Tradition and modern challenges

Japan is the world's third largest economy in terms of GDP sizeRapid post-war growth ended in 1990s; country has slipped in to recession four times since 2008Exerts global power as source of capital, innovation and cultural trendsRelationship with neighbors strained over territorial claims and colonial history

(CNN) -- Comprised of four main islands, and over 6,000 smaller ones, Japan stretches for around 1,500 miles from sub-tropical Okinawa in the south to the frozen climes of Hokkaido in the north.

The bulk of the country's 127 million inhabitants live in urban areas, mostly on Honshu island, the country's largest. The capital since 1868, modern Tokyo is a sprawling mega city and home to over 36 million people.

From the 12th century until the mid 19th century, Japan was a feudal society dominated by military leaders known as shoguns. A long period of self-imposed international isolation ended when the Emperor Meiji took direct control of the country in 1867 and began a period of modernization. Western trade began to influence the development of the country.

The period also saw the beginning of Japan's pursuit of an overseas empire, the legacy of which still affects relations with its neighbors to this day.

Japan is a constitutional monarchy, headed by 80-year-old Emperor Akihito. Although the emperor's powers are politically limited, he is regarded as the highest authority of the country's dominant Shinto religion.

Reconstruction and recession

After the Second World War Japan witnessed spectacular economic growth, transforming a country physically and psychologically scarred by military defeat and the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima into a world leader in electronics and manufacturing, especially in the automotive industry.

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Japanese Emperor Akihito turns 80 on December 23. Akihito is the 125th Emperor of Japan, a direct descendant of Japan's first emperor Jimmu, circa 660 B.C. Here, we take a look at the life of the world's only monarch with the title of emperor. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":true,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":1,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} A portrait of Crown Prince Akihito in January 1936 at age 3. He is the son of Empress Nagako and Emperor Hirohito, whom he succeeded in 1989. The Chrysanthemum Throne is the oldest hereditary monarchy in the world. Records show the imperial line to be unbroken for 14 centuries.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":2,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Crown Prince Akihito with some of his school friends at the Imperial School in Tokyo, circa 1938. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":3,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Crown Prince Akihito in ceremonial robes for his formal investiture as crown prince at the Tokyo Imperial Palace on November 10, 1952. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":4,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Prince Akihito in his private study at the Imperial Palace in 1952. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":5,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Queen Elizabeth II and Akihito are seen in the royal box at the Epsom Downs Racecourse on June 6, 1953, in England. Crown Prince Akihito made the trip to attend her coronation.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":6,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Akihito addresses the crowd upon arrival at Oahu Airport on October 8, 1953, in Honolulu. During seven months of travel, the crown prince visited 14 countries.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":7,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Akihito during his wedding to Michiko Shoda in 1959. He is the first Japanese crown prince to marry a commoner.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":8,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Akihito with his pet dog Dingo in December 1963, on the grounds of Togu Palace, his residence in Tokyo.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":9,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Prince Akihito takes a walk with Princess Michiko and their son Naruhito in 1964. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":10,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} In a 1969 portrait, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako pose with their children and grandchildren. Crown Prince Akihito stands on the far right. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":11,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Visitors to China's Forbidden City walk beneath Japanese and Chinese flags, flown to welcome Emperor Akihito on October 23,1992. Akihito's visit to China was the first ever by a Japanese emperor.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":12,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} President Bill Clinton offers a toast to Emperor Akihito at the White House in June 1994, during the first state dinner of Clinton's administration. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":13,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} South African President Nelson Mandela and Emperor Akihito toast during a banquet at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in July 1995. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":14,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Emperor Akihito leaves the Imperial Palace for the hospital in January 2003. The emperor had a successful operation to remove his cancerous prostate.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":15,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko leave the residence of the late Princess Kikuko after paying their respects in Tokyo on December 19, 2004. The princess was Akihito's aunt. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":16,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Akihito's eldest son and heir-apparent, Crown Prince Naruhito, granddaughter Princess Aiko, and Crown Princess Masako enter the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on September 2, 2006. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":17,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} The Emperor as the Empress greet U.S. President Barack Obama at the Imperial Palace on November 14, 2009.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":18,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Akihito leaves the University of Tokyo Hospital in Tokyo on February 12, 2012. Akihito was scheduled to undergo heart bypass surgery after tests showed the narrowing of his arteries had worsened. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":19,"title":"Emperor Akihito"} Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko are greeted at Chennai International Airport in India on December 4, 2013, after arriving from New Delhi on the second leg of their weeklong trip to India. This was the first time they had been to India in 53 years.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":1,"pos":20,"title":"Emperor Akihito"}

Photos: Japan's Emperor Akihito

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People wearing protective suits and masks ride on a bus past the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Okuma, Japan, on Saturday, November 12 2012. Journalists got their first ground-level glance around the stricken facility, eying shells of reactor buildings, tons of contaminated water, and workers still scurrying to mitigate damage from a crisis that began eight months ago.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":true,"x":8,"y":2,"pos":1,"title":"Fukushima: A closer look "} The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station is seen through a bus window in Okuma on Saturday. An epic 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami March 11 wreaked havoc around Japan, killing more than 15,000 people. While many of those died instantly, the East Asian nation was on edge for weeks as utility and government employees scrambled to prevent a worsening nuclear catastrophe at the Daiichi plant, located about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Tokyo.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":2,"pos":2,"title":"Fukushima: A closer look "} A deserted street near Okuma is visible from the bus window, inside the contaminated exclusion zone near the crippled nuclear power station.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":2,"pos":3,"title":"Fukushima: A closer look "} Throughout the summer and fall, there were no longer reports of explosions or new leaks of radioactive material into the ground and sea. But the facility still remained off limits to reporters and, for a 20-kilometer radius around the plant, to the general public, due to the continued high levels of radiation and ongoing efforts to prevent yet more blasts and leaks.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":2,"pos":4,"title":"Fukushima: A closer look "} Radiation readings rose steadily as the journalists neared the plant, reaching 6.7 microsieverts in Okuma. There, they put on respirator masks, adding to an ensemble of a protective suit, two pairs of gloves, two sets of plastic booties over their shoes and a radiation detector.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":2,"pos":5,"title":"Fukushima: A closer look "} The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station is visible through a bus window Saturday.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":2,"pos":6,"title":"Fukushima: A closer look "} Journalists pass a newly built sea wall next to the crippled nuclear power station.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":2,"pos":7,"title":"Fukushima: A closer look "} Workers dressed in protective suits and masks are checked for radiation outside a building at J-Village, a soccer training complex now serving as an operation base for those battling Japan's nuclear disaster in Fukushima.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":2,"pos":8,"title":"Fukushima: A closer look "} A employee of the Tokyo Electric Power Company walks up stairs near temporary housing built for workers who live at J-Village, at the former soccer training complex.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":2,"pos":9,"title":"Fukushima: A closer look "} A worker carries his belongings as he walks among the temporary housing structures at J-Village.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":2,"pos":10,"title":"Fukushima: A closer look "} A deserted field and buildings inside the contaminated exclusion zone around the crippled nuclear power station are seen through the bus window.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":2,"pos":11,"title":"Fukushima: A closer look "} A deserted neighborhood inside the contaminated exclusion zone is visible through the bus window. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":2,"pos":12,"title":"Fukushima: A closer look "}

Fukushima: A closer look

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Listen to Ultraman here: In Japan, these handy little gadgets are the best way to stay connected, allowing multiple devices unlimited, un-throttled data at the same time while allowing local calls via Internet calling apps.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":true,"x":8,"y":3,"pos":1,"title":"1. Rent a wireless router"} The flat-rate, foreigner-only Japan Rail Pass can be used throughout the extensive JR train network and save a lot of money for travel by train. They must be reserved outside of Japan. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":3,"pos":2,"title":"2. Book a JR pass before the trip"} You too can become a whirlwind blur in a Japanese subway station. For short-distance trains, these pre-loaded transportation cards save a lot of time that would otherwise be spent buying individual tickets, and are especially handy for transfers. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":3,"pos":3,"title":"3. Buy a Pasmo or a Suica card "} Speaking of trains, this app is a godsend for foreign travelers navigating the complicated subway and train networks. It's accurate to the minute. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":3,"pos":4,"title":"4. Download the Hyperdia app"} Thank you, price wars. Japan's major carriers are offering discounts for foreign travelers for air travel within Japan. Again, bookings must be made outside of Japan, before your trip. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":3,"pos":5,"title":"5. Get discounts on domestic flights"} Haneda Airport is much closer to Tokyo city center than Narita International Airport, meaning the train ride is considerably cheaper, too. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":3,"pos":6,"title":"6. If there\'s a choice, fly into Haneda"} If you're flying into Narita, take the N'EX (Narita Express) into Tokyo -- it's more comfortable than alternative trains, with nicer seats and more luggage space, with no transfers. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":3,"pos":7,"title":"7. From Narita, book N\'EX"} It's not perfect, but whipping out the Google Translate app is a handy way for translating what you want to say on the spot. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":3,"pos":8,"title":"8. Download Google Translate app "} In case the battery for your phone or wireless router dies, always carry a print-out of your address. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":3,"pos":9,"title":"9. Have your address printed in Japanese"} ATMs at Citibanks, post offices and 7-Elevens are the best bet for your foreign card. We know it may be obvious, but check to be sure it's activated for foreign withdrawals before you leave home. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":3,"pos":10,"title":"10. Know where to get cash"} Forgot your phone charger? Craving hot chicken? Need a change of underwear? How about concert tickets? When in doubt, head to a "konbini" -- Japanese convenience stores anticipate pretty much every need of people on the road. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":8,"y":3,"pos":11,"title":"11. Know where to find refuge"}2. Book a JR pass before the trip3. Buy a Pasmo or a Suica card 5. Get discounts on domestic flights6. If there's a choice, fly into Haneda8. Download Google Translate app 9. Have your address printed in Japanese

Extremely practical Japan travel tips

However, those post-war decades of high growth came to a juddering halt in in 1990, when real estate and stock market prices plummeted; the 1990s are now commonly known as the "lost decade".

Japan has more government debt than any other developed nation -- nearly 230% of its GDP according to the CIA World Fact Book -- and has struggled to sustain steady economic growth. It has slipped into recession four times since 2008, the latest being the third quarter of 2014. That grim economic news led the country's current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to call a snap parliamentary election for December 14.

Despite the country's financial challenges, compounded by an ageing population, Japan has some of the world's most valuable companies and remains a source of global innovation and cultural trends. It is the world's third largest economy in terms of GDP.

Present day Japan blends modernity and tradition, with society and work environments structured around well-defined hierarchies. According to recent OECD figures, Japan has some of the most highly educated women in the world, yet ranks among the bottom of developed countries when it comes to employing women with college degrees; only 69% are in the workforce.

While diverse in its climatic regions, much of Japan is mountainous and remains one of the world's most seismically active areas of the world.

Earthquakes and regional relationships

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the eastern coast of the Tohoku region unleashed a devastating tsunami. Over 15,000 people died and thousands more were displaced. The tsunami hit the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant causing extensive damage and a radiation leak, and leaving surrounding areas uninhabitable. The material damage from the earthquake and tsunami is estimated at around $300 billion.

On the international stage, Japan exerts considerable soft power as a major aid donor and source of capital. Its projection of power militarily is limited by its post-war pacifist constitution. However pressure has been building from hawkish elements in the country to allow the Japanese Self Defence Forces to take a more assertive role. This summer Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet approved a white paper on defence policy that allows the military to act in support of its allies.

Greater Tokyo is home to over 30 million people. Courtesy: AFP/GettyThe background to this recent revision of military policy has been an increase in regional tensions. While North Korea's missile program remains an ongoing security concern, conflicting territorial claims by Japan and China in the East China Sea over a group of islands known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China have inflamed nationalist rhetoric on both sides and strained relations between the countries.

Other tensions with China and South Korea persist over the use of so-called "comfort women" by the Japanese military before and during the Second World War.

While an official government apology was issued in 1993, known as the Kono statement, it remains a sensitive international issue and source of contention within Japan. Some conservative elements in Japan suggest there remains insufficient evidence to prove that the military directly recruited women as sex slaves.

In September, South Korea's President Park Geun-hye has stated that no formal summit meeting with Abe can happen until "sincere efforts to heal the wounds of the past" are made.

Follow CNN's On the Road Japan coverage.

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