Japan

Japan is a country of contrasts: the first and most obvious is that between unbridled economic and technological dynamism and the permanence of rituals of behavior matured in 2000 years of history, most of which passed in total isolation. But there is also the contrast of the landscapes: consisting of a densely populated set of islands, it suddenly reveals mountain landscapes and high peaks. Japan is the hectic pace of the great metropolises, Tokyo in the first place, and the silence immersed in the nature of Shinto temples. It is the art of historic cities such as Kyoto, the wonderful gardens of Kanazawa and the temples of Nara. Japan is the land of captains of industry, impeccable students who practice from an early age to become good citizens, and that of Zen thinkers who spend their lives in a meditative silence. It is the country of the very modern shinkansen, but which preserves in the Natural Parks of the Island of Hokkaido, the testimonies of the Ainu, an ethnic minority of Siberian origin, recognized only in 2019 as indigenous people of Japan.