacific Basin is the East Pacific Rise, which is a part of the worldwide mid-oceanic ridge. About 3000 km (1800 miles) across, the rise stands about 3 km (2 miles) above the adjacent ocean floor. Because a relatively small land area drains into the Pacific, and because of the ocean's immense size, most sediments are authigenic or pelagic in origin. Authigenic sediments include montmorillonite and phillipsite. Pelagic sediments derived from seawater include pelagic red clays and the skeletal remains of sea life. Terrigenous sediments eroded from land masses are confined to narrow marginal bands close to land.

Elevation extremes

- lowest point: -10,924 m (-35,840 ft). at the bottom of the Mariana Trench
- highest point: 0 m (0 ft), sea level.

Water characteristics

Water temperatures in the Pacific vary from freezing in the poleward areas to about 29°C (84°F) near the equator. Salinity also varies latitudinally. Water near the equator is less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the year. Poleward of the temperate latitudes salinity is also low, because little evaporation of seawater takes place in these frigid areas. The surface circulation of Pacific waters is generally clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (the North Pacific Gyre) and anti-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. The North Equatorial Current, driven westward along latitude 15°N by the trade winds, turns north near the Philippines to become the warm Japan or Kuroshio Current. Turning eastward at about 45°N, the Kuroshio forks and some waters move northward as the Aleutian Current, while the rest turn southward to rejoin the North Equatorial Current. The Aleutian Current branches as it approaches North America and forms the base of an anti-clockwise circulation in the Bering Sea. Its southern arm becomes the chilled slow, south-flowing California Current. The South Equatorial Current, flowing west along the equator, swings southward east of New Guinea, turns east at about 50°S, and joins the main westerly circulation of the Southern Pacific, which includes the Earth-circling Antarctic Circumpolar Current. As it approaches the Chilean coast, the South Equatorial Current divides; one branch flows around Cape Horn and the other turns north to form the Peru or Humboldt Current.

Climate

Only the interiors of the large land masses of Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand escape the pervasive climatic influence of the Pacific. Within the area of the Pacific, five distinctively different climatic regions exist: the mid-latitude westerlies, the trades, the monsoon region, the typhoon region, and the doldrums. Mid-latitude westerly air streams occur in both northerly and southerly latitudes, bringing marked seasonal differences in temperature. Closer to the equator, where most of the islands lie, steadily blowing trade winds allow for relatively constant temperatures throughout the year of 21-27°C (70-81°F). The monsoon region lies in the far western Pacific between Japan and Australia. Characteristic of this climatic region are winds that blow from the continental interior to the ocean in winter and in the opposite direction in summer. Consequently, a marked seasonality of cloudiness and rainfall occurs. Typhoons often cause extensive damage in the west and southwest Pacific. The greatest typhoon frequency exists within the triangle from southern Japan to the central Philippines to eastern Micronesia. Although more poorly defined than the other climatic regions, two major doldrum areas lie within the ocean, one located off the western shores of Central America and the other within the equatorial waters of the western Pacific. Both areas are noted for their high humidity, considerable cloudiness, light fluctuating winds, and frequent calms.

Geology

The Andesite Line is the most significant regional distinction in the Pacific. It separates the deeper, basic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin from the partially submerged continental areas of acidic igneous rock on its margins. The Andesite Line follows the western edge of the islands off California and passes south of the Aleutian arc, along the eastern edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Japan, the Mariana Islands, the Solomon Islands, and New Zealand. The dissimilarity continues northeastward along the western edge of the Albatross Cordillera along South America to Mexico, returning then to the islands off California. Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, New Guinea, and New Zealand—all eastward extensions of the continental blocks of Australia and Asia—lie outside the Andesite Line. Within the closed loop of the Andesite Line are most of the deep troughs, submerged volcanic mountains, and oceanic volcanic islands that characterize the Central Pacific Basin. It is here that basaltic lavas gently flow out of rifts to build huge dome-shaped volcanic mountains whose eroded summits form island arcs, chains, and clusters. Outside the Andesite Line, volcanism is of the explosive type, and the Pacific Ring of Fire is the world's foremost belt of explosive volcanism.

Landmasses

The largest landmass entirely within the Pacific Ocean is the island of New Guinea— the second largest in the world. Almost all of the smaller islands of the Pacific lie between 30°N and 30°S, extending from South-east Asia to Easter Island; the rest of the Pacific Basin is almost entirely submerged. The great triangle of Polynesia, connecting Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand, encompasses the island arcs and clusters of the Cook, Marquesas, Samoa, Society, Tokelau, Tonga, and Tuamotu islands. North of the equator and west of the international date line are the numerous small islands of Micronesia, including the Caroline Islands, the Marshall Islands, and the Mariana Islands. In the southwestern corner of the Pacific lie the islands of Melanesia, dominated by New Guinea. Other important island groups of Melanesia include the Bismarck Archipelago, Fiji, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Islands in the Pacific Ocean are of four basic types: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs, and uplifted coral platforms. Continental islands lie outside the Andesite Line and include New Guinea, the islands of New Zealand, and the Philippines. These islands are structurally associated with the nearby continents. High islands are of volcanic origin, and many contain active volcanoes. Among these are Bougainville, Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands. The third and fourth types of islands are both the result of coralline island building. Coral reefs are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under the ocean's surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands. Examples include Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia.

History and economy

See the Oceania article for information on one set of the Pacific Island states listed below here. Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times, most notably those of Polynesians from Tahiti to Hawaii and New Zealand. The ocean was sighted by Europeans early in the 16th century, first by Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1513) and then by Ferdinand Magellan, wh

Kagoshima Prefecture

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Merger: Sensatsu Area (12 October 2004)

Absorption: Kagoshima Area (1 November 2004)

Merger: Eastern Area of Satsuma (22 March 2005)

Merger: Yoshimatsu and Kurino (22 March 2005)

Merger: Onejime and Tashiro (22 March 2005)

Merger: Minami-Osumi (31 March 2005)

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Pacific Ocean