Hatsuharu

History: The Hatsuharu-class destroyers (初春型駆逐艦 Hatsuharugata kuchikukan) were a class of Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers in the service before and during World War II. The final two vessels in the class, completed after modifications to the design, are sometimes considered a separate "Ariake class".

Type: Destroyer

Primary Country: Japan is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean with dense cities, imperial palaces, mountainous national parks and thousands of shrines and temples. Shinkansen bullet trains connect the main islands of Kyushu (with Okinawa's subtropical beaches), Honshu (home to Tokyo and Hiroshima’s atomic-bomb memorial) and Hokkaido (famous for skiing). Tokyo, the capital, is known for skyscrapers, shopping and pop culture.

Although legend has it that Japan was founded in 660BC, archaeologists agree that settlement in the Japanese archpelago dates back as far as 100,000 years. The Jomon Period (8000-c.300BC) is the earliest that has been studied. It is named after the 'jomon' or cord-marked pattern style of pottery of the period.