Japan’s identity as a culture and a society is unique in this world, thanks in part to its remote island location. When combined with the seventeenth-century policy of sakoku, which officially closed off the nation to foreigners for more than two centuries, Japan had a lot of time to hone its self-identity. Its physical separation from the world allowed it to establish a system of norms, customs, and expectations that make it a distinctive place to visit and live.(9 more paragraphs)