Japan

This article is about the country. For other uses, see Japan (disambiguation).

Japan 日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku
Flag Imperial Seal
Anthem:  Kimigayo (君が代)
Government Seal: Paulownia (五七桐, Go-Shichi no Kiri)
Capital and largest city	Tokyo (de facto)
Official languages	None
Recognised regional languages	Aynu itak, Ryukyuan languages, Eastern Japanese, Western Japanese, and several other Japanese dialects
National language	Japanese
Ethnic groups	98.5% Japanese, 0.5% Korean, 0.4% Chinese, 0.6% other
Demonym(s)	Japanese
Government	Unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy
• Emperor of Japan	Akihito
• Prime Minister of Japan	Naoto Kan (DPJ)
Legislature	Diet of Japan
• Upper house	House of Councillors
• Lower house	House of Representatives of Japan
Formation
• National Foundation Day	February 11, 660 BC
• Meiji Constitution	November 29, 1890
• Current constitution	May 3, 1947
• Treaty of San Francisco	April 28, 1952
Area
• Total	377,944 km2 (145,925 sq mi) (61st)
• Water (%)	0.8
Population
• 2010 estimate	127,360,000 (10th)
• 2004 census	127,333,002
• Density	337.1/km2 (873.1/sq mi) (36th)
GDP (PPP)	2010 estimate
• Total	$4.308 trillion (3rd)
• Per capita	$33,828 (24th)
GDP (nominal)	2010 estimate
• Total	$5.390 trillion (3rd)
• Per capita	$42,325 (17th)
Gini	38.1 (2002)
HDI (2007)	0.884  (11th)
Currency	International Symbol ¥ Pronounced (Yen) Japanese Symbol 円 (or 圓 in Traditional Kanji) Pronounced (En) (JPY)
Time zone	UTC+9 (JST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+9 (not observed)
Date format	yyyy-mm-dd yyyy年m月d日 Era yy年m月d日 (CE−1988)
Driving side	left
Calling code	81
ISO 3166 code	JP
Internet TLD	.jp

Japan (/dʒəˈpæn/; Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon, officially 日本国 or Nihon-koku) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Most of the islands are mountainous, many volcanic; Japan’s highest peak, Mount Fuji, is a volcano. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.

Archaeological research indicates that people were living on the islands of Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan begins with brief appearances in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from the outside world followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. Since adopting its constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.

A major economic power, Japan has the world's third-largest economy by nominal GDP and by purchasing power parity. It is also the world's fourth largest exporter and fifth largest importer. Although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains an extensive modern military force in self-defense and peacekeeping roles. It is a developed country with very high living standards (11th highest HDI). After Singapore, Japan has the lowest homicide (including attempted homicide) rate in the world. Japan has the highest life expectancy of any country (according to both the UN and WHO estimates) and the third lowest infant mortality rate.

History

Main article: History of Japan

Etymology

Main article: Names of Japan

The English word Japan is an exonym. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon (にっぽん) and Nihon (にほん) ; both names are written using the kanji 日本. The Japanese name Nippon is used for most official purposes, including on money, postage stamps, and for many international sporting events. Nihon is a more casual term and is the most frequently used in contemporary speech. Japanese people refer to themselves as Nihonjin (日本人) and to their language as Nihongo (日本語). Both Nippon and Nihon literally mean "sun-origin" and are often translated as the Land of the Rising Sun. This nomenclature comes from Imperial correspondence with the Chinese Sui Dynasty and refers to Japan's eastward position relative to China. Before Nihon came into official use, Japan was known as Wa (倭) or Wakoku (倭国).

The English word for Japan came to the West via early trade routes. The early Mandarin or possibly Wu Chinese (吳語) word for Japan was recorded by Marco Polo as Cipangu. In modern Shanghainese, a Wu dialect, the pronunciation of characters 日本 'Japan' is Zeppen [zəʔpən]; in Wu, the character 日 has two pronunciations, informal (白讀) [niʔ] and formal (文讀) [zəʔ]. (In some southern Wu dialects, 日本 is pronounced [niʔpən], similar to its pronunciation in Japanese.) The old Malay word for Japan, Jepang, was borrowed from a Chinese language, and this Malay word was encountered by Portuguese traders in Malacca in the 16th century. It is thought the Portuguese traders were the first to bring the word to Europe. It was first recorded in English in a 1565 letter, spelled Giapan.

Prehistory

An illustrated scroll from the 1100s

A Paleolithic culture around 30,000 BC constitutes the first known habitation of Japan. This was followed from around 14,000 BC (the start of the Jōmon period) by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture, possibly ancestors of the Ainu people, characterized by pit dwelling and rudimentary agriculture. Decorated clay vessels from this period, often with plaited patterns, are some of the oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world. The Yayoi period, starting around 500 BC, saw the introduction of new practices like wet-rice farming, a new style of pottery, and metallurgy, brought by migrants from China and Korea.

The Japanese first appear in written history in the Chinese Book of Han. According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago during the 3rd century was called Yamataikoku. Buddhism was first introduced to Japan from Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, but the subsequent development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily influenced by China. Despite early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class and eventually gained acceptance beginning in the Asuka period.

The Nara period of the 8th century marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state, centered on an imperial court in the city of Heijō-kyō (modern Nara). In addition to the continuing adoption of Chinese administrative practices, the Nara period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent written literature with the completion of the massive chronicles Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720). The smallpox epidemic of 735–737 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of Japan's population. In 784, Emperor Kammu moved the capital from Nara to Nagaoka-kyō for a ten-year period before relocating it to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto) in 794, where it remained for more than a millennium. This marked the beginning of the Heian period, during which time a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged, noted for its art, poetry and literature. Lady Murasaki's The Tale of Genji and the lyrics of Japan's national anthem Kimigayo were written during this time.

Feudal era

Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence of a ruling class of warriors, the samurai. In 1185, following the defeat of the rival Taira clan, Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed Shogun and established a base of power in Kamakura. After Yoritomo's death, the Hōjō clan came to rule as regents for the shoguns. Zen Buddhism was introduced from China in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and became popular among the samurai class. The Kamakura shogunate repelled Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281, aided by a storm that the Japanese interpreted as a kamikaze or Divine Wind. The Kamakura shogunate was eventually overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo, who was soon himself defeated by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336. The succeeding Ashikaga shogunate failed to control the feudal warlords (daimyo), and a civil war (the Ōnin War) began in 1467 and opened the century-long Sengoku period (“Warring States”).

The Meiji Emperor

During the 16th century, traders and Jesuit missionaries from Portugal reached Japan for the first time, initiating active commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West (Nanban trade). Oda Nobunaga conquered numerous other daimyo by using European technology and firearms, and had almost unified the nation when he was assassinated in 1582. Toyotomi Hideyoshi succeeded Nobunaga and united the nation in 1590. Hideyoshi invaded Korea twice, but following several defeats by Korean and Ming Chinese forces and Hideyoshi's death, Japanese troops were withdrawn in 1598.

Tokugawa Ieyasu served as regent for Hideyoshi's son Toyotomi Hideyori, using his position to gain political and military support. When open war broke out, he defeated rival clans in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Ieyasu was appointed shōgun in 1603 and established the Tokugawa shogunate at Edo (modern Tokyo). The Tokugawa shogunate enacted a variety of measures such as Buke shohatto to control the autonomous daimyo. In 1639, the shogunate began the isolationist sakoku ("closed country") policy that spanned the two and a half centuries of tenuous political unity known as the Edo period. The study of Western sciences, known as rangaku, continued during this period through contact with the Dutch enclave at Dejima in Nagasaki. The Edo period also gave rise to kokugaku ("national studies"), the study of Japan by the Japanese themselves. According to one authority, there were at least 130 famines during the Edo period, of which 21 were particularly serious.

On March 31, 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry and the "Black Ships" of the United States Navy forced the opening of Japan to the outside world with the Convention of Kanagawa. Subsequent similar treaties with Western countries in the Bakumatsu period brought Japan into economic and political crises. The resignation of the shogunate led to the Boshin War and the establishment of a centralized state unified under the name of the Emperor (Meiji Restoration). Adopting Western political, judicial and military institutions, the Cabinet organized the Privy Council, introduced the Meiji Constitution, and assembled the Imperial Diet. The Meiji Restoration transformed the Empire of Japan into an industrialized world power that embarked on a number of military conflicts to expand the nation's sphere of influence. After victories in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Japan gained control of Taiwan, Korea, and the southern half of Sakhalin. Japan's population grew from 35 million in 1873 to 70 million in 1935.

20th century

The early 20th century saw a brief period of "Taishō democracy" overshadowed by increasing expansionism and militarization. World War I enabled Japan, which joined the side of the victorious Allies, to widen its influence and territorial holdings. Japan continued its expansionist policy by occupying Manchuria in 1931. As a result of international condemnation of this occupation, Japan resigned from the League of Nations two years later. In 1935, local assemblies under Japanese control were established in Taiwan. In 1936, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany, and in 1940 signed the Tripartite Pact to join the Axis Powers. In 1941, Japan negotiated a neutrality pact with the Soviet Union.

Present-day Tokyo

In 1937, the Empire of Japan invaded other parts of China, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). In 1940, the Empire then invaded French Indochina, after which the United States placed an oil embargo on Japan. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor and declared war on the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. This act brought the US into World War II and, on December 8, those three countries declared war on Japan. After the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender on August 15 (Victory over Japan Day).

The war cost Japan and the other countries of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere millions of lives and left much of the nation's industry and infrastructure destroyed. The Allied powers (led by the US) repatriated millions of ethnic Japanese from colonies and military camps throughout Asia. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East was convened by the Allies on May 3, 1946 to prosecute some Japanese leaders for war crimes. However, all members of the bacteriological research units and members of the imperial family involved in the conduct of the war were exonerated from criminal prosecutions by the Supreme Allied Commander despite calls for trials for both groups.

In 1947, Japan adopted a new pacifist constitution emphasizing liberal democratic practices. The Allied occupation ended with the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952 and Japan was granted membership in the United Nations in 1956. Japan later achieved spectacular growth to become the second-largest economy in the world, with an annual growth rate averaging 10 percent for four decades. This ended in the mid-1990s when Japan suffered a major recession. Positive growth in the early 21st century has signaled a gradual recovery.

Geography

Main articles: Geography of Japan and Geology of Japan

Topographic map

Japan has a total of 6,852 islands extending along the Pacific coast of Asia. The country, including all of the islands it controls, lies between latitudes 24° and 46°N, and longitudes 122° and 146°E. The main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshū, Shikoku and Kyūshū. The Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa, are a chain of islands south of Kyushū. Together they are often known as the Japanese Archipelago.

About 70 to 80 percent of Japan is forested, mountainous, and unsuitable for agricultural, industrial, or residential use. This is because of the generally steep elevations, climate and risk of landslides caused by earthquakes, soft ground and heavy rain. As a result, the habitable zones, mainly located in coastal areas, have extremely high population densities. Japan is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

The islands of Japan are located in a volcanic zone on the Pacific Ring of Fire. They are primarily the result of large oceanic movements occurring over hundreds of millions of years from the mid-Silurian to the Pleistocene as a result of the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the continental Amurian Plate and Okinawa Plate to the south, and subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Okhotsk Plate to the north. Japan has 108 active volcanoes. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunamis, occur several times each century. The 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people. The most recent major quakes are the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake and the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. Hot springs are numerous and have been developed as resorts. Japan was originally attached to eastern coast of the Eurasian continent. The subducting plates, being deeper than the Eurasian plate, pulled Japan eastward, opening the Sea of Japan around 15 million years ago. The Strait of Tartary and the Korea Strait opened much later.

Climate

Main article: Climate of Japan

Okinawa has a subtropical climate with warm winters and hot summers.

The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate, but varies greatly from north to south. Japan's geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones: Hokkaido, Sea of Japan, Central Highland, Seto Inland Sea, Pacific Ocean, and Ryukyu Islands. The northernmost zone, Hokkaido, has a temperate climate with long, cold winters and cool summers. Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snow banks in the winter. In the Sea of Japan zone on Honshū's west coast, the northwest wind in the wintertime brings heavy snowfall. In the summer, the region is cooler than the Pacific area, though it sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures, because of the foehn wind phenomenon. The Central Highland is a typical inland climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter, and between day and night. Precipitation is light. The mountains of the Chūgoku and Shikoku regions shelter the Seto Inland Sea from the seasonal winds, bringing mild weather throughout the year. The Pacific east coast experiences cold winters with little snowfall and hot, humid summers because of the southeast seasonal wind. The Ryukyu Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very heavy, especially during the rainy season. Typhoons are common.

The highest temperature ever measured in Japan—40.9 °C (105.6 °F)—was recorded on August 16, 2007. The main rainy season begins in early May in Okinawa, and the stationary rain front gradually works its way north until reaching Hokkaido in late July. In most of Honshū, the rainy season begins before the middle of June and lasts about six weeks. In late summer and early autumn, typhoons often bring heavy rain.

Biodiversity

See also: Wildlife of Japan

Japan has nine forest ecoregions which reflect the climate and geography of the islands. They range from subtropical moist broadleaf forests in the Ryūkyū and Bonin islands, to temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the mild climate regions of the main islands, to temperate coniferous forests in the cold, winter portions of the northern islands.

Environment

Main article: Environmental issues in Japan

Ikata Nuclear Power Plant

In the period of rapid economic growth after World War II, environmental policies were downplayed by the government and industrial corporations. As an inevitable consequence, environmental pollution occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. Responding to rising concern over the problem, the government introduced several environmental protection laws in 1970. The oil crisis in 1973 also encouraged the efficient use of energy due to Japan's lack of natural resources. Current priority environmental issues include urban air pollution (NOx, suspended particulate matter, toxics), waste management, water eutrophication, nature conservation, climate change, chemical management and international co-operation for environmental conservation.

Japan is one of the world's leaders in the development of new environment-friendly technologies. Honda and Toyota hybrid electric vehicles were named to have the highest fuel economy and lowest emissions. This is due to the use of advanced hybrid systems, biofuels, lighter-weight material, and specialized engineering techniques. Japan is ranked 20th best in the world in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index.

As a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, and host of the 1997 conference which created it, Japan is under treaty obligations to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions and to take other steps related to curbing climate change. The Cool Biz campaign introduced under former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was targeted at reducing energy use through the reduction of air conditioning in government offices. Japan is preparing to force industry to make cuts in greenhouse gases, taking the lead in a country struggling to meet its Kyoto Protocol obligations.

Politics

Main articles: Politics of Japan and Government of Japan

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko

Japan is a constitutional monarchy where the power of the Emperor is very limited. As a ceremonial figurehead, he is defined by the constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". Power is held chiefly by the Prime Minister of Japan and other elected members of the Diet, while sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people. The Emperor acts as the head of state on diplomatic occasions. Akihito is the current Emperor of Japan; Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan, stands as next in line to the throne.

Japan's legislative organ is the National Diet, a bicameral parliament. The Diet consists of a House of Representatives with 480 seats, elected by popular vote every four years or when dissolved, and a House of Councillors of 242 seats, whose popularly-elected members serve six-year terms. There is universal suffrage for adults over 20 years of age, with a secret ballot for all elected offices. In 2009, the social liberal Democratic Party of Japan took power after 54 years of the liberal conservative Liberal Democratic Party's rule.

The Prime Minister of Japan is the head of government. The Prime Minister is appointed by the Emperor after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office. The Prime Minister is the head of the Cabinet (the literal translation of his Japanese title is "Prime Minister of the Cabinet") and appoints and dismisses the Ministers of State, a majority of whom must be Diet members. Naoto Kan was designated by the Diet to replace Yukio Hatoyama as the Prime Minister of Japan on June 2, 2010. Although the Prime Minister is formally appointed by the Emperor, the Constitution of Japan explicitly requires the Emperor to appoint whoever is designated by the Diet. Emperor Akihito formally appointed Kan as the country's 94th Prime Minister on June 8.

Historically influenced by Chinese law, the Japanese legal system developed independently during the Edo period through texts such as Kujikata Osadamegaki. However, since the late 19th century, the judicial system has been largely based on the civil law of Europe, notably Germany. For example, in 1896, the Japanese government established a civil code based on a draft of the German civil code. With post–World War II modifications, the code remains in effect in present-day Japan. Statutory law originates in Japan's legislature with the rubber stamp approval of the Emperor. The Constitution requires that the Emperor promulgates legislation passed by the Diet, without specifically giving him the power to oppose the passing of the legislation. Japan's court system is divided into four basic tiers: the Supreme Court and three levels of lower courts. The main body of Japanese statutory law is a collection called the Six Codes.

Administrative divisions

Main articles: Prefectures of Japan, Cities of Japan, Towns of Japan, Villages of Japan, and List of Japanese cities by population

Japan consists of forty-seven prefectures, each overseen by an elected governor, legislature and administrative bureaucracy. Each prefecture is further divided into cities, towns and villages. The nation is currently undergoing administrative reorganization by merging many of the cities, towns and villages with each other. This process will reduce the number of sub-prefecture administrative regions and is expected to cut administrative costs.

Map of the prefectures of Japan in ISO 3166-2:JP order and the regions of Japan

Hokkaido 1. Hokkaido	Tōhoku 2. Aomori 3. Iwate 4. Miyagi 5. Akita 6. Yamagata 7. Fukushima	Kantō 8. Ibaraki 9. Tochigi 10. Gunma 11. Saitama 12. Chiba 13. Tokyo 14. Kanagawa	Chūbu 15. Niigata 16. Toyama 17. Ishikawa 18. Fukui 19. Yamanashi 20. Nagano 21. Gifu 22. Shizuoka 23. Aichi
Kansai 24. Mie 25. Shiga 26. Kyoto 27. Osaka 28. Hyōgo 29. Nara 30. Wakayama	Chūgoku 31. Tottori 32. Shimane 33. Okayama 34. Hiroshima 35. Yamaguchi	Shikoku 36. Tokushima 37. Kagawa 38. Ehime 39. Kōchi	Kyūshū and Okinawa 40. Fukuoka 41. Saga 42. Nagasaki 43. Kumamoto 44. Ōita 45. Miyazaki 46. Kagoshima 47. Okinawa

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Japan

Japan is a member of the G8, APEC, and "ASEAN Plus Three", and is a participant in the East Asia Summit. Japan signed a security pact with Australia in March 2007 and with India in October 2008. It is the world's third largest donor of official development assistance after the United States and France, donating US$9.48 billion in 2009. Japan contributed non-combatant troops to the Iraq War but subsequently withdrew its forces. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is a regular participant in RIMPAC maritime exercises.

JDS Kongō (DDG-173) launching a Standard Missile 3 anti-ballistic missile

Japan is engaged in several territorial disputes with its neighbors: with Russia over the South Kuril Islands, with South Korea over the Liancourt Rocks, with China and Taiwan over the Senkaku Islands, and with China over the EEZ around Okinotorishima. Japan also faces an ongoing dispute with North Korea over the latter's abduction of Japanese citizens and its nuclear weapons and missile program (see also Six-party talks).

Military

Main articles: Japan Self-Defense Forces and Ministry of Defense (Japan)

Japan maintains one of the largest military budgets of any country in the world. Japan has close economic and military relations with the United States, with the US-Japan security alliance serving as the cornerstone of the nation's foreign policy. A member state of the United Nations since 1956, Japan has served as a non-permanent Security Council member for a total of 19 years, most recently for 2009 and 2010. It is one of the G4 nations seeking permanent membership in the Security Council.

Japan's military is restricted by Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which renounces Japan's right to declare war or use military force as a means of settling international disputes. Japan's military is governed by the Ministry of Defense, and primarily consists of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF), the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). The forces have been recently used in peacekeeping operations; the deployment of Japanese troops to Iraq marked the first overseas use of its military since World War II. Nippon Keidanren has called on the government to lift the ban on arms exports so that Japan can join multinational projects such as the Joint Strike Fighter.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Japan

The Tokyo Stock Exchange

Japan is the world's third largest economy (IMF, 2010).

From 1868, the Meiji period launched economic expansion. Meiji rulers embraced the concept of a market economy and adopted British and North American forms of free enterprise capitalism. Japanese studied overseas and Western scholars were hired to teach in Japan. Many of today's enterprises were founded at the time, and Japan emerged as the most developed nation in Asia.

The period of overall real economic growth from the 1960s to the 1980s has been called a "Japanese miracle": it averaged 7.5 percent in the 1960s and 1970s, and 3.2 percent in the 1980s and early 1990s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s during what the Japanese call the Lost Decade, largely because of the after-effects of the Japanese asset price bubble and domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth met with little success and were further hampered by the global slowdown in 2000. The economy showed strong signs of recovery after 2005. GDP growth for that year was 2.8 percent, with an annualized fourth quarter expansion of 5.5 percent, surpassing the growth rates of the US and European Union during the same period.

As of 2010, Japan is the third largest national economy in the world, after the United States and China, in terms of both nominal GDP (around US$5 trillion) and purchasing power parity. As of January 2011, Japan's public debt was more than 200 percent of its annual gross domestic product, the largest such ratio among industrialized nations. The service sector accounts for three quarters of the gross domestic product. Banking, insurance, real estate, retail, transportation, telecommunications and construction are all major industries. Japan has a large industrial capacity, and is home to some of the largest and most technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronics, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemical substances, textiles, and processed foods. Agricultural businesses in Japan often utilize a system of terrace farming, and crop yields are high; 13 percent of Japan's land is cultivated. Japan accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global fish catch, second only to China. Japan's agricultural sector is protected at high cost.

As of 2001, Japan's shrinking labor force consisted of some 67 million workers. Japan has a low unemployment rate of around 4 percent. Almost one in six Japanese, or 20 million people, lived in poverty in 2007. Housing in Japan is characterized by limited land supply in urban areas, particularly in Tokyo. More than half of all Japanese live in suburbs or more rural areas, where detached houses are the dominant housing type. Japan's GDP per hour worked is the world's 19th highest as of 2007.

Toyota, one of the world's largest automakers. Japan is the second-largest producer of automobiles in the world.

Japan ranks 12th of 178 countries in the 2008 Ease of Doing Business Index and has one of the smallest tax revenues of the developed world. The Japanese variant of capitalism has many distinct features. Keiretsu enterprises are influential. Lifetime employment and seniority-based career advancement are relatively common in the Japanese work environment. Japanese companies are known for management methods like "The Toyota Way", and shareholder activism is rare. Japan's business culture has many indigenous concepts such as the nemawashi, the nenko system, the salaryman, and the office lady. Recently, Japan has moved away from some of these norms. In the Index of Economic Freedom, Japan is the fifth most laissez-faire of 30 Asian countries.

Japan's exports amounted to $US4,210 per capita in 2005. Japan's main export markets are China (18.88 percent), the United States (16.42 percent), South Korea (8.13 percent), Taiwan (6.27 percent) and Hong Kong (5.49 percent) as of 2009. Japan's main exports are transportation equipment, motor vehicles, electronics, electrical machinery and chemicals. Japan's main import markets as of 2009 are China (22.2 percent), the US (10.96 percent), Australia (6.29 percent), Saudi Arabia (5.29 percent), UAE (4.12 percent), South Korea (3.98 percent) and Indonesia (3.95 percent). Japan's main imports are machinery and equipment, fossil fuels, foodstuffs (in particular beef), chemicals, textiles and raw materials for its industries. By market share measures, domestic markets are the least open of any OECD country. Junichiro Koizumi's administration began some pro-competition reforms, and foreign investment in Japan has soared.

Some of the largest enterprises in Japan include Toyota, Nintendo, NTT DoCoMo, Canon, Honda, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sharp, Nippon Steel, Nippon Oil, Japan Tobacco, Tepco, Mitsubishi, Seven & I Holdings Co, Hitachi, Nissan, Æon, Fujitsu, and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. It is home to some of the world's largest banks, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (known for its Nikkei 225 and Topix indices) stands as the second largest in the world by market capitalization. Japan is home to 326 companies from the Forbes Global 2000 or 16.3 percent (as of 2006).

Science and technology

Main article: Science and technology in Japan

Japan is a leading nation in scientific research, particularly technology, machinery and biomedical research. Nearly 700,000 researchers share a US$130 billion research and development budget, the third largest in the world. Japan is a world leader in fundamental scientific research, having produced fifteen Nobel laureates in either physics, chemistry or medicine, three Fields medalists, and one Gauss Prize laureate. Some of Japan's more prominent technological contributions are found in the fields of electronics, automobiles, machinery, earthquake engineering, industrial robotics, optics, chemicals, semiconductors and metals. Japan leads the world in robotics production and use, possessing more than half (402,200 of 742,500) of the world's industrial robots used for manufacturing. It produced QRIO, ASIMO and AIBO. Japan is also the world's largest producer of automobiles.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is Japan's space agency; it conducts space and planetary research, aviation research, and development of rockets and satellites. It is a participant in the International Space Station: the Japanese Experiment Module (Kibo) was added to the International Space Station during Space Shuttle assembly flights in 2008. It has plans in space exploration, such as launching a space probe to Venus, Akatsuki, in 2010, developing the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter to be launched in 2013, and building a moon base by 2030. On September 14, 2007, it launched lunar orbit explorer "SELENE" (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) on an H-IIA (Model H2A2022) carrier rocket from Tanegashima Space Center. SELENE is also known as Kaguya, the lunar princess of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Kaguya is the largest lunar probe mission since the Apollo program. Its mission is to gather data on the moon's origin and evolution. It entered into a lunar orbit on October 4, flying in a lunar orbit at an altitude of about 100 km (62 mi).

Infrastructure

Main articles: Energy in Japan and Transport in Japan

Shinkansen or Bullet trains are a popular form of transport in Japan.

As of 2008, 46.4 percent of energy in Japan is produced from petroleum, 21.4 percent from coal, and 16.7 percent from natural gas, 9.7 percent from nuclear power, and 2.9 percent from hydro power. Nuclear power produces 22.5 percent of Japan's electricity.

Japan's road spending has been extensive. Its 1.2 million kilometers of paved road are the main means of transportation. A single network of high-speed, divided, limited-access toll roads connects major cities and is operated by toll-collecting enterprises. New and used cars are inexpensive; car ownership fees and fuel levies are used to promote energy efficiency. However, at just 50 percent of all distance traveled, car usage is the lowest of all G8 countries.

Dozens of Japanese railway companies compete in regional and local passenger transportation markets; major companies include seven JR enterprises, Kintetsu Corporation, Seibu Railway and Keio Corporation. Some 250 high-speed Shinkansen trains connect major cities. Japanese trains are known for their punctuality. There are 173 airports in Japan, and flying is a popular way to travel between cities. The largest domestic airport, Haneda Airport, is Asia's second-busiest airport. The largest international gateways are Narita International Airport, Kansai International Airport and Chūbu Centrair International Airport. The largest ports include Nagoya Port.

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Japan, Japanese people, Aging of Japan, and Racial issues in Japan

Greater Tokyo Area is the world's most populous metropolitan area with about 35 million people

Japan's population is estimated at around 127.3 million. Japanese society is linguistically and culturally homogeneous with small populations of foreign workers. Zainichi Koreans, Zainichi Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese Brazilians, and Japanese Peruvians are among the small minority groups resident in Japan. In 2003, there were about 136,000 Western expatriates in Japan. The most dominant native ethnic group is the Yamato people; primary minority groups include the indigenous Ainu and Ryukyuan peoples, as well as social minority groups like the burakumin.

Japan has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world, at 81.25 years of age as of 2006. The Japanese population is rapidly aging, the effect of a post-war baby boom followed by a decrease in births in the latter part of the 20th century. In 2004, about 19.5 percent of the population was over the age of 65. The changes in demographic structure have created a number of social issues, particularly a potential decline in workforce population and increases in the cost of social security benefits such as the public pension plan. Many Japanese youth are increasingly preferring not to marry or have families as adults. Japan's population is expected to drop to 100 million by 2050 and to 64 million by 2100. Demographers and government planners are currently in a heated debate over how to cope with this problem. Immigration and birth incentives are sometimes suggested as a solution to provide younger workers to support the nation's aging population. According to the UNHCR, in 2007 Japan accepted just 41 refugees for resettlement, while the US took in 50,000.

Japan suffers from a high suicide rate. In 2009, the number of suicides exceeded 30,000 for the twelfth straight year. Suicide is the leading cause of death for people under 30.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Japan

Shinto Itsukushima Shrine UNESCO World Heritage Site

The highest estimates suggest that 84–96 percent of the Japanese population are Buddhists or Shintoists, including a large number of believers in a syncretism of both religions. However, these estimates are based on people associated with a temple, rather than the number of people truly following the religion. Professor Robert Kisala (Nanzan University) suggests that only 30 percent of the population identify themselves as belonging to a religion. Taoism and Confucianism from China have also influenced Japanese beliefs and customs. Religion in Japan tends to be syncretic in nature, resulting in a variety of practices, such as parents and children celebrating Shinto rituals, students praying before exams, couples holding a wedding at a Christian church, and funerals being held at Buddhist temples. According to the CIA World Fact Book, two percent of Japanese are Christian (2.4 million). In addition, since the mid-19th century, numerous religious sects (Shinshūkyō) have emerged in Japan.

Languages

Main article: Japanese language

More than 99 percent of the population speaks Japanese as their first language. It is an agglutinative language distinguished by a system of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary indicating the relative status of speaker and listener. Japanese writing uses kanji (Chinese characters) and two sets of kana (syllabaries based on simplified Chinese characters), as well as the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals.

Besides Japanese, the Ryukyuan languages, also part of the Japonic language family, are spoken in Okinawa; however, few children learn these languages. The Ainu language, which is unrelated to Japanese or any other known language, is moribund, with only a few elderly native speakers remaining in Hokkaido. Most public and private schools require students to take courses in both Japanese and English.

Education

Main articles: Education in Japan and Health care in Japan

The Yasuda Auditorium of University of Tokyo

Primary schools, secondary schools and universities were introduced into Japan in 1872 as a result of the Meiji Restoration. Since 1947, compulsory education in Japan comprises elementary school and middle school, which together last for nine years (from age 6 to age 15). Almost all children continue their education at a three-year senior high school, and, according to the MEXT, as of 2005 about 75.9 percent of high school graduates attend a university, junior college, trade school, or other higher education institution.

Japan's education system is very competitive, especially for entrance to institutions of higher education. The two top-ranking universities in Japan are the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University. The Programme for International Student Assessment coordinated by the OECD currently ranks the knowledge and skills of Japanese 15-year-olds as the sixth best in the world.

Health

In Japan, health care services are provided by national and local governments. Payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal health insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee. People without insurance through employers can participate in a national health insurance program administered by local governments. Since 1973, all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance. Patients are free to select physicians or facilities of their choice.

Culture

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji)

Main articles: Culture of Japan, Japanese folklore, and Japanese aesthetics

Japanese culture has evolved greatly over the years, from the country's original Jōmon arts to its contemporary culture, which combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America. Traditional Japanese arts include crafts (ikebana, origami, ukiyo-e, dolls, lacquerware, pottery, ceramics), performances (bunraku, dance, kabuki, noh, rakugo), traditions (games, tea ceremony, Budō, architecture, gardens, swords).

Art

Main articles: Japanese art, Japanese painting, Japanese cinema, and Japanese ceramics

Japanese art dates from the Jomon Period (8000 BC) to the present. Japanese painting is one of the oldest of the Japanese arts, with early figurative paintings dating back to at least 300 BC. The history of Japanese painting exhibits synthesis and competition between native Japanese aesthetics and adaptation of imported ideas. The interaction between Japanese and European art has been significant: ukiyo-e prints, which began to be exported from the middle of the 19th century, in a movement known as Japonism, had a significant influence on the development of modern art in the West, perhaps most notably on post-Impressionism. The fusion of traditional woodblock printing and Western art led to the creation of manga, a typically Japanese comic book format that is now popular within and outside Japan. Manga-influenced animation for television and film is called anime. Japanese-made video game consoles have been popular since the 1980s.

Music

Main article: Music of Japan

Japanese music is eclectic, borrowing instruments, scales and styles from neighboring cultures. Many instruments, such as the koto, were introduced in the 9th and 10th centuries. The accompanied recitative of the Noh drama dates from the 14th century and the popular folk music, with the guitar-like shamisen, from the sixteenth. Western classical music, introduced in the late 19th century, now forms an integral part of the culture. Notable classical composers from Japan include Toru Takemitsu and Rentaro Taki. Post-war Japan has been heavily influenced by American and European modern music, which has led to the evolution of popular band music called J-pop. Karaoke is the most widely practiced cultural activity. A November 1993 survey by the Cultural Affairs Agency found that more Japanese had sung karaoke that year than had participated in traditional cultural pursuits such as flower arranging (ikebana) or tea ceremonies.

Literature

Main article: Japanese literature

Pages from a 12th century illustrated handscroll of The Tale of the Genji

The earliest works of Japanese literature include two history books, the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, and the 8th century poetry book Man'yōshū, all written in Chinese characters. In the early days of the Heian period, the system of transcription known as kana (Hiragana and Katakana) was created as phonograms. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest Japanese narrative. An account of Heian court life is given by The Pillow Book written by Sei Shōnagon, while The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki is often described as the world's first novel.

During the Edo period, literature became not so much the field of the samurai aristocracy as that of the chōnin, the ordinary people. Yomihon, for example, became popular and reveals this profound change in the readership and authorship. The Meiji era saw the decline of traditional literary forms, during which Japanese literature integrated Western influences. Natsume Sōseki and Mori Ōgai were the first "modern" novelists of Japan, followed by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Yasunari Kawabata, Yukio Mishima and, more recently, Haruki Murakami. Japan has two Nobel Prize-winning authors—Yasunari Kawabata (1968) and Kenzaburo Oe (1994).

Cuisine

Main article: Japanese cuisine

A traditional Japanese breakfast

The historically primary ingredient of Japanese cuisine has been Japanese rice. In the early modern era ingredients were introduced that had previously not been widely used in Japan, particularly red meats. Japanese cuisine offers a vast array of regional specialties, known as kyōdo ryōri (郷土料理), many of them originating from dishes prepared using traditional recipes with local ingredients. The Michelin Guide has awarded Japanese cities more Michelin stars than the rest of the world combined.

Sports

Main article: Sport in Japan

Traditionally, sumo is considered Japan's national sport. Japanese martial arts such as judo, karate and kendo are also widely practiced and enjoyed by spectators in the country. After the Meiji Restoration, many Western sports were introduced in Japan and began to spread through the education system. Japan hosted the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964. Japan has hosted the Winter Olympics twice: Nagano in 1998 and Sapporo in 1972.

Sumo wrestlers competing in Tokyo

The professional baseball league in Japan was established in 1936. Today baseball is the most popular spectator sport in the country. One of the most famous Japanese baseball players is Ichiro Suzuki, who now plays for the Seattle Mariners. Sadaharu Oh was well-known outside Japan, having hit more home runs during his career in Japan than Hank Aaron did in the US. Since the establishment of the Japan Professional Football League in 1992, association football (soccer) has also gained a wide following. Japan was a venue of the Intercontinental Cup from 1981 to 2004 and co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South Korea. Japan has one of the most successful soccer teams in Asia, winning the Asian Cup four times.

Golf is also popular in Japan, as are forms of auto racing, such as the Super GT sports car series and Formula Nippon formula racing. Twin Ring Motegi was completed in 1997 by Honda in order to bring IndyCar racing to Japan.

See also

• Outline of Japan

References

Further reading

• De Mente, The Japanese Have a Word For It, McGraw-Hill, 1997 (ISBN 0-8442-8316-9)
• Flath, The Japanese Economy, Oxford University Press, 2000 (ISBN 0-19-877503-2)
• Henshall, A History of Japan, Palgrave Macmillan, 2001 (ISBN 0-312-23370-1)
• Ikegami, Bonds Of Civility: Aesthetic Networks And The Political Origins Of Japanese Culture, Cambridge University Press, 2005 (ISBN 0-521-60115-0)
• Ito et al., Reviving Japan's Economy: Problems and Prescriptions, MIT Press, 2005 (ISBN 0-262-09040-6)
• Iwabuchi, Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism, Duke University Press, 2002 (ISBN 0-8223-2891-7)
• Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan, Belknap, 2000 (ISBN 0-674-00334-9)
• Johnson, Japan: Who Governs?, W.W. Norton & Company, 1996 (ISBN 0-393-31450-2)
• Kato et al., A History of Japanese Literature: From the Man'Yoshu to Modern Times, Japan Library, 1997 (ISBN 1-873410-48-4)
• Macwilliams, Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime, M.E. Sharpe, 2007 (ISBN 0-7656-1602-5)
• McDonald, Reading a Japanese Film: Cinema in Context, University of Hawaii Press, 2005 (ISBN 0-8248-2993-X)
• Ono et al., Shinto: The Kami Way, Tuttle Publishing, 2004 (ISBN 0-8048-3557-8)
• Reischauer, Japan: The Story of a Nation, McGraw-Hill, 1989 (ISBN 0-07-557074-2)
• Samuels, Securing Japan: Tokyo's Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia, Cornell University Press, 2008 (ISBN 0-8014-7490-6)
• Silverberg, Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: The Mass Culture of Japanese Modern Times, University of California Press, 2007 (ISBN 0-520-22273-3)
• Shinoda, Koizumi Diplomacy: Japan’s Kantei Approach to Foreign and Defense Affairs, University of Washington Press, 2007 (ISBN 0-295-98699-9)
• Stevens, Japanese Popular Music: Culture, Authenticity and Power, Routledge, 2007 (ISBN 0-415-38057-X)
• Sugimoto et al., An Introduction to Japanese Society, Cambridge University Press, 2003 (ISBN 0-521-52925-5)
• Varley, Japanese Culture, University of Hawaii Press, 2000 (ISBN 0-8248-2152-1)

External links

Government

• Kantei.go.jp, official prime ministerial and cabinet site
• Kunaicho.go.jp, official site of the Imperial family.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• National Diet Library

News media

• Asahi Shimbun
• Kyodo News
• NHK Online
• Japan Times
• Yomiuri Shimbun (English)

Tourism

• Japan National Tourist Organization
• Template:Wikitravel

General information

• Japan from UCB Libraries GovPubs
• Japan at Curlie
• Energy Profile for Japan from the US Energy Information Administration
• Works by Government of Japan at Project Gutenberg containing the 1889 and 1946 Constitutions
• Japan: Land of the Rising Sun – slideshow by Life magazine