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Japan's size; A simple observation
Topic Started: Jul 2 2017, 10:33 PM (535 Views)
Sam
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Artisan
The difficulties of ruling Japan in various periods of history has made me think about Japan's geography, today I realized I did not have a good grasp of the country's size. Using http://thetruesize.com/ and overlaying Japan on Europe I got the following (the association are not exact but close):
  • Hakodate --> Copenhagen
  • Sendai --> Berlin
  • Tokyo --> Nuremberg
  • Nagoya --> Strasbourg
  • Matsue --> Paris
  • Nagasaki --> La Rochelle
  • Kagoshima --> Bordeaux
  • Okinawa --> Madrid
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Sam
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Artisan
I have attached a screenshot of the map I created.
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Attachments: Japan_Europe.png (768.7 KB)
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Toranosuke
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Tosa no kami
Or, to put it another way, Japan is roughly the same length as the entire East Coast of the United States - you're trying to rule climates, and communities, as different as (or, actually, probably, quite a bit more different than) from Maine to Florida.

I'd long thought Japan was roughly the size of California - read that in multiple places, I think. But, looking at this truesize website, it quickly becomes clear that while Honshu alone might be roughly the size of California, Japan as a whole is actually quite a bit larger...
Comparison to California:
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Attachments: Fullscreen_capture_742017_83637_AM.jpg (37.63 KB)
Attachments: Fullscreen_capture_742017_83944_AM.jpg (34.08 KB)
Edited by Toranosuke, Jul 3 2017, 01:40 PM.
上り口説 Nubui Kuduchi – Musings on the arts of Japan and beyond
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Sam
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In terms of area California is bigger than Japan (423,970 sq. km vs 377,972 sq. km; both figures taken from Wikipedia). But the shape of Japan is much more elongated so it covers the entire U.S. Pacific coast (if you include Okinawa then it stretches from U.S.-Mexico border all the way to Alaska!). I have attached another map using truesize in which you can see this (also showcasing the fact that the website allows you to rotate the country you pick).
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Attachments: Japan_rotated_west.png (659.21 KB)
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Toranosuke
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Tosa no kami
Ah. Nice. I figured that sort of function should be in there, but I didn't happen upon it...
上り口説 Nubui Kuduchi – Musings on the arts of Japan and beyond
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Sam
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You have to use the compass icon on lower left.
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Bethetsu
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Tsushima no kami
Toranosuke
Jul 3 2017, 01:40 PM
Or, to put it another way, Japan is roughly the same length as the entire East Coast of the United States - you're trying to rule climates, and communities, as different as (or, actually, probably, quite a bit more different than) from Maine to Florida.
Also, since both Japan and eastern US are on the east coast of continents, they are much better compared in terms of climate than Japan and California. Unlike what I understand of California, Japan does not have long summers without rain.
Actually, I find Tokyo similar to north Louisiana. Every few years you get a good snow that sticks for a few days, though the autumn foliage is much more colorful here.
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chingwa
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I've never heard Tokyo compared to Louisiana before. :shock:
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