Quote from: Garem;246408Kara Tur is not based on Japan. =( It's based on this planet's biggest continent. =( =( And they were really lazy/uncreative about making them, because the similarities are ridiculous. Really, WotC wasn't even trying to make them unique.
You can't blame WOTC. Kara-Tur goes all the way back to Gary Gygax and the 1st edition AD&D Oriental Adventures book. Kozakura and Wa were the two Japanese-themed island nations.