Japan

Region: East & Southeast Asia

Official language: Japanese

Population: 123,719,238 (2023 est.)

Nationality: Japanese (singular and plural) (noun), Japanese (adjective)

Land area: 364,485 sq km (140,728 sq miles)

Water area: 13,430 sq km (5,185 sq miles)

Capital: Tokyo

National anthem: “Kimigayo” (The Emperor’s Reign), by Unknown/Hiromori Hayashi

National holiday: National Foundation Day, February 11

Population growth: -0.41% (2023 est.)

Time zone: UTC +9

Flag: The Japanese flag features a red disk (symbolizing the sun) centered on a white flag. The flag is commonly referred to as the Hinomaru, or the “sun disk.”

Independence: May 3, 1947 (current constitution adopted as amendment to Meiji Constitution); notable earlier dates: 660 B.C. (traditional date of the founding of the nation by Emperor JIMMU); November 29, 1890 (Meiji Constitution provides for constitutional monarchy)

Government type: a parliamentary government with a constitutional monarchy

Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal

Legal system: civil law system based on German model; system also reflects Anglo-American influence and Japanese traditions; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court

Japan is a mountainous island nation in East Asia. It is an archipelago made up of thousands of islands, although the majority of the country is comprised of the Home Islands (or main islands) of Hokkaido, Honshu (mainland Japan), Shikoku, and Kyushu; these four islands comprise nearly all of the country's total land area.

Japan's closest neighbors are South Korea and North Korea to the west and a strip of Russia to the northwest, north of which sits China. The major bodies of water surrounding Japan are the Sea of Japan, which separates it from the Korean Peninsula, the North Pacific Ocean to the east, and the Philippine Sea and the East China Sea to the west.

Japan made a miraculous economic recovery after World War II (1939–45) and has since remained one of the world's leading economic and cultural powers.

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: The population of Japan is overwhelmingly (97.9 percent in 2017) of Japanese ethnicity. The minority populations of Japan consist of Koreans, Chinese, Brazilians (mostly of Japanese descent), Vietnamese, and Filipinos. The vast majority of Japanese speak standard Japanese or one of its dialects. Japan's only Indigenous language is Ainu, which is nearly extinct, although many Ainu people are partial speakers. Common second languages spoken among Japanese are English and Korean.

The urban areas (which contained 92 percent of Japan's population in 2023) can be very dense and overpopulated. Japan has a negligible population growth rate and one of the oldest populations in the world, in part due to declining birth rates.

The capital of Tokyo is the largest city in Japan and one of the largest in the world; the metropolitan area had a population of nearly 37.1 million people in 2023.

Unlike in many Western nations, religion is not a central focus of most people's lives in Japan. Commonly, Japanese are believers in Shintoism and/or Buddhism.

The 2021 Human Development Index ranked Japan 19 out of 191 countries and territories, which placed the country in the "Very High" category.

Indigenous People: The Ainu (also known as Hutari) of Hokkaido are one of Japan's Indigenous peoples. Their population has been estimated at just twenty-five thousand. Many Ainu have been assimilated into Japanese culture.

Historically, Ainu have been dominated by the Japanese and have faced many forms of persecution, but some efforts have been underway to publicize their struggles, particularly by the Ainu-controlled Hokkaido Utari Association. In 1997, Japan enacted a law to protect the Ainu people. Since their official recognition by the Japanese government in 2008, the Ainu have been granted some land rights and cultural protection.

Education: The Japanese educational system is very similar to most Western systems, but with some small differences. Education is compulsory through junior high school, but many students continue on to college. School is in session year-round, with short breaks.

Japanese students are given extensive preparation in both Japanese and English language skills, as well as mathematics and science courses. One aspect of Japanese schooling are the juku, or cram schools, which help students to prepare rigorously for placement examinations at prestigious high schools and universities. Juku attendance may take up a considerable portion of a Japanese youth's school life and lead to considerable stress and anxiety over their future education and career.

There are hundreds of colleges and universities throughout Japan. The University of Tokyo and Waseda University (its second oldest university) are among the most prestigious, rivaled only by Kyoto University and Keio University (also its oldest university). Japan maintains a very prestigious Imperial University system. Eikaiwa schools offer private education in English conversation, an important skill among the Japanese.

Health Care: Japan provides universal health care to its citizens through National Health Insurance (NHI) or Employee Health Insurance (EHI). Enrollment in either system is compulsory and is based on the sector in which one works. Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries workers, as well as the self-employed, unemployed, students, and the elderly, are covered by NHI, while all others are covered by EHI. Under either plan, patients will pay a certain portion of costs up to a ceiling, at which point they have full coverage.

The average life expectancy at birth in Japan is one of the highest in the world at 85 years—82.11 years for men and 88.06 years for women (2023 estimate).

Food: Japanese food typically consists of a few primary ingredients, such as white rice, which accompanies almost every dish; seafood and meat; a variety of vegetables, such as leeks, eggplant, daikon (radish), bamboo shoots, and seaweed, as well as pickled vegetables; noodles, including ramen, soba, and other varieties; and beans. In addition, Japanese cuisine is flavored by soy sauce, wasabi (a type of horseradish), sesame oil, rice vinegar, and other ingredients.

Popular Japanese dishes include tempura (deep-fried, battered vegetables or seafood), tonkatsu (a breaded pork cutlet in sauce), donburi (rice bowl with a variety of ingredients), sukiyaki (a noodle dish with meat and other ingredients in a soy-based sauce), teriyaki, yakisoba (a noodle dish), miso soup, sashimi, and sushi. Many of these dishes are as popular in other parts of the world, if not more so than they are in Japan.

In addition, modern Japanese cuisine is very influenced by international tastes: American-style fast food and curry from India are among the hundreds of culinary imports to Japanese cuisine.

Arts & Entertainment: From the earliest Buddhist sculptures and temples through the modern era of anime and manga popular culture, Japanese arts have remained among the world's most unique examples in their respective styles. Important recent works have included scroll calligraphy and painted works from such artists as Hiroshige, Hokusai, and Sōtatsu.

Likewise, Japanese literature has been a source of rich offerings for centuries. These include Nara period poetry of the eighth century; the world's oldest novel, The Tale of Genji (eleventh century), by Murasaki Shikibu; the haiku; and Noh drama. Two Japanese authors, Yasunari Kawabata and Ōe Kenzaburō, have won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Several other modern authors, including Yukio Mishima, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, and Haruki Murakami, have achieved international popularity.

In addition to art and literature, Japanese cinema has given the world some of its most important film directors, including Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, Hayao Miyazaki, Nagisa Oshima, and Takeshi Kitano. Traditional Japanese music uses drums and gongs, flutes, samisen (a stringed instrument), and dance forms.

Popular sports in Japan include baseball, sumo wrestling, martial arts (such as kendo, karate and judo), golf, and soccer. Japanese teams have proven to be formidable opponents in such international tournaments as the Football World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup (which they won in 1992, 2000, 2004, and 2011), Olympic sports, and baseball tournaments. Tokyo also hosted the 2020 Olympic Games, which were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Holidays: Holidays in Japan include Coming-of-Age Day (second Monday of January), National Foundation Day (February 11), the Vernal Equinox and Autumnal Equinox, Constitution Memorial Day (May 3), Children’s Day (May 5), Respect for the Aged Day (third Monday of September), Shichigosan, which celebrates children ages three, five, and seven (November 15), and Christmas Day.

Environment and Geography

Topography: Japan's location off the Asian mainland has served its political and social interests for centuries and contributed greatly to its relative isolation until its historic opening to the West in 1868.

Aside from the four main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, there are between three thousand and four thousand smaller Japanese islands, including the Ryukyu Islands, the Kuriles (disputed first with the Soviet Union and then modern-day Russia), and the Izu Islands. Roughly speaking, the western side of Japan (facing the Sea of Japan) is separated from the eastern side (facing the Pacific Ocean) by a central mountainous portion which runs the length of the main islands.

Most of Japan's major cities are situated in the flatter areas which make up only a small percentage of the country. The highest point in Japan is at Mount Fuji in the Tokai district of Honshu; its peak rises to a height of 3,776 meters (12,387 feet).

Because of its position at the intersection of four tectonic plates, Japan is vulnerable to disastrous earthquakes and volcanoes. The country contains 10 percent of the world's active volcanoes and experiences thousands of seismic occurrences per year. In 2011, one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history (9.0–9.1 magnitude) struck northeastern Japan and triggered tsunamis that struck many places along the coast. Nearly 20,000 people were killed in the disaster, which also triggered a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Natural Resources: Japan's natural resources include some mineral deposits that are considered "negligible" by most measures, meaning that they have little importance to the nation's economy. Japan is rich in lumber, hydroelectric power, and fish, however.

Areas of environmental concern include air pollution, acidification of water resources, overuse of fisheries and lumber resources, and landfill shortages.

Plants & Animals: Approximately 68.4 percent of Japan is forested. Common plants found in Japan include the sakura with its cherry blossoms (a national symbol), bonsai, cedar, maple and pine trees, and bamboo. Lotus, lilies, hydrangeas, azaleas, peonies, and wisteria are also common.

Japan boasts a diverse animal population, including sea lions, whales, tanuki (raccoon dogs), giant spider crabs, shika deer, foxes, badgers, bears, sparrows, thrushes, and the giant salamander.

Endangered or threatened species found in Japan include the Bonin fruit bat, the gloomy tube-nosed bat, the fin whale, and the Asiatic black bear.

Climate: Japan is rainy and humid, with pronounced seasonal changes throughout the year. From north to south, Japan is climatically diverse. Hokkaido is subarctic, while the region along the Pacific Ocean is hot with seasonal winds from the Pacific. The western side facing the Sea of Japan is rainy and snowy, while the southwestern region around Okinawa is subtropical. There are three rainy seasons, the first in winter, with large snowfall, another in June–July, and still another in September–October. Additionally, late summer brings typhoon season.

Because of its topographical diversity, the average temperatures and precipitation across Japan vary greatly from region to region.

Economy

As of 2023, Japan had the world’s fourth-largest economy, and as a result it is one of the most powerful countries in the world. Its ability to not only rebuild itself after its defeat by the Allied powers in World War II but to accelerate to such an important place in the world economy over the subsequent years is one of the more remarkable economic achievements of the modern era. However, the country has faced multiple periods of recession, including a lengthy recession in the 1990s and a period of economic contraction during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

In 2021, Japan had a GDP of approximately US$5.12 trillion, with a GDP per capita of $40,800. Japan has long enjoyed one of the lowest unemployment rates in the developed world; in 2021, it was estimated at 2.8 percent.

Industry: Among the most important Japanese industries are automobiles (Toyota, Nissan, Subaru, Honda, to name just a few of its brand names), electronics (including Sony, Toshiba, and Matsushita, among others), machine tools, steel and nonferrous minerals, and steel ships. Despite the importance of its manufacturing sector, however, Japan’s service sector is its largest, employing 73.1 percent of its labor force in 2021.

Japan’s main exports include motor vehicles, iron and steel products, semiconductors, auto parts, power-generating machinery, and plastic materials. Its main trading partners are the United States, China, South Korea, and Thailand.

Agriculture: Japanese agricultural products include rice, sugar beets, potatoes, and cabbage, and seafood (including large catches of sardine, crab, shrimp, salmon, and tuna). Japan is also one of the world's leading whaling nations, which draws criticism from environmentalists worldwide.

Although the agricultural sector is relatively small, Japanese farmers supply most of the rice consumed in Japan. The country must import most of its other food products.

Tourism: Typically, millions of people visit Japan each year. Popular tourist destinations include the gardens, temples, and shrines found in most major cities and regions, including Kyoto, Japan’s cultural capital, and Tokyo, one of the ancient cities of Japan and currently one of the capitals of the world. Tourism increased during the lead up to the planned 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, but temporarily ground to a halt during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. However, the tourist industry soon rebounded, and by 2024 the country had the highest rates of tourism in history, with a record 8.56 million visitors traveling to Japan in the first quarter of 2024 alone.

Other important tourist sites include the Imperial Palace, Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture (near Kyoto), Mount Fuji, and Japan’s many national parks and world heritage sites.

Government

Japan, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, is divided into forty-seven prefectures, or administrative districts, a system that has been in place since 1871. Its current constitution dates from 1947, two years after Japan surrendered to the Allied powers at the end of World War II, at which point the Empire of Japan was dismantled. Prior to that, Japan was ruled by a succession of emperors dating back to the seventh century BCE.

Japan is a parliamentary government and is divided into an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. The executive branch consists of the prime minister (also the head of government), his deputy prime minister and appointed cabinet, and the emperor, who is the chief of state, a largely symbolic role.

The Diet, the most powerful of the three branches of government, is the bicameral legislature of Japan, consisting of the House of Councillors (Sangi-in), whose 242 members are elected to six-year terms, and the House of Representatives (Shugi-in), whose 475 members are elected to four-year terms. The Diet appoints the prime minister (via the emperor), who is usually the leader of the majority party or majority coalition in the House of Representatives. The judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court, members of which are designated by the cabinet and appointed by the emperor. The justices are reviewed in a popular referendum following their appointment and every ten years thereafter.

The changes to Japanese society after being opened to Western relations in the mid-nineteenth century were profound and included vast modernization, vulnerability to Western exploitation, social change, and periods of hot and cold relations with foreign powers. Within a few decades, Japan was considerably wealthier and more powerful, leading it to become expansionist and imperialistic. In the 1930s, Japan took over the Manchuria area of China and created the state of Manchukuo. By 1945, Japan's empire had grown to include not only parts of China, but also much of Southeast Asia (Burma, Indonesia, and the Philippine Islands).

At the end of World War II, with defeats in several major military outposts, the Japanese Empire had begun to recede. In August 1945, the United States dropped atomic weapons on the cities of Hiroshima (Honshu) and Nagasaki (Kyushu), putting a decisive end to Japan's imperialist advance. The ensuing postwar period brought changes not only to the structure of Japanese society, but to its economic and political aspirations. Its aggressive, expansionist tendencies gave way to pacifist, protectionist ideals, making for one of the twentieth century’s most surprising political and economic turnarounds.

Interesting Facts

• “Japan” and “Nippon” are synonyms; both words mean “origin of the sun.”
• Some resorts in Japan have been known to feature coffee baths for their patrons.
• Japan has one of the highest life expectancies at birth in the world, ranking behind just three other countries—Monaco, Singapore, and Macau.
• In 2019, Emperor Akihito became the first emperor to abdicate the throne since 1817. His son, Emperor Naruhito, acceded to the throne in May 2019.

Bibliography

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“Earthquakes in Japan: Past and Future.” Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, Government of Japan, www.mlit.go.jp/river/earthquake/en/future/index.html. Accessed 26 May 2022.

Inoue, Yukana. "Inbound Tourism Numbers Hit Record High, With Japan Set to Achieve 2025 Goal." The Japan Times, 17 Apr. 2024, www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/04/17/japan/society/record-high-inbound-travelers/. Accessed 23 July 2024.

“Japan.” The World Bank, 2023, data.worldbank.org/country/japan. Accessed 18 Oct. 2023.

“Japan.” CIA World Factbook, 10 Oct. 2023, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/japan/. Accessed 18 Oct. 2023.

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“Japan.” Human Development Reports, United Nations Development Programme, 8 Sept. 2022, hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data#/countries/JPN. Accessed 18 Oct. 2023.

Japan, 2019 Annual Research: Key Highlights. World Travel & Tourism Council, 2019, www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic-impact-research/countries-2019/japan2019.pdf. Accessed 23 July 2019.