Anglais : le Japon.

Matière : Anglais.
Sujet : le Japon.
Note (oral) : 13.

Thanks for coming today.

Let me begin myself. My name is Angèle ALLOITTEAU and I am in book trades in the department of information and communication in the IUT.

The subject of my talk is Japan, and my presentation will last approximately five minutes.

I’d be very happy to invite you to ask questions at the end of the session.

My talk will be divided into three main parts. The first part is a presentation of Japan, the second part describes the history of Japan and the third part concerns the Japanese culture.

Let’s begin by presentation of Japan.  It is an archipelago in Pacific Ocean, which is composed of about six thousand isles. The four main isles are Honshu, which is the biggest isle, Shikoku, Kyushu and Hokkaido. Japan is called “The Land of the Rising Sun”. The name of the capital is Tokyo.  While there exist eight commonly defined regions of Japan, administratively Japan consists of forty-seven prefectures, each overseen by an elected governor, legislature and administrative bureaucracy. The former city of Tokyo is further divided into twenty-three special wards, each with the same powers as cities. Japan has dozens of major cities, which play an important role in Japan's culture, heritage and economy. The ten most populous are all prefectural capitals, there are : Tôkyô, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kobe, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Kawasaki and Saitama.

Let’s turn now to the history of Japan. It is divided into six main periods, which are Japanese Paleolithic, Ancient Japan, Classical Japan, Feudal Japan, Early Modern Japan and actually Modern Japan. These periods are themselves divided into several periods, which are called Jomon, Yayoi, Kofun, Asuka, Nara, Heian, Kamakura, Kemmu restoration, Muromachi, Azuchi-Momoyama, Edo, Meiji, Taisho and Showa. Actually the system  of government is a parliamentary democracy, where the Emperor is a symbol of state, but before there have been different shogunates, an Imperial Court, and a limited monarchy with different emperors. Japan has experienced several conflicts, and one of tragic events of its history is the atomic bombardment of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War.

Let's finish by the Japanese culture. It has evolved greatly over the years, from the country's original prehistoric Jōmon culture to its contemporary culture, which combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America. Traditional Japanese arts include crafts (ikebana which is art of flowers, origami, ukiyo-e which is Japanese print, dolls, lacquerware, pottery), performances (dance, kabuki which is a specific theatre), traditions (games, tea ceremony, sumo which is an ancestral sport in the archipelago, architecture, gardens, swords) and cuisine. The fusion of traditional woodblock printing and Western art led to the creation of manga, a typically Japanese comic book format in black and white that is now popular within and outside Japan. Manga-influenced animation for television and film is called anime.

To conclude Japan is an Asiatic archipelago which has a very old history and a culture between tradition and modernity.

If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them now.