Japan

The economic miracle achieved by Japan in the second half of the 20th century was the envy of the rest of the world.

But the rapid post-war expansion - propelled by highly successful car and consumer electronics industries - had by the 1990s run out of steam.

The 1997 Asian financial crisis, and bouts of recession, precipitated major banking, public spending and private sector reforms.

Japan has the world's second-biggest economy, but it remains a traditional society with strong social and employment hierarchies - Japanese men have tended to work for the same employer throughout their working lives.

But this and other traditions are under pressure as a young generation more in tune with Western culture and ideas grows up.

Japan's relations with its neighbours are still heavily influenced by the legacy of Japanese actions before and during World War II. Japan has found it difficult to accept and atone for its treatment of the citizens of countries it occupied.

A Japanese court caused outrage by overturning a compensation order for Korean women forced to work as sex slaves. South Korea and China have also protested that Japanese school history books gloss over atrocities committed by the Japanese military.

Japan's role on the world stage is considerable. It is a major aid donor and a source of global capital and credit. But the deployment of Japanese troops in Iraq following the US-led invasion in 2003 divided public opinion. Critics said the move violated the country's pacifist constitution.

Fewer than 25% of Japan's people live in rural areas. Life for the majority on the four principal islands is in sprawling conurbations on overcrowded coastal plains, which surround mountainous, wooded interiors.

Twenty percent of the world's earthquakes take place in Japan, which sits on the boundaries of at least three tectonic plates. The government has set targets for reducing the number of deaths and the economic damage after any future, powerful quake.