Japan is a society composed of traditions and customs that are both hundreds of years old and as new as the microchip. Japan is a chain of mountainous islands lying off the coasts of China and Russia. Stretching for some 3000 kilometers from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south, Japan is a land of steep mountains, dormant and active volcanoes, lush green forests, healing hot springs and wave swept coasts. Japan is a country which treasures its past as much as its present and future, its natural surroundings as much as its urban landscape, its modernism as much as its ancient beliefs and values.