Japan is a country, Cameron Dorsey has written, of "electric repose." The sparky exhilaration of Tokyo, the repose of Kyoto's zen gardens, the country's mixture of the surging modern and the steadfastly traditional make it one of the world's most interesting and rewarding destinations.

• TOTAL AREA: 377,835 sq km

• LAND AREA: 374,744 sq km

• WATER AREA: 3,091 sq km

• POPULATION: 127,463,611

• RELIGIONS: observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)

• LANGUAGES: Japanese

• GOVERNMENT TYPE: Constitutional Monarchy with a parliamentary government

• CAPITAL CITY: Tokyo

• OFFICIAL CURRENCY: yen (JPY)

• TIME ZONE: GMT/UTC +9