To go from the northernmost tip of the Japanese archipelago to its farthest-flung southern rock is to travel from Norway's North Cape to Rome.

ECONOMIST: A look at how Japan views the sea��and itself

Koshikijima no Toshidon, which occurs every New Year's Eve on Shimo-Koshiki Island in the southwestern part of the Japanese Archipelago, is one such ''raiho''-''shin, '' or visiting deity.

UNESCO: Culture

It was North Korea that, in 1998, revived American interest in missile defences, by test-firing a long-range, three-stage missile that it sent skimming over the Japanese archipelago.

ECONOMIST: Korean thaw | The

It shifts the whole emphasis of the security treaty between the two countries away from defending the Japanese archipelago towards dealing with conflicts in the region surrounding Japan.

ECONOMIST: Can Japan be Asia��s policeman?

In the wake of the catastrophic earthquake-tsunami that ravaged North-east Japan in March 2011, this conference will also highlight the impacts of geology in tectonically-active areas such as the Japanese Archipelago.

UNESCO: Fifth International Geoparks Conference

Many other firms headquartered in Tokyo, like Sony, Hitachi and Honda Motors, have long ago spread their operations to the far reaches of the Japanese archipelago, Southeast Asia, China and beyond.

FORBES: The Japanese Earthquake: It Could Have Been Worse

Yesterday the strongest typhoon in some 50 years wreaked havoc and minor destruction along the entire Japanese archipelago, from Kyushu to Hokkaido, making a direct hit on Tokyo.

FORBES: Reforming Japan's Socialized Agriculture (2)