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Daisetsu-zan

(Encyclopedia)Daisetsu-zan dīsāˈtso͞o-zäN [key], group of volcanic peaks, central Hokkaido, Japan, rising to 7,513 ft (2,290 m) at Asahi-dake. They are part of Daisetsu-zan National Park (895 sq mi/2,318 sq km...

Ainu

(Encyclopedia)Ainu īˈno͞o [key], aborigines of Japan who may be descended from a Caucasoid people who once lived in N Asia. More powerful invaders from the Asian mainland gradually forced the Ainu to retreat to ...

La Pérouse Strait

(Encyclopedia)La Pérouse Strait sōˈyä [key], channel, 25 mi (40 km) wide, separating N Hokkaido island, Japan, from S Sakhalin island, Russia, and connecting the Sea of Japan on the west with the Sea of Okhotsk...

Hakodate

(Encyclopedia)Hakodate häkōˈdäˈtā [key], city, extreme SW Hokkaido, Japan, on the Tsugaru Strait. Opened ...

Kuril Islands

(Encyclopedia)Kuril Islands kyo͝orˈēlz, kyo͝orēlzˈ [key], Jap. Chishima-Retto, Rus. Kurilskiye Ostrova, island chain, c.6,020 sq mi (15,590 sq km), Sakhalin region, E Russia. They stretch c.775 mi (1,250 km) ...

Paektu, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Paektu or Baekdu, Mount, volcanic peak, 9,003 ft (2,744 m) high, in the Changbai Mts. on the border between North Korea and China. The highest mountain in Korea, it rises from a basalt lava plateau th...

Honshu

(Encyclopedia)Honshu hōnˈsho͞o [key], island , c.89,000 sq mi (230,510 sq km), central Japan. It is c.800 ...

Ando, Tadao

(Encyclopedia)Ando, Tadao tädäō ändō [key], 1941–, Japanese architect, b. Osaka. The majority of his buildings are in Japan; he is particularly known for religious structures and museums. Informally apprenti...

Okuma, Shigenobu

(Encyclopedia)Okuma, Shigenobu shēgāˈnōbo͞o ōˈko͞omä [key], 1838–1922, Japanese statesman. He was an early supporter of the emperor and entered the Meiji government as finance minister in 1869. In 1876 h...

Sakhalin

(Encyclopedia)Sakhalin sägälyĕnˈ [key], island (c.29,500 sq mi/76,400 sq km), off the coast of Asian Russia, between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan; separated from the Russian mainland on the west by t...

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