The Influence of Geography on
Japan’s History and Culture
Japan is a powerful nation that is an island in East Asia. Japan has
a unique geography that has influenced its culture, history, and place
in the world.
YOUR JOB:
Take a look at Japan on different types of maps that show its
geographical features such as water, mountains, deserts, and cities
and develop theories on how its geography affects its religion, culture
and diet, wars, military, government, trade and economy
1. Look at different types of maps on Japan:
a. resource map- shows different types of resources located in Japan
b. physical map- shows mountains, terrain, rivers, and lakes
c. political map- shows its cities, states, boundaries
d. topographic- shows different elevation levels
2. After looking at its features, begin to develop theories on how these
features would affect the history and culture of Japan.
EX: How does the geography of the US affects its culture and history?
The US has vast grasslands
​
- theory: because this type of land is considered not very useable
and inhabitable, it was cheap to buy so it probably caused a lot of
people to move there and helped expand the US territory
The US has intense mountain ranges
​
- theory: this probably dramatically separated people and life was
probably extremely different for people who lived by the
mountains so their education
was probably not as good and lower incomes.
The US in a very large piece of land
​
probably caused the need for trains and other transportation to get
to other side
3. Look over the theories you have developed and divide into categories:
- Religion
- Culture and Diet
- Economy ,Trade, Transportation
- Education
- Military, Government, Wars, Politics
** Make sure you have at least 2 theories for each category. If you need more
theories for each category you can go back create more.
​overnment/ Politic​
G
s: Because grasslands are considered not very
useable and inhabitable, it was cheap to buy so it probably caused a lot of
people to move there and helped expand the US territory
​an be used in both Education & Economy​
C
: Intense mountains probably
dramatically separated people and life was probably extremely different for
people who lived by the mountains so their education was probably not as
good and lower incomes.
​ransportation: Because US was so large it ​
T
probably caused the need for
trains and other transportation to get to other side
4. Once your theories have been created, now it is your job to research if your
theory is right or wrong. If it is right, elaborate on it and give pictures. If your
theory is wrong, share on what the right theory or idea would be.
Theory:​
Because grasslands is considered not very useable and inhabitable, it was
cheap to buy so it probably caused a lot of people to move there and helped expand
the US territory
We were wrong. The grassland were actually very expensive to buy at first. One
acre of land in Kansas was actually double the price of land in New York (2).
Therefore, few people moved out there so that wasn’t the reason that the US
expanded.
Theory:​
Intense mountains probably dramatically separated people and life was
probably extremely different for people who lived by the mountains so their
education was probably not as good and lower incomes.
We were right. The education of people who live in the Appalachian and Rocky
Mountains is awful and most were uneducated. There were few schools and most
people who reached adult age couldn’t even read! (5). They were so isolated that
there were few jobs, and people could only work in lumber and mining (6).
5. Create a presentations that exposes your theories and whether they were
right or wrong. The first slide for each category should contain your theory
and the second slide should contain the facts on whether your theory was
right or wrong. You must include pictures to compliment your information.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Compose an essay that proves this: The geography of Japan has influenced
its history and cultures. You will get your information ONLY from other
groups presentations. Your essay will contain 3 body paragraphs that share
the landform (box) and the effects those landforms had on the nation
(bullets). Obviously you will only choose true theories.
EX:
Intense mountain ranges affected the education and economy of the people
who inhabited them. For example, those who lived in the Appalachian Mountains
could hardly read even as adults! (5). Few people even went to school and those
who didn’t worked in the lumber fields because there were few jobs to choose from
(6).
Rivers affected the borders of states, towns and counties.
Size of US affected transportation and in turn encouraged development of new
transportations.
RUBRIC: _______/68
Presentation:
________/50
Theories & Explanations
_______/25
- Each category (5) has at least 2 theories
- Each theory fully explains how the geographical
feature could influence the historical or cultural
way of life.
- Each theory contains an explanation on how it’s right
or wrong. It fully provides factual details that explain
why it’s right or wrong (look at sample on website)
Daily Participation
_______/ 15
- Contributed to the group by researching and locating
items to help prove or disprove your theories, every
class period.
- Helped come up with theories.
- Group worked on one theory at a time, together.
Presentation & Appearance
_______/10
- no spelling or grammar errors
- full sentences, without run-ons
- pictures to help understand and/or enhance the
theory
In class short answer: ​
Supporting Evidence
_______/ 35
- Essay includes 3 supporting geographical
features that influenced a piece of history
or culture. (3) (EX: Many rivers)
- Each supporting geographical feature includes
extended facts on what historical or cultural
event/idea was born as a result of the feature (9)
(EX: rivers caused state boundaries)
- There is a clear connection between the geographical
and historical/cultural events. (6)
________/18