Guide to Japan Introduction Background: In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Following the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States in 1854, Japan opened its ports and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1933 Japan occupied Manchuria and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth, but Japan still remains a major economic power, both in Asia and globally. In 2005, Japan began a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Geography Location: Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
Geographic coordinates: 36 00 N, 138 00 E
Map references: Asia
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than California
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 29,751 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
Climate: varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north
Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: negligible mineral resources, fish
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 26,790 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis; typhoons
Environment - current issues: air pollution from power plant emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: strategic location in northeast Asia
People Population: 127,417,244 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 0.05% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 9.47 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 8.95 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 1.39 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 12,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 500 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: Japanese 99%, others 1% (Korean 511,262, Chinese 244,241, Brazilian 182,232, Filipino 89,851, other 237,914) note
Religions: observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)
Languages: Japanese
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government
Capital: Tokyo
Administrative divisions: 47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi
Independence: 660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor JIMMU)
National holiday: Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933)
Constitution: 3 May 1947
Legal system: modeled after European civil law system with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (242 seats - members elected for six-year terms; half reelected every three years; 144 members in multi-seat constituencies and 98 by proportional representation) and the House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - members elected for four-year terms; 300 in single-seat constituencies; 180 members by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs) elections
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by the cabinet)
Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Seiji MAEHARA, leader; Yukio HATOYAMA, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII, chairman; Tadayoshi ICHIDA, secretary general]; Komeito [Takenori KANZAKI, president; Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president; Tsutomu TAKEBE, secretary general]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Mizuho FUKUSHIMA, chairperson; Seiji MATAICHI, secretary general]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: AfDB, APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA, MIGA, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), Paris Club, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UNRWA, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in the center
Economy Economy - overview: Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically-powerful economy in the world after the US and third-largest economy after the US and China, measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis. (Using market exhange rates rather than PPP rates, Japan's economy is larger than China's.) One notable characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely-knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding. Industry, the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The tiny agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth had been spectacular
GDP (purchasing power parity): $3.745 trillion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2.9% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $29,400 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 66.97 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 5%, industry 25%, services 70% (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate: 4.7% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 24.9 (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): -0.1% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 24% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 164.3% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit, pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs, fish
Industries: among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods
Industrial production growth rate: 6.6% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 1.044 trillion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 971 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 17,330 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 5.29 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: 93,360 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: 5.449 million bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved reserves: 29.29 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production: 2.519 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 80.42 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 77.73 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 20.02 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance: $170.2 billion (2004 est.)
Exports: $538.8 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: transport equipment, motor vehicles, semiconductors, electrical machinery, chemicals
Exports - partners: US 22.7%, China 13.1%, South Korea 7.8%, Taiwan 7.4%, Hong Kong 6.3% (2004)
Imports: $401.8 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, raw materials (2001)
Imports - partners: China 20.7%, US 14%, South Korea 4.9%, Australia 4.3%, Indonesia 4.1%, Saudi Arabia 4.1%, UAE 4% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $664.6 billion (2003)
Debt - external: NA (2002 est.)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $7.9 billion (FY03/04)
Currency (code): yen (JPY)
Currency code: JPY
Exchange rates: yen per US dollar - 108.19 (2004), 115.93 (2003), 125.39 (2002), 121.53 (2001), 107.77 (2000)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 71.149 million (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 86,658,600 (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 215 plus 370 repeaters, FM 89 plus 485 repeaters, shortwave 21 (2001)
Radios: 120.5 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 211 plus 7,341 repeaters note
Televisions: 86.5 million (1997)
Internet country code: .jp
Internet hosts: 12,962,065 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 73 (2000)
Internet users: 57.2 million (2002)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 1,770 km (seagoing vessels use inland seas) (2004)
Pipelines: gas 2,719 km; oil 170 km; oil/gas/water 60 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Chiba, Kawasaki, Kiire, Kisarazu, Kobe, Mizushima, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, Yohohama
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 174 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Heliports: 15 (2004 est.)
Military Military branches: Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force)
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $45.841 billion (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1% (2004)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: the sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kuril Islands", occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; Japan and South Korea claim Liancourt Rocks (Take-shima/Tok-do), occupied by South Korea since 1954; China and Taiwan dispute both Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of the Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea, the site of intensive hydrocarbon prospecting
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
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