Japan has four main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, as well as many other smaller islands. The population is 125 million, with about 10% living in the capital, Tokyo. The country is noted for having a large population in a small land area. There are many volcanoes and earthquake faults across Japan which have combined to create beautiful mountains and hot springs, but at the same time cause small earthquakes and other incidents on a fairly regular basis.
Most places in Japan have four distinct seasons, spring, summer, fall and winter. There is also a monsoon (rainy) season, from mid-June to late July, followed by the hot and humid summer. The exception is Hokkaido where there is no rainy season and the summer is mild. In winter there is heavy snowfall in northern Japan and
along the Japan Sea. Eastern and southern areas and the Pacific coast sometimes see light snowfall.
The following site is a good source of more detailed information about the climate :
For more information about Japanese geography, history, nature, culture, lifestyle and basic language, please see the following sites:
https://www.japan.travel/en/us/
Learning Japanese is crucial for having a great experience. At a minimum, we recommend mastering all the hiragana and katakana characters, as many kanji as possible, and other phrases such as introducing yourself, please and thank you, what to say when shopping or asking directions, etc. Here are some keys to success in your studying:
Find interesting material to read, watch and listen to. Choosing content you are interested in will help motivate you. If you love anime, watch anime with subtitles first, then watch it again without subtitles. As you hear the real Japanese language, you will learn common words, phrases and sentence structures.
Listen to 1 hour of Japanese per day. In Japan, all school lessons are conducted in Japanese, so you may be listening to Japanese for approx. 6 hours per day at school. Start getting used to it.
Keep a diary of the Japanese (in hiragana and katakana) you learn every day, so you won't forget it. You’ll soon forget the new things you learn if you don't use them. The more you can speak in Japanese, the more you can communicate with your host family and make friends at school. Remember, your main language will be Japanese as soon as you arrive and your AFS journey starts!
Here are some free sites that may be fun and useful.
e-learning
http://www.kkjn.jp https://www.erin.jpf.go.jp/
https://nihonwosiru.jp/digital_book/
Certification exams are a great way to set goals and motivate yourself to study, as well as being useful credentials in your future.
AFS Japan organizes a Japanese test at the end of the year and those who take it will receive a certificate.
You can apply for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) upon arrival in Japan. You are responsible for the application fee and travel costs to and from the test site. For details, please see the official website: http://www.jlpt.jp/
Electricity in Japan is 100 to 110 Volts, using the Type A plug. Most outlets accept plugs with 2 flat pins, so plugs with a third pin will need an adapter.