From time immemorial, the shores of Japan have been the first areas of Asia to be awakened by the rising sun. Each of the four main islands of Japan---Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu emerge each day into light revealing a country of steep mountains, brave volcanoes, thick forests, simmering hot springs and wave swept coasts. Japan today is a society as wise as its hundreds years of age and as new as the microships in a personal computer.

     It has a population of 126 million inhabitants (the eighth-largest population in the world) who live in a territory slightly smaller than the state of California. This makes Japan one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Tokyo itself has over 8 million people. In fact, experts say that Tokyo alone requires a land area of 3 times Japan to support it and develop the resources Tokyo consumes. While the Japanese might lack physical space, they are replete with positive energy to make their country the most peaceful on earth.  Japanese commitment to live in peace and harmony with nature and with the rest of the world runs deep. The 1946 Constitution proclaims Japan a peaceful nation that will never be involved in an international conflict and their residents live by that premise. It is that peace, deep spirituality, kindness and remarkable hospitality what our group of 200 Americans who visited Japan on October 2001 would remember forever.