It depends. Some Japanese are light, others are tan. In many Asian cultures, pale is considered more beautiful or attractive. Other than that, the Japanese are, for the most part, very racist. They tend to prefer to not get involved with non-Japanese.

There are many laws in Japan that favor Japanese people over 'Non-Japanese" - even if the NJ has a Japanese passport. As of this writing (Jan. 4, 2010) there are;

No mixed race and no non-ethnic Japanese police, soldiers, and other government workers.

Japan puts restrictions on things that people in most of the world are shocked to learn about.

1) The annual "eki-den" race in Tokyo. Foreign students are banned from participation - the exchange students from Africa won too much in the past, so the solution was not for the natives to work harder - just lock out the foreigners...

2) Waseda University - one of the largest in Japan. It accepts exchange students - but it does not allow foreign students to join the Japanese students in regular classes...it has classes for foreigners (in English) taught mostly by Japanese teachers, and Japanese students can sit in on these classes - so the only way to mix with the natives is to do it in English... VERY different than any U.S. school.

3) Jobs, housing, etc. the rules for NJ are very different than the rules for Japanese people...

Hari kari, also known as sepuku, is an ancient form of ritual suicide that defeated samurai, or those whose shame was 'too unbearable' would use to restore their honor in death. In sepuku, one would take a wakizashi (short sword) and dissembowel oneself. The less noise you made while doing this, the braver you were and therefore the more honorable, however this did not last long as not long after you had begun, a close friend, comrade, or enemy would put you out of your misery by cleaving your head from your shoulders in one swift blow of the katana (another Japanese sword). Even though in modern times the prospect of decapitating one of your friends or relatives sounds completely against normal 'friendly' behavior, being asked to asist your friend or enemies' escape from shame was considered a great honor, as was using this as a tool to escape. This is why the in the imperialistic wars that followed japan's modernisation post Admiral Perry's opening of it in 1853 to the west, the Japanese had no concept of the POW, as they believed that a combatant should either fight to the last breath, or if captured, die 'honorably' in ritual suicide, known as hari kari or sepuku. A good example of this ritual can be found in Tom Cruise's movie "the last samurai"

Note: The act of performing as one's second is known as kaishaku. Often times it would be performed with the katana of the Samurai commiting Hara kiri. It was considered disrespectful for the head to come completely off and thus a small connecting flap of skin was usually left. This is very difficult to do and was generally viewed as a bad omen should it not be performed correctly.

The actual word is "hara kiri", Japanese for "stomach" and "cut" respectively. "Seppuku" is the Onyomi (Chinese origin) pronunciation of the same, but with the Chinese characters reversed ("Cut Stomach"). The most horrifyingly graphic description I read of this process was in James Clavell's "Shogun". Apparently two slices to one's own abdomen with one's sword, that which is within shall fall out into one's lap, and soon after one's head is sliced off by one's friend in order to end one's suffering. Sound's like a rough way to go...

Hara-kiri (often misheard and mis-spelt) is the Japanese term for ritual suicide and literally means "stomach cutting".

When you cut your stomach. :)

Ritualistic suicide practiced by Japanese Samurai by sitting on your own sword.

Japan's government is a democratic parliamentary government, with a constitutional monarchy as the head of state. Japan's Imperial role is essentially only as a figurehead now, and the Emperor has no defined governmental power. He remains the ceremonial head of state, and presides over ceremonies and represents his nation internationally at public functions that do not require a political presence. The head of government, the Prime Minister, holds real power.

Japan is a constitutional monarchy where the power of the emperor is very limited.

It's basic form is based on the British parliamentary model. This means that it has a cabinet of ministers lead by the Prime Minister as well as a bicameral parliament called the Diet and, unlike Great Britain at the time, a linear hierarchical judicial system with a Supreme Court. This government was established by the 1947 Constitution.
Its a combination of Parliamentary Democracy and constitutional monarchy; they have an emperor and a prime minister
Japan has a dictatorship, meaning like Germany w/ Hitler in WW1
Japans government is Constitutional Monarchy
I have no idea whatsoever but question yourself if this isn't for a school project why'd you look it up yeah think about that for a while see now you realize you sir have no life!

Well, Japan's economic experiences could have been better. They were at the low of their lows. But after the war, the U.S. helped rebuild everything, Japan became one of the most economic empires of the world. After this great devistation, Japan was changed and soon became one of the wealthiest country's there is.

At the end of World War II, Japan's economy was in ruins. The major urban and industrial areas had been almost completely destroyed by the U.S. Army Air Force incendiary raids which had commenced in the summer of 1944. The transportation network was destroyed, the merchant marine navy had ceased to exist, the agricultural sector was unable to meet even the requirements of basic subsistence and food stocks were non-existant. It was only due to the reluctant and belated intervention of the U.S. Government (many members of the Congress and the Truman administration were opposed to feeding the Japanese) that wide spread starvation of the Japanese populace was averted in 1946.

It is a wide spread belief that the United States "rebuilt" Japan's economy after World War II. This is not true. More countries were involved in the rebuilding. Following the surrender, Japan was occupied by the allied powers, chiefly the United States with the lesser participation of the British, until 1952 when the peace treaty was signed. One of the conditions of the surrender was that Japan make war reparations. Both the United States and the Soviet Union seized capital assets, cash, and property in both Japan proper and the the former Japanese occupied areas of Manchuria as partial payment toward these reparations. This had the effect of further crippling what remained of Japan's industry and economy. The United States cancelled further payments in 1954 but the payment of reparations to other countries continued long after. Some sources assert that Japanese war reparations exceeded by a large margin the amount of foreign aid received by Japan which in any case was chiefly in the form of bank loans.

Nor was Japan the recipient of an aid program such as the Marshall Plan which attempted to rebuild Europe. Despite massive infusions of Marshall Plan dollars and assistance to Great Britain and France, neither country ever regained its pre-war economic power. Japan's economic miracle was largely due, not to any overt action of the United States, but to the industriousness of its people. Of course there were other contributing factors as well, such as the 100 per cent literacy rate, the high rate of personal saving, and generous government subsidies to key industries and emerging technologies.

Perhaps the most important contribution the Occupation made to Japanese economic recovery was in the introduction and nurturing of democratic reforms. Capitalism works best in a free society.

If anyone is going to answer on here, please cite sources for your comments. The person who wrote here about the U.S. NOT being the major source of rebuilding is obviously not well-informed or has some other agenda. QUOTE sources...this site wants "answers" not half-baked opinions. BTW, the BCOF was responsible for the demilitarizing of Japan's war industries. The U.S. put billions of dollars into reconstruction.

Answer: Like every other country on this earth, canadians have a certain percent of people who are racist, it is unfortunate that these racists are so ignorant of other cultures that they have absolutely no concept of how other peoples live, thank goodness this is only a very small percentage. Most Canadians are the most tolerant people onearth.

Answer: If those racists from the past are still alive then yes, I believe those Canadians are still just as racist as they were in the past. If any of the younger generation took cues from them then they are probably just as racist if not more racist because of how it is looked down upon nowadays, so in defiance, they push their racism.

In western culture, the dragon is traditionally depicted as a powerful, mystical guard over treasure or a savage beast which likes to wreak havoc over the surrounding countryside. This negative image comes from the use of the word to describe Satan in the Bible.

In eastern culture, the dragon is a benevolent symbol, representing wisdom and power, usually with many magical abilities. They are depicted as wise and helpful entities, much to the contrast to their western kin. In China they represent royalty and are often worn by the emperor.