Japan floats like a dismembered seahorse along the eastern rim of the Asian continent. Around 10,000 years ago, during the last big melt, sea levels rose enough to flood the land bridge connecting Japan with the mainland. Today Japan consists of a chain of islands (four major ones and some 3900 small ones) riding a 3000km (1860mi) arc of mountains, the tallest of which is the perfectly symmetrical Mt Fuji (3776m/12,385ft). Many of these mountains are …showed first 75 words of 426 total…

…showed last 75 words of 426 total…continue to be hunted for alleged 'scientific research', goods are so overpackaged that consumption turns into solo pass-the-parcel, appliances are thrown away with alarming abandon, and the demand for rainforest timber, mostly from Malaysia, is unabated. Government action is usually more decisive when the Japanese environment is directly affected (surprise!). Industrial air and water pollution has been curbed since the choking mid-1970s, although photochemical smog remains a problem in Tokyo and other urban centres.