Geography and Nature

Geography And Nature

191 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

All 191 questions

  1. Complete the sentence about Akihabara with the correct year: Since its opening in ______, Akihabara Station became a major freight transit point, which allowed a vegetable and fruit market to spring u…
  2. Complete the sentence about Ueno Park with the correct year: The park was established in ______ on lands formerly belonging to the temple of Kan'ei-ji.
  3. Complete the sentence about Ueno Park with the correct year: Ueno Park occupies land once belonging to Kan'ei-ji, founded in ______ in the "demon gate", the unlucky direction to the northeast of Edo C…
  4. Complete the sentence about Imperial Palace, Tokyo with the correct year: The Tokyo Imperial Palace was home to a ______-year-long line of emperors and empresses.
  5. Complete the sentence about Imperial Palace, Tokyo with the correct year: On the night of May 25, ______, most structures of the Imperial Palace were destroyed in the Allied firebombing raid on Tokyo.
  6. Complete the sentence about Imperial Palace, Tokyo with the correct year: Designed by Japanese architect Shōzō Uchii the modern residence was completed in ______.
  7. Complete the sentence about Hokkaido with the correct year: In ______, following the Meiji Restoration, the entire island was annexed, colonized, and renamed Hokkaido by Japan.
  8. Complete the sentence about Hokkaido with the correct year: The Ebetsu Kofun Cluster is a group of mounds dating from the latter half of the 8th century to the middle of the 9th century, and was surve…
  9. Complete the sentence about Okinawa Island with the correct year: Crimes committed by US military personnel, notably the ______ Okinawa rape incident, have caused protests against the US military pres…
  10. Complete the sentence about Ryukyu Islands with the correct year: The islands were held by the United States after the ______ Treaty of San Francisco concluded the Pacific War.
  11. Complete the sentence about Ryukyu Islands with the correct year: From about ______ until the mid-20th century, the islands' English name was spelled Luchu, Loochoo, Loo-choo, or Lewchew, all pronounc…
  12. Complete the sentence about Ryukyu Islands with the correct year: The name Okinawa Shima was chosen by the Meiji government for the new prefecture when they annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom in ______.
  13. Complete the sentence about Awaji Island with the correct year: Since April 5, ______, it has been connected to Kobe on Honshū by the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the second longest suspension bridge in the…
  14. Complete the sentence about Awaji Island with the correct year: The Nojima Fault, responsible for the ______ Great Hanshin earthquake, cuts across the island.
  15. Complete the sentence about Awaji Island with the correct year: The earthquake was due to the Nojima Fault, located near the epicenter, which was designated a national natural monument in ______.
  16. Complete the sentence about Yakushima with the correct year: The island's unique remnant of warm/temperate ancient forest has been a natural World Heritage Site since ______.
  17. Complete the sentence about Yakushima with the correct year: In ______, Yakushima was struck by Typhoon Noru, causing one death.
  18. Complete the sentence about Yakushima with the correct year: In November ______, a United States Air Force V-22 Osprey crashed off the coast of Yakushima, killing seven crew members, with one crewmemb…
  19. Complete the sentence about Lake Biwa with the correct year: At the prefectural level, the Eutrophication Control Ordinance was enacted in ______.
  20. Complete the sentence about Lake Kawaguchi with the correct year: In ______ the lake was added to the World Heritage List as part of the Fujisan Cultural Site.
  21. Complete the sentence about Lake Ashi with the correct year: Onshi Park, established in ______ as a summer retreat for the imperial family, is now open to the public.
  22. Complete the sentence about Lake Ashi with the correct year: Lake Ashi drains via the Fukara Aqueduct toward Susono, Shizuoka, following its completion in ______, rather than into the Haya River towar…
  23. Complete the sentence about Shinano River with the correct year: The most significant of the battles was fought on 18 October ______ between the Takeda clan and Uesugi clan, and resulted in severe cas…
  24. Complete the sentence about Japanese Alps with the correct year: From ______, foreign travelers were able to find useful information in Basil Hall Chamberlain and W.B.
  25. Complete the sentence about Mount Asama with the correct year: Scientists from the University of Tokyo and Nagoya University completed their first successful imaging experiment of the interior of the…
  26. Complete the sentence about Mount Asama with the correct year: Scientists have noted a range of textural variety in the ash which has been deposited in the region during the serial eruptions since the…
  27. Complete the sentence about Mount Asama with the correct year: Records suggest that the magnitude of this plinian eruption was twice as large as that of the Tenmei catastrophe in ______.
  28. Complete the sentence about Mount Asama with the correct year: The three-month-long plinian eruption that began on 9 May ______, produced andesitic pumice falls, pyroclastic flows, lava flows, and enl…
  29. Complete the sentence about Sakurajima with the correct year: The lava flows of the ______ eruption connected it with the Ōsumi Peninsula.
  30. Complete the sentence about Mount Tate with the correct year: The area was incorporated into the Chūbu-Sangaku National Park on 4 December ______.
  31. Complete the sentence about Mount Koya with the correct year: In ______, UNESCO designated Kongōbu-ji on Mount Kōya, as part of the World Heritage Site "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii M…
  32. Complete the sentence about Shiretoko Peninsula with the correct year: Kunashiri has been occupied by Russia since September 1, ______, and disputed by Japan.
  33. Complete the sentence about Ogasawara Islands with the correct year: American, European, and Hawaiian colonists arrived from the Kingdom of Hawaii in ______.
  34. Complete the sentence about Ogasawara Islands with the correct year: The first published description of the islands in the West was brought to Europe by Isaac Titsingh in ______.
  35. Complete the sentence about Okinawa Prefecture with the correct year: In ______, the world's oldest known fishhook was discovered in the Sakitari Cave site in Nanjo City, Okinawa Prefecture.
  36. Complete the sentence about Sea of Japan with the correct year: In ______, a British naval officer, William Robert Broughton, explored the Strait of Tartary, the eastern coast of the Russian Far East…
  37. Complete the sentence about Akita Inu with the correct year: In ______, the Akita was officially declared a Japanese natural monument.
  38. Complete the sentence about Akita Inu with the correct year: In ______, the first Japanese breed standard for the Akita Inu was listed, following the breed's declaration as a natural monument of Japan…
  39. Complete the sentence about Shiba Inu with the correct year: From around ______, hunters and intellectuals began to show interest in the protection of the remaining pure Shiba.
  40. Complete the sentence about Japanese giant salamander with the correct year: The species was designated as a special natural monument in ______, and is protected by the Central Government.
  41. Complete the sentence about Tokyo Bay with the correct year: The bay took its present name in modern times, after the Imperial court moved to Edo and renamed the city Tokyo in ______.
  42. Complete the sentence about Naruto whirlpools with the correct year: The whirlpools can be observed from the shore on Awaji island, from tourist ships, or from the Uzunomichi Walkway of the ______ Ōna…
  43. Complete the sentence about Itsukushima with the correct year: The island is one of Hayashi Gahō's Three Views of Japan specified in ______.
  44. Complete the sentence about Itsukushima with the correct year: In ______ AD, Taira no Kiyomori, a warrior-courtier, greatly contributed to giving the shrine its current form.
  45. Complete the sentence about Kegon Falls with the correct year: In ______, the Kegon Falls was recognized as one of the "Eight Views" which best showed Japan and its culture in the Shōwa period.
  46. Complete the sentence about Kyoto Imperial Palace with the correct year: The Palace lost much of its function at the time of the Meiji Restoration, when the capital functions were moved to Tokyo in __…
  47. Complete the sentence about Kyoto Imperial Palace with the correct year: The version currently standing was completed in ______, with an attempt at reproducing the Heian period architecture and style…
  48. Complete the sentence about Nijō Castle with the correct year: The site remained empty until it was replaced by a prince's residence transferred from the Kyoto Imperial Palace in ______.
  49. Complete the sentence about Nijō Castle with the correct year: In ______, the palace was donated to the city of Kyoto and opened to the public the following year.
  50. Complete the sentence about Sapporo Snow Festival with the correct year: For example, in ______, there were statues of Hideki Matsui, the famous baseball player who at that time played for the New Yor…
  51. Complete the sentence about Sapporo Snow Festival with the correct year: In ______, there were 307 statues created at the Odori Park site, 32 at the Satoland site and 100 at the Susukino site.
  52. Complete the sentence about Sapporo Snow Festival with the correct year: The Snow Festival began as a one-day event in ______, when six local high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park.
  53. Complete the sentence about Sapporo Snow Festival with the correct year: On 4 February ______, a flight from Sapporo to Tokyo crashed into Tokyo Bay killing all 126 passengers and 7 crew on board.
  54. Complete the sentence about Beppu with the correct year: The average annual rainfall is ______ mm with September as the wettest month.
  55. Complete the sentence about Beppu with the correct year: Hot spring development as a tourist destination began in earnest from ______ with the opening of Takegawara Onsen.
  56. Complete the sentence about Kusatsu, Gunma with the correct year: Local folklore recounts that Minamoto no Yoritomo came to Kusatsu in ______ in pursuit of fleeing Taira clan warriors.
  57. Complete the sentence about Atami, Shizuoka with the correct year: During the cadastral reform of the early Meiji period in ______, Atami village was organized within Kamo District, Shizuoka.
  58. Complete the sentence about Saitama with the correct year: With the ______ merger of Urawa, Ōmiya, and Yono, it was decided that a new name, one fitting for this newly created prefectural capital, was…
  59. Which place completes this sentence about Kyoto? The capital was relocated from Kyoto to ______ after the Meiji Restoration.
  60. Which place completes this sentence about Yokohama? Yokohama is the largest port city and high tech industrial hub in the Greater ______ Area and the Kantō region.
  61. Which place completes this sentence about Sapporo? As of August 1, 2026, the city has a population of 1,962,596, making it the largest city in Hokkaido and the largest north of ______.
  62. Which place completes this sentence about Fukuoka? As of 2015, Fukuoka is Japan's sixth largest city, having passed the population of ______.
  63. Which place completes this sentence about Fukuoka? Since the founding of ______ in 794, this marks the first time that a city west of the Kansai region has had a larger population than Kyoto.
  64. Which place completes this sentence about Kawasaki, Kanagawa? In 1912 the border between Kanagawa and ______ prefectures was established as the Tama River.
  65. Which place completes this sentence about Hiroshima? The Hiroshima metropolitan area is the second largest urban area in the Chugoku Region of Japan, following the ______ metropolitan area.
  66. Which place completes this sentence about Sendai? The first railway line between Sendai and ______, now the Tōhoku Main Line, opened in 1887, bringing the area within a day's travel from Tokyo for the…
  67. Which place completes this sentence about Nara, Nara? Nara is a core city located in the northern part of Nara Prefecture bordering the ______ Prefecture.
  68. Which place completes this sentence about Nagasaki? Near the end of World War II, the American atomic bombings of ______ and Nagasaki made Nagasaki the second city in the world to experience a nuclear…
  69. Which place completes this sentence about Shizuoka? Suruga was established as a province of Japan in the early ______ period.
  70. Which place completes this sentence about Himeji? Himeji has been the center of Harima Province since the ______ period, and was the location of the provincial capital and Harima Kokubun-ji.
  71. Which place completes this sentence about Hakodate? The city is the third largest in Hokkaido after ______ and Asahikawa.
  72. Which place completes this sentence about Osaka Castle? In 1614, Tokugawa Ieyasu besieged the Toyotomi clan forces in ______ castle during the winter, starting the Siege of Osaka.
  73. Which place completes this sentence about Osaka Castle? Ieyasu, in outrage, sent his armies to ______ Castle again, and routed the Toyotomi men inside the outer walls on June 4.
  74. Which place completes this sentence about Kumamoto Castle? In 1588, Katō Kiyomasa was transferred to the early incarnation of ______ Castle.
  75. Which place completes this sentence about Fushimi Inari-taisha? The earliest structures were built in 711 on the Inariyama hill in southwestern ______, but the shrine was re-located in 816 on the requ…
  76. Which place completes this sentence about Kiyomizu-dera? Along with Kōryū-ji and Kurama-dera, it is one of the few temples in ______ that predates the foundation of the capital to Heian-kyō.
  77. Which place completes this sentence about Kiyomizu-dera? The temple is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient ______ UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  78. Which place completes this sentence about Todai-ji? Todaiji is well known for the ______ Daibutsu, also known as "The Great Buddha of Nara," which is an image of the Buddha Birushana.
  79. Which place completes this sentence about Todai-ji? Kūkai added an Abhiseka Hall to use for initiating monks of the six ______ schools into the esoteric teachings by 829 CE.
  80. Which place completes this sentence about Hokkaido? The largest city on Hokkaido is its capital, ______, which is also its only ordinance-designated city.
  81. Which place completes this sentence about Sado Island? Lake Kamo, the largest lake in ______ Prefecture, is located at the eastern end of the Kuninaka Plain.
  82. Which place completes this sentence about Awaji Island? Since April 5, 1998, it has been connected to ______ on Honshū by the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the second longest suspension bridge in the world.
  83. Which place completes this sentence about Lake Ashi? Lake Ashi drains via the Fukara Aqueduct toward Susono, ______, following its completion in 1670, rather than into the Haya River toward Odawara, K…
  84. Which place completes this sentence about Kansai region? From there the Kansai area stretches west along the Seto Inland Sea towards ______ and Himeji, and east encompassing Lake Biwa, Japan's largest…
  85. Which place completes this sentence about Kansai region? With a samurai population of less than 1% the culture of the merchant city of ______ stood in sharp contrast to that of Edo, the seat of power…
  86. Which place completes this sentence about Seto Inland Sea? Thanks to transport through the Seto Inland Sea, ______ became the economic center of Japan.
  87. Which place completes this sentence about Koi? There are many varieties of ornamental koi, originating from breeding that began in ______, Japan, in the early 19th century.
  88. Which place completes this sentence about Sapporo Snow Festival? Several snow festivals existed in ______ prior to the Sapporo Snow Festival, however, all of these were suspended during World War II.
  89. Which place completes this sentence about Beppu? Beppu Station opened on July 16, 1911 and on July 15, 1923, a regular seaplane route to ______ was opened.
  90. Which place completes this sentence about Atami, Shizuoka? Atami is located in the far eastern corner of ______ Prefecture at the northern end of Izu Peninsula.
  91. Which place completes this sentence about Atami, Shizuoka? During the cadastral reform of the early Meiji period in 1889, Atami village was organized within Kamo District, ______.

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