Application of Information Technology in the Field of Public Works-Information of JACIC Activities

摘要

Situated off the east coast of the Asian continent, Japan consists of a crescent-shaped archipelago of approximately 377,900 km that runs virtually parallel to the continental coastline with the Sea of Japan in between and is elongated north-to-south. Sixty-one percent of the national land is mountainous and the country has as many as 13,935 first-class rivers (total extension: approximately 87,400 km). Due to the large number of many bays and capes, the coastlines are complicated with various curves and extend for approximately 34,600 km in total. In addition, the Japanese archipelago has the world's most complicated geography with a number of plates overlapping each other, which makes Japan one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. The Japanese climate is largely temperate with clearly defined four seasons. The country, which is stretched north-to-south and has many mountain ranges running through the archipelago, exhibits various types of weather. On the Pacific Ocean side, summer is mostly hot and humid due to the southeast seasonal wind and winder is characterized by successions of dry and sunny days. In contrast, the Sea of Japan side experience relatively comfortable summer with lower temperature but often has heavy snow in winter because of the cold air driven by the northwest seasonal wind. Moreover, all regions except Hokkaido go through the rainy season from June to July and typhoons hit the country, especially southern Kyushu and southern Shikoku, in August and September.