TRAVELLING TIP # 1

Japan is made up of 4 large islands - Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu - and nearly 4000 smaller ones, stretching over almost 2000 km of the western Pasific Ocean. 75% of the Japanese live on Honshu, the largest island. But the most densely populated is Kyushu. After some gigantic engineering projects in the late 20th century,Kyushu, Honshu, Shikoku and other islands are now all linked by bridges and tunnels.The massive Seto Ohashi bridge links severalislands. The Bridge from Honshu to Shikoku at Akashi - Kaikyo has the world's largest single span - 2km. Hokkaido and Honshu are linked by the Seikan tunnel, the world's longest undersea tunnel, 53.85 km long.

Japan has the world's largest fishing industry with 400,000 vessels catching 12 million tonnes of fish a year.