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{{About|the country}}
{{Redirect|Nippon}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2012}}
{{See also|Portal:Japan|Outline of Japan}} {{Infobox country
|native_name = 日本国<br />''Nippon-koku'' or ''Nihon-koku''
|conventional_long_name = Japan <!-- Not "State of". See discussion. -->
|Kyujitai_name = 日本國
|image_flag = Flag of Japan.svg
|alt_flag = Centered red circle on a white rectangle.
|common_name = Japan
|linking_name = Japan
|image_coat = Imperial Seal of Japan.svg
|alt_coat = Golden circle subdivided by golden wedges with rounded outer edges and thin black outlines.
|symbol_type = Imperial Seal
|other_symbol_type = [[Government Seal of Japan]]
|other_symbol = [[File:Goshichi no kiri.svg|75x75px|Seal of the Office of the Prime Minister and the Government of Japan]]<br /> {{Nihongo|五七桐|''Go-Shichi no Kiri''}}
|image_map = Japan (orthographic projection).svg
|map_width = 220px
|national_anthem = ''[[Kimigayo]]''<br />({{Nihongo|君が代}})
|official_languages = None<ref>{{cite web|url=http://houseikyoku.sangiin.go.jp/column/column068.htm|title=法制執務コラム集「法律と国語・日本語」|publisher=Legislative Bureau of the House of Councillors|accessdate=19 January 2009|language=Japanese}}</ref>
|languages_type = [[National language]]
|languages = Japanese
|regional_languages = <small>[[Aynu itak]], [[Ryukyuan languages]], [[Eastern Japanese]], [[Western Japanese]], and several other [[Japanese dialects]]</small>
|demonym = Japanese
|ethnic_groups = 98.5%&nbsp;Japanese, 0.5%&nbsp;[[Koreans in Japan|Korean]], 0.4%&nbsp;[[Chinese people in Japan|Chinese]], 0.6%&nbsp;other<ref name="cia"/>
|capital = [[Tokyo]] (''de facto'')
|latd = 35
|latm = 41
|latNS = N
|longd = 139
|longm = 46
|longEW = E
|largest_city = capital
|government_type = [[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[parliamentary system|parliamentary democracy]] and [[constitutional monarchy]]
|leader_title1 = [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]]
|leader_name1 = [[Akihito]]
|leader_title2 = [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]]
|leader_name2 = [[Yoshihiko Noda]]
|legislature = [[Diet of Japan|Diet]]
|upper_house = [[House of Councillors]]
|lower_house = [[House of Representatives of Japan|House of Representatives]]
|area_footnote =<ref>{{cite web|title=Japan Statistical Yearbook 2010|publisher=Statistics Bureau|accessdate=15 January 2011|url=http://www.stat.go.jp/data/nenkan/pdf/yhyou01.pdf|page=17}}</ref>
|area_rank = 62nd|area_magnitude = 1 E11
|area_km2 = 377,944
|area_sq_mi = {{convert|377944|km2|sqmi|disp=output number only}}<!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]-->
|percent_water = 0.8
|population_estimate = 126,659,683<ref>{{cite web|url=http://japandailypress.com/japanese-population-decreases-for-third-year-in-a-row-098767 |title=Japanese population decreases for third year in a row|accessdate=9 August 2012}}</ref>
|population_estimate_year = 2012
|population_estimate_rank = 10th
|population_census = 128,056,026<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/kokusei/pdf/20111026.pdf|title=Population Count based on the 2010 Census Released|publisher=Statistics Bureau of Japan |accessdate=October 26, 2011}}</ref>
|population_census_year = 2010
|population_density_km2 = 337.1
|population_densitymi2 = 873.1 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]-->
|population_density_rank = 36th
|GDP_PPP_year = 2011
|GDP_PPP = $4.440 trillion<ref name=imf2/>
|GDP_PPP_rank = 4th
|GDP_PPP_per_capita = $34,739<ref name=imf2/>
|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 25th
|GDP_nominal = $5.869 trillion<ref name=imf2/>
|GDP_nominal_rank = 3rd
|GDP_nominal_year = 2011
|GDP_nominal_per_capita = $45,920<ref name=imf2/>
|GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 18th
|sovereignty_type = [[History of Japan|Formation]]
|established_event1 = [[National Foundation Day]]
|established_date1 = 11 February 660&nbsp;BC<ref>According to legend, Japan was founded on this date by [[Emperor Jimmu]], the country's first emperor.</ref>
|established_event2 = [[Meiji Constitution]]
|established_date2 = 29 November 1890
|established_event3 = [[Constitution of Japan|Current constitution]]
|established_date3 = 3 May 1947
|established_event4 = [[Treaty of San Francisco|Treaty of<br>San Francisco]]
|established_date4 = <br>28 April 1952
|HDI_year = 2011
|HDI = {{increase}} 0.901<ref name="HDI">{{cite web|url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Table1.pdf|title=Human Development Report 2011|year=2011|publisher=UN|accessdate=5 November 2011}}</ref>
|HDI_rank = 12th
|HDI_category = <span style="color:#090;">very high</span>
|Gini = 37.6 (2008)<ref>{{cite web|title=World Factbook: Gini Index|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html|publisher=[[CIA]]|accessdate=11 May 2011}}</ref>
|currency = [[Japanese yen|'''Yen''']] ('''¥'''){{\}}{{transl|ja|''En''}} ({{lang|ja|円}}&nbsp;or&nbsp;{{lang|ja|圓}})
|currency_code = JPY
|country_code = JPN
|time_zone = [[Japan Standard Time|JST]]
|utc_offset = +9
|time_zone_DST = not observed
|utc_offset_DST = +9
|date_format = yyyy-mm-dd<br>yyyy年m月d日<br>[[Japanese era name|Era]]&nbsp;yy年m月d日 ([[Common Era|CE]]−1988)
|drives_on = left
|cctld = [[.jp]]
|calling_code = [[Telephone numbers in Japan|81]]
|ISO_3166–1_alpha2 = JP
|ISO_3166–1_alpha3 = JPN
|ISO_3166–1_numeric = 392
|sport_code = JPN
|vehicle_code = J
}}
{{Contains Japanese text}}
'''Japan''' {{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-Japan.ogg|dʒ|ə|ˈ|p|æ|n}} ({{lang-ja|日本}} '''''Nihon''''' or '''''Nippon'''''; formally {{lang|ja|日本国}} {{audio|help=no|Ja-nippon_nihonkoku.ogg|'''''Nippon-koku'''''}} or '''''Nihon-koku''''', literally the ''State of Japan'') is an [[island country|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 [[Kanji|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 [[List of islands of Japan|6,852 islands]]. The four largest islands are [[Honshu]], [[Hokkaido]], [[Kyushu]] and [[Shikoku]], together comprising about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's [[List of countries by population|tenth-largest population]], with over 127&nbsp;million people. Honshū's [[Greater Tokyo Area]], which includes the [[Capital of Japan|''de facto'' capital city]] of [[Tokyo]] and several surrounding [[Prefectures of Japan|prefectures]], is the [[World's largest cities|largest metropolitan area]] in the world, with over 30 million residents.

Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as the [[Upper Paleolithic]] period. The first written mention of Japan is in [[History of China|Chinese history]] texts from the 1st century&nbsp;AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized [[History of Japan|Japan's history]]. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the [[First Sino-Japanese War]], the [[Russo-Japanese War]] and [[World War I]] allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] of 1937 expanded into part of [[World War II]] in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]]. Since adopting its revised [[Constitution of Japan|constitution]] in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an [[Emperor of Japan|emperor]] and an elected legislature called the [[Diet of Japan|Diet]].

A [[Great power|major economic power]],<ref name="cia">{{cite web|title=World Factbook: Japan|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html|publisher=[[CIA]]|accessdate=15 January 2011}}</ref> Japan has the world's [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|third-largest economy]] by nominal GDP and fourth-largest economy by [[List of countries by GDP (PPP)|purchasing power parity]]. It is also the world's [[List of countries by exports|fourth-largest exporter]] and [[List of countries by imports|fourth-largest importer]]. Although Japan has officially [[Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution|renounced its right to declare war]], it maintains a modern military with the [[List of countries by military expenditures|sixth largest military budget]],<ref>[http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex/resultoutput/15majorspenders SIPRI Yearbook 2012 - 15 countries with the highest military expenditure in 2011]</ref> used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. After [[Singapore]], Japan has the lowest [[List of countries by intentional homicide rate|homicide rate]] (including attempted homicide) in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/9th_survey/CTS9ByIndicatorExtract.pdf |title=Ninth United Nations survey of crime trends and operations of criminal justice systems |accessdate=1 December 2006 |publisher=UN Office on Drugs and Crime |pages=1–9 }}</ref> According to Japan's health ministry, [[Japanese women]] have the second highest [[life expectancy]] of any country in the world.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19008870</ref> According to the [[United Nations]], Japan also has the third lowest [[infant mortality]] rate.<ref name="haaretz.com">{{cite news|title=WHO: Life expectancy in Israel among highest in the world|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/who-life-expectancy-in-israel-among-highest-in-the-world-1.276618|accessdate=15 January 2011|newspaper=Haaretz|date=May 2009}}</ref><ref name="Table A.17">{{cite web|title=Table A.17|url=http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf|work=United Nations World Population Prospects'', 2006 revision''|publisher=UN|accessdate=15 January 2011}}</ref>

==Etymology==<!--linked-->
{{Main|Names of Japan}}

The English word ''Japan'' derives from the Chinese pronunciation of the Japanese name, {{nihongo2|日本}}, pronounced ''Nippon'' {{Audio|ja-nippon(日本).ogg|listen}} or ''Nihon'' {{Audio|ja-nihon(日本).ogg|listen}} in Japanese. The pronunciation ''Nippon'' is more formal, and is used for most official purposes, including international sporting events.

From the [[Meiji Restoration]] until the end of [[World War II]], the full title of Japan was {{nihongo|''Dai Nippon Teikoku''|大日本帝國}}, meaning "the [[Empire of Japan|Empire of Great Japan]]". Today the name {{Nihongo|''Nippon-koku'' or ''Nihon-koku''|日本国}} is used as a formal modern-day equivalent; countries like Japan whose long form does not contain a descriptive designation are generally given a name appended by the character {{nihongo|''koku''|国}}, meaning "country", "nation" or "state".

[[Japanese people]] refer to themselves as {{Nihongo|''Nihonjin''|日本人}} and to their language as {{Nihongo|''Nihongo''|日本語}}. Both ''Nippon'' and ''Nihon'' mean "sun-origin" and are often translated as ''Land of the Rising Sun''. This nomenclature comes from [[Japanese missions to Imperial China]] and refers to Japan's eastward position relative to China. Before ''Nihon'' came into official use, Japan was known as {{Nihongo||倭|[[Wa (Japan)|Wa]]}} or {{Nihongo||倭国|Wakoku}}.<ref>{{cite book|title=The emergence of Japanese kingship|first=Joan R. |last=Piggott|year=1997|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=0-8047-2832-1|pages=143–144}}</ref>

The English word for Japan came to the West via [[Nanban trade|early trade routes]]. The early [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] or possibly [[Wu Chinese]] (吳語) pronunciation of Japan was recorded by [[Marco Polo]] as ''Cipangu''. In modern [[Shanghainese]], a Wu dialect, the pronunciation of characters {{nihongo2|日本}} 'Japan' is ''Zeppen'' {{IPA-wuu|zəʔpən|}}. The old [[Malay language|Malay]] word for Japan, ''Jepang'', was borrowed from a southern coastal Chinese dialect, probably [[Hokkien|Fukienese]] or [[Ningbo dialect|Ningpo]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Boxer|first=Charles Ralph|title=The Christian century in Japan 1549-1650|year=1951|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=1-85754-035-2|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=2R4DA2lip9gC&lpg=PP1&dq=The%20Christian%20Century%20In%20Japan%201549%E2%80%931650&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=japang&f=false|pages=1–14|quote=As for the name Japan, which with [[Fernão Pires de Andrade|Pires]] enters the European history for the first time in this form, it is generally agreed to be derived, through Malay ''Japun'' or ''Japang'' from the Chinese ''Jihpenkuo'' in one or other of its coastal dialect forms, probably Fukienese or Ningpo. The meaning is literally "sun's origin country," whence Marco Polo derived his ''Chipangu'' that so fired the imagination of Columbus and led him to the discovery of the New World.<sup>10</sup>}}</ref> and this Malay word was encountered by [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] traders in [[Portuguese Malacca|Malacca]] in the 16th century. Portuguese traders were the first to bring the word to Europe.<ref>C. R. Boxer, The Christian Century In Japan 1549–1650, University of California Press, 1951p. 11, 28—36, 49—51, ISBN 1-85754-035-2</ref> It was first recorded in English in a 1565 letter, spelled ''Giapan''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mancall|first=Peter C.|title=Travel narratives from the age of discovery: an anthology|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=156–157|chapter=Of the Ilande of Giapan, 1565}}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of Japan}}
===Prehistory and ancient history===
[[File:Horyu-ji11s3200.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Kondō|Golden Hall]] and [[Tō|five-storey pagoda]] of [[Hōryū-ji]], among the oldest wooden buildings in the world, [[National Treasures of Japan|National Treasures]], and a [[World Heritage Sites in Japan|UNESCO World Heritage Site]]]]
A [[Japanese Paleolithic|Paleolithic]] culture around 30,000&nbsp;BC constitutes the first known habitation of the Japanese archipelago. This was followed from around 14,000&nbsp;BC (the start of the [[Jōmon period]]) by a [[Mesolithic]] to [[Neolithic]] semi-sedentary [[hunter-gatherer]] culture, who include ancestors of both the contemporary [[Ainu people]] and [[Yamato people]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Matsumara|first=Hirofumi; Dodo, Yukio|url=http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ase/117/2/117_95/_article |title=Dental characteristics of Tohoku residents in Japan: implications for biological affinity with ancient Emishi|journal=Anthropological Science|year=2009|volume=117|issue=2|pages=95–105|doi=10.1537/ase.080325|last2=Dodo|first2=Yukio}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Hammer|first=Michael F., et al|url=http://www.nature.com/jhg/journal/v51/n1/abs/jhg20068a.html |title=Dual origins of the Japanese: common ground for hunter-gatherer and farmer Y chromosomes|journal=Journal of Human Genetics|year=2006|volume=51|issue=1|pages=47–58|doi=10.1007/s10038-005-0322-0|pmid=16328082|last2=Karafet|first2=TM|last3=Park|first3=H|last4=Omoto|first4=K|last5=Harihara|first5=S|last6=Stoneking|first6=M|last7=Horai|first7=S}}</ref> characterized by pit dwelling and rudimentary agriculture.<ref>{{cite web|last=Travis|first=John|title= Jomon Genes|url=http://www.pitt.edu/~annj/courses/notes/jomon_genes.html|publisher=University of Pittsburgh|accessdate=15 January 2011}}</ref> Decorated clay vessels from this period are some of the oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world. Around 300 BC, the [[Yayoi_period#Origin_of_the_Yayoi_people|Yayoi people]] began to enter the Japanese islands, intermingling with the Jōmon.<ref>{{cite book|last=Denoon|first=Donald; Hudson, Mark|title=Multicultural Japan: palaeolithic to postmodern|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2001|isbn=0-521-00362-8|pages=22–23}}</ref> The [[Yayoi period]], starting around 500&nbsp;BC, saw the introduction of practices like wet-[[rice]] farming,<ref>{{cite web|title=Road of rice plant|url=http://www.kahaku.go.jp/special/past/japanese/ipix/5/5-25.html|publisher=[[National Science Museum of Japan]]|accessdate=15 January 2011}}</ref> a new style of pottery,<ref>{{cite web|title=Kofun Period|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kofu/hd_kofu.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=15 January 2011}}</ref> and [[metallurgy]], introduced from China and Korea.<ref>{{cite web|title=Yayoi Culture|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yayo/hd_yayo.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=15 January 2011}}</ref>

Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese ''[[Book of Han]]''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Takashi | first=Okazaki | last2=Goodwin | first2=Janet | title=The Cambridge history of Japan, Volume 1: Ancient Japan | year=1993 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | location=Cambridge | isbn=0-521-22352-0 | page=275 | chapter=Japan and the continent}}</ref> According to the ''[[Records of the Three Kingdoms]]'', the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago during the 3rd century was called [[Yamataikoku]]. Buddhism was first introduced to Japan from [[Baekje]] of [[Korea]], but the subsequent development of [[Buddhism in Japan|Japanese Buddhism]] was primarily influenced by China.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Brown, Delmer M.|year=1993 |title=The Cambridge History of Japan |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=140–149}}</ref> Despite early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class and gained widespread acceptance beginning in the [[Asuka period]] (592–710).<ref>{{cite book |title=The Japanese Experience: A Short History of Japan |first=William Gerald|last=Beasley |publisher=University of California Press |year=1999 |page=42 |isbn=0-520-22560-0 }}</ref>

The [[Nara period]] (710–784) of the 8th century marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state, centered on an imperial court in [[Heijō Palace|Heijō-kyō]] (modern [[Nara, Nara|Nara]]). The Nara period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent [[Japanese literature|literature]] as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired art and [[Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara|architecture]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Conrad|last=Totman |year=2002 |title=A History of Japan |publisher=Blackwell |pages=64–79 | isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4}}</ref> The [[smallpox]] epidemic of 735–737 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of Japan's population.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hays|first=J.N.|title=Epidemics and pandemics: their impacts on human history|year=2005|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|isbn=1-85109-658-2|page=31}}</ref> In 784, [[Emperor Kammu]] moved the capital from Nara to [[Nagaoka-kyō]] before relocating it to [[Heian-kyō]] (modern [[Kyoto]]) in 794.
[[File:Byodo-in Uji01pbs2640.jpg|thumb|right|[[Byōdō-in]] (1053) is a temple of [[Pure Land Buddhism]]. It was registered to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.]]
This marked the beginning of the [[Heian period]] (794–1185), during which a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged, noted for its [[Japanese art|art]], [[Japanese poetry|poetry]] and prose. [[Murasaki Shikibu|Lady Murasaki's]] ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'' and the lyrics of Japan's national anthem ''[[Kimigayo]]'' were written during this time.<ref>{{cite book |first=Conrad|last=Totman |year=2002 |title=A History of Japan |publisher=Blackwell |pages=79–87, 122–123 | isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4}}</ref>

Buddhism began to spread during the Heian era chiefly through two major sects, [[Tendai]] by [[Saichō]], and [[Shingon]] by [[Kūkai]]. [[Pure Land Buddhism]] ([[Jōdo-shū]], [[Jōdo Shinshū]]) greatly becomes popular in the latter half of the 11th century.

===Feudal era===
Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence and dominance of a ruling class of warriors, the [[samurai]]. In 1185, following the defeat of the [[Taira clan]], sung in the epic [[The Tale of Heike|Tale of Heike]], samurai [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] was appointed [[shogun]] and established a base of power in [[Kamakura, Kanagawa|Kamakura]]. After his death, the [[Hōjō clan]] came to power as regents for the shoguns. The [[Zen]] school of Buddhism was introduced from China in the [[Kamakura period]] (1185–1333) and became popular among the samurai class.<ref>{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan ''(2nd ed.)''|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=1-4051-2359-1|pages=106–112}}</ref> The [[Kamakura shogunate]] repelled [[Mongol invasions of Japan|Mongol invasions]] in 1274 and 1281, but was eventually [[Kemmu restoration|overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo]]. Go-Daigo was himself defeated by [[Ashikaga Takauji]] in 1336.

[[File:Ginkakuji Temple mars 2009 053.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ginkaku-ji]] in [[Kyoto, Kyoto|Kyoto]] ([[Higashiyama period]] in [[Muromachi Period]], c. 1489). It was registered as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "[[Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto]]".]]

Ashikaga Takauji establishes the shogunate in Muromachi, [[Kyoto, Kyoto|Kyoto]]. It is a start of [[Muromachi Period]] (1336–1573). The [[Ashikaga shogunate]] receives glory in the age of [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]], and the culture based on Zen Buddhism (art of ''[[Miyabi]]'') has prospered. It evolves to [[Higashiyama Culture]], and has prospered until the 16th century. On the other hand, the succeeding Ashikaga shogunate failed to control the feudal warlords (''[[daimyo]]''), and a civil war (the [[Ōnin War]]) began in 1467, opening the century-long [[Sengoku period]] ("Warring States").<ref>{{cite book |first=George|last=Sansom |year=1961 |title=A History of Japan: 1334–1615 |publisher=Stanford University Press|pages=42, 217 | isbn=0-8047-0525-9}}</ref>

During the 16th century, traders and [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] [[missionary|missionaries]] from Portugal reached Japan for the first time, initiating direct [[Nanban trade|commercial]] and [[Nanban art|cultural]] exchange between Japan and the West. [[Oda Nobunaga]] conquered many other daimyo using European technology and firearms; after he was assassinated in 1582, his successor [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] unified the nation in 1590. Hideyoshi [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)|invaded Korea twice]], but following defeats by Korean and [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] Chinese forces and Hideyoshi's death, Japanese troops were withdrawn in 1598.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen|last=Turnbull|year=2002 |title=Samurai Invasion: Japan's Korean War |publisher=Cassel |page=227| isbn=978-0-304-35948-6}}</ref> This age is called [[Azuchi-Momoyama Period]] (1573–1603).

[[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] served as regent for Hideyoshi's [[Toyotomi Hideyori|son]] and used 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 shogun in 1603 and established the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] at [[Edo]] (modern Tokyo).<ref>{{cite book|last=Turnbull|first=Stephen|title=Toyotomi Hideyoshi|year=2010|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-84603-960-7|page=61}}</ref> The Tokugawa shogunate enacted measures including ''[[buke shohatto]]'', as a code of conduct to control the autonomous daimyo;<ref>{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan ''(2nd ed.)''|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=1-4051-2359-1|pages=142–143}}</ref> and in 1639, the isolationist ''[[sakoku]]'' ("closed country") policy that spanned the two and a half centuries of tenuous political unity known as the [[Edo period]] (1603–1868).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Toby|first=Ronald P.|title=Reopening the Question of Sakoku: Diplomacy in the Legitimation of the Tokugawa Bakufu|journal=Journal of Japanese Studies|year=1977|volume=3|issue=2|pages=323–363|doi=10.2307/132115}}</ref> The study of Western sciences, known as ''[[rangaku]]'', continued 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.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ohtsu|first=M.|title=Japanese National Values and Confucianism|journal=Japanese Economy|year=1999|volume=27|issue=2|pages=45–59|doi=10.2753/JES1097-203X270245|last2=Ohtsu|first2=Makoto}}</ref>

===Modern era===
On 31 March 1854, [[Matthew C. Perry|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 economic and political crises. The resignation of the shogun led to the [[Boshin War]] and the establishment of a [[Abolition of the han system|centralized state]] nominally unified under the Emperor (the [[Meiji Restoration]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan ''(2nd ed.)''|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=1-4051-2359-1|pages=289–296}}</ref>

Adopting Western political, judicial and military institutions, the [[Cabinet of Japan|Cabinet]] organized the [[Privy Council (Japan)|Privy Council]], introduced the [[Meiji Constitution]], and assembled the [[Diet of Japan|Imperial Diet]]. The Meiji Restoration transformed the [[Empire of Japan]] into an industrialized world power that pursued military conflict to expand its 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]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Matsusaka|first=Y. Tak|title=Companion to Japanese History|year=2009|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-5051-1690-9 {{Please check ISBN|reason=Check digit (9) does not correspond to calculated figure.}}|pages=224–241|editor=Tsutsui, William M.|chapter=The Japanese Empire}}</ref> Japan's population grew from 35 million in 1873 to 70 million in 1935.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hiroshi|first=Shimizu|title=Japan and Singapore in the world economy : Japan's economic advance into Singapore, 1870–1965|year=1999|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-19236-1|coauthors=Hitoshi, Hirakawa|page=17}}</ref>

[[File:Meiji tenno1.jpg|thumb|right|150px|The [[Meiji Emperor]] (1868–1912), in whose name imperial rule was [[Meiji Restoration|restored]] at the end of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]]]
The early 20th century saw a brief period of "[[Taishō period|Taishō democracy]]" overshadowed by increasing [[expansionism]] and [[Japanese militarism|militarization]]. [[World War I|World War&nbsp;I]] enabled Japan, on the side of the victorious [[Allies of World War I|Allies]], to [[Japan during World War I|widen its influence and territorial holdings]]. It continued its expansionist policy by occupying [[Manchuria]] in 1931; as a result of [[Lytton Report|international condemnation of this occupation]], Japan resigned from the [[League of Nations]] two years later. In 1936, Japan signed the [[Anti-Comintern Pact]] with [[Nazi Germany]], and the 1940 [[Tripartite Pact]] made it one of the Axis Powers.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Axis Alliance|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/pre-war/361125a.html#3|publisher=iBiblio|accessdate=16 January 2011}}</ref> In 1941, Japan negotiated the [[Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan ''(2nd ed.)''|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=1-4051-2359-1|page=442}}</ref>

The Empire of Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, precipitating the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] (1937–1945). In 1940, the Empire then [[invasion of French Indochina|invaded French Indochina]], after which the United States placed an oil embargo on Japan.<ref>{{cite book |first=Roland H., Jr. |last=Worth |title=No Choice But War: the United States Embargo Against Japan and the Eruption of War in the Pacific |publisher=McFarland |year=1995 |pages=56, 86|isbn=0-7864-0141-9}}</ref> On 7 December 1941, Japan [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked the US naval base]] at [[Pearl Harbor]] and declared war, bringing the US into World War II.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sankei.co.jp/seiron/koukoku/2005/0504/ronbun3-2.html |title=インドネシア独立運動と日本とスカルノ(2)|work=馬 樹禮 |publisher=産経新聞社 |date=April 2005 |accessdate=2 October 2009|language=Japanese}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/411208c.html |title=The Kingdom of the Netherlands Declares War with Japan |publisher=iBiblio |accessdate=2 October 2009}}</ref> After the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria]] and the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] in 1945, Japan agreed to an [[Surrender of Japan|unconditional surrender]] on 15 August.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pape|first=Robert A.|title=Why Japan Surrendered|journal=International Security|year=1993|volume=18|issue=2|pages=154–201|doi=10.2307/2539100}}</ref> The war cost Japan and the rest of the [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere]] millions of lives and left much of the nation's industry and infrastructure destroyed. The [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] (led by the US) repatriated millions of [[Japanese diaspora|ethnic Japanese]] from colonies and military camps throughout Asia, largely eliminating the Japanese empire and restoring the independence of its conquered territories.<ref>{{cite book|last=Watt|first=Lori|title=When Empire Comes Home: Repatriation and Reintegration in Postwar Japan|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-674-05598-8|pages=1–4}}</ref> The Allies also convened the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East]] on 3 May 1946 to prosecute some Japanese leaders for [[Japanese war crimes|war crimes]]. However, the [[unit 731|bacteriological research units]] and members of the imperial family involved in the war were exonerated from criminal prosecutions by the [[Supreme Allied Commander]] despite calls for trials for both groups.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=J.E.|title=Modern Japan|year=1996|publisher=Longman|isbn=0-582-25962-2|pages=284–287}}</ref>

In 1947, Japan adopted a new [[Constitution of Japan|constitution]] emphasizing liberal democratic practices. The [[Occupation of Japan|Allied occupation]] ended with the [[Treaty of San Francisco]] in 1952<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070306f3.html |title='52 coup plot bid to rearm Japan: CIA |first=Joseph |last=Coleman| date=6 March 2006|work=The Japan Times |accessdate=3 April 2006}}</ref> and Japan was granted membership in the United Nations in 1956. Japan later achieved [[Japanese post-war economic miracle|rapid growth]] to become the second-largest economy in the world, until surpassed by China in 2010. This ended in the mid-1990s when Japan suffered a [[Japanese asset price bubble|major recession]]. In the beginning of the 21st century, positive growth has signaled a gradual economic recovery.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5178822.stm |title=Japan scraps zero interest rates |publisher=BBC News |date=14 July 2006 |accessdate=28 December 2006}}</ref> On 11 March 2011, Japan suffered the [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|strongest earthquake in its recorded history]]; this triggered the [[Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster]], one of the worst disasters in the history of [[nuclear power]].<ref name="nytimes-tsunami">{{cite news|last=Fackler|first=Martin; Drew, Kevin|title=Devastation as Tsunami Crashes Into Japan|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/asia/12japan.html?ref=world|accessdate=11 March 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=11 March 2011}}</ref>

==Government and politics==
{{Main|Government of Japan|Politics of Japan|Elections in Japan}}
[[File:Akihito 090710-1600a.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Akihito|Emperor Akihito]] and [[Empress Michiko]]]]

Japan is a [[constitutional monarchy]] where the power of the [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]] is very limited. As a ceremonial figurehead, he is defined by the [[Constitution of Japan|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.<ref name="Constitution">{{cite web |url=http://www.sangiin.go.jp/eng/law/index.htm |title=The Constitution of Japan |publisher=House of Councillors of the National Diet of Japan |date=3 November 1946 |accessdate=10 March 2007}}</ref> [[Akihito]] is the current Emperor of Japan; [[Crown Prince Naruhito|Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan]], stands as next in line to the throne.

Japan's legislative organ is the [[Diet of Japan|National Diet]], a bicameral parliament. The Diet consists of a [[House of Representatives of Japan|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,<ref name="cia"/> with a [[secret ballot]] for all elected offices.<ref name="Constitution"/> In 2009, the social liberal [[Democratic Party of Japan]] took power after 54 years of the liberal conservative [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]]'s rule.<ref>{{cite news|last=Harden|first=Blaine|title=Ruling Party Is Routed In Japan|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/30/AR2009083000854.html|accessdate=7 January 2011|newspaper=Washington Post|date=31 August 2009}}</ref>

The Prime Minister of Japan is the head of government and is appointed by the Emperor after being designated by the Diet from among its members. The Prime Minister is the head of the Cabinet and appoints and dismisses the [[Minister of State|Ministers of State]]. [[Naoto Kan]] was designated by the Diet to replace [[Yukio Hatoyama]] as the Prime Minister of Japan on 2 June 2010.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100604x1.html|title=Diet votes in Kan as prime minister|date=4 June 2010|newspaper=Japan Times|accessdate=4 June 2010}}</ref> 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 8 June.<ref>{{cite news|last=Fackler|first=Martin|title=Focusing on Future, Premier in Japan Unveils Cabinet|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/world/asia/09japan.html|accessdate=7 January 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=8 June 2010}}</ref>

Historically influenced by [[Chinese law]], the [[law of Japan|Japanese legal system]] developed independently during the Edo period through texts such as ''[[Kujikata Osadamegaki]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dean|first=Meryll|title=Japanese legal system: text, cases & materials|year=2002|publisher=Cavendish|isbn=978-1-85941-673-0|pages=55–58|edition=2nd}}</ref> However, since the late 19th century the [[judicial system of Japan|judicial system]] has been largely based on the [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]] of Europe, notably Germany. For example, in 1896, the Japanese government established a civil code based on a draft of the German [[Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch]]; with post–World War II modifications, the code remains in effect.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kanamori|first=Shigenari|title=German influences on Japanese Pre-War Constitution and Civil Code|journal=European Journal of Law and Economics|date=1 January 1999|volume=7|issue=1|pages=93–95|doi=10.1023/A:1008688209052}}</ref> Statutory law originates in Japan's legislature and has the [[rubber stamp (politics)|rubber stamp]] of the Emperor. The Constitution requires that the Emperor promulgate legislation passed by the Diet, without specifically giving him the power to oppose legislation.<ref name="Constitution"/> Japan's court system is divided into four basic tiers: the [[Supreme Court of Japan|Supreme Court]] and three levels of lower courts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/judiciary/0620system.html |publisher=Office of the Prime Minister of Japan |title=The Japanese Judicial System |accessdate=27 March 2007}}</ref> The main body of Japanese statutory law is called the [[Six Codes]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Dean|first=Meryll|title=Japanese legal system: text, cases & materials|year=2002|publisher=Cavendish|isbn=978-1-85941-673-0|page=131|edition=2nd}}</ref>

==Foreign relations and military==
{{Main|Foreign relations of Japan|Japan Self-Defense Forces}}
[[File:SM3 from JDS Kongo.jpg|thumb|210x210px|[[JDS Kongō (DDG-173)|JDS ''Kongō'' (DDG-173)]] [[guided missile destroyer]] launching a [[Standard Missile 3]] [[anti-ballistic missile]].]]
Japan is a member of the [[G8]], [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation|APEC]], and "[[ASEAN Free Trade Area#ASEAN Plus Three|ASEAN Plus Three]]", and is a participant in the [[East Asia Summit]]. Japan signed a security pact with Australia in March 2007<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/australia/joint0703.html |title=Japan-Australia Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs|accessdate=25 August 2010}}</ref> and with India in October 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/india/pmv0810/joint_d.html |title=Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation between Japan and India |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs |date=22 October 2008 |accessdate=25 August 2010}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Net Official Development Assistance in 2009|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/17/9/44981892.pdf|publisher=[[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]]|accessdate=16 January 2011}}</ref>

Japan has close economic and military relations with the United States; the [[Japan–United States relations|US-Japan security alliance]] acts as the cornerstone of the nation's foreign policy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/03/japan_is_back_why_tokyos_new_a.html |title=Japan Is Back: Why Tokyo's New Assertiveness Is Good for Washington| author=Michael Green |publisher=Real Clear Politics | accessdate=28 March 2007}}</ref> A member state of the United Nations since 1956, Japan has served as a non-permanent [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]] member for a [[List of elected members of the United Nations Security Council#By number of years as Security Council member|total of 19 years]], most recently for 2009 and 2010. It is one of the [[G4 nations]] seeking permanent membership in the Security Council.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.centralchronicle.com/20070111/1101194.htm |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070221044357/http://www.centralchronicle.com/20070111/1101194.htm |archivedate=21 February 2007 |title=UK backs Japan for UNSC bid |work=Central Chronicle | accessdate=28 March 2007}}</ref>

Japan is engaged in several territorial disputes with its neighbors: with Russia over the [[Kuril Islands dispute|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]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Peace in Northeast Asia|year=2008|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing Limited|pages=26–29|editor=Schoenbaum, Thomas J.}}</ref> Japan also faces an ongoing dispute with [[North Korea]] over the latter's [[North Korean abductions of Japanese|abduction of Japanese citizens]] and its [[North Korea and weapons of mass destruction|nuclear weapons and missile program]] (see also [[Six-party talks]]).<ref>{{cite web|last=Chanlett-Avery|first=Emma|title=North Korea's Abduction of Japanese Citizens and the Six-Party Talks|url=http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RS22845.pdf|work=CRS Report for Congress|publisher=Federation of American Scientists|accessdate=7 January 2011}}</ref>

Japan maintains one of the largest military budgets of any country in the world.<ref>{{cite web|title=The 15 countries with the highest military expenditure in 2009|url=http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex/resultoutput/milex_15|publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute|accessdate=16 January 2011}}</ref> Japan contributed non-combatant troops to the [[Iraq War]] but subsequently withdrew its forces.<ref name="Iraq deployment">{{cite web |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/20/news/japan.php |title= Tokyo says it will bring troops home from Iraq |work=International Herald Tribune |date=20 June 2006 | accessdate=28 March 2007}}</ref> The [[Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force]] is a regular participant in [[RIMPAC]] maritime exercises.<ref>{{cite web|title=About RIMPAC|url=http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/mindef_websites/topics/exrimpac/abt_rimpac.html|publisher=Government of Singapore|accessdate=7 January 2011}}</ref>

Japan's military is restricted by Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which renounces Japan's right to declare war or use military force in 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 [[Japanese Iraq Reconstruction and Support Group|deployment of troops to Iraq]] marked the first overseas use of Japan's military since World War II.<ref name="Iraq deployment"/> [[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]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/2010/07/13/idINIndia-50097320100713 |title=Japan business lobby wants weapon export ban eased |publisher=Reuters |date= 13 July 2010|accessdate=12 April 2011}}</ref>

==Administrative divisions==
{{Main|Prefectures of Japan|Regions of Japan|Cities of Japan|Towns of Japan|Villages of Japan}}
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.<ref>{{cite book|last=McCargo|first=Duncan|title=Contemporary Japan|year=2000|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=0-333-71002-2 {{Please check ISBN|reason=Check digit (2) does not correspond to calculated figure.}}|pages=84–85}}</ref> The nation is currently undergoing administrative [[Merger and dissolution of municipalities of Japan|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.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mabuchi |first=Masaru |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/WBI/Resources/wbi37175.pdf |title=''Municipal Amalgamation in Japan''|publisher=World Bank |date=May 2001 | accessdate=28 December 2006}}</ref>

{{Japan Regions and Prefectures Labelled Map}}

==Geography==
{{Main|Geography of Japan|Geology of Japan}}

[[File:Japan topo en.jpg|thumb|250px|Topographic map of the [[Japanese Archipelago]].]]
[[File:UenoParkHanami.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Hanami]] celebrations under the [[cherry blossoms]] in [[Ueno Park]], Tokyo.]]
[[File:Kongobuji Koyasan07n3200.jpg|thumb|250px|Autumn maple leaves ([[momiji]]) at [[Kongōbu-ji]] on [[Mount Kōya]], a UNESCO World Heritage Site.]]

Japan has a total of 6,852 islands extending along the [[Pacific coast]] of East Asia.<ref>{{cite web | title = ''Facts and Figures of Japan 2007 01: Land'' | url = http://fpcj.jp/old/e/mres/publication/ff/pdf_07/01_land.pdf | publisher = Foreign Press Center Japan | accessdate =4 July 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#asia | title = Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications | accessdate =16 July 2010 | date = 1 April 2010 | publisher = UN Statistics Division}}</ref> 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 [[Hokkaidō]], [[Honshū]], [[Shikoku]] and [[Kyūshū]]. The [[Ryūkyū Islands]], including [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]], are a chain to the south of Kyūshū. Together they are often known as the [[Japanese Archipelago]].<ref>{{cite book|last=McCargo|first=Duncan|title=Contemporary Japan|year=2000|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=0-333-71002-2 {{Please check ISBN|reason=Check digit (2) does not correspond to calculated figure.}}|pages=8–11}}</ref>

About 73 percent of Japan is forested, mountainous, and unsuitable for [[Japanese agriculture|agricultural]], [[Manufacturing in Japan|industrial]], or [[Housing in Japan|residential]] use.<ref name="cia"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Japan|url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4142.htm|publisher=US Department of State|accessdate=16 January 2011}}</ref> As a result, the habitable zones, mainly located in coastal areas, have extremely high population densities. Japan is one of the [[list of countries by population density|most densely populated countries]] in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://esa.un.org/unpp/ |title=World Population Prospects |publisher=UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs |accessdate=27 March 2007 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070321013235/http://esa.un.org/unpp/ <!--Added by H3llBot--> |archivedate=21 March 2007}}</ref>

The islands of Japan are located in a [[Volcano|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 was originally attached to the eastern coast of the Eurasian continent. The subducting plates pulled Japan eastward, opening the [[Sea of Japan]] around 15 million years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://shinku.nichibun.ac.jp/jpub/pdf/jr/IJ1501.pdf|last=Barnes|first=Gina L.|title=Origins of the Japanese Islands|publisher=[[University of Durham]]|year=2003|accessdate=11 August 2009}}</ref>

Japan has 108 active volcanoes. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in [[tsunami]], occur several times each century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_asia/japan_tec.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070204064754/http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_asia/japan_tec.html |archivedate=4 February 2007 |title=Tectonics and Volcanoes of Japan |publisher=Oregon State University |accessdate=27 March 2007}}</ref> The [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake|1923 Tokyo earthquake]] killed over 140,000 people.<ref>{{cite web|last=James|first=C.D.|title=The 1923 Tokyo Earthquake and Fire|url=http://nisee.berkeley.edu/kanto/tokyo1923.pdf|publisher=University of California Berkeley|accessdate=16 January 2011|year=2002}}</ref> More recent major quakes are the [[1995 Great Hanshin earthquake]] and the [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|2011 Tōhoku earthquake]], a 9.0-magnitude<ref name="USGS9.0">{{cite web|url=http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2011/usc0001xgp/neic_c0001xgp_wmt.php |title=USGS analysis as of 2011-03-12 |publisher=Earthquake.usgs.gov |date=23 June 2011 |accessdate=9 November 2011}}</ref> quake which hit Japan on 11 March 2011, and triggered a large tsunami.<ref name="nytimes-tsunami" /> On 24 May 2012, 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan. However, no tsunami was generated.<ref>{{cite web|title=6.1 magnitude earthquake shakes northeastern Japan
|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/6-1-magnitude-earthquake-shakes-northeastern-Japan/articleshow/13418798.cms|accessdate=24 May 2012}}</ref>

===Climate===
{{Main|Climate of Japan}}
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: Hokkaidō, Sea of Japan, [[Central Highland (Japan)|Central Highland]], [[Seto Inland Sea]], Pacific Ocean, and Ryūkyū Islands. The northernmost zone, Hokkaido, has a [[humid continental]] climate with long, cold winters and very warm to cool summers. [[precipitation (meteorology)|Precipitation]] is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snowbanks in the winter.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite book|last=Karan|first=Pradyumna Prasad|title=Japan in the 21st century|year=2005|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=0-8131-2342-9|pages=18–21, 41|coauthor=Gilbreath, Dick}}</ref>

In the Sea of Japan zone on Honshū's west coast, northwest winter winds bring 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]]. The Central Highland has a typical inland humid continental climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter, and between day and night; precipitation is light, though winters are usually snowy. The mountains of the [[Chūgoku region|Chūgoku]] and Shikoku regions shelter the Seto Inland Sea from seasonal winds, bringing mild weather year-round.<ref name=autogenerated2 />

The Pacific coast features a [[humid subtropical]] climate that experiences milder winters with occasional 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. The generally humid, temperate climate exhibits marked seasonal variation such as the blooming of the spring cherry blossoms, the calls of the summer cicada and fall foliage colors that are celebrated in [[Japanese art|art]] and [[Japanese literature|literature]].<ref name=autogenerated2 />

The average winter temperature in Japan is {{convert|5.1|C|F}} and the average summer temperature is {{convert|25.2|C|F}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Climate|url=http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/essential/climate.html|publisher=[[JNTO]]|accessdate=2 March 2011}}</ref> The highest temperature ever measured in Japan—{{convert|40.9|°C}}—was recorded on 16 August 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.japannewsreview.com/society/national/20070816page_id=1553 |title=Gifu Prefecture sees highest temperature ever recorded in Japan – 40.9 |publisher=Japan News Review Society |date=16 August 2007| accessdate=16 August 2007}}</ref> The main [[East Asian rainy season|rainy season]] begins in early May in Okinawa, and the rain front gradually moves north until reaching Hokkaidō 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, [[typhoon]]s often bring heavy rain.<ref name="climate">{{cite web |url=http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/essential/climate.html |title=Essential Info: Climate |publisher=[[JNTO]] |accessdate=1 April 2007}}</ref>

===Biodiversity===
Japan has nine forest [[ecoregions in Japan|ecoregions]] which reflect the climate and geography of the islands. They range from [[Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests|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 forest]]s in the cold, winter portions of the northern islands.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc/spotflora.htm |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070213035135/http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc/spotflora.htm |archivedate=13 February 2007 |title=Flora and Fauna: Diversity and regional uniqueness |publisher=Embassy of Japan in the USA |accessdate=1 April 2007}}</ref> Japan has over 90,000 species of [[Wildlife of Japan|wildlife]], including the [[brown bear]], the [[Japanese macaque]], the [[Tanuki|Japanese raccoon dog]], and the [[Japanese giant salamander]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Wildlife in Japan|url=http://www.env.go.jp/nature/yasei/pamph/pamph01/en.pdf|publisher=Ministry of the Environment|accessdate=19 February 2011}}</ref> A large network of [[List of national parks of Japan|national parks]] has been established to protect important areas of flora and fauna as well as thirty-seven [[Ramsar sites in Japan|Ramsar wetland sites]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.env.go.jp/en/nature/nps/park/ |title=National Parks of Japan |publisher=Ministry of the Environment |accessdate=11 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-pubs-annolist-japan/main/ramsar/1-30-168^16573_4000_0__ |title=The Annotated Ramsar List: Japan |publisher=Ramsar |accessdate=11 May 2011}}</ref> [[World Heritage Sites in Japan|Four sites]] have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for their outstanding natural value.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/jp |title=Japan – Properties Inscribed on the World Heritage List |publisher=UNESCO |accessdate=5 July 2011}}</ref>

===Environment===
{{Main|Environmental issues in Japan}}
In the period of rapid economic growth after World War II, environmental policies were downplayed by the government and industrial corporations; as a result, [[Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan|environmental pollution]] was widespread in the 1950s and 1960s. Responding to rising concern about the problem, the government introduced several environmental protection laws in 1970.<ref>{{cite web|title=日本の大気汚染の歴史|url=http://www.erca.go.jp/taiki/history/ko_syousyu.html|publisher=Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency|accessdate=16 January 2011|language=Japanese}}</ref> The [[1973 oil crisis|oil crisis in 1973]] also encouraged the efficient use of energy due to Japan's lack of natural resources.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sekiyama|first=Takeshi|title=Japan's international cooperation for energy efficiency and conservation in Asian region|url=http://nice.erina.or.jp/en/pdf/C-SEKIYAMA.pdf|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080216005103/http://nice.erina.or.jp/en/pdf/C-SEKIYAMA.pdf|archivedate=16 February 2008|publisher=Energy Conservation Center|accessdate=16 January 2011}}</ref> Current environmental issues include urban air pollution ([[NOx]], suspended particulate matter, and toxics), [[waste management]], water [[eutrophication]], [[nature conservation]], climate change, chemical management and international co-operation for conservation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Environmental Performance Review of Japan|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/0/17/2110905.pdf|publisher=[[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]]|accessdate=16 January 2011}}</ref>

Japan is one of the world's leaders in the development of new environment-friendly technologies, and is ranked 20th best in the world in the 2010 [[Environmental Performance Index]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Environmental Performance Index: Japan|url=http://epi.yale.edu/Countries/Japan|publisher=Yale University|accessdate=7 January 2011}} {{Dead link|date=April 2012|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> As a signatory of the [[Kyoto Protocol]], and host of the 1997 conference which created it, Japan is under treaty obligation to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions and to take other steps to curb climate change.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?txtDocTitle=kyoto%20protocol%20japan&txtDocText=kyoto%20protocol%20japan&DocTypeId=-1&ObjectId=MzQ4ODc&URLBack=result.asp%3FtxtDocTitle%3Dkyoto+protocol+japan%26txtDocText%3Dkyoto+protocol+japan%26DocTypeId%3D-1%26SortOrder%3D%26CurPage%3D1 |title=Japan sees extra emission cuts to 2020 goal -minister |publisher=World Business Council for Sustainable Development |accessdate=2 March 2011}}</ref>

==Economy==
==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of Japan}}
{{Main|Economy of Japan}}
[[File:Tokyo stock exchange.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Tokyo Stock Exchange]], the largest stock exchange in [[Asia]].<ref name="fm">{{cite news|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/global-markets/China-becomes-worlds-third-largest-stock-market/articleshow/6068129.cms|title= Japan's Tokyo Stock Exchange is the second largest stock market with a market value of $3.8 trillion |work=The Economic Times |location=India|accessdate=19 Jun 2010|date=19 June 2010}}</ref>]]
[[File:Tokyo stock exchange.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Tokyo Stock Exchange]], the largest stock exchange in Asia.<ref name="fm">{{cite news|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/global-markets/China-becomes-worlds-third-largest-stock-market/articleshow/6068129.cms|title= Japan's Tokyo Stock Exchange is the second largest stock market with a market value of $3.8 trillion |work=The Economic Times |location=India|accessdate=19 Jun 2010|date=19 June 2010}}</ref>]]
Some of the structural features for Japan's economic growth developed in the Edo period, such as the network of transport routes, by [[Kaidō|road]] and water, and the [[futures contract]]s, banking and insurance of the [[Osaka rice brokers]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy |author=Howe, Christopher |publisher=Hurst & Company |year=1996 |isbn=1-85065-583-3 {{Please check ISBN|reason=Check digit (3) does not correspond to calculated figure.}} |pages=58f}}</ref> During the Meiji period from 1868, Japan expanded economically with the embrace of the [[market economy]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan ''(2nd ed.)''|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=1-4051-2359-1|pages=312–314}}</ref> Many of today's enterprises were founded at the time, and Japan emerged as the most developed nation in Asia.<ref>{{cite book|last=McCargo|first=Duncan|title=Contemporary Japan|year=2000|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=0-333-71002-2 {{Please check ISBN|reason=Check digit (2) does not correspond to calculated figure.}}|pages=18–19}}</ref> The period of overall real economic growth from the 1960s to the 1980s has been called the [[Japanese post-war economic miracle]]: it averaged 7.5 percent in the 1960s and 1970s, and 3.2 percent in the 1980s and early 1990s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ryan|first=Liam|title=The "Asian economic miracle" unmasked: The political economy of the reality|journal=International Journal of Social Economics|date=1 January 2000|volume=27|issue=7–10|pages=802–815|doi=10.1108/03068290010335235}}</ref>
Some of the structural features for Japan's economic growth developed in the Edo period, such as the network of transport routes, by [[Kaidō|road]] and water, and the [[futures contract]]s, banking and insurance of the [[Osaka rice brokers]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy |author=Howe, Christopher |publisher=Hurst & Company |year=1996 |isbn=1-85065-583-3 {{Please check ISBN|reason=Check digit (3) does not correspond to calculated figure.}} |pages=58f}}</ref> During the Meiji period from 1868, Japan expanded economically with the embrace of the [[market economy]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan ''(2nd ed.)''|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=1-4051-2359-1|pages=312–314}}</ref> Many of today's enterprises were founded at the time, and Japan emerged as the most developed nation in Asia.<ref>{{cite book|last=McCargo|first=Duncan|title=Contemporary Japan|year=2000|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=0-333-71002-2 {{Please check ISBN|reason=Check digit (2) does not correspond to calculated figure.}}|pages=18–19}}</ref> The period of overall real economic growth from the 1960s to the 1980s has been called the [[Japanese post-war economic miracle]]: it averaged 7.5 percent in the 1960s and 1970s, and 3.2 percent in the 1980s and early 1990s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ryan|first=Liam|title=The "Asian economic miracle" unmasked: The political economy of the reality|journal=International Journal of Social Economics|date=1 January 2000|volume=27|issue=7–10|pages=802–815|doi=10.1108/03068290010335235}}</ref>


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[[List of railway companies in Japan|Dozens of Japanese railway companies]] compete in regional and local passenger transportation markets; major companies include seven [[Japan Railways Group|JR]] enterprises, [[Kintetsu Corporation]], [[Seibu Railway]] and [[Keio Corporation]]. Some 250 high-speed [[Shinkansen]] trains connect major cities and Japanese trains are known for their safety and punctuality.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.jr-central.co.jp/about/safety.html|title=About the Shinkansen – Safety|accessdate=17 October 2011|publisher=Central Japan Railway Company}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hitachi-rail.com/rail_now/column/just_in_time/index.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080513230217/http://www.hitachi-rail.com/rail_now/column/just_in_time/index.html|archivedate=13 May 2008|title=Corporate Culture as Strong Diving Force for Punctuality- Another "Just in Time"|accessdate=19 April 2009|publisher=Hitachi}}</ref> Proposals for a new [[JR-Maglev|Maglev]] route between Tokyo and Osaka are at an advanced stage.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/japan-to-approve-plans-for-new-supertrain-2275308.html |title=Japan to approve plans for a new super-train |work=The Independent |date=27 April 2011 |accessdate=11 May 2011 |location=London}}</ref> There are 173 airports in Japan; the largest domestic airport, [[Haneda Airport]], is [[World's busiest airports by passenger traffic|Asia's second-busiest airport]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airports.org/cda/aci_common/display/main/aci_content07_c.jsp?zn=aci&cp=1-5-212-218-222_666_2__ |title= Year to Date Passenger Traffic|publisher=Airports Council International |date=11 November 2010 |accessdate=16 November 2010}}</ref> The largest international gateways are [[Narita International Airport]], [[Kansai International Airport]] and [[Chūbu Centrair International Airport]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Nakagawa|first=Dai|title=Transport Policy and Funding|year=2006|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=0-08-044852-6|page=63|coauthors=Matsunaka, Ryoji}}</ref> [[Nagoya Port]] is the country's largest and busiest port, accounting for 10 percent of Japan's trade value.<ref>{{cite web|title=Port Profile|url=http://www.port-of-nagoya.jp/english/about_port.htm|publisher=Port of Nagoya|accessdate=7 January 2011}}</ref>
[[List of railway companies in Japan|Dozens of Japanese railway companies]] compete in regional and local passenger transportation markets; major companies include seven [[Japan Railways Group|JR]] enterprises, [[Kintetsu Corporation]], [[Seibu Railway]] and [[Keio Corporation]]. Some 250 high-speed [[Shinkansen]] trains connect major cities and Japanese trains are known for their safety and punctuality.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.jr-central.co.jp/about/safety.html|title=About the Shinkansen – Safety|accessdate=17 October 2011|publisher=Central Japan Railway Company}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hitachi-rail.com/rail_now/column/just_in_time/index.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080513230217/http://www.hitachi-rail.com/rail_now/column/just_in_time/index.html|archivedate=13 May 2008|title=Corporate Culture as Strong Diving Force for Punctuality- Another "Just in Time"|accessdate=19 April 2009|publisher=Hitachi}}</ref> Proposals for a new [[JR-Maglev|Maglev]] route between Tokyo and Osaka are at an advanced stage.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/japan-to-approve-plans-for-new-supertrain-2275308.html |title=Japan to approve plans for a new super-train |work=The Independent |date=27 April 2011 |accessdate=11 May 2011 |location=London}}</ref> There are 173 airports in Japan; the largest domestic airport, [[Haneda Airport]], is [[World's busiest airports by passenger traffic|Asia's second-busiest airport]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airports.org/cda/aci_common/display/main/aci_content07_c.jsp?zn=aci&cp=1-5-212-218-222_666_2__ |title= Year to Date Passenger Traffic|publisher=Airports Council International |date=11 November 2010 |accessdate=16 November 2010}}</ref> The largest international gateways are [[Narita International Airport]], [[Kansai International Airport]] and [[Chūbu Centrair International Airport]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Nakagawa|first=Dai|title=Transport Policy and Funding|year=2006|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=0-08-044852-6|page=63|coauthors=Matsunaka, Ryoji}}</ref> [[Nagoya Port]] is the country's largest and busiest port, accounting for 10 percent of Japan's trade value.<ref>{{cite web|title=Port Profile|url=http://www.port-of-nagoya.jp/english/about_port.htm|publisher=Port of Nagoya|accessdate=7 January 2011}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{Main|Demographics of Japan|Japanese people|Ethnic issues in Japan}}
[[Image:Bjs48 02 Ainu.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Ainu people|Ainu]], an ethnic minority people from Japan]]
[[File:Meiji-jingu wedding procession - P1000847.jpg|thumb|250px|Japanese wedding at the [[Meiji Shrine]]]]
Japan's population is estimated at around 127.3 million,<ref name="cia"/> with 80% of the population living on [[Honshū]]. Japanese society is [[linguistics|linguistically]] and culturally homogeneous,<ref name=MulticulturalJapan>{{cite news|title='Multicultural Japan' remains a pipe dream|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20070327zg.html|accessdate=16 January 2011|newspaper=Japan Times|date=27 March 2007}}</ref> composed of 98.5% ethnic Japanese,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html |title=CIA Factbook: Japan |publisher=Cia.gov |accessdate=9 November 2011}}</ref> with small populations of foreign workers.<ref name=MulticulturalJapan/> [[Koreans in Japan|Zainichi Koreans]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Japan-born Koreans live in limbo|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/news/01iht-nurse.html|accessdate=16 January 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2 April 2005}}</ref> [[Chinese people in Japan|Zainichi Chinese]], [[Filipinos in Japan|Filipinos]], [[Brazilian people|Brazilians]] mostly [[Japanese Brazilian|of Japanese descent]],<ref name="nikkeijin">{{cite news|title=An Enclave of Brazilians Is Testing Insular Japan|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/world/asia/02japan.html|accessdate=16 January 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1 November 2008|first=Norimitsu|last=Onishi}}</ref> and [[Peruvian people|Peruvians]] mostly [[Japanese Peruvian|of Japanese descent]] are among the small minority groups in Japan.<ref>{{cite news|title='Home' is where the heartbreak is for Japanese-Peruvians|url=http://www.atimes.com/japan-econ/AJ16Dh01.html|accessdate=16 January 2011|newspaper=Asia Times|date=16 October 1999}}</ref> In 2003, there were about 134,700 non-Latin American Western and 345,500 [[Latin Americans|Latin American]] expatriates, 274,700 of whom were [[Brazilians in Japan|Brazilians]] (said to be primarily Japanese descendants, or ''[[nikkeijin]]'', along with their spouses),<ref name="nikkeijin"/> the largest community of Westerners.<ref>{{cite web|title=Registered Foreigners in Japan by Nationality|url=http://www.stat.go.jp/data/nenkan/pdf/y0213014.pdf|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050824195238/http://www.stat.go.jp/data/nenkan/pdf/y0213014.pdf|archivedate=24 August 2005|publisher=Statistics Bureau|accessdate=16 January 2011}}</ref>

The most dominant native ethnic group is the [[Yamato people]]; primary minority groups include the indigenous [[Ainu people|Ainu]]<ref>{{cite news |first= Philippa |last= Fogarty|title= Recognition at last for Japan's Ainu|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7437244.stm|publisher=BBC|date= 6 June 2008|accessdate=7 June 2008 }}</ref> and [[Ryukyuan people]]s, as well as social minority groups like the ''[[burakumin]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Invisible Race|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,910511,00.html|accessdate=16 January 2011|newspaper=Time|date=8 January 1973}}</ref> There are persons of mixed ancestry incorporated among the 'ethnic Japanese' or Yamato, such as those from [[Bonin Islands|Ogasawara Archipelago]] where roughly one-tenth of the Japanese population can have European, American, Micronesian and/or Polynesian backgrounds, with some families going back up to seven generations.<ref name="mccormack1999">McCormack, Gavan. [http://www.jpri.org/publications/occasionalpapers/op15.html "Dilemmas of Development on The Ogasawara Islands,"] ''JPRI Occasional Paper,'' No. 15 (August 1999).</ref> In spite of the widespread belief that Japan is ethnically homogeneous (in 2009, foreign-born non-naturalized workers made up only 1.7% of the total population),<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1892469,00.html Japan to Immigrants: Thanks, But You Can Go Home Now]". ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. 20 April 2009.</ref> also due to the absence of ethnicity and/or race statistics for Japanese nationals, at least one analysis describes Japan as a [[multiethnic society]], for example, [[John Lie]].<ref>[[John Lie]] ''Multiethnic Japan'' (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001)</ref> However, this statement is refused by many sectors of Japanese society, who still tend to preserve the idea of Japan being a [[Monoculturalism|monocultural society]] and with this ideology of homogeneity, has traditionally rejected any need to recognize ethnic differences in Japan, even as such claims have been rejected by such ethnic minorities as the [[Ainu people|Ainu]] and [[Ryukyuan people]]. Former Japanese Prime Minister [[Taro Aso]] has once described Japan as being a nation of “one race, one civilization, one language and one culture”.<ref>"[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/member/member.html?nn20051018a7.htm Aso says Japan is nation of 'one race']". The Japan Times. October 18, 2005.</ref>

Japan has the longest overall [[life expectancy]] at birth of any country in the world: 83.5 years for persons born in the period 2010–2015.<ref name="haaretz.com"/><ref name="Table A.17"/> The [[Aging of Japan|Japanese population is rapidly aging]] as a result of a [[post–World War II baby boom]] followed by a decrease in birth rates. In 2009, about 22.7 percent of the population was over 65, by 2050 almost 40 percent of the population will be aged 65 and over, as projected in December 2006.<ref name="handbook">{{cite web |url=http://www.stat.go.jp/English/data/handbook/c02cont.htm |title=Statistical Handbook of Japan 2010: Chapter 2—Population |publisher=Statistics Bureau |accessdate=24 March 2011}}</ref>

The changes in demographic structure have created a number of social issues, particularly a potential decline in workforce population and increase in the cost of social security benefits like the public pension plan. A growing number of younger Japanese are preferring not to marry or have families.<ref name="Ogawa"/> In 2011, Japan's population dropped for a fifth year, falling by 204,000 people to 126.24 million people. This is the greatest decline since at least 1947, the first year for which government data are available. The 204,000 deaths included 15,844 people killed and 3,451 left missing by the tsunami.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-02/japanese-population-drops-most-since-world-war-ii-after-quake.html |title=Japan Population Drops Most Since World War II |date=2 January 2012}}</ref>

Japan's population is expected to drop to 95 million by 2050,<ref name="handbook"/><ref>[http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_GraphicalDisplay.aspx?ListNames=%27Population%2c+History+and+Forecast%27&HistFor=True&GrpOp=0&Dim1=81&File=0 Forecast provided] by [[International Futures]]</ref> demographers and government planners are currently in a heated debate over how to cope with this problem.<ref name="Ogawa">{{cite web|last=Ogawa|first=Naohiro|title=Demographic Trends and their implications for Japan's future|url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/japan/socsec/ogawa.html|work=Transcript of speech delivered on 7 March 1997|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs|accessdate=14 May 2006}}</ref> Immigration and birth incentives are sometimes suggested as a solution to provide younger workers to support the nation's aging population.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jipi.gr.jp/english/message.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070929222250/http://jipi.gr.jp/english/message.html |archivedate=29 September 2007 |title=Japan Immigration Policy Institute: Director's message| first= Hidenori|last=Sakanaka| publisher=Japan Immigration Policy Institute |date=5 October 2005 |accessdate=5 January 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=French|first=Howard|title=Insular Japan Needs, but Resists, Immigration|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/24/international/asia/24JAPA.html?ei=5007&en=53c7315175389e69&ex=1374379200&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=all&position=|accessdate=21 February 2007|newspaper=The New York Times|date=24 July 2003}}</ref> Japan accepts a steady flow of 15,000 ''new Japanese citizens'' by ''naturalization'' (帰化) per year.<ref>{{cite web|title=帰化許可申請者数等の推移|url=http://www.moj.go.jp/TOUKEI/t_minj03.html|publisher=Ministry of Justice|accessdate=17 March 2011|language=Japanese}}</ref> According to the [[UNHCR]], in 2007 Japan accepted just 41 refugees for resettlement, while the US took in 50,000.<ref>{{cite news|title=Refugees in Japan|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20081012a2.html|accessdate=16 January 2011|newspaper=Japan Times|date=12 October 2008}}</ref>

Japan [[Suicide in Japan|suffers from a high suicide rate]].<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E1DB173FF936A25754C0A96F958260&sec=health&spon=&scp=29&sq=suicide%20japan&st=cse|title=In Japan, Mired in Recession, Suicides Soar|last=Strom|first=Stephanie|date=15 July 1999|newspaper=The New York Times|accessdate=20 September 2008}}</ref><ref name=Times>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4170649.ece|title=Japan gripped by suicide epidemic|last=Lewis|first=Leo|date=19 June 2008|newspaper=[[The Times (London)|The Times]]|accessdate=20 September 2008}}</ref> In 2009, the number of suicides exceeded 30,000 for the twelfth straight year.<ref>{{cite news |title = Suicides in Japan top 30,000 for 12th consecutive year | newspaper = Japan Today | date = 25 December 2009| url = http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/suicides-in-japan-top-30000-in-2009-for-12th-consecutive-year|accessdate=16 January 2011}} {{Dead link|date=April 2012|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> Suicide is the leading cause of death for people under 30.<ref name="ozawa-desilva">{{Cite journal| last = Ozawa-de Silva| first = Chikako
| title = Too Lonely to Die Alone: Internet Suicide Pacts and Existential Suffering in Japan| journal = Cult Med Psychiatry | volume = 32 | issue = 4 | pages = 516–551 | month = December | year = 2008 | doi = 10.1007/s11013-008-9108-0| pmid = 18800195}}</ref>

{{Largest cities of Japan}}

===Religion===
{{Main|Religion in Japan}}

[[File:Itsukushima torii distance.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Torii]] of [[Itsukushima Shrine]] near [[Hiroshima]], one of the [[Three Views of Japan]] and a UNESCO World Heritage Site]]

Japan enjoys full religious freedom based on Article 20 of [[Japanese Constitution|its Constitution]]. Upper estimates suggest that 84–96 percent of the Japanese population subscribe to [[Buddhism in Japan|Buddhism]] or [[Shinto]], including a large number of followers of a [[syncretism]] of [[Shinbutsu shūgō|both religions]].<ref name="cia"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71342.htm |title=International Religious Freedom Report 2006 |author=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor |publisher=US Department of State |date=15 September 2006 |accessdate=4 December 2007}}</ref> However, these estimates are based on people [[Danka system|affiliated]] with a temple, rather than the number of true believers.<!-- The number of [[Shinto shrine]]s in Japan is estimated to be around 100,000.<ref>Breen, Teeuwen in ''Breen, Teeuwen'' (2000:1)</ref> --> Other studies have suggested that only 30 percent of the population identify themselves as belonging to a religion.<ref name=Kisala>{{cite book| last = Kisala | first = Robert | editor= Wargo, Robert| title = The Logic Of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitarō | publisher = University of Hawaii Press| year = 2005| pages = 3–4 | isbn = 0-8248-2284-6}}</ref> According to [[Edwin O. Reischauer|Edwin Reischauer]] and [[Marius Jansen]], some 70–80% of the Japanese regularly tell pollsters they do not consider themselves believers in any religion.<ref name=ReischauerJansen215>{{Cite book
| publisher = Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
| isbn = 978-0-674-47184-9
| last1 =
| first1 = Edwin Oldfather
| author1-link = Edwin O. Reischauer
| first2 = Marius B.
| last2 = Jansen
| author2-link = Marius Jansen
| title = The Japanese today: change and continuity
| year = 1988
| edition = 2nd
| page = 215
}}</ref>

Nevertheless, the level of participation remains high, especially during [[Japanese festivals|festivals]] and occasions such as the [[Hatsumōde|first shrine visit]] of the [[Japanese New Year|New Year]]. [[Taoism]] and [[Confucianism]] from China have also influenced Japanese beliefs and customs.<ref>{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan ''(2nd ed.)''|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=1-4051-2359-1|page=72}}</ref> Japanese streets are decorated on [[Tanabata]], [[Obon]] and [[Christmas]]. Fewer than one percent of Japanese are [[Christianity in Japan|Christian]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Kato|first=Mariko|title=Christianity's long history in the margins|newspaper=Japan Times|date=24 February 2009}}</ref> Other minority religions include [[Islam]], [[Hinduism]], [[Sikhism]], and [[Judaism]], and since the mid-19th century numerous [[Shinshūkyō|new religious movements]] have emerged in Japan.<ref name="Clarke">{{cite book|title=The World's religions : understanding the living faiths|year=1993|publisher=Reader's Digest|isbn=978-0-89577-501-6|editor=Clarke, Peter|page=208}}</ref>

===Languages===
{{Main|Languages of Japan|Japanese language}}

More than 99 percent of the population speaks Japanese as their first language.<ref name="cia"/> Japanese is an [[agglutinative language]] distinguished by a system of [[Honorific speech in Japanese|honorifics]] reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary indicating the relative status of speaker and listener. [[Japanese writing system|Japanese writing]] uses [[kanji]] ([[Chinese character]]s) and two sets of [[kana]] ([[syllabary|syllabaries]] based on [[simplified Chinese characters]]), as well as the [[Latin alphabet]] and [[Arabic numerals]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Miyagawa|first=Shigeru|title=The Japanese Language|url=http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/articles/JapaneseLanguage.html|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|accessdate=16 January 2011}}</ref>

Besides Japanese, the [[Ryukyuan languages]], also part of the [[Japonic languages|Japonic language family]], are spoken in Okinawa; however, few children learn these languages.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Heinrich|first=Patrick|title=Language Planning and Language Ideology in the Ryūkyū Islands|journal=Language Policy|date=January 2004|volume=3|issue=2|pages=153–179|doi=10.1023/B:LPOL.0000036192.53709.fc}}</ref> The [[Ainu language]], which has no proven relationship to Japanese or any other language, is [[moribund language|moribund]], with only a few elderly native speakers remaining in Hokkaido.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.un.org/works/culture/japan_story.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080106062419/http://www.un.org/works/culture/japan_story.html |archivedate=6 January 2008 |title=15 families keep ancient language alive in Japan |publisher=UN | accessdate=27 March 2007}}</ref> Most public and private schools require students to take courses in both Japanese and [[English language education in Japan|English]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~japan/digest5.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060427225148/http://www.indiana.edu/~japan/digest5.html |archivedate=27 April 2006 |title=Japan Digest: Japanese Education |date=1 September 2005 |first= Lucien|last=Ellington|publisher=Indiana University |accessdate=27 April 2006}}</ref>

===Education===
{{Main|Education in Japan}}
[[File:Tokyo University Entrance Exam Results 6.JPG|thumb|250px|Announcement of the results of the [[Higher education in Japan#University entrance|entrance examinations]] to the [[University of Tokyo]]]]
Primary schools, secondary schools and universities were [[Education in the Empire of Japan|introduced]] in 1872 as a result of the Meiji Restoration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fpri.org/footnotes/087.200312.ellington.japaneseeducation.html |title=Beyond the Rhetoric: Essential Questions About Japanese Education |first=Lucien |last=Ellington|publisher=Foreign Policy Research Institute |date=1 December 2003 |accessdate=1 April 2007}}</ref> Since 1947, compulsory education in Japan comprises [[Elementary schools in Japan|elementary]] and [[Secondary education in Japan#Middle school|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 in Japan|high school]], and, according to the [[Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan)|MEXT]], as of 2005 about 75.9 percent of high school graduates attend a university, junior college, trade school, or other [[Higher education in Japan|higher education]] institution.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mext.go.jp/english/statist/05101901/005.pdf |title= School Education |publisher= [[Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan)|MEXT]] | accessdate=10 March 2007}}</ref>

The two top-ranking universities in Japan are the [[University of Tokyo]] and [[Kyoto University]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.globaluniversitiesranking.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94&Itemid=131|title=TOP – 100 |publisher=Global Universities Ranking|year=2009|accessdate=22 March 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2010|title=QS World University Rankings 2010|publisher=QS TopUniversities|year=2010|accessdate=15 January 2010}}</ref> The [[Programme for International Student Assessment]] coordinated by the OECD currently ranks the overall knowledge and skills of Japanese 15-year-olds as sixth best in the world.<ref>{{cite web|title=OECD's PISA survey shows some countries making significant gains in learning outcomes|url=http://www.oecd.org/document/22/0,3343,en_2649_201185_39713238_1_1_1_1,00.html|publisher=[[OECD]]|accessdate=16 January 2011}}</ref>

===Health===
{{Main|Health in Japan|Health care system in Japan}}
In Japan, health care is 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyu.edu/projects/rodwin/lessons.html |first=Victor|last=Rodwin|title=Health Care in Japan |publisher=New York University |accessdate=10 March 2007}}</ref> Patients are free to select the physicians or facilities of their choice.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipss.go.jp/s-info/e/Jasos/Health.html |title=Health Insurance: General Characteristics |publisher=National Institute of Population and Social Security Research |accessdate=28 March 2007}}</ref>

==Culture==
[[File:Kinkaku-ji 01.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Kinkaku-ji]] or 'The Temple of the Golden Pavilion' in [[Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)|Kyoto]], [[List of Special Places of Scenic Beauty, Special Historic Sites and Special Natural Monuments|Special Historic Site, Special Place of Scenic Beauty]], and UNESCO World Heritage Site; its torching by a monk in 1950 is the subject of a [[The Temple of the Golden Pavilion|novel]] by [[Yukio Mishima|Mishima]].]]
{{Main|Culture of Japan|Japanese popular culture|Japanese folklore}}
Japanese culture has evolved greatly from its origins. Contemporary culture combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America. Traditional Japanese arts include [[Japanese handicrafts|crafts]] such as [[Japanese pottery and porcelain|ceramics]], [[Kimono|textiles]], [[Japanese lacquerware|lacquerware]], [[Japanese swords|swords]] and [[Japanese traditional dolls|dolls]]; performances of [[bunraku]], [[kabuki]], [[noh]], [[Japanese traditional dance|dance]], and [[rakugo]]; and other practices, the [[Japanese tea ceremony|tea ceremony]], [[ikebana]], [[Japanese martial arts|martial arts]], [[Japanese calligraphy|calligraphy]], [[origami]], [[onsen]], [[Geisha]] and [[List of Japanese games|games]]. Japan has a developed system for the protection and promotion of both tangible and intangible [[Cultural Properties of Japan|Cultural Properties]] and [[National Treasures of Japan|National Treasures]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bunka.go.jp/english/index.html |title=Administration of Cultural Affairs in Japan |publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs |accessdate=11 May 2011}}</ref> [[World Heritage Sites in Japan|Sixteen sites]] have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, twelve of which are of cultural significance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/jp |title=Japan – Properties Inscribed on the World Heritage List |publisher=UNESCO |accessdate=5 July 2011}}</ref>

===Art===
{{main|Japanese art|Japanese architecture|Japanese garden|Japanese aesthetics}}
[[File:Great Wave off Kanagawa2.jpg|thumb|250px|''[[The Great Wave off Kanagawa]]'', one of a [[Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji|series]] of [[Ukiyo-e|woodblock prints]] by [[Hokusai]].]]
The [[Ise Grand Shrine|Shrines of Ise]] have been celebrated as the prototype of Japanese architecture.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ise: Prototype of Japanese Architecture |author1=Tange, Kenzo |author2=Kawazoe, Noboru |year=1965 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press}}</ref> Largely of wood, [[Minka|traditional housing]] and many [[Japanese Buddhist architecture|temple buildings]] see the use of [[tatami]] mats and [[Shōji|sliding doors]] that break down the distinction between rooms and indoor and outdoor space.<ref>{{cite book |title=What is Japanese Architecture?: A Survey of Traditional Japanese Architecture with a List of Sites and a Map |author1=Kazuo, Nishi |author2=Kazuo, Hozumi |year=1995 |publisher=Kodansha |isbn=978-4-7700-1992-9}}</ref> [[Japanese sculpture]], largely of wood, and [[Japanese painting]] are among 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.<ref name=autogenerated3>{{cite book|last=Arrowsmith|first=Rupert Richard|title=Modernism and the Museum: Asian, African, and Pacific Art and the London Avant-Garde|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-959369-9}}</ref>

The interaction between Japanese and European art has been significant: for example [[ukiyo-e]] prints, which began to be exported in the 19th century in the movement known as [[Japonism]], had a significant influence on the development of modern art in the West, most notably on [[post-Impressionism]].<ref name=autogenerated3 /> Famous ukiyo-e artists include [[Hokusai]] and [[Hiroshige]]. The fusion of traditional [[woodblock printing]] and Western art led to the creation of [[manga]], a comic book format that is now popular within and outside Japan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dnp.co.jp/museum/nmp/nmp_i/articles/manga/manga1.html |title= A History of Manga |publisher=NMP International |accessdate=27 March 2007}}</ref> Manga-influenced animation for television and [[Japanese cinema|film]] is called [[anime]]. Japanese-made [[video game console]]s have been popular since the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uk.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hov/index.html |title= The History of Video Games |first=Leonard|last=Herman|coauthors=Horwitz, Jer; Kent, Steve; Miller, Skyler|publisher=[[Gamespot]] |accessdate=1 April 2007}} {{Dead link|date=April 2012|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>

===Music===
{{Main|Music of Japan}}
Japanese music is eclectic and diverse. Many [[Traditional Japanese musical instruments|instruments]], such as the [[koto (musical instrument)|koto]], were introduced in the 9th and 10th centuries. The accompanied [[recitative]] of the [[Noh]] drama dates from the 14th century and the popular [[Music of Japan#Folk music|folk music]], with the guitar-like [[shamisen]], from the sixteenth.<ref>{{cite book|last=Malm|first=William P.|title=Traditional Japanese music and musical instruments|year=2000|publisher=Kodansha International|isbn=978-4-7700-2395-7|pages=31–45|edition=New}}</ref> Western classical music, introduced in the late 19th century, now forms an integral part of Japanese culture. The imperial court ensemble [[Gagaku]] has influenced the work of some [[20th-century classical music|modern]] Western composers.<ref>See for example, [[Olivier Messiaen]], ''Sept haïkaï'' (1962), (''Olivier Messiaen: a research and information guide'', Routledge, 2008, By Vincent Perez Benitez, page 67) and (''Messiaen the Theologian'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2010, page 243-65, By Andrew Shenton)</ref>

Notable classical composers from Japan include [[Toru Takemitsu]] and [[Rentarō Taki]]. Popular music in post-war Japan has been heavily influenced by American and European trends, which has led to the evolution of [[J-pop]], or Japanese popular music.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2005/aug/21/popandrock3 |title= J-Pop History |work=The Observer | accessdate=1 April 2007 | first=Chris | last=Campion | date=22 August 2005 | location=London}}</ref> [[Karaoke]] is the most widely practiced cultural activity in Japan. A 1993 survey by the [[Agency for Cultural Affairs|Cultural Affairs Agency]] found that more Japanese had sung karaoke that year than had participated in traditional pursuits such as flower arranging (ikebana) or tea ceremonies.<ref>{{cite book|title=The worlds of Japanese popular culture: gender, shifting boundaries and global cultures|year=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-63729-9|page=76|edition=Repr.|editor=Martinez, D.P.}}</ref>

===Literature===
{{Main|Japanese literature|Japanese poetry}}
[[File:Genji emaki 01003 001.jpg|thumb|250px|12th-century [[Genji Monogatari Emaki|illustrated handscroll]] of ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'', a [[National Treasures of Japan|National Treasure]]]]
The earliest works of Japanese literature include the ''[[Kojiki]]'' and ''[[Nihon Shoki]]'' chronicles and the ''[[Man'yōshū]]'' [[List of Japanese poetry anthologies|poetry anthology]], all from the 8th century and written in Chinese characters.<ref>{{cite book |title=Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century |author=Keene, Donald |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-231-11441-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~ascj/2000/200015.htm |title= Asian Studies Conference, Japan (2000) |publisher=Meiji Gakuin University |accessdate=1 April 2007}}</ref> In the early Heian period, the system of [[Phonogram (linguistics)|phonograms]] known as ''kana'' ([[Hiragana]] and [[Katakana]]) was developed. ''[[The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter]]'' is considered the oldest Japanese narrative.<ref name="ispmsu">{{cite web |url=http://isp.msu.edu/AsianStudies/wbwoa/eastasia/Japan/literature.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071011065654/http://isp.msu.edu/AsianStudies/wbwoa/eastasia/Japan/literature.html |archivedate=11 October 2007 |title= Windows on Asia—Literature : Antiquity to Middle Ages: Recent Past |publisher=Michigan State University |accessdate=28 December 2007}}</ref> An account of Heian court life is given in ''[[The Pillow Book]]'' by [[Sei Shōnagon]], while ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'' by [[Murasaki Shikibu]] is often described as the world's first novel.<ref>{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan ''(2nd ed.)''|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=1-4051-2359-1|pages=126–127}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Tale of Genji|editor=Royall, Tyler|publisher=[[Penguin Classics]]|year=2003|isbn=0-14-243714-X|pages=i–ii, xii}}</ref>

During the Edo period, the [[chōnin]] ("townspeople") overtook the samurai aristocracy as producers and consumers of literature. The popularity of the works of [[Saikaku]], for example, reveals this change in readership and authorship, while [[Matsuo Bashō|Bashō]] revivified the poetic tradition of the [[Kokinshū]] with his [[haikai]] ([[haiku]]) and wrote the poetic travelogue ''[[Oku no Hosomichi]]''.<ref>{{cite book |title=World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era, 1600–1867 |author=Keene, Donald |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-231-11467-7}}</ref> The Meiji era saw the decline of traditional literary forms as Japanese literature integrated Western influences. [[Natsume Sōseki]] and [[Mori Ōgai]] were the first "modern" novelists of Japan, followed by [[Ryūnosuke Akutagawa]], [[Jun'ichirō Tanizaki]], [[Yukio Mishima]] and, more recently, [[Haruki Murakami]]. Japan has two [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize-winning]] authors—[[Yasunari Kawabata]] (1968) and [[Kenzaburō Ōe]] (1994).<ref name="ispmsu"/>

===Cuisine===
{{main|Japanese cuisine|Kaiseki}}
[[File:Breakfast at Tamahan Ryokan, Kyoto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Breakfast at a [[Ryokan (Japanese inn)|ryokan]] or inn]]
Japanese cuisine is based on combining [[staple food]]s, typically [[Japanese rice]] or [[Japanese noodles|noodles]], with a soup and ''[[okazu]]'' — dishes made from [[Fish (food)|fish]], vegetable, [[tofu]] and the like – to add flavor to the staple food. In the early modern era ingredients such as red meats that had previously not been widely used in Japan were introduced. Japanese cuisine is known for its emphasis on [[Seasonal food|seasonality of food]],<ref>[http://www.tjf.or.jp/eng/content/japaneseculture/pdf/ge09shun.pdf "A Day in the Life: Seasonal Foods"], The Japan Forum Newsletter No.14 September 1999.</ref> quality of ingredients and presentation. Japanese cuisine offers a vast array of [[Japanese regional cuisine|regional specialties]] that use traditional recipes and local ingredients. The [[Michelin Guide]] has awarded Japanese cities more Michelin stars than the rest of the world combined.<ref name=michelin20101124>{{cite web|title=「ミシュランガイド東京・横浜・鎌倉2011」を発行 三つ星が14軒、 二つ星が54軒、一つ星が198軒に|url=http://web-cache.stream.ne.jp/www09/michelin/guide/tokyo/|publisher=Michelin Japan|accessdate=7 February 2011|date=24 November 2010|language=Japanese}}</ref>

===Sports===
{{Main|Sport in Japan}}
[[File:Sumo ceremony.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Sumo]] wrestlers form around the referee during the ring-entering ceremony]]
Traditionally, [[sumo]] is considered Japan's national sport.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/sumoeastandwest/sumo.html |title=Sumo: East and West |publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] |accessdate=10 March 2007}}</ref> [[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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/facts/culture_dailylife.html#sports |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070317192109/http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/facts/culture_dailylife.html#sports |archivedate=17 March 2007|title=Culture and Daily Life |publisher=Embassy of Japan in the UK |accessdate=27 March 2007}}</ref> Japan hosted the Summer Olympics in [[1964 Summer Olympics|Tokyo in 1964]]. Japan has hosted the Winter Olympics twice: [[1972 Winter Olympics|Sapporo in 1972]] and [[1998 Winter Olympics|Nagano in 1998]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Olympic History in Japan|url=http://www.joc.or.jp/english/historyjapan/history_japan_bid.html|publisher=Japanese Olympic Committee|accessdate=7 January 2011}}</ref>

[[Baseball in Japan|Baseball]] is currently the most popular spectator sport in the country. Japan's top professional league, [[Nippon Professional Baseball]], was established in 1936.<ref>{{cite book |author=Nagata, Yoichi; Holway, John B. |editor=Palmer, Pete |title=Total Baseball |edition=4th |year=1995 |publisher=Viking Press |page=547 |chapter=Japanese Baseball}}</ref>

Since the establishment of the [[J. League|Japan Professional Football League]] in 1992, association football has also gained a wide following.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tjf.or.jp/takarabako/PDF/TB09_JCN.pdf |title= Soccer as a Popular Sport: Putting Down Roots in Japan |publisher= The Japan Forum | accessdate=1 April 2007}}</ref> Japan was a venue of the [[Intercontinental Cup (football)|Intercontinental Cup]] from 1981 to 2004 and co-hosted the [[2002 FIFA World Cup]] with South Korea.<ref>{{cite web|title=Previous FIFA World Cups|url=http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=4395/index.html|publisher=[[FIFA]]|accessdate=7 January 2011}}</ref> Japan has one of the most successful football teams in Asia, winning the [[AFC Asian Cup|Asian Cup]] four times.<ref>{{cite web|title=Japan's best for AFC Asian Cup|url=http://www.the-afc.com/en/afc-asian-cup-news/31044-japans-best-for-afc-asian-cup|publisher=Asian Football Confederation|accessdate=7 January 2011}}</ref> Also, Japan recently won the [[2011 FIFA Women's World Cup|FIFA Women's World Cup]] in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/matches/round=255989/match=300144437/summary.html|title=Japan edge USA for maiden title|date=17 July 2011|work=[[FIFA]]|accessdate=17 July 2011}}</ref>

Golf is also popular in Japan,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/604/sports.asp |title= Japanese Golf Gets Friendly |publisher=''[[Metropolis (English magazine in Japan)|Metropolis]]'' |first=Fred |last=Varcoe|accessdate=1 April 2007|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070926215517/http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/604/sports.asp |archivedate = 26 September 2007}}</ref> as are forms of auto racing like the [[Super GT]] series and [[Formula Nippon]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/623/sports.asp |title= Japanese Omnibus: Sports |work=Metropolis |first=Len|last=Clarke|accessdate=1 April 2007|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070926215524/http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/623/sports.asp |archivedate = 26 September 2007}}</ref> The country has produced one [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] player, [[Yuta Tabuse]].<ref name=consulteny>{{cite news|url=http://www.ny.us.emb-japan.go.jp/en/c/vol_12-4/title_04.html|title=Hoop Dreams – Yuta Tabuse, "The Jordan of Japan"|publisher=Consulate General of Japan in New York|date=December 2004/January 2005|accessdate=19 January 2009}}</ref>
{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

;Further reading
{{refbegin}}
* 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)
* 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)
* Kato et al., ''A History of Japanese Literature: From the Man'Yoshu to Modern Times'', Japan Library, 1997 (ISBN 1-873410-48-4)
* 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)
* 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)
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Japan}}
{{Wikibooks|Japanese History}}
{{Sister project links|Japan|b=no|s=no|q=no}}
; Government
* [http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html Kantei.go.jp], official [[Prime Minister of Japan|prime ministerial]] and cabinet site
* [http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/eindex.html Kunaicho.go.jp], official site of the [[Imperial House of Japan]]
* [http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/index.html National Diet Library]
* [http://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/index.html Public Relations Office]

; Tourism
* [http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/ Japan National Tourist Organization]
* {{Wikitravel}}

; General information
* {{CIA World Factbook link|ja|Japan}}
* [http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/japan.htm Japan] from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''
* {{dmoz|Regional/Asia/Japan}}
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14918801 Japan] from the [[BBC News]]
* [http://www.eia.gov/countries/country-data.cfm?fips=JA Energy Profile for Japan] from the US [[Energy Information Administration]]
* [http://www.oecd.org/japan/ Japan] from the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]]
* [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=JP Key Development Forecasts for the Japan] from [[International Futures]]

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[[ss:IJaphani]]
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[[tt:Япония]]
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Revision as of 23:06, 23 October 2012

Japan
日本国
Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku
Anthem: Kimigayo
(error: {{nihongo}}: Japanese or romaji text required (help))
Government Seal of Japan
Seal of the Office of the Prime Minister and the Government of Japan
五七桐 ([Go-Shichi no Kiri] Error: {{nihongo}}: text has italic markup (help))
Location of Japan
Capital
and largest city
Tokyo (de facto)
Official languagesNone[1]
Recognised regional languagesAynu itak, Ryukyuan languages, Eastern Japanese, Western Japanese, and several other Japanese dialects
National languageJapanese
Ethnic groups
98.5% Japanese, 0.5% Korean, 0.4% Chinese, 0.6% other[2]
Demonym(s)Japanese
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy
• Emperor
Akihito
Yoshihiko Noda
LegislatureDiet
House of Councillors
House of Representatives
Formation
11 February 660 BC[3]
29 November 1890
3 May 1947

28 April 1952
Area
• Total
377,944 km2 (145,925 sq mi)[4] (62nd)
• Water (%)
0.8
Population
• 2012 estimate
126,659,683[5] (10th)
• 2010 census
128,056,026[6]
• Density
337.1/km2 (873.1/sq mi) (36th)
GDP (PPP)2011 estimate
• Total
$4.440 trillion[7] (4th)
• Per capita
$34,739[7] (25th)
GDP (nominal)2011 estimate
• Total
$5.869 trillion[7] (3rd)
• Per capita
$45,920[7] (18th)
Gini37.6 (2008)[8]
Error: Invalid Gini value
HDI (2011)Increase 0.901[9]
Error: Invalid HDI value (12th)
CurrencyYen (¥) / En ( or ) (JPY)
Time zoneUTC+9 (JST)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+9 (not observed)
Date formatyyyy-mm-dd
yyyy年m月d日
Era yy年m月d日 (CE−1988)
Drives onleft
Calling code81
ISO 3166 codeJP
Internet TLD.jp

Template:Contains Japanese text Japan /əˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) 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 comprising about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. Honshū's 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 lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected legislature called the Diet.

A major economic power,[2] Japan has the world's third-largest economy by nominal GDP and fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer. Although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the sixth largest military budget,[10] used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. After Singapore, Japan has the lowest homicide rate (including attempted homicide) in the world.[11] According to Japan's health ministry, Japanese women have the second highest life expectancy of any country in the world.[12] According to the United Nations, Japan also has the third lowest infant mortality rate.[13][14]

Etymology

The English word Japan derives from the Chinese pronunciation of the Japanese name, 日本, pronounced Nippon listen or Nihon listen in Japanese. The pronunciation Nippon is more formal, and is used for most official purposes, including international sporting events.

From the Meiji Restoration until the end of World War II, the full title of Japan was Dai Nippon Teikoku (大日本帝國), meaning "the Empire of Great Japan". Today the name Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku (日本国) is used as a formal modern-day equivalent; countries like Japan whose long form does not contain a descriptive designation are generally given a name appended by the character koku (), meaning "country", "nation" or "state".

Japanese people refer to themselves as Nihonjin (日本人) and to their language as Nihongo (日本語). Both Nippon and Nihon mean "sun-origin" and are often translated as Land of the Rising Sun. This nomenclature comes from Japanese missions to Imperial China and refers to Japan's eastward position relative to China. Before Nihon came into official use, Japan was known as Wa () or Wakoku (倭国).[15]

The English word for Japan came to the West via early trade routes. The early Mandarin or possibly Wu Chinese (吳語) pronunciation of Japan was recorded by Marco Polo as Cipangu. In modern Shanghainese, a Wu dialect, the pronunciation of characters 日本 'Japan' is Zeppen [zəʔpən]. The old Malay word for Japan, Jepang, was borrowed from a southern coastal Chinese dialect, probably Fukienese or Ningpo,[16] and this Malay word was encountered by Portuguese traders in Malacca in the 16th century. Portuguese traders were the first to bring the word to Europe.[17] It was first recorded in English in a 1565 letter, spelled Giapan.[18]

History

Prehistory and ancient history

The Golden Hall and five-storey pagoda of Hōryū-ji, among the oldest wooden buildings in the world, National Treasures, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

A Paleolithic culture around 30,000 BC constitutes the first known habitation of the Japanese archipelago. This was followed from around 14,000 BC (the start of the Jōmon period) by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture, who include ancestors of both the contemporary Ainu people and Yamato people,[19][20] characterized by pit dwelling and rudimentary agriculture.[21] Decorated clay vessels from this period are some of the oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world. Around 300 BC, the Yayoi people began to enter the Japanese islands, intermingling with the Jōmon.[22] The Yayoi period, starting around 500 BC, saw the introduction of practices like wet-rice farming,[23] a new style of pottery,[24] and metallurgy, introduced from China and Korea.[25]

Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese Book of Han.[26] According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago during the 3rd century was called Yamataikoku. Buddhism was first introduced to Japan from Baekje of Korea, but the subsequent development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily influenced by China.[27] Despite early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class and gained widespread acceptance beginning in the Asuka period (592–710).[28]

The Nara period (710–784) of the 8th century marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state, centered on an imperial court in Heijō-kyō (modern Nara). The Nara period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent literature as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired art and architecture.[29] The smallpox epidemic of 735–737 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of Japan's population.[30] In 784, Emperor Kammu moved the capital from Nara to Nagaoka-kyō before relocating it to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto) in 794.

Byōdō-in (1053) is a temple of Pure Land Buddhism. It was registered to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This marked the beginning of the Heian period (794–1185), during which a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged, noted for its art, poetry and prose. Lady Murasaki's The Tale of Genji and the lyrics of Japan's national anthem Kimigayo were written during this time.[31]

Buddhism began to spread during the Heian era chiefly through two major sects, Tendai by Saichō, and Shingon by Kūkai. Pure Land Buddhism (Jōdo-shū, Jōdo Shinshū) greatly becomes popular in the latter half of the 11th century.

Feudal era

Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence and dominance of a ruling class of warriors, the samurai. In 1185, following the defeat of the Taira clan, sung in the epic Tale of Heike, samurai Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed shogun and established a base of power in Kamakura. After his death, the Hōjō clan came to power as regents for the shoguns. The Zen school of Buddhism was introduced from China in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and became popular among the samurai class.[32] The Kamakura shogunate repelled Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281, but was eventually overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo. Go-Daigo was himself defeated by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336.

Ginkaku-ji in Kyoto (Higashiyama period in Muromachi Period, c. 1489). It was registered as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto".

Ashikaga Takauji establishes the shogunate in Muromachi, Kyoto. It is a start of Muromachi Period (1336–1573). The Ashikaga shogunate receives glory in the age of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and the culture based on Zen Buddhism (art of Miyabi) has prospered. It evolves to Higashiyama Culture, and has prospered until the 16th century. On the other hand, the succeeding Ashikaga shogunate failed to control the feudal warlords (daimyo), and a civil war (the Ōnin War) began in 1467, opening the century-long Sengoku period ("Warring States").[33]

During the 16th century, traders and Jesuit missionaries from Portugal reached Japan for the first time, initiating direct commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West. Oda Nobunaga conquered many other daimyo using European technology and firearms; after he was assassinated in 1582, his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified the nation in 1590. Hideyoshi invaded Korea twice, but following defeats by Korean and Ming Chinese forces and Hideyoshi's death, Japanese troops were withdrawn in 1598.[34] This age is called Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573–1603).

Tokugawa Ieyasu served as regent for Hideyoshi's son and used 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 shogun in 1603 and established the Tokugawa shogunate at Edo (modern Tokyo).[35] The Tokugawa shogunate enacted measures including buke shohatto, as a code of conduct to control the autonomous daimyo;[36] and in 1639, the isolationist sakoku ("closed country") policy that spanned the two and a half centuries of tenuous political unity known as the Edo period (1603–1868).[37] The study of Western sciences, known as rangaku, continued 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.[38]

Modern era

On 31 March 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 economic and political crises. The resignation of the shogun led to the Boshin War and the establishment of a centralized state nominally unified under the Emperor (the Meiji Restoration).[39]

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 pursued military conflict to expand its 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.[40] Japan's population grew from 35 million in 1873 to 70 million in 1935.[41]

The Meiji Emperor (1868–1912), in whose name imperial rule was restored at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate

The early 20th century saw a brief period of "Taishō democracy" overshadowed by increasing expansionism and militarization. World War I enabled Japan, on the side of the victorious Allies, to widen its influence and territorial holdings. It 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 1936, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany, and the 1940 Tripartite Pact made it one of the Axis Powers.[42] In 1941, Japan negotiated the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact.[43]

The Empire of Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, 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.[44] On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor and declared war, bringing the US into World War II.[45][46] After the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender on 15 August.[47] The war cost Japan and the rest of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere millions of lives and left much of the nation's industry and infrastructure destroyed. The Allies (led by the US) repatriated millions of ethnic Japanese from colonies and military camps throughout Asia, largely eliminating the Japanese empire and restoring the independence of its conquered territories.[48] The Allies also convened the International Military Tribunal for the Far East on 3 May 1946 to prosecute some Japanese leaders for war crimes. However, the bacteriological research units and members of the imperial family involved in the war were exonerated from criminal prosecutions by the Supreme Allied Commander despite calls for trials for both groups.[49]

In 1947, Japan adopted a new constitution emphasizing liberal democratic practices. The Allied occupation ended with the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952[50] and Japan was granted membership in the United Nations in 1956. Japan later achieved rapid growth to become the second-largest economy in the world, until surpassed by China in 2010. This ended in the mid-1990s when Japan suffered a major recession. In the beginning of the 21st century, positive growth has signaled a gradual economic recovery.[51] On 11 March 2011, Japan suffered the strongest earthquake in its recorded history; this triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, one of the worst disasters in the history of nuclear power.[52]

Government and politics

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.[53] 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,[2] with a secret ballot for all elected offices.[53] In 2009, the social liberal Democratic Party of Japan took power after 54 years of the liberal conservative Liberal Democratic Party's rule.[54]

The Prime Minister of Japan is the head of government and is appointed by the Emperor after being designated by the Diet from among its members. The Prime Minister is the head of the Cabinet and appoints and dismisses the Ministers of State. Naoto Kan was designated by the Diet to replace Yukio Hatoyama as the Prime Minister of Japan on 2 June 2010.[55] 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 8 June.[56]

Historically influenced by Chinese law, the Japanese legal system developed independently during the Edo period through texts such as Kujikata Osadamegaki.[57] 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 Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch; with post–World War II modifications, the code remains in effect.[58] Statutory law originates in Japan's legislature and has the rubber stamp of the Emperor. The Constitution requires that the Emperor promulgate legislation passed by the Diet, without specifically giving him the power to oppose legislation.[53] Japan's court system is divided into four basic tiers: the Supreme Court and three levels of lower courts.[59] The main body of Japanese statutory law is called the Six Codes.[60]

Foreign relations and military

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

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[61] and with India in October 2008.[62] 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.[63]

Japan has close economic and military relations with the United States; the US-Japan security alliance acts as the cornerstone of the nation's foreign policy.[64] 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.[65]

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.[66] 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).[67]

Japan maintains one of the largest military budgets of any country in the world.[68] Japan contributed non-combatant troops to the Iraq War but subsequently withdrew its forces.[69] The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is a regular participant in RIMPAC maritime exercises.[70]

Japan's military is restricted by Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which renounces Japan's right to declare war or use military force in 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 troops to Iraq marked the first overseas use of Japan's military since World War II.[69] 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.[71]

Administrative divisions

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.[72] 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.[73]

HokkaidoAomori PrefectureAkita PrefectureIwate PrefectureYamagata PrefectureMiyagi PrefectureFukushima PrefectureNiigata PrefectureTochigi PrefectureGunma PrefectureIbaraki PrefectureNagano PrefectureSaitama PrefectureChiba PrefectureTōkyō MetropolisKanagawa PrefectureToyama PrefectureIshikawa PrefectureGifu PrefectureFukui PrefectureYamanashi PrefectureShizuoka PrefectureAichi PrefectureShiga PrefectureKyoto PrefectureMie PrefectureNara PrefectureHyōgo PrefectureŌsaka PrefectureWakayama PrefectureTottori PrefectureOkayama PrefectureShimane PrefectureHiroshima PrefectureYamaguchi PrefectureKagawa PrefectureTokushima PrefectureEhime PrefectureKōchi PrefectureFukuoka PrefectureŌita PrefectureSaga PrefectureNagasaki PrefectureKumamoto PrefectureMiyazaki PrefectureKagoshima PrefectureOkinawa PrefectureTōkyō MetropolisKanagawa PrefectureŌsaka PrefectureWakayama Prefecture

Geography

Topographic map of the Japanese Archipelago.
Hanami celebrations under the cherry blossoms in Ueno Park, Tokyo.
Autumn maple leaves (momiji) at Kongōbu-ji on Mount Kōya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Japan has a total of 6,852 islands extending along the Pacific coast of East Asia.[74][75] 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 Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku and Kyūshū. The Ryūkyū Islands, including Okinawa, are a chain to the south of Kyūshū. Together they are often known as the Japanese Archipelago.[76]

About 73 percent of Japan is forested, mountainous, and unsuitable for agricultural, industrial, or residential use.[2][77] 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.[78]

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 was originally attached to the eastern coast of the Eurasian continent. The subducting plates pulled Japan eastward, opening the Sea of Japan around 15 million years ago.[79]

Japan has 108 active volcanoes. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur several times each century.[80] The 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people.[81] More recent major quakes are the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, a 9.0-magnitude[82] quake which hit Japan on 11 March 2011, and triggered a large tsunami.[52] On 24 May 2012, 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan. However, no tsunami was generated.[83]

Climate

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: Hokkaidō, Sea of Japan, Central Highland, Seto Inland Sea, Pacific Ocean, and Ryūkyū Islands. The northernmost zone, Hokkaido, has a humid continental climate with long, cold winters and very warm to cool summers. Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snowbanks in the winter.[84]

In the Sea of Japan zone on Honshū's west coast, northwest winter winds bring 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. The Central Highland has a typical inland humid continental climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter, and between day and night; precipitation is light, though winters are usually snowy. The mountains of the Chūgoku and Shikoku regions shelter the Seto Inland Sea from seasonal winds, bringing mild weather year-round.[84]

The Pacific coast features a humid subtropical climate that experiences milder winters with occasional 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. The generally humid, temperate climate exhibits marked seasonal variation such as the blooming of the spring cherry blossoms, the calls of the summer cicada and fall foliage colors that are celebrated in art and literature.[84]

The average winter temperature in Japan is 5.1 °C (41.2 °F) and the average summer temperature is 25.2 °C (77.4 °F).[85] The highest temperature ever measured in Japan—40.9 °C (105.6 °F)—was recorded on 16 August 2007.[86] The main rainy season begins in early May in Okinawa, and the rain front gradually moves north until reaching Hokkaidō 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.[87]

Biodiversity

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.[88] Japan has over 90,000 species of wildlife, including the brown bear, the Japanese macaque, the Japanese raccoon dog, and the Japanese giant salamander.[89] A large network of national parks has been established to protect important areas of flora and fauna as well as thirty-seven Ramsar wetland sites.[90][91] Four sites have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for their outstanding natural value.[92]

Environment

In the period of rapid economic growth after World War II, environmental policies were downplayed by the government and industrial corporations; as a result, environmental pollution was widespread in the 1950s and 1960s. Responding to rising concern about the problem, the government introduced several environmental protection laws in 1970.[93] The oil crisis in 1973 also encouraged the efficient use of energy due to Japan's lack of natural resources.[94] Current environmental issues include urban air pollution (NOx, suspended particulate matter, and toxics), waste management, water eutrophication, nature conservation, climate change, chemical management and international co-operation for conservation.[95]

Japan is one of the world's leaders in the development of new environment-friendly technologies, and is ranked 20th best in the world in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index.[96] As a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, and host of the 1997 conference which created it, Japan is under treaty obligation to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions and to take other steps to curb climate change.[97]

Economy

The Tokyo Stock Exchange, the largest stock exchange in Asia.[98]

Some of the structural features for Japan's economic growth developed in the Edo period, such as the network of transport routes, by road and water, and the futures contracts, banking and insurance of the Osaka rice brokers.[99] During the Meiji period from 1868, Japan expanded economically with the embrace of the market economy.[100] Many of today's enterprises were founded at the time, and Japan emerged as the most developed nation in Asia.[101] The period of overall real economic growth from the 1960s to the 1980s has been called the Japanese post-war economic miracle: it averaged 7.5 percent in the 1960s and 1970s, and 3.2 percent in the 1980s and early 1990s.[102]

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.[2] The economy showed strong signs of recovery after 2005; GDP growth for that year was 2.8 percent, surpassing the growth rates of the US and European Union during the same period.[103]

As of 2011, Japan is the third largest national economy in the world, after the United States and China, in terms of nominal GDP,[104] and the fourth largest national economy in the world, after the United States, China and India in terms of purchasing power parity.[7] As of January 2011, Japan's public debt was more than 200 percent of its annual gross domestic product, the largest of any nation in the world. In August 2011, Moody's rating has cut Japan's long-term sovereign debt rating one notch from Aa3 to Aa2 inline with the size of the country's deficit and borrowing level. The large budget deficits and government debt since the 2009 global recession and followed by earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 made the rating downgrade.[105] The service sector accounts for three quarters of the gross domestic product.[106]

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 cultivate 13 percent of Japan's land, and Japan accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global fish catch, second only to China.[2] As of 2010, Japan's labor force consisted of some 65.9 million workers.[107] Japan has a low unemployment rate of around four percent. Almost one in six Japanese, or 20 million people, lived in poverty in 2007.[108] Housing in Japan is characterized by limited land supply in urban areas.[109]

A plug-in hybrid car manufactured by Toyota, one of the world's largest carmakers. Japan is the second-largest producer of automobiles in the world.[110]

Japan's exports amounted to US$4,210 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. Its main exports are transportation equipment, motor vehicles, electronics, electrical machinery and chemicals.[2] 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), United Arab Emirates (4.12 percent), South Korea (3.98 percent) and Indonesia (3.95 percent).[111]

Japan's main imports are machinery and equipment, fossil fuels, foodstuffs (in particular beef), chemicals, textiles and raw materials for its industries.[111] By market share measures, domestic markets are the least open of any OECD country.[112] Junichiro Koizumi's administration began some pro-competition reforms, and foreign investment in Japan has soared.[113]

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, and lifetime employment and seniority-based career advancement are relatively common in the Japanese work environment.[112][114] Japanese companies are known for management methods like "The Toyota Way", and shareholder activism is rare.[115]

Some of the largest enterprises in Japan include Toyota, Nintendo, NTT DoCoMo, Canon, Honda, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sharp, Nippon Steel, Nippon Oil, and Seven & I Holdings Co.[116] It has 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.[117] Japan is home to 326 companies from the Forbes Global 2000 or 16.3 percent (as of 2006).[118]

Science and technology

H-II Transfer Vehicle.

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.[119] Japan is a world leader in fundamental scientific research, having produced sixteen Nobel laureates in either physics, chemistry or medicine,[120] three Fields medalists,[121] and one Gauss Prize laureate.[122] Some of Japan's more prominent technological contributions are 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.[123]

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is Japan's space agency; it conducts space, planetary, and aviation research, and leads development of rockets and satellites. It is a participant in the International Space Station: the Japanese Experiment Module (Kibo) was added to the station during Space Shuttle assembly flights in 2008.[124] Japan's plans in space exploration include: launching a space probe to Venus, Akatsuki;[125][126] developing the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter to be launched in 2013;[127][128] and building a moon base by 2030.[129]

On 14 September 2007, it launched lunar explorer "SELENE" (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) on an H-IIA (Model H2A2022) carrier rocket from Tanegashima Space Center. SELENE is also known as Kaguya, after the lunar princess of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.[130] Kaguya is the largest lunar mission since the Apollo program. Its purpose is to gather data on the moon's origin and evolution. It entered a lunar orbit on 4 October,[131][132] flying at an altitude of about 100 km (62 mi).[133] The probe's mission was ended when it was deliberately crashed by JAXA into the Moon on 11 June 2009.[134]

Infrastructure

Nozomi Shinkansen or 'Bullet Train' at Tokyo Station[135]

As of 2008, 46.4 percent of energy in Japan is produced from petroleum, 21.4 percent from coal, 16.7 percent from natural gas, 9.7 percent from nuclear power, and 2.9 percent from hydro power. Nuclear power produced 25.1 percent of Japan's electricity, as of 2009.[136] However, as of 5 May 2012, all of the country's nuclear power plants had been taken offline due to ongoing public opposition following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, though government officials have been continuing to try to sway public opinion in favor of returning at least some of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors to service.[137] Given its heavy dependence on imported energy,[138] Japan has aimed to diversify its sources and maintain high levels of energy efficiency.[139]

Japan's road spending has been extensive.[140] Its 1.2 million kilometers of paved road are the main means of transportation.[141] 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.[142]

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 and Japanese trains are known for their safety and punctuality.[143][144] Proposals for a new Maglev route between Tokyo and Osaka are at an advanced stage.[145] There are 173 airports in Japan; the largest domestic airport, Haneda Airport, is Asia's second-busiest airport.[146] The largest international gateways are Narita International Airport, Kansai International Airport and Chūbu Centrair International Airport.[147] Nagoya Port is the country's largest and busiest port, accounting for 10 percent of Japan's trade value.[148]

Demographics

Ainu, an ethnic minority people from Japan
Japanese wedding at the Meiji Shrine

Japan's population is estimated at around 127.3 million,[2] with 80% of the population living on Honshū. Japanese society is linguistically and culturally homogeneous,[149] composed of 98.5% ethnic Japanese,[150] with small populations of foreign workers.[149] Zainichi Koreans,[151] Zainichi Chinese, Filipinos, Brazilians mostly of Japanese descent,[152] and Peruvians mostly of Japanese descent are among the small minority groups in Japan.[153] In 2003, there were about 134,700 non-Latin American Western and 345,500 Latin American expatriates, 274,700 of whom were Brazilians (said to be primarily Japanese descendants, or nikkeijin, along with their spouses),[152] the largest community of Westerners.[154]

The most dominant native ethnic group is the Yamato people; primary minority groups include the indigenous Ainu[155] and Ryukyuan peoples, as well as social minority groups like the burakumin.[156] There are persons of mixed ancestry incorporated among the 'ethnic Japanese' or Yamato, such as those from Ogasawara Archipelago where roughly one-tenth of the Japanese population can have European, American, Micronesian and/or Polynesian backgrounds, with some families going back up to seven generations.[157] In spite of the widespread belief that Japan is ethnically homogeneous (in 2009, foreign-born non-naturalized workers made up only 1.7% of the total population),[158] also due to the absence of ethnicity and/or race statistics for Japanese nationals, at least one analysis describes Japan as a multiethnic society, for example, John Lie.[159] However, this statement is refused by many sectors of Japanese society, who still tend to preserve the idea of Japan being a monocultural society and with this ideology of homogeneity, has traditionally rejected any need to recognize ethnic differences in Japan, even as such claims have been rejected by such ethnic minorities as the Ainu and Ryukyuan people. Former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has once described Japan as being a nation of “one race, one civilization, one language and one culture”.[160]

Japan has the longest overall life expectancy at birth of any country in the world: 83.5 years for persons born in the period 2010–2015.[13][14] The Japanese population is rapidly aging as a result of a post–World War II baby boom followed by a decrease in birth rates. In 2009, about 22.7 percent of the population was over 65, by 2050 almost 40 percent of the population will be aged 65 and over, as projected in December 2006.[161]

The changes in demographic structure have created a number of social issues, particularly a potential decline in workforce population and increase in the cost of social security benefits like the public pension plan. A growing number of younger Japanese are preferring not to marry or have families.[162] In 2011, Japan's population dropped for a fifth year, falling by 204,000 people to 126.24 million people. This is the greatest decline since at least 1947, the first year for which government data are available. The 204,000 deaths included 15,844 people killed and 3,451 left missing by the tsunami.[163]

Japan's population is expected to drop to 95 million by 2050,[161][164] demographers and government planners are currently in a heated debate over how to cope with this problem.[162] Immigration and birth incentives are sometimes suggested as a solution to provide younger workers to support the nation's aging population.[165][166] Japan accepts a steady flow of 15,000 new Japanese citizens by naturalization (帰化) per year.[167] According to the UNHCR, in 2007 Japan accepted just 41 refugees for resettlement, while the US took in 50,000.[168]

Japan suffers from a high suicide rate.[169][170] In 2009, the number of suicides exceeded 30,000 for the twelfth straight year.[171] Suicide is the leading cause of death for people under 30.[172]

 
Largest cities or towns in Japan
Rank Name Prefecture Pop. Rank Name Prefecture Pop.
1 Tokyo Tokyo 9,272,740 11 Hiroshima Hiroshima 1,194,034
2 Yokohama Kanagawa 3,724,844 12 Sendai Miyagi 1,082,159
3 Osaka Osaka 2,691,185 13 Chiba Chiba 971,882
4 Nagoya Aichi 2,295,638 14 Kitakyushu Fukuoka 961,286
5 Sapporo Hokkaido 1,952,356 15 Sakai Osaka 839,310
6 Fukuoka Fukuoka 1,538,681 16 Niigata Niigata 810,157
7 Kobe Hyōgo 1,537,272 17 Hamamatsu Shizuoka 797,980
8 Kawasaki Kanagawa 1,475,213 18 Kumamoto Kumamoto 740,822
9 Kyoto Kyoto 1,475,183 19 Sagamihara Kanagawa 720,780
10 Saitama Saitama 1,263,979 20 Okayama Okayama 719,474

Religion

Torii of Itsukushima Shrine near Hiroshima, one of the Three Views of Japan and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Japan enjoys full religious freedom based on Article 20 of its Constitution. Upper estimates suggest that 84–96 percent of the Japanese population subscribe to Buddhism or Shinto, including a large number of followers of a syncretism of both religions.[2][173] However, these estimates are based on people affiliated with a temple, rather than the number of true believers. Other studies have suggested that only 30 percent of the population identify themselves as belonging to a religion.[174] According to Edwin Reischauer and Marius Jansen, some 70–80% of the Japanese regularly tell pollsters they do not consider themselves believers in any religion.[175]

Nevertheless, the level of participation remains high, especially during festivals and occasions such as the first shrine visit of the New Year. Taoism and Confucianism from China have also influenced Japanese beliefs and customs.[176] Japanese streets are decorated on Tanabata, Obon and Christmas. Fewer than one percent of Japanese are Christian.[177] Other minority religions include Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Judaism, and since the mid-19th century numerous new religious movements have emerged in Japan.[178]

Languages

More than 99 percent of the population speaks Japanese as their first language.[2] Japanese 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.[179]

Besides Japanese, the Ryukyuan languages, also part of the Japonic language family, are spoken in Okinawa; however, few children learn these languages.[180] The Ainu language, which has no proven relationship to Japanese or any other language, is moribund, with only a few elderly native speakers remaining in Hokkaido.[181] Most public and private schools require students to take courses in both Japanese and English.[182]

Education

Announcement of the results of the entrance examinations to the University of Tokyo

Primary schools, secondary schools and universities were introduced in 1872 as a result of the Meiji Restoration.[183] Since 1947, compulsory education in Japan comprises elementary 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.[184]

The two top-ranking universities in Japan are the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University.[185][186] The Programme for International Student Assessment coordinated by the OECD currently ranks the overall knowledge and skills of Japanese 15-year-olds as sixth best in the world.[187]

Health

In Japan, health care is 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.[188] Patients are free to select the physicians or facilities of their choice.[189]

Culture

Kinkaku-ji or 'The Temple of the Golden Pavilion' in Kyoto, Special Historic Site, Special Place of Scenic Beauty, and UNESCO World Heritage Site; its torching by a monk in 1950 is the subject of a novel by Mishima.

Japanese culture has evolved greatly from its origins. Contemporary culture combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America. Traditional Japanese arts include crafts such as ceramics, textiles, lacquerware, swords and dolls; performances of bunraku, kabuki, noh, dance, and rakugo; and other practices, the tea ceremony, ikebana, martial arts, calligraphy, origami, onsen, Geisha and games. Japan has a developed system for the protection and promotion of both tangible and intangible Cultural Properties and National Treasures.[190] Sixteen sites have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, twelve of which are of cultural significance.[191]

Art

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of a series of woodblock prints by Hokusai.

The Shrines of Ise have been celebrated as the prototype of Japanese architecture.[192] Largely of wood, traditional housing and many temple buildings see the use of tatami mats and sliding doors that break down the distinction between rooms and indoor and outdoor space.[193] Japanese sculpture, largely of wood, and Japanese painting are among 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.[194]

The interaction between Japanese and European art has been significant: for example ukiyo-e prints, which began to be exported in the 19th century in the movement known as Japonism, had a significant influence on the development of modern art in the West, most notably on post-Impressionism.[194] Famous ukiyo-e artists include Hokusai and Hiroshige. The fusion of traditional woodblock printing and Western art led to the creation of manga, a comic book format that is now popular within and outside Japan.[195] Manga-influenced animation for television and film is called anime. Japanese-made video game consoles have been popular since the 1980s.[196]

Music

Japanese music is eclectic and diverse. 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.[197] Western classical music, introduced in the late 19th century, now forms an integral part of Japanese culture. The imperial court ensemble Gagaku has influenced the work of some modern Western composers.[198]

Notable classical composers from Japan include Toru Takemitsu and Rentarō Taki. Popular music in post-war Japan has been heavily influenced by American and European trends, which has led to the evolution of J-pop, or Japanese popular music.[199] Karaoke is the most widely practiced cultural activity in Japan. A 1993 survey by the Cultural Affairs Agency found that more Japanese had sung karaoke that year than had participated in traditional pursuits such as flower arranging (ikebana) or tea ceremonies.[200]

Literature

12th-century illustrated handscroll of The Tale of Genji, a National Treasure

The earliest works of Japanese literature include the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki chronicles and the Man'yōshū poetry anthology, all from the 8th century and written in Chinese characters.[201][202] In the early Heian period, the system of phonograms known as kana (Hiragana and Katakana) was developed. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest Japanese narrative.[203] An account of Heian court life is given in The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon, while The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu is often described as the world's first novel.[204][205]

During the Edo period, the chōnin ("townspeople") overtook the samurai aristocracy as producers and consumers of literature. The popularity of the works of Saikaku, for example, reveals this change in readership and authorship, while Bashō revivified the poetic tradition of the Kokinshū with his haikai (haiku) and wrote the poetic travelogue Oku no Hosomichi.[206] The Meiji era saw the decline of traditional literary forms as Japanese literature integrated Western influences. Natsume Sōseki and Mori Ōgai were the first "modern" novelists of Japan, followed by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Yukio Mishima and, more recently, Haruki Murakami. Japan has two Nobel Prize-winning authors—Yasunari Kawabata (1968) and Kenzaburō Ōe (1994).[203]

Cuisine

Breakfast at a ryokan or inn

Japanese cuisine is based on combining staple foods, typically Japanese rice or noodles, with a soup and okazu — dishes made from fish, vegetable, tofu and the like – to add flavor to the staple food. In the early modern era ingredients such as red meats that had previously not been widely used in Japan were introduced. Japanese cuisine is known for its emphasis on seasonality of food,[207] quality of ingredients and presentation. Japanese cuisine offers a vast array of regional specialties that use traditional recipes and local ingredients. The Michelin Guide has awarded Japanese cities more Michelin stars than the rest of the world combined.[208]

Sports

Sumo wrestlers form around the referee during the ring-entering ceremony

Traditionally, sumo is considered Japan's national sport.[209] 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.[210] Japan hosted the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964. Japan has hosted the Winter Olympics twice: Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.[211]

Baseball is currently the most popular spectator sport in the country. Japan's top professional league, Nippon Professional Baseball, was established in 1936.[212]

Since the establishment of the Japan Professional Football League in 1992, association football has also gained a wide following.[213] Japan was a venue of the Intercontinental Cup from 1981 to 2004 and co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South Korea.[214] Japan has one of the most successful football teams in Asia, winning the Asian Cup four times.[215] Also, Japan recently won the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2011.[216]

Golf is also popular in Japan,[217] as are forms of auto racing like the Super GT series and Formula Nippon.[218] The country has produced one NBA player, Yuta Tabuse.[219]

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Further reading
  • 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)
  • 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)
  • Kato et al., A History of Japanese Literature: From the Man'Yoshu to Modern Times, Japan Library, 1997 (ISBN 1-873410-48-4)
  • 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)
  • 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)
Government
Tourism
General information

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