Japan

The name for Japan in Japanese is written using the kanji 日本 and is pronounced Nippon or Nihon.^[9] Before 日本 was adopted in the early 8th century, the country was known in China as Wa (倭, changed in Japan around 757 to 和) and in Japan by the endonym Yamato.^[10] Nippon, the original Sino-Japanese reading of the characters, is favored for official uses, including on banknotes and postage stamps.^[9] Nihon is typically used in everyday speech and reflects shifts in Japanese phonology during the Edo period.^[10] The characters 日本 mean "sun origin",^[9] which is the source of the popular Western epithet "Land of the Rising Sun".^[11]

The name "Japan" is based on Chinese pronunciations of 日本 and was introduced to European languages through early trade. In the 13th century, Marco Polo recorded the early Mandarin or Wu Chinese pronunciation of the characters 日本國 as Cipangu.^[12] The old Malay name for Japan, Japang or Japun, was borrowed from a southern coastal Chinese dialect and encountered by Portuguese traders in Southeast Asia, who brought the word to Europe in the early 16th century.^[13] The first version of the name in English appears in a book published in 1577, which spelled the name as Giapan in a translation of a 1565 Portuguese letter.^[14][15]

Discover more about Etymology related topics

Names of Japan

Names of Japan

The word Japan is an exonym, and is used by many languages. The Japanese names for Japan are Nihon and Nippon. They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本.

Japanese language

Japanese language

Japanese is spoken as a native language by about 128 million people, primarily Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan language family. There have been many attempts to group the Japonic languages with other families such as the Ainu, Austroasiatic, Koreanic, and the now-discredited Altaic, but none of these proposals has gained widespread acceptance.

Kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script, and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequently-derived syllabic scripts of hiragana and katakana. The characters have Japanese pronunciations; most have two, with one based on the Chinese sound. A few characters were invented in Japan by constructing character components derived from other Chinese characters. After World War II, Japan made its own efforts to simplify the characters, now known as shinjitai, by a process similar to China's simplification efforts, with the intention to increase literacy among the common folk. Since the 1920s, the Japanese government has published character lists periodically to help direct the education of its citizenry through the myriad Chinese characters that exist. There are nearly 3,000 kanji used in Japanese names and in common communication.

Japanese yen

Japanese yen

The yen is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro.

Japanese phonology

Japanese phonology

The phonology of Japanese features about 15 consonant phonemes, the cross-linguistically typical five-vowel system of, and a relatively simple phonotactic distribution of phonemes allowing few consonant clusters. It is traditionally described as having a mora as the unit of timing, with each mora taking up about the same length of time, so that the disyllabic ("Japan") may be analyzed as and dissected into four moras,, ,, and.

Edo period

Edo period

The Edo period or Tokugawa period is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional daimyo. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterized by economic growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies, a stable population, perpetual peace, and popular enjoyment of arts and culture.

Epithet

Epithet

An epithet, also byname, is a descriptive term known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It can also be a descriptive title: for example, Pallas Athena, Phoebus Apollo, Alfred the Great, Suleiman the Magnificent, and Władysław I the Elbow-high. Many English monarchs have traditional epithets: some of the best known are Edward the Confessor, William the Conqueror, Richard the Lionheart, Æthelred the Unready, John Lackland and Bloody Mary.

Marco Polo

Marco Polo

Marco Polo was an Italian merchant, explorer and writer from the Republic of Venice who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo, a book that described to Europeans the then mysterious culture and inner workings of the Eastern world, including the wealth and great size of the Mongol Empire and China in the Yuan Dynasty, giving their first comprehensive look into China, Persia, India, Japan and other Asian cities and countries.

Mandarin Chinese

Mandarin Chinese

Mandarin is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of China. Because Mandarin originated in North China and most Mandarin dialects are found in the north, the group is sometimes referred to as Northern Chinese. Many varieties of Mandarin, such as those of the Southwest and the Lower Yangtze, are not mutually intelligible with the standard language. Nevertheless, Mandarin as a group is often placed first in lists of languages by number of native speakers.

Malay language

Malay language

Malay is an Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spoken in East Timor and parts of the Philippines and Thailand. Altogether, it is spoken by 290 million people across Maritime Southeast Asia.

Portuguese Empire

Portuguese Empire

The Portuguese Empire, also known as the Portuguese Overseas or the Portuguese Colonial Empire, was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the later overseas territories governed by Portugal. It was one of the longest-lived empires in European history, lasting almost six centuries from the conquest of Ceuta in North Africa, in 1415, to the transfer of sovereignty over Macau to China in 1999. The empire began in the 15th century, and from the early 16th century it stretched across the globe, with bases in Africa, North America, and South America, and various regions of Asia and Oceania.

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and north-west of mainland Australia which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is bordered to the north by East Asia, to the west by South Asia and the Bay of Bengal, to the east by Oceania and the Pacific Ocean, and to the south by Australia and the Indian Ocean. Apart from the British Indian Ocean Territory and two out of 26 atolls of Maldives in South Asia, Maritime Southeast Asia is the only other subregion of Asia that lies partly within the Southern Hemisphere. Mainland Southeast Asia is completely in the Northern Hemisphere. Timor-Leste and the southern portion of Indonesia are the only parts in Southeast Asia that are south of the Equator.

Prehistoric to classical history

Legendary Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇, Jinmu-tennō)

A Paleolithic culture from around 30,000 BC constitutes the first known habitation of the islands of Japan.^[16] This was followed from around 14,500 BC (the start of the Jōmon period) by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture characterized by pit dwelling and rudimentary agriculture.^[17] Clay vessels from the period are among the oldest surviving examples of pottery.^[18] From around 700 BC, the Japonic-speaking Yayoi people began to enter the archipelago from the Korean Peninsula,^[19][20][21] intermingling with the Jōmon;^[21] the Yayoi period saw the introduction of practices including wet-rice farming,^[22] a new style of pottery,^[23] and metallurgy from China and Korea.^[24] According to legend, Emperor Jimmu (grandson of Amaterasu) founded a kingdom in central Japan in 660 BC, beginning a continuous imperial line.^[25]

Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese Book of Han, completed in 111 AD. Buddhism was introduced to Japan from Baekje (a Korean kingdom) in 552, but the development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily influenced by China.^[26] Despite early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class, including figures like Prince Shōtoku, and gained widespread acceptance beginning in the Asuka period (592–710).^[27]

The far-reaching Taika Reforms in 645 nationalized all land in Japan, to be distributed equally among cultivators, and ordered the compilation of a household registry as the basis for a new system of taxation.^[28] The Jinshin War of 672, a bloody conflict between Prince Ōama and his nephew Prince Ōtomo, became a major catalyst for further administrative reforms.^[29] These reforms culminated with the promulgation of the Taihō Code, which consolidated existing statutes and established the structure of the central and subordinate local governments.^[28] These legal reforms created the ritsuryō state, a system of Chinese-style centralized government that remained in place for half a millennium.^[29]

The Nara period (710–784) marked the emergence of a Japanese state centered on the Imperial Court in Heijō-kyō (modern Nara). The period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent literary culture with the completion of the Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720), as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired artwork and architecture.^[30][31] A smallpox epidemic in 735–737 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of Japan's population.^[31][32] In 784, Emperor Kanmu moved the capital, settling on Heian-kyō (modern-day Kyoto) in 794.^[31] This marked the beginning of the Heian period (794–1185), during which a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged. Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji and the lyrics of Japan's national anthem "Kimigayo" were written during this time.^[33]

Feudal era

Japanese samurai boarding a Mongol vessel during the Mongol invasions of Japan, depicted in the Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba, 1293

Three unifiers of Japan. Left to right: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence and dominance of a ruling class of warriors, the samurai.^[34] In 1185, following the defeat of the Taira clan in the Genpei War, samurai Minamoto no Yoritomo established a military government at Kamakura.^[35] After Yoritomo's death, the Hōjō clan came to power as regents for the shōgun.^[31] The Zen school of Buddhism was introduced from China in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and became popular among the samurai class.^[36] The Kamakura shogunate repelled Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281 but was eventually overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo.^[31] Go-Daigo was defeated by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336, beginning the Muromachi period (1336–1573).^[37] The succeeding Ashikaga shogunate failed to control the feudal warlords (daimyō) and a civil war began in 1467, opening the century-long Sengoku period ("Warring States").^[38]

During the 16th century, Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries reached Japan for the first time, initiating direct commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West.^[31][39] Oda Nobunaga used European technology and firearms to conquer many other daimyō;^[40] his consolidation of power began what was known as the Azuchi–Momoyama period.^[41] After the death of Nobunaga in 1582, his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, unified the nation in the early 1590s and launched two unsuccessful invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597.^[31]

Tokugawa Ieyasu served as regent for Hideyoshi's son Toyotomi Hideyori and used his position to gain political and military support.^[42] When open war broke out, Ieyasu defeated rival clans in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. He was appointed shōgun by Emperor Go-Yōzei in 1603 and established the Tokugawa shogunate at Edo (modern Tokyo).^[43] The shogunate enacted measures including buke shohatto, as a code of conduct to control the autonomous daimyō,^[44] 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).^[43][45] Modern Japan's economic growth began in this period, resulting in roads and water transportation routes, as well as financial instruments such as futures contracts, banking and insurance of the Osaka rice brokers.^[46] The study of Western sciences (rangaku) continued through contact with the Dutch enclave in Nagasaki.^[43] The Edo period gave rise to kokugaku ("national studies"), the study of Japan by the Japanese.^[47]

Modern era

Emperor Meiji (明治天皇, Meiji-tennō); 1852–1912

The Japanese Empire in 1942

The United States Navy sent Commodore Matthew C. Perry to force the opening of Japan to the outside world. Arriving at Uraga with four "Black Ships" in July 1853, the Perry Expedition resulted in the March 1854 Convention of Kanagawa.^[43] Subsequent similar treaties with other Western countries brought economic and political crises.^[43] The resignation of the shōgun led to the Boshin War and the establishment of a centralized state nominally unified under the emperor (the Meiji Restoration).^[48] Adopting Western political, judicial, and military institutions, the Cabinet organized the Privy Council, introduced the Meiji Constitution (November 29, 1890), and assembled the Imperial Diet.^[49] During the Meiji period (1868–1912), the Empire of Japan emerged as the most developed nation in Asia and as an industrialized world power that pursued military conflict to expand its sphere of influence.^[50][51][52] 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.^[53][49] The Japanese population doubled from 35 million in 1873 to 70 million by 1935, with a significant shift to urbanization.^[54][55]

The early 20th century saw a period of Taishō democracy (1912–1926) overshadowed by increasing expansionism and militarization.^[56][57] World War I allowed Japan, which joined the side of the victorious Allies, to capture German possessions in the Pacific and in China.^[57] The 1920s saw a political shift towards statism, a period of lawlessness following the 1923 Great Tokyo Earthquake, the passing of laws against political dissent, and a series of attempted coups.^[55][58][59] This process accelerated during the 1930s, spawning several radical nationalist groups that shared a hostility to liberal democracy and a dedication to expansion in Asia. In 1931, Japan invaded and occupied Manchuria; following international condemnation of the occupation, it resigned from the League of Nations two years later.^[60] In 1936, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany; the 1940 Tripartite Pact made it one of the Axis Powers.^[55]

Japan's imperial ambitions ended on September 2, 1945, with the country's surrender to the Allies.

The Empire of Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).^[61] In 1940, the Empire invaded French Indochina, after which the United States placed an oil embargo on Japan.^[55][62] On December 7–8, 1941, Japanese forces carried out surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor, as well as on British forces in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong, among others, beginning World War II in the Pacific.^[63] Throughout areas occupied by Japan during the war, numerous abuses were committed against local inhabitants, with many forced into sexual slavery.^[64] After Allied victories during the next four years, which culminated in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender.^[65] The war cost Japan its colonies and millions of lives.^[55] The Allies (led by the United States) repatriated millions of Japanese settlers from their former colonies and military camps throughout Asia, largely eliminating the Japanese Empire and its influence over the territories it conquered.^[66][67] The Allies convened the International Military Tribunal for the Far East to prosecute Japanese leaders for war crimes.^[67]

In 1947, Japan adopted a new constitution emphasizing liberal democratic practices.^[67] The Allied occupation ended with the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952,^[68] and Japan was granted membership in the United Nations in 1956.^[67] A period of record growth propelled Japan to become the second-largest economy in the world;^[67] this ended in the mid-1990s after the popping of an asset price bubble, beginning the "Lost Decade".^[69] On March 11, 2011, Japan suffered one of the largest earthquakes in its recorded history, triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.^[70] On May 1, 2019, after the historic abdication of Emperor Akihito, his son Naruhito became Emperor, beginning the Reiwa era.^[71]

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History of Japan

History of Japan

The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inventions were introduced from Asia. During this period, the first known written reference to Japan was recorded in the Chinese Book of Han in the first century AD.

Legend

Legend

A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller or listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude. Legend, for its active and passive participants may include miracles. Legends may be transformed over time to keep them fresh and vital.

Emperor Jimmu

Emperor Jimmu

Emperor Jimmu was the legendary first emperor of Japan according to the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki. His ascension is traditionally dated as 660 BC. In Japanese mythology, he was a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, through her grandson Ninigi, as well as a descendant of the storm god Susanoo. He launched a military expedition from Hyūga near the Seto Inland Sea, captured Yamato, and established this as his center of power. In modern Japan, Emperor Jimmu's legendary accession is marked as National Foundation Day on February 11. Amidst nationalist sentiments during the 1930s and 1940s in Imperial Japan, it was dangerous to question the existence of Emperor Jimmu.

Japanese Paleolithic

Japanese Paleolithic

The Japanese Paleolithic period is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC; although any date of human presence before 35,000 BC is controversial, with artifacts supporting a pre-35,000 BC human presence on the archipelago being of questionable authenticity. The period extended to the beginning of the Mesolithic Jōmon period, or around 14,000 BC.

Japanese archipelago

Japanese archipelago

The Japanese archipelago is a group of 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over 3,000 km (1,900 mi) from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China and Philippine Seas in the southwest along the Pacific Ocean coast of the Eurasian continent, and consists of three island arcs from north to south: the Northeastern and Southwestern Japan Arcs, and the Ryukyu Island Arc. The Daitō Islands, Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc, Kuril Islands, and the Nanpō Islands neighbor the archipelago.

Jōmon period

Jōmon period

In Japanese history, the Jōmon period is the time between c. 14,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism and cultural complexity. The name "cord-marked" was first applied by the American zoologist and orientalist Edward S. Morse, who discovered sherds of pottery in 1877 and subsequently translated it into Japanese as Jōmon. The pottery style characteristic of the first phases of Jōmon culture was decorated by impressing cords into the surface of wet clay and is generally accepted to be among the oldest in the world.

Mesolithic

Mesolithic

The Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymously, especially for outside northern Europe, and for the corresponding period in the Levant and Caucasus. The Mesolithic has different time spans in different parts of Eurasia. It refers to the final period of hunter-gatherer cultures in Europe and Western Asia, between the end of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Neolithic Revolution. In Europe it spans roughly 15,000 to 5,000 BP; in Southwest Asia roughly 20,000 to 10,000 BP. The term is less used of areas farther east, and not at all beyond Eurasia and North Africa.

Hunter-gatherer

Hunter-gatherer

A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, honey, or anything safe to eat, and/or by hunting game, roughly as most animal omnivores do. Hunter-gatherer societies stand in contrast to the more sedentary agricultural societies, which rely mainly on cultivating crops and raising domesticated animals for food production, although the boundaries between the two ways of living are not completely distinct.

Jōmon pottery

Jōmon pottery

The Jōmon pottery is a type of ancient earthenware pottery which was made during the Jōmon period in Japan. The term "Jōmon" (縄文) means "rope-patterned" in Japanese, describing the patterns that are pressed into the clay.

Japonic languages

Japonic languages

Japonic or Japanese–Ryukyuan, sometimes also Japanic, is a language family comprising Japanese, spoken in the main islands of Japan, and the Ryukyuan languages, spoken in the Ryukyu Islands. The family is universally accepted by linguists, and significant progress has been made in reconstructing the proto-language. The reconstruction implies a split between all dialects of Japanese and all Ryukyuan varieties, probably before the 7th century. The Hachijō language, spoken on the Izu Islands, is also included, but its position within the family is unclear.

Jōmon people

Jōmon people

Jōmon people is the generic name of the Hunter-gatherer population which lived in the Japanese archipelago during the Jōmon period. The Jōmon people constituted a coherent population but displayed geographically defined regional subgroups.

Amaterasu

Amaterasu

Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (大日孁貴神), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (kami) of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, as the ruler of the heavenly realm Takamagahara and the mythical ancestress of the Imperial House of Japan via her grandson Ninigi. Along with her siblings, the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the impetuous storm god Susanoo, she is considered to be one of the "Three Precious Children", the three most important offspring of the creator god Izanagi.

The Japanese archipelago

Japan comprises 14,125 islands extending along the Pacific coast of Asia.^[72] It stretches over 3000 km (1900 mi) northeast–southwest from the Sea of Okhotsk to the East China Sea.^[73][74] The country's five main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa.^[75] The Ryukyu Islands, which include Okinawa, are a chain to the south of Kyushu. The Nanpō Islands are south and east of the main islands of Japan. Together they are often known as the Japanese archipelago.^[76] As of 2019^[update], Japan's territory is 377,975.24 km² (145,937.06 sq mi).^[1] Japan has the sixth-longest coastline in the world at 29,751 km (18,486 mi). Because of its far-flung outlying islands, Japan has the eighth-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 4,470,000 km² (1,730,000 sq mi).^[77][78]

The Japanese archipelago is 67% forests and 14% agricultural.^[79] The primarily rugged and mountainous terrain is restricted for habitation.^[80] Thus the habitable zones, mainly in the coastal areas, have very high population densities: Japan is the 40th most densely populated country.^[81][82] Honshu has the highest population density at 450 persons/km² (1200/sq mi) as of 2010^[update], while Hokkaido has the lowest density of 64.5 persons/km² as of 2016^[update].^[83] As of 2014^[update], approximately 0.5% of Japan's total area is reclaimed land (umetatechi).^[84] Lake Biwa is an ancient lake and the country's largest freshwater lake.^[85]

Japan is substantially prone to earthquakes, tsunami and volcanic eruptions because of its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire.^[86] It has the 17th highest natural disaster risk as measured in the 2016 World Risk Index.^[87] Japan has 111 active volcanoes.^[88] Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur several times each century;^[89] the 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people.^[90] More recent major quakes are the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, which triggered a large tsunami.^[70]

Climate

Mount Fuji in Spring, view from Arakurayama Sengen Park

The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate but varies greatly from north to south. The northernmost region, 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.^[91]

In the Sea of Japan region on Honshu's west coast, northwest winter winds bring heavy snowfall during winter. In the summer, the region sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures because of the foehn.^[92] The Central Highland has a typical inland humid continental climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter. The mountains of the Chūgoku and Shikoku regions shelter the Seto Inland Sea from seasonal winds, bringing mild weather year-round.^[91]

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 and Nanpō Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very heavy, especially during the rainy season.^[91] The main rainy season begins in early May in Okinawa, and the rain front gradually moves north. In late summer and early autumn, typhoons often bring heavy rain.^[93] According to the Environment Ministry, heavy rainfall and increasing temperatures have caused problems in the agricultural industry and elsewhere.^[94] The highest temperature ever measured in Japan, 41.1 °C (106.0 °F), was recorded on July 23, 2018,^[95] and repeated on August 17, 2020.^[96]

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.^[97] Japan has over 90,000 species of wildlife as of 2019^[update],^[98] including the brown bear, the Japanese macaque, the Japanese raccoon dog, the small Japanese field mouse, and the Japanese giant salamander.^[99]

A large network of national parks has been established to protect important areas of flora and fauna as well as 52 Ramsar wetland sites.^[100][101] Four sites have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for their outstanding natural value.^[102]

Environment

Autumn maple leaves (momiji) at Kongōbu-ji on Mount Kōya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

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 concerns, the government introduced environmental protection laws in 1970.^[103] The oil crisis in 1973 also encouraged the efficient use of energy because of Japan's lack of natural resources.^[104]

Japan ranks 20th in the 2018 Environmental Performance Index, which measures a nation's commitment to environmental sustainability.^[105] Japan is the world's fifth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide.^[94] As the host and signatory of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, Japan is under treaty obligation to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions and to take other steps to curb climate change.^[106] In 2020 the government of Japan announced a target of carbon-neutrality by 2050.^[107] 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.^[108]

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Geography of Japan

Geography of Japan

Japan is an archipelagic country comprising a stratovolcanic archipelago over 3,000 km (1,900 mi) along the Pacific coast of East Asia. It consists of 14,125 islands. The five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Okinawa. The other 14,120 islands are classified as "remote islands" by the Japanese government. The Ryukyu Islands and Nanpō Islands are south and east of the main islands.

Geology of Japan

Geology of Japan

The islands of Japan are primarily the result of several large ocean 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.

Japanese archipelago

Japanese archipelago

The Japanese archipelago is a group of 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over 3,000 km (1,900 mi) from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China and Philippine Seas in the southwest along the Pacific Ocean coast of the Eurasian continent, and consists of three island arcs from north to south: the Northeastern and Southwestern Japan Arcs, and the Ryukyu Island Arc. The Daitō Islands, Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc, Kuril Islands, and the Nanpō Islands neighbor the archipelago.

East China Sea

East China Sea

The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly 1,249,000 square kilometers (482,000 sq mi). The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated by an imaginary line between the eastern tip of Qidong at the Yangtze River estuary and the southwestern tip of South Korea's Jeju Island.

Hokkaido

Hokkaido

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.

Honshu

Honshu

Honshu , historically called Hondo , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separates the Sea of Japan, which lies to its north and west, from the North Pacific Ocean to the south and east. It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian island of Java.

Kyushu

Kyushu

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands. In the past, it has been known as Kyūkoku , Chinzei and Tsukushi-no-shima . The historical regional name Saikaidō referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands. Kyushu has a land area of 36,782 square kilometres (14,202 sq mi) and a population of 14,311,224 in 2018.

Nanpō Islands

Nanpō Islands

The Nanpō Islands is a collective term for the groups of islands that are located to the south of the Japanese archipelago in Micronesia. They extend from the Izu Peninsula west of Tokyo Bay southward for about 1,200 km (750 mi), to within 500 km (310 mi) of the Mariana Islands. The Nanpō Islands are all administered by Tokyo Metropolis.

List of countries by length of coastline

List of countries by length of coastline

This article contains a list of countries by length of coastline, in kilometers. A coastline of zero indicates that the country is landlocked.

Exclusive economic zone of Japan

Exclusive economic zone of Japan

Japan has the eighth-largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world. The total area of Japan is about 380 thousand km2. Japan's EEZ area is vast and the territorial waters and EEZ together is about 12 million km2.

Land reclamation

Land reclamation

Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill, is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or land fill.

Lake Biwa

Lake Biwa

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan. It is located entirely within Shiga Prefecture, northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13th oldest lake in the world. Because of its proximity to Kyoto, references to Lake Biwa appear frequently in Japanese literature, particularly in poetry and in historical accounts of battles.

Emperor Naruhito, current head of state, and Empress Masako participated in the Imperial Procession by motorcar after the Ceremony of the Enthronement in Tokyo on November 10, 2019.

Japan is a unitary state and constitutional monarchy in which the power of the Emperor is limited to a ceremonial role.^[109] Executive power is instead wielded by the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet, whose sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people.^[110] Naruhito is the Emperor of Japan, having succeeded his father Akihito upon his accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019.^[109]

The National Diet Building

Japan's legislative organ is the National Diet, a bicameral parliament.^[109] It consists of a lower House of Representatives with 465 seats, elected by popular vote every four years or when dissolved, and an upper House of Councillors with 245 seats, whose popularly-elected members serve six-year terms.^[111] There is universal suffrage for adults over 18 years of age,^[112] with a secret ballot for all elected offices.^[110] The prime minister as the head of government has the power to appoint and dismiss Ministers of State, and is appointed by the emperor after being designated from among the members of the Diet.^[111] Fumio Kishida is Japan's prime minister; he took office after winning the 2021 Liberal Democratic Party leadership election.^[113] The right-wing big tent Liberal Democratic Party has been the dominant party in the country since the 1950s, often called the 1955 System.^[114]

Historically influenced by Chinese law, the Japanese legal system developed independently during the Edo period through texts such as Kujikata Osadamegaki.^[115] Since the late 19th century, the judicial system has been largely based on the civil law of Europe, notably Germany. In 1896, Japan established a civil code based on the German Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, which remains in effect with post–World War II modifications.^[116] The Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947, is the oldest unamended constitution in the world.^[117] Statutory law originates in the legislature, and the constitution requires that the emperor promulgate legislation passed by the Diet without giving him the power to oppose legislation. The main body of Japanese statutory law is called the Six Codes.^[115] Japan's court system is divided into four basic tiers: the Supreme Court and three levels of lower courts.^[118]

Administrative divisions

Japan is divided into 47 prefectures, each overseen by an elected governor and legislature.^[109] In the following table, the prefectures are grouped by region:^[119]

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

Foreign relations

Japan is a member of both the G7 and the G20.

A member state of the United Nations since 1956, Japan is one of the G4 nations seeking reform of the Security Council.^[120] Japan is a member of the G7, APEC, and "ASEAN Plus Three", and is a participant in the East Asia Summit.^[121] It is the world's fifth-largest donor of official development assistance, donating US$9.2 billion in 2014.^[122] In 2019, Japan had the fourth-largest diplomatic network in the world.^[123]

Japan has close economic and military relations with the United States, with which it maintains a security alliance.^[124] The United States is a major market for Japanese exports and a major source of Japanese imports, and is committed to defending the country, with military bases in Japan.^[124] Japan is also a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (more commonly "the Quad"), a multilateral security dialogue reformed in 2017 aiming to limit Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region, along with the United States, Australia, and India, reflecting existing relations and patterns of cooperation.^[125][126]

Japan's relationship with South Korea had historically been strained because of Japan's treatment of Koreans during Japanese colonial rule, particularly over the issue of comfort women. In 2015, Japan agreed to settle the comfort women dispute with South Korea by issuing a formal apology and paying money to the surviving comfort women.^[127] As of 2019^[update] Japan is a major importer of Korean music (K-pop), television (K-dramas), and other cultural products.^[128][129]

Japan is engaged in several territorial disputes with its neighbors. Japan contests Russia's control of the Southern Kuril Islands, which were occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945.^[130] South Korea's control of the Liancourt Rocks is acknowledged but not accepted as they are claimed by Japan.^[131] Japan has strained relations with China and Taiwan over the Senkaku Islands and the status of Okinotorishima.^[132]

Military

JMSDF Kongō class destroyer

Japan is the second-highest-ranked Asian country in the 2022 Global Peace Index, after Singapore.^[133] It spent 1% of its total GDP on its defence budget in 2020,^[134] and maintains the ninth-largest military budget in the world.^[135] The country's military (the Japan Self-Defense Forces) is restricted by Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which renounces Japan's right to declare war or use military force in international disputes.^[136] The military is governed by the Ministry of Defense, and primarily consists of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. The deployment of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan marked the first overseas use of Japan's military since World War II.^[137]

The Government of Japan has been making changes to its security policy which include the establishment of the National Security Council, the adoption of the National Security Strategy, and the development of the National Defense Program Guidelines.^[138] In May 2014, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe said Japan wanted to shed the passiveness it has maintained since the end of World War II and take more responsibility for regional security.^[139] Recent tensions, particularly with North Korea and China, have reignited the debate over the status of the JSDF and its relation to Japanese society.^[140][141]

Domestic law enforcement

The headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department

Domestic security in Japan is provided mainly by the prefectural police departments, under the oversight of the National Police Agency.^[142] As the central coordinating body for the Prefectural Police Departments, the National Police Agency is administered by the National Public Safety Commission.^[143] The Special Assault Team comprises national-level counter-terrorism tactical units that cooperate with territorial-level Anti-Firearms Squads and Counter-NBC Terrorism Squads.^[144] The Japan Coast Guard guards territorial waters surrounding Japan and uses surveillance and control countermeasures against smuggling, marine environmental crime, poaching, piracy, spy ships, unauthorized foreign fishing vessels, and illegal immigration.^[145]

The Firearm and Sword Possession Control Law strictly regulates the civilian ownership of guns, swords, and other weaponry.^[146][147] According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, among the member states of the UN that report statistics as of 2018^[update], the incidence rates of violent crimes such as murder, abduction, sexual violence, and robbery are very low in Japan.^{[148][149][150][151]}

Discover more about Government and politics related topics

Government of Japan

Government of Japan

The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, containing forty-seven administrative divisions, with the Emperor as its Head of State. His role is ceremonial and he has no powers related to Government. Instead, it is the Cabinet, comprising the Ministers of State and the Prime Minister, that directs and controls the Government and the civil service. The Cabinet has the executive power and is formed by the Prime Minister, who is the Head of Government. The Prime Minister is nominated by the National Diet and appointed to office by the Emperor.

Law of Japan

Law of Japan

The law of Japan refers to legal system in Japan, which is primarily based on legal codes and statutes, with precedents also playing an important role. Japan has a civil law legal system with six legal codes, which were greatly influenced by Germany, to a lesser extent by France, and also adapted to Japanese circumstances. The Japanese Constitution enacted after World War II is the supreme law in Japan. An independent judiciary has the power to review laws and government acts for constitutionality.

Empress Masako

Empress Masako

Masako is the empress of Japan as the consort of Emperor Naruhito, who ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019.

Constitutional monarchy

Constitutional monarchy

A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies differ from absolute monarchies in that they are bound to exercise powers and authorities within limits prescribed by an established legal framework.

Emperor of Japan

Emperor of Japan

The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power". Imperial Household Law governs the line of imperial succession. The emperor is immune from prosecution by the Supreme Court of Japan. He is also the head of the Shinto religion. In Japanese, the emperor is called Tennō , literally "Emperor of heaven" or "Heavenly Sovereign". The Japanese Shinto religion holds him to be the direct descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu. The emperor is also the head of all national Japanese orders, decorations, medals, and awards. In English, the use of the term Mikado (帝／御門) for the emperor was once common but is now considered obsolete.

Cabinet of Japan

Cabinet of Japan

The Cabinet of Japan is the chief executive body of the government of Japan. It consists of the prime minister, who is appointed by the emperor after being nominated by the National Diet, in addition to up to nineteen other members, called Ministers of State.

Naruhito

Naruhito

Naruhito is Emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Akihito. He is the 126th monarch according to Japan's traditional order of succession.

Akihito

Akihito

Akihito is the Emperor Emeritus of Japan who reigned as the 125th Emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei (平成) era, Heisei being an expression of achieving peace worldwide.

Chrysanthemum Throne

Chrysanthemum Throne

The Chrysanthemum Throne is the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term also can refer to very specific seating, such as the Takamikura (高御座) throne in the Shishin-den at Kyoto Imperial Palace.

National Diet

National Diet

The National Diet is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the House of Councillors. Both houses are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally responsible for nominating the Prime Minister. The Diet was first established as the Imperial Diet in 1890 under the Meiji Constitution, and took its current form in 1947 upon the adoption of the post-war constitution. Both houses meet in the National Diet Building in Nagatachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo.

Bicameralism

Bicameralism

Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single group. As of 2022, roughly 40% of world's national legislatures are bicameral, while unicameralism represents 60% nationally, and much more at the subnational level.

House of Representatives (Japan)

House of Representatives (Japan)

The House of Representatives is the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors is the upper house. The composition of the House is established by Article 41 and Article 42 of the Constitution of Japan. The House of Representatives has 465 members, elected for a four-year term. Of these, 176 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation, and 289 are elected from single-member constituencies.

Skyscrapers in Nakanoshima, Osaka; a major financial centre in Japan

Japan has the world's third-largest economy by nominal GDP, after that of the United States and China; and the fourth-largest economy by PPP. As of 2020^[update], Japan's labor force is the world's eighth-largest, and consists of 66.5 million workers.^[77] As of 2021^[update], Japan has a low unemployment rate of around 2.8%.^[152] Its poverty rate is the second highest among the G7 nations,^[153] and exceeds 15.7% of the population.^[154] Japan has the highest ratio of public debt to GDP among advanced economies,^[155] with national debt estimated at 248% relative to GDP as of 2022^[update].^[156] The Japanese yen is the world's third-largest reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro.^[157]

Japan was the world's fourth-largest exporter and importer in 2021.^[158][159] Its exports amounted to 15.6% of its total GDP in 2020.^[160] As of 2019^[update], Japan's main export markets were the United States (19.8 percent) and China (19.1 percent).^[111] Its main exports are motor vehicles, iron and steel products, semiconductors, and auto parts.^[77] Japan's main import markets as of 2019^[update] were China (23.5 percent), the United States (11 percent), and Australia (6.3 percent).^[111] Japan's main imports are machinery and equipment, fossil fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, and raw materials for its industries.^[111]

The Japanese variant of capitalism has many distinct features: keiretsu enterprises are influential, and lifetime employment and seniority-based career advancement are common in the Japanese work environment.^[161][162] Japan has a large cooperative sector, with three of the world's ten largest cooperatives, including the largest consumer cooperative and the largest agricultural cooperative as of 2018^[update].^[163] It ranks highly for competitiveness and economic freedom. Japan ranked sixth in the Global Competitiveness Report in 2019.^[164] It attracted 31.9 million international tourists in 2019,^[165] and was ranked eleventh in the world in 2019 for inbound tourism.^[166] The 2021 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Japan first in the world out of 117 countries.^[167] Its international tourism receipts in 2019 amounted to $46.1 billion.^[166]

Agriculture and fishery

A rice paddy in Aizu, Fukushima Prefecture

The Japanese agricultural sector accounts for about 1.2% of the total country's GDP as of 2018^[update].^[111] Only 11.5% of Japan's land is suitable for cultivation.^[168] Because of this lack of arable land, a system of terraces is used to farm in small areas.^[169] This results in one of the world's highest levels of crop yields per unit area, with an agricultural self-sufficiency rate of about 50% as of 2018^[update].^[170] Japan's small agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected.^[171] There has been a growing concern about farming as farmers are aging with a difficult time finding successors.^[172]

Japan ranked seventh in the world in tonnage of fish caught and captured 3,167,610 metric tons of fish in 2016, down from an annual average of 4,000,000 tons over the previous decade.^[173] Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch,^[77] prompting critiques that Japan's fishing is leading to depletion in fish stocks such as tuna.^[174] Japan has sparked controversy by supporting commercial whaling.^[175]

Industry and services

A plug-in hybrid car manufactured by Toyota. Japan is the third-largest maker of motor vehicles in the world.^[176]

Japan has a large industrial capacity and is home to some of the "largest and most technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemical substances, textiles, and processed foods".^[77] Japan's industrial sector makes up approximately 27.5% of its GDP.^[77] The country's manufacturing output is the third highest in the world as of 2019^[update].^[177]

Japan is the third-largest automobile producer in the world as of 2017^[update] and is home to Toyota, the world's largest automobile company by vehicle production.^[176][178] The Japanese shipbuilding industry faces competition from South Korea and China; a 2020 government initiative identified this sector as a target for increasing exports.^[179]

Japan's service sector accounts for about 70% of its total economic output as of 2019^[update].^[180] Banking, retail, transportation, and telecommunications are all major industries, with companies such as Toyota, Mitsubishi UFJ, -NTT, ÆON, Softbank, Hitachi, and Itochu listed as among the largest in the world.^[181][182]

Science and technology

The Japanese Experiment Module (Kibō) at the International Space Station

Japan is a leading nation in scientific research, particularly in the natural sciences and engineering. The country ranks twelfth among the most innovative countries in the 2020 Bloomberg Innovation Index and 13th in the Global Innovation Index in 2022, up from 15th in 2019.^[183][184] Relative to gross domestic product, Japan's research and development budget is the second highest in the world,^[185] with 867,000 researchers sharing a 19-trillion-yen research and development budget as of 2017^[update].^[186] The country has produced twenty-two Nobel laureates in either physics, chemistry or medicine,^[187] and three Fields medalists.^[188]

Japan leads the world in robotics production and use, supplying 55% of the world's 2017 total.^[189] Japan has the second highest number of researchers in science and technology per capita in the world with 14 per 1000 employees.^[190]

Once considered the strongest in the world, the Japanese consumer electronics industry is in a state of decline as competition arises in countries like South Korea and China.^[191] However, video gaming in Japan remains a major industry. In 2014, Japan's consumer video game market grossed $9.6 billion, with $5.8 billion coming from mobile gaming.^[192] By 2015, Japan had become the world's fourth-largest PC game market, behind only China, the United States, and South Korea.^[193]

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is Japan's national space agency; it conducts space, planetary, and aviation research, and leads development of rockets and satellites.^[194] It is a participant in the International Space Station: the Japanese Experiment Module (Kibō) was added to the station during Space Shuttle assembly flights in 2008.^[195] The space probe Akatsuki was launched in 2010 and achieved orbit around Venus in 2015.^[196] Japan's plans in space exploration include building a moon base and landing astronauts by 2030.^[197] In 2007, it launched lunar explorer SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) from Tanegashima Space Center. The largest lunar mission since the Apollo program, its purpose was to gather data on the moon's origin and evolution. The explorer entered a lunar orbit on October 4, 2007,^[198][199] and was deliberately crashed into the Moon on June 11, 2009.^[200]

Discover more about Economy related topics

Economy of Japan

Economy of Japan

The economy of Japan is a highly developed social market economy, often referred to as an East Asian model. It is the third-largest in the world by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It is the world's second-largest developed economy. Japan is a member of both the G7 and G20. According to the World Bank, the country's per capita GDP (PPP) was at $49,000 (2022). Due to a volatile currency exchange rate, Japan's GDP as measured in dollars fluctuates sharply. Accounting for these fluctuations through the use of the Atlas method, Japan is estimated to have a GDP per capita around $39,048. The Japanese economy is forecast by the Quarterly Tankan survey of business sentiment conducted by the Bank of Japan. The Nikkei 225 presents the monthly report of top blue chip equities on the Japan Exchange Group, which is the world's fifth-largest stock exchange by market capitalisation. In 2018, Japan was the world's fourth-largest importer and the fourth-largest exporter. It has the world's second-largest foreign-exchange reserves, worth $1.4 trillion. It ranks 5th on the Global Competitiveness Report. It ranks first in the world in the Economic Complexity Index. Japan is also the world's fourth-largest consumer market.

Financial centre

Financial centre

A financial centre (BE), financial center (AE), or financial hub, is a location with a concentration of participants in banking, asset management, insurance or financial markets with venues and supporting services for these activities to take place. Participants can include financial intermediaries, institutional investors, and issuers. Trading activity can take place on venues such as exchanges and involve clearing houses, although many transactions take place over-the-counter (OTC), that is directly between participants. Financial centres usually host companies that offer a wide range of financial services, for example relating to mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, or corporate actions; or which participate in other areas of finance, such as private equity, hedge funds, and reinsurance. Ancillary financial services include rating agencies, as well as provision of related professional services, particularly legal advice and accounting services.

List of countries by GDP (nominal)

List of countries by GDP (nominal)

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the market value of all final goods and services from a nation in a given year. Countries are sorted by nominal GDP estimates from financial and statistical institutions, which are calculated at market or government official exchange rates. Nominal GDP does not take into account differences in the cost of living in different countries, and the results can vary greatly from one year to another based on fluctuations in the exchange rates of the country's currency. Such fluctuations may change a country's ranking from one year to the next, even though they often make little or no difference in the standard of living of its population.

List of countries by GDP (PPP)

List of countries by GDP (PPP)

GDP (PPP) means gross domestic product based on purchasing power parity. This article includes a list of countries by their forecast estimated GDP (PPP). Countries are sorted by GDP (PPP) forecast estimates from financial and statistical institutions that calculate using market or government official exchange rates. The data given on this page are based on the international dollar, a standardized unit used by economists. Certain regions that are not widely considered countries such as Hong Kong also show up in the list if they are distinct jurisdiction areas or economic entities.

Labor market of Japan

Labor market of Japan

The labor force in Japan numbered 65.9 million people in 2010, which was 59.6% of the population of 15 years old and older, and amongst them, 62.57 million people were employed, whereas 3.34 million people were unemployed which made the unemployment rate 5.1%. The structure of Japan's labor market experienced gradual change in the late 1980s and continued this trend throughout the 1990s. The structure of the labor market is affected by: 1) shrinking population, 2) replacement of postwar baby boom generation, 3) increasing numbers of women in the labor force, and 4) workers' rising education level. Also, an increase in the number of foreign nationals in the labor force is foreseen.

List of countries by labour force

List of countries by labour force

This is a list of countries by size of the labour force mostly based on The World Factbook.

Japanese yen

Japanese yen

The yen is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro.

List of countries by exports

List of countries by exports

List of countries by imports

List of countries by imports

This is a list of countries by total imports, based on the International Trade Centre except for the European Union.

Keiretsu

Keiretsu

A keiretsu is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings that have dominated the Japanese economy since the second half of the 20th century. In the legal sense, it is a type of informal business group that are loosely organized alliances within the social world of Japan's business community. It rose up to replace the zaibatsu system that was dissolved in the Occupation of Japan following the Second World War, and, though their influence has shrunk since the late 20th century—they continue to be important forces in Japan's economy in the early 21st century.

Japanese work environment

Japanese work environment

Many both in and outside Japan share an image of the Japanese work environment that is based on a "simultaneous recruiting of new graduates" and "lifetime-employment" model used by large companies as well as a reputation of long work-hours and strong devotion to one's company. This environment is said to reflect economic conditions beginning in the 1920s, when major corporations competing in the international marketplace began to accrue the same prestige that had traditionally been ascribed to the daimyō–retainer relationship of feudal Japan or government service in the Meiji Restoration.

Cooperative

Cooperative

A cooperative is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise". Cooperatives are democratically controlled by their members, with each member having one vote in electing the board of directors. Cooperatives may include:businesses owned and managed by the people who consume their goods and/or services businesses where producers pool their output for their common benefit organizations managed by the people who work there businesses where members pool their purchasing power multi-stakeholder or hybrid cooperatives that share ownership between different stakeholder groups. For example, care cooperatives where ownership is shared between both care-givers and receivers. Stakeholders might also include non-profits or investors. second- and third-tier cooperatives whose members are other cooperatives platform cooperatives that use a cooperatively owned and governed website, mobile app or a protocol to facilitate the sale of goods and services.

Transportation

Japan Airlines, the flag carrier of Japan

Japan has invested heavily in transportation infrastructure.^[201] The country has approximately 1,200,000 kilometers (750,000 miles) of roads made up of 1,000,000 kilometers (620,000 miles) of city, town and village roads, 130,000 kilometers (81,000 miles) of prefectural roads, 54,736 kilometers (34,011 miles) of general national highways and 7641 kilometers (4748 miles) of national expressways as of 2017^[update].^[202]

Since privatization in 1987,^[203] dozens of Japanese railway companies compete in regional and local passenger transportation markets; major companies include seven JR enterprises, Kintetsu, Seibu Railway and Keio Corporation. The high-speed Shinkansen (bullet trains) that connect major cities are known for their safety and punctuality.^[204]

There are 175 airports in Japan as of 2013^[update].^[77] The largest domestic airport, Haneda Airport in Tokyo, was Asia's second-busiest airport in 2019.^[205] The Keihin and Hanshin superport hubs are among the largest in the world, at 7.98 and 5.22 million TEU respectively as of 2017^[update].^[206]

Energy

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant

As of 2019^[update], 37.1% of energy in Japan was produced from petroleum, 25.1% from coal, 22.4% from natural gas, 3.5% from hydropower and 2.8% from nuclear power, among other sources. Nuclear power was down from 11.2 percent in 2010.^[207] By May 2012 all of the country's nuclear power plants had been taken offline because of ongoing public opposition following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March 2011, though government officials continued to try to sway public opinion in favor of returning at least some to service.^[208] The Sendai Nuclear Power Plant restarted in 2015,^[209] and since then several other nuclear power plants have been restarted.^[210] Japan lacks significant domestic reserves and has a heavy dependence on imported energy.^[211] The country has therefore aimed to diversify its sources and maintain high levels of energy efficiency.^[212]

Water supply and sanitation

Responsibility for the water and sanitation sector is shared between the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, in charge of water supply for domestic use; the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, in charge of water resources development as well as sanitation; the Ministry of the Environment, in charge of ambient water quality and environmental preservation; and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, in charge of performance benchmarking of utilities.^[213] Access to an improved water source is universal in Japan. About 98% of the population receives piped water supply from public utilities.^[214]

Discover more about Infrastructure related topics

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. , also known as JAL (Jaru) or Nikkō (日航), is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as well as Osaka's Kansai International Airport and Itami Airport. the JAL group of which it forms part include Japan Airlines as well as J-Air, Japan Air Commuter, Japan Transocean Air, and Ryukyu Air Commuter for domestic feeder services, and JAL Cargo for cargo and mail services.

Flag carrier

Flag carrier

A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations.

Expressways of Japan

Expressways of Japan

The expressways of Japan make up a large network of controlled-access toll expressways.

List of railway companies in Japan

List of railway companies in Japan

List of railway companies in Japan lists Japanese railway operators.

Japan Railways Group

Japan Railways Group

The Japan Railways Group, more commonly known as the JR Group or simply JR, consists of seven for-profit stock companies that took over most of the assets and operations of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. Most of the liability of the JNR was assumed by the JNR Settlement Corporation.

Kintetsu Railway

Kintetsu Railway

Kintetsu Railway Co., Ltd. , referred to as Kintetsu (近鉄), is a Japanese passenger railway company, managing infrastructure and operating passenger train service. Its railway system is the largest in Japan, excluding Japan Railways Group. The railway network connects Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Nagoya, Tsu, Ise, and Yoshino. Kintetsu Railway Co., Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kintetsu Group Holdings Co., Ltd.

Keio Corporation

Keio Corporation

Keio Corporation is a private railway operator in Tokyo, Japan, and the central firm of the Keio Group that is involved in transport, retail, real estate and other industries.

Haneda Airport

Haneda Airport

Haneda Airport , officially Tokyo International Airport , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport, is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary base of Japan's two major domestic airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, as well as Air Do, Skymark Airlines, Solaseed Air, and StarFlyer. It is located in Ōta, Tokyo, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Tokyo Station.

Energy in Japan

Energy in Japan

Energy in Japan refers to energy and electricity production, consumption, import and export in Japan. The country's primary energy consumption was 477.6 Mtoe in 2011, a decrease of 5% over the previous year.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant is a large, modern nuclear power plant on a 4.2-square-kilometer (1,000-acre) site. The campus spans the towns of Kashiwazaki and Kariwa in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, on the coast of the Sea of Japan, where it gets cooling water. The plant is owned and operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), and it is the largest nuclear generating station in the world by net electrical power rating.

Hydropower

Hydropower

Hydropower, also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a water source to produce power. Hydropower is a method of sustainable energy production. Hydropower is now used principally for hydroelectric power generation, and is also applied as one half of an energy storage system known as pumped-storage hydroelectricity. Hydropower is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels as it does not directly produce carbon dioxide or other atmospheric pollutants and it provides a relatively consistent source of power. Nonetheless, it has economic, sociological, and environmental downsides and requires a sufficiently energetic source of water, such as a river or elevated lake. International institutions such as the World Bank view hydropower as a low-carbon means for economic development.

List of countries by oil imports

List of countries by oil imports

This is a list of countries by oil imports based on The World Factbook ^ and other sources. Many countries also export oil, and some export more oil than they import.

View of Tokyo from the top of the Tokyo Skytree. The Greater Tokyo Area is ranked as the most populous metropolitan area in the world.

Japan has a population of 125.4 million, of which 122.8 million are Japanese nationals (2021 estimates).^[215] A small population of foreign residents makes up the remainder.^[216] In 2019, 92% of the total Japanese population lived in cities.^[217] The capital city Tokyo has a population of 13.9 million (2022).^[218] It is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, the biggest metropolitan area in the world with 38,140,000 people (2016).^[219] Japan is an ethnically and culturally homogeneous society,^[220] the Japanese people form 98.1% of the country's population.^[221] Minority ethnic groups in the country include the indigenous Ainu and Ryukyuan people.^[222] Zainichi Koreans,^[223] Chinese,^[224] Filipinos,^[225] Brazilians mostly of Japanese descent,^[226] and Peruvians mostly of Japanese descent are also among Japan's small minority groups.^[227] Burakumin make up a social minority group.^[228]

Japan is the world's fastest aging country and has the highest proportion of elderly citizens of any country, comprising one-third of its total population;^[229] this is the result of a post–World War II baby boom, which was followed by an increase in life expectancy and a decrease in birth rates.^[230] Japan has a total fertility rate of 1.4, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1, and is among the world's lowest;^[231] it has a median age of 48.4, the highest in the world.^[232] As of 2020^[update], over 28.7 percent of the population is over 65, or one in four out of the Japanese population.^[229] As a growing number of younger Japanese are not marrying or remaining childless,^[233][234] Japan's population is expected to drop to around 88 million by 2065.^[229]

The changes in demographic structure have created several social issues, particularly a decline in the workforce population and an increase in the cost of social security benefits.^[233] The government of Japan projects that there will be almost one elderly person for each person of working age by 2060.^[232] Immigration and birth incentives are sometimes suggested as a solution to provide younger workers to support the nation's aging population.^[235][236] On April 1, 2019, Japan's revised immigration law was enacted, protecting the rights of foreign workers to help reduce labor shortages in certain sectors.^[237]

Religion

The torii of Itsukushima Shinto Shrine near Hiroshima

Japan's constitution guarantees full religious freedom.^[238] Upper estimates suggest that 84–96 percent of the Japanese population subscribe to Shinto as its indigenous religion.^[239] However, these estimates are based on people affiliated with a temple, rather than the number of true believers. Many Japanese people practice both Shinto and Buddhism; they can either identify with both religions or describe themselves as non-religious or spiritual.^[240] The level of participation in religious ceremonies as a cultural tradition remains high, especially during festivals and occasions such as the first shrine visit of the New Year.^[241] Taoism and Confucianism from China have also influenced Japanese beliefs and customs.^[242]

Christianity was first introduced into Japan by Jesuit missions starting in 1549. Today, 1%^[243] to 1.5% of the population are Christians.^[244] Throughout the latest century, Western customs originally related to Christianity (including Western style weddings, Valentine's Day and Christmas) have become popular as secular customs among many Japanese.^[245]

About 90% of those practicing Islam in Japan are foreign-born migrants as of 2016^[update].^[246] As of 2018^[update] there were an estimated 105 mosques and 200,000 Muslims in Japan, 43,000 of which were Japanese nationals.^[247] Other minority religions include Hinduism, Judaism, and Baháʼí Faith, as well as the animist beliefs of the Ainu.^[248]

Languages

Kanji and hiragana signs

The Japanese language is Japan's de facto national language and the primary written and spoken language of most people in the country.^[249] Japanese writing uses kanji (Chinese characters) and two sets of kana (syllabaries based on cursive script and radicals used by kanji), as well as the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals.^[250] English has taken a major role in Japan as a business and international link language. As a result, the prevalence of English in the educational system has increased, with English classes becoming mandatory at all levels of the Japanese school system by 2020.^[249] Japanese Sign Language is the primary sign language used in Japan and has gained some official recognition, but its usage has been historically hindered by discriminatory policies and a lack of educational support.^[249]

Besides Japanese, the Ryukyuan languages (Amami, Kunigami, Okinawan, Miyako, Yaeyama, Yonaguni), part of the Japonic language family, are spoken in the Ryukyu Islands chain.^[251] Few children learn these languages,^[252] but local governments have sought to increase awareness of the traditional languages.^[253] The Ainu language, which is a language isolate, is moribund, with only a few native speakers remaining as of 2014^[update].^[254] Additionally, a number of other languages are taught and used by ethnic minorities, immigrant communities, and a growing number of foreign-language students, such as Korean (including a distinct Zainichi Korean dialect), Chinese and Portuguese.^[249]

Education

Students celebrating after the announcement of the results of the entrance examinations to the University of Tokyo

Since the 1947 Fundamental Law of Education, compulsory education in Japan comprises elementary and junior high school, which together last for nine years.^[255] Almost all children continue their education at a three-year senior high school.^[256] The two top-ranking universities in Japan are the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University.^[257] Starting in April 2016, various schools began the academic year with elementary school and junior high school integrated into one nine-year compulsory schooling program; MEXT plans for this approach to be adopted nationwide.^[258]

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) coordinated by the OECD ranks the knowledge and skills of Japanese 15-year-olds as the third best in the world.^[259] Japan is one of the top-performing OECD countries in reading literacy, math and sciences with the average student scoring 520 and has one of the world's highest-educated labor forces among OECD countries.^{[260][259][261]} It spent roughly 3.1% of its total GDP on education as of 2018^[update],^[262] below the OECD average of 4.9%.^[263] In 2021, the country ranked third for the percentage of 25 to 64-year-olds that have attained tertiary education with 55.6%.^[264] Approximately 65% of Japanese aged 25 to 34 have some form of tertiary education qualification, and bachelor's degrees are held by 34.2% of Japanese aged 25 to 64, the second most in the OECD after South Korea.^[264] In 2020, the share of women among tertiary programmes graduates was 51,8%.^[264]

Health

Health care in Japan 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.^[265] Since 1973, all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance.^[266]

Japan spent 10.74% of its total GDP on healthcare in 2019.^[267] In 2020, the overall life expectancy in Japan at birth was 84.62 years (81.64 years for males and 87.74 years for females), the highest in the world;^[268] while it had a very low infant mortality rate (2 per 1,000 live births).^[269] Since 1981, the principal cause of death in Japan is cancer, which accounted for 27% of the total deaths in 2018—followed by cardiovascular diseases, which led to 15% of the deaths.^[270] Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates, which is considered a major social issue.^[271] Another significant public health issue is smoking among Japanese men.^[272] However, Japan has the lowest rate of heart disease in the OECD, and the lowest level of dementia among developed countries.^[273]

Discover more about Demographics related topics

Demographics of Japan

Demographics of Japan

The demographic features of the population of Japan include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects regarding the population.

Japanese people

Japanese people

The Japanese people are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago. Japanese people constitute 97.9% of the population of the country of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 129 million people are of Japanese descent, making them one of the largest ethnic groups. Approximately 122.5 million Japanese people are residents of Japan, as opposed to the Japanese diaspora, Nikkeijin (日系人).

Ethnic groups of Japan

Ethnic groups of Japan

Among the several native ethnic groups of Japan, the predominant group are the Yamato Japanese, who trace their origins back to the Yayoi period and have held political dominance since the Asuka period. Other historical ethnic groups have included the Ainu, the Ryukyuan people, the Emishi, and the Hayato; some of whom were dispersed or absorbed by other groups. Ethnic groups that inhabited the Japanese islands during prehistory include the Jomon people and lesser-known Paleolithic groups. In more recent history, a number of immigrants from other countries have made their home in Japan. According to census statistics in 2018, 97.8% of the population of Japan are Japanese, with the remainder being foreign nationals residing in Japan. The number of foreign workers has been increased dramatically in recent years, due to the aging population and the lack of labor force. A news article in 2018 states that approximately 1 out of 10 young people residing in Tokyo are foreign nationals.

List of metropolitan areas in Japan

List of metropolitan areas in Japan

This is a list of metropolitan areas in Japan by population as defined by the Statistics Bureau of Japan (SBJ) and the Center for Spatial Information Service of the University of Tokyo. The region containing most of the people in Japan between Tokyo and Fukuoka is often called the Taiheiyō Belt.

List of cities in Japan

List of cities in Japan

This is a list of cities in Japan sorted by prefecture and within prefecture by founding date. The list is also sortable by population, area, density and foundation date. Most large cities in Japan are cities designated by government ordinance. Some regionally important cities are designated as core cities. Tokyo is not included on this list, as the City of Tokyo ceased to exist on July 1, 1943. Tokyo now exists as a special metropolis prefecture, with 23 special wards making up the former boundaries of the former city in the eastern half of the prefecture.

Greater Tokyo Area

Greater Tokyo Area

The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan as well as the prefecture of Yamanashi of the neighboring Chūbu region. In Japanese, it is referred to by various terms, one of the most common being Capital Region .

List of countries ranked by ethnic and cultural diversity level

List of countries ranked by ethnic and cultural diversity level

This article contains lists of countries ranked by ethnic and cultural diversity level.

Ainu people

Ainu people

The Ainu are the indigenous people of the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, including Hokkaido Island, Northeast Honshu Island, Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula and Khabarovsk Krai, before the arrival of the Yamato Japanese and Russians. These regions are referred to as Ezo (蝦夷) in historical Japanese texts.

Koreans in Japan

Koreans in Japan

Koreans in Japan comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have emigrated to Japan after the end of World War II and the division of Korea.

Chinese people in Japan

Chinese people in Japan

Chinese people in Japan include any people self-identifying as ethnic Chinese or people possessing Chinese citizenship living in Japan. People aged 22 or older cannot possess dual-citizenship in Japan, so Chinese possessing Japanese citizenship typically no longer possess Chinese citizenship. The term "Chinese people" typically refers to the Han Chinese, the main ethnic group living in China (PRC), Taiwan (ROC) and Singapore. Officially, China (PRC) is home to 55 additional ethnic minorities, including people such as Tibetans, though these people might not self-identify as Chinese. Han Chinese people have had a long history in Japan as a minority.

Filipinos in Japan

Filipinos in Japan

Filipinos in Japan formed a population of 298,740 in December 2022 individuals, making them Japan's fourth-largest foreign community, according to the statistics of the Philippines. Filipinos in Japan formed a population of 325,000 individuals at year-end 2020, making them Japan's third-largest foreign community along with Vietnamese, according to the statistics of the Philippine Global National Inquirer and the Ministry of Justice. Their population reached as high as 245,518 in 1998, but fell to 144,871 individuals in 2000 before beginning to recover slightly when Japan cracked down on human trafficking. In 2006, Japanese/Filipino marriages were the most frequent of all international marriages in Japan. As of 2016, the Filipino population in Japan was 237,103 according to the Ministry of Justice. In December 2021, the number of Filipinos in Japan was estimated at 276,615.

Burakumin

Burakumin

Burakumin is a name for a social group in Japan. It is a term for ethnic Japanese people who are believed to descend from the pre-Meiji castes associated with kegare , such as executioners, undertakers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, or tanners.

Contemporary Japanese culture combines influences from Asia, Europe, and North America.^[274] 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.^[275] Twenty-two sites have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, eighteen of which are of cultural significance.^[102] Japan is considered a cultural superpower.^[276][277] The culture of Japan has left a lasting impact within global cultural flows, across numerous arts and media industries;^{[278][279][280]} in genres and lifestyles as diverse as abstract art,^[281] Christian media,^[282] electronic dance music,^[283] science fiction,^[284] and Westerns.^[285]

Art and architecture

Hokusai's 19th-century ukiyo-e woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Ritsurin Garden, one of the most famous strolling gardens in Japan

The history of Japanese painting exhibits synthesis and competition between native Japanese esthetics and imported ideas.^[286] 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.^[286]

Japanese architecture is a combination of local and other influences. It has traditionally been typified by wooden or mud plaster structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs.^[287] The Shrines of Ise have been celebrated as the prototype of Japanese architecture.^[288] 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.^[289] Since the 19th century, Japan has incorporated much of Western modern architecture into construction and design.^[290] It was not until after World War II that Japanese architects made an impression on the international scene, firstly with the work of architects like Kenzō Tange and then with movements like Metabolism.^[291]

Literature and philosophy

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.^[292][293] In the early Heian period, the system of phonograms known as kana (hiragana and katakana) was developed.^[294] The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest extant Japanese narrative.^[295] An account of 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.^[296][297]

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.^[298] The Meiji era saw the decline of traditional literary forms as Japanese literature integrated Western influences. Natsume Sōseki and Mori Ōgai were significant novelists in the early 20th century, followed by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Kafū Nagai and, more recently, Haruki Murakami and Kenji Nakagami. Japan has two Nobel Prize-winning authors – Yasunari Kawabata (1968) and Kenzaburō Ōe (1994).^[299]

Japanese philosophy has historically been a fusion of both foreign, particularly Chinese and Western, and uniquely Japanese elements. In its literary forms, Japanese philosophy began about fourteen centuries ago. Confucian ideals remain evident in the Japanese concept of society and the self, and in the organization of the government and the structure of society.^[300] Buddhism has profoundly impacted Japanese psychology, metaphysics, and esthetics.^[301]

Performing arts

Noh performance at a Shinto shrine

Japanese music is eclectic and diverse. Many instruments, such as the koto, were introduced in the 9th and 10th centuries. The popular folk music, with the guitar-like shamisen, dates from the 16th century.^[302] Western classical music, introduced in the late 19th century, forms an integral part of Japanese culture.^[303] Kumi-daiko (ensemble drumming) was developed in postwar Japan and became very popular in North America.^[304] Popular music in post-war Japan has been heavily influenced by American and European trends, which has led to the evolution of J-pop.^[305] Karaoke is a significant cultural activity.^[306]

The four traditional theaters from Japan are noh, kyōgen, kabuki, and bunraku.^[307] Noh is one of the oldest continuous theater traditions in the world.^[308]

Holidays

Young ladies celebrate Coming of Age Day (成人の日, Seijin no Hi) in Harajuku, Tokyo.

Officially, Japan has 16 national, government-recognized holidays. Public holidays in Japan are regulated by the Public Holiday Law (国民の祝日に関する法律, Kokumin no Shukujitsu ni Kansuru Hōritsu) of 1948.^[309] Beginning in 2000, Japan implemented the Happy Monday System, which moved a number of national holidays to Monday in order to obtain a long weekend.^[310] The national holidays in Japan are New Year's Day on January 1, Coming of Age Day on the second Monday of January, National Foundation Day on February 11, The Emperor's Birthday on February 23, Vernal Equinox Day on March 20 or 21, Shōwa Day on April 29, Constitution Memorial Day on May 3, Greenery Day on May 4, Children's Day on May 5, Marine Day on the third Monday of July, Mountain Day on August 11, Respect for the Aged Day on the third Monday of September, Autumnal Equinox on September 23 or 24, Health and Sports Day on the second Monday of October, Culture Day on November 3, and Labor Thanksgiving Day on November 23.^[311]

Cuisine

A plate of nigiri-zushi

Japanese cuisine offers a vast array of regional specialties that use traditional recipes and local ingredients.^[312] Seafood and Japanese rice or noodles are traditional staples.^[313] Japanese curry, since its introduction to Japan from British India, is so widely consumed that it can be termed a national dish, alongside ramen and sushi.^[314][315] Traditional Japanese sweets are known as wagashi.^[316] Ingredients such as red bean paste and mochi are used. More modern-day tastes include green tea ice cream.^[317]

Popular Japanese beverages include sake, which is a brewed rice beverage that typically contains 14–17% alcohol and is made by multiple fermentation of rice.^[318] Beer has been brewed in Japan since the late 17th century.^[319] Green tea is produced in Japan and prepared in forms such as matcha, used in the Japanese tea ceremony.^[320]

Media

According to the 2015 NHK survey on television viewing in Japan, 79 percent of Japanese watch television daily.^[321] Japanese television dramas are viewed both within Japan and internationally;^[322] other popular shows are in the genres of variety shows, comedy, and news programs.^[323] Many Japanese media franchises such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Naruto have gained considerable global popularity and are among the world's highest-grossing media franchises. Pokémon in particular is estimated to be the highest-grossing media franchise of all time. Japanese newspapers are among the most circulated in the world as of 2016^[update].^[324]

Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries globally.^[325] Ishirō Honda's Godzilla became an international icon of Japan and spawned an entire subgenre of kaiju films, as well as the longest-running film franchise in history.^[326][327] Japanese comics, known as manga, developed in the mid-20th century and have become popular worldwide.^[328][329] A large number of manga series have become some of the best-selling comics series of all time, rivalling the American comics industry.^[330] Japanese animated films and television series, known as anime, were largely influenced by Japanese manga and have become highly popular internationally.^[331][332]

Sports

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

Traditionally, sumo is considered Japan's national sport.^[333] Japanese martial arts such as judo and kendo are taught as part of the compulsory junior high school curriculum.^[334] Baseball is the most popular spectator sport in the country.^[335] Japan's top professional league, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), was established in 1936.^[336] Since the establishment of the Japan Professional Football League (J.League) in 1992, association football gained a wide following.^[337] The country co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South Korea.^[338] Japan has one of the most successful football teams in Asia, winning the Asian Cup four times,^[339] and the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2011.^[340] Golf is also popular in Japan.^[341]

In motorsport, Japanese automotive manufacturers have been successful in multiple different categories, with titles and victories in series such as Formula One, MotoGP, and the World Rally Championship.^{[342][343][344]} Drivers from Japan have victories at the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as podium finishes in Formula One, in addition to success in domestic championships.^[345][346] Super GT is the most popular national racing series in Japan, while Super Formula is the top-level domestic open-wheel series.^[347] The country hosts major races such as the Japanese Grand Prix.^[348]

Japan hosted the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964 and the Winter Olympics in Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.^[349] The country hosted the official 2006 Basketball World Championship^[350] and will co-host the 2023 Basketball World Championship.^[351] Tokyo hosted the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021, making Tokyo the first Asian city to host the Olympics twice.^[352] The country gained the hosting rights for the official Women's Volleyball World Championship on five occasions, more than any other nation.^[353] Japan is the most successful Asian Rugby Union country^[354] and hosted the 2019 IRB Rugby World Cup.^[355]

Discover more about Culture related topics

Culture of Japan

Culture of Japan

The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world.

Japanese popular culture

Japanese popular culture

Japanese popular culture includes Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, anime, manga, video games, music, and doujinshi, all of which retain older artistic and literary traditions; many of their themes and styles of presentation can be traced to traditional art forms. Contemporary forms of popular culture, much like the traditional forms, are not only forms of entertainment but also factors that distinguish contemporary Japan from the rest of the modern world. There is a large industry of music, films, and the products of a huge comic book industry, among other forms of entertainment. Game centers, bowling alleys, and karaoke parlors are well-known hangout places for teens while older people may play shogi or go in specialized parlors. Since the end of the US occupation of Japan in 1952, Japanese popular culture has been influenced by American media. However, rather than being dominated by American products, Japan localised these influences by appropriating and absorbing foreign influences into local media industries. Today, Japanese popular culture stands as one of the most prominent popular cultures around the world.

Japanese pottery and porcelain

Japanese pottery and porcelain

Pottery and porcelain , is one of the oldest Japanese crafts and art forms, dating back to the Neolithic period. Kilns have produced earthenware, pottery, stoneware, glazed pottery, glazed stoneware, porcelain, and blue-and-white ware. Japan has an exceptionally long and successful history of ceramic production. Earthenwares were made as early as the Jōmon period, giving Japan one of the oldest ceramic traditions in the world. Japan is further distinguished by the unusual esteem that ceramics holds within its artistic tradition, owing to the enduring popularity of the tea ceremony.

Japanese lacquerware

Japanese lacquerware

Lacquerware is a Japanese craft with a wide range of fine and decorative arts, as lacquer has been used in urushi-e, prints, and on a wide variety of objects from Buddha statues to bento boxes for food.

Japanese sword

Japanese sword

A Japanese sword is one of several types of traditionally made swords from Japan. Bronze swords were made as early as the Yayoi period, though most people generally refer to the curved blades made from the Heian period to the present day when speaking of "Japanese swords". There are many types of Japanese swords that differ by size, shape, field of application and method of manufacture. Some of the more commonly known types of Japanese swords are the uchigatana, tachi, odachi, wakizashi, and tantō.

Bunraku

Bunraku

Bunraku is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a bunraku performance: the Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai (puppeteers), the tayū (chanters), and shamisen musicians. Occasionally other instruments such as taiko drums will be used. The combination of chanting and shamisen playing is called jōruri and the Japanese word for puppet is ningyō. It is used in many plays.

Japanese traditional dance

Japanese traditional dance

Japanese traditional dance describes a number of Japanese dance styles with a long history and prescribed method of performance. Some of the oldest forms of traditional Japanese dance may be among those transmitted through the kagura tradition, or folk dances relating to food producing activities such as planting rice and fishing, including rain dances. There are large number of these traditional dances, which are often subfixed -odori, -asobi, and -mai, and may be specific to a region or village. Mai and odori are the two main groups of Japanese dances, and the term buyō (舞踊) was coined in modern times as a general term for dance, by combining mai (舞) and odori (踊).

Japanese tea ceremony

Japanese tea ceremony

The Japanese tea ceremony is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha (抹茶), powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called temae (点前). While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is seldom ceremonial in practice. Most often tea is served to family, friends, and associates; religious and ceremonial connotations are overstated in western spaces. The English term "Teaism" was coined by Okakura Kakuzō to describe the unique worldview associated with Japanese tea ceremony, as opposed to focusing just on the ceremonial aspect, a perspective that many practicioners frown upon.

Ikebana

Ikebana

Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as kadō . The tradition dates back to Heian period (794–1185), when floral offerings were made at altars. Later, flower arrangements were instead used to adorn the tokonoma (alcove) of a traditional Japanese home.

Japanese martial arts

Japanese martial arts

Japanese martial arts refers to the variety of martial arts native to the country of Japan. At least three Japanese terms are used interchangeably with the English phrase Japanese martial arts.

Japanese calligraphy

Japanese calligraphy

Japanese calligraphy , also called shūji (習字), is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. Written Japanese was originally based on Chinese characters only, but the advent of the hiragana and katakana Japanese syllabaries resulted in intrinsically Japanese calligraphy styles.

Geisha

Geisha

Geisha (芸者), also known as geiko (芸子) or geigi (芸妓), are a class of female Japanese performing artists and entertainers trained in traditional Japanese performing arts styles, such as dance, music and singing, as well as being proficient conversationalists and hosts. Their distinct appearance is characterised by long, trailing kimono, traditional hairstyles and oshiroi make-up. Geisha entertain at parties known as ozashiki, often for the entertainment of wealthy clientele, as well as performing on stage and at festivals.