Shape of state, borders, and territories.
Japan is both elongated and fragmented in terms of shape of state. Japan is much longer than it is wide, and is split into 4 islands. Both of these impact Japan negatively as internal communications would be weaker than optimal. It could take some time to transport information from island to island or north to south.
Japan’s boundaries are physical and cultural. It may seem that there is a cultural boundary due to how differently Japanese culture is from Chinese or Korean, but that difference began due to isolation. Japan is a state made up of islands so it would have little communication with other states. The water borders caused cultural differences to occur naturally.
There has been heavy debate on who owns the islands of: Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashiri and Etorofu. Japan technically owns them, but Russia has been illegally occupying them and refusing to acknowledge Japan’s ownership.
Japan’s boundaries are physical and cultural. It may seem that there is a cultural boundary due to how differently Japanese culture is from Chinese or Korean, but that difference began due to isolation. Japan is a state made up of islands so it would have little communication with other states. The water borders caused cultural differences to occur naturally.
There has been heavy debate on who owns the islands of: Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashiri and Etorofu. Japan technically owns them, but Russia has been illegally occupying them and refusing to acknowledge Japan’s ownership.