Japan History
Japan (Japanese: Nihon, Nippon or Japan, [note 1], formally Nihonkoku, Nihonkoku [note 2]) is an island country in East Asia. It is located in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, with the Sea of Okhotsk in the north, the East China Sea, the Philippine Sea and Taiwan in the south, and the Sea of Japan in the west. Part of the Ring of Fire, Japan spans an archipelago of her 6,852 islands covering an area of 377,975 square kilometers (145,937 square miles). The five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. The country's capital and largest city is Tokyo, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe and Kyoto. Japan is her 11th most populous country in the world and one of her most densely populated and urbanized. About three-quarters of the country is mountainous and 125.5 million people are concentrated in the narrow coastal plain. Japan is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and her eight traditional regions. With over 37.4 million people, the metropolitan area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world. Japan has been inhabited since the Upper Paleolithic (30,000 BC), but the first mention of the archipelago appears in a Chinese chronicle (Hanshu) completed in the 2nd century AD. From the 4th century to his 9th century, the kingdom of Japan was united under his single emperor and imperial court based in Heiankyo. From the 12th century onwards, political power was held by a series of military dictators (shogun) and feudal lords (daimyo), reinforced by the samurai class (bushi). After centuries of civil war, the country was reunited in 1603 under the Tokugawa Shogunate, which pursued a policy of isolation. In 1854, an American fleet forced Japan to trade westward, leading to the end of the shogunate in 1868 and the restoration of imperial power. During the Meiji period, the Empire of Japan adopted a Western-style constitution and pursued a program of industrialization and modernization. Amid the rise of militarism and overseas colonization, Japan invaded China in her 1937 and entered World War II as an Axis power in 1941. After losing the Pacific War and dropping two atomic bombs, Japan surrendered in 1945 and was placed under Allied occupation for seven years. Meanwhile, Japan adopted a new constitution and entered into a military alliance with the United States. Under the 1947 Constitution, Japan maintained a single parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament, the Diet. Japan is a major power and a member of many international organizations such as the United Nations (since 1956), OECD, G20 and G7. Despite waiving the right to declare war, the country maintains the world's most powerful self-defense forces. After World War II, Japan experienced miraculous economic growth, becoming the second largest economy in the world in 1972, but since 1995 it has been stagnating in the so-called lost decades. increase. As of 2021, the country's economy will be the third largest by nominal GDP and her fourth largest by purchasing power parity. Japan has the longest life expectancy in the world despite its declining population. As a world leader in the automotive, robotics and electronics industries, Japan has made significant contributions to science and technology. Japanese culture is known around the world for its art, cuisine, music and pop culture. Pop culture includes prominent comics, animation, and video game industries.
Etymology
The call for Japan in Japanese is written the usage of the kanji 日本 and is stated Nippon or Nihon.[9] Before 日本 become followed withinside the early eighth century, the us of a become regarded in China as Wa (倭, modified in Japan round 757 to 和) and in Japan with the aid of using the endonym Yamato.[10] Nippon, the authentic Sino-Japanese studying of the characters, is desired for legitimate uses, which include on banknotes and postage stamps.[9] Nihon is generally utilized in normal speech and displays shifts in Japanese phonology throughout the Edo period.[10] The characters 日本 mean "solar origin",[9] that's the supply of the famous Western epithet "Land of the Rising Sun".[11]
The call "Japan" is primarily based totally on Chinese pronunciations of 日本 and become delivered to European languages via early trade. In the thirteenth century, Marco Polo recorded the early Mandarin or Wu Chinese pronunciation of the characters 日本國 as Cipangu.[12] The antique Malay call for Japan, Japang or Japun, become borrowed from a southern coastal Chinese dialect and encountered with the aid of using Portuguese buyers in Southeast Asia, who delivered the phrase to Europe withinside the early sixteenth century.[13] The first model of the call in English seems in a ee-e book posted in 1577, which spelled the call as Giapan in a translation of a 1565 Portuguese letter.[14][15]
History
Main article: History of Japan
For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Japanese records.
Prehistoric to classical records
A Paleolithic lifestyle from round 30,000 BC constitutes the primary recognized habitation of the islands of Japan.[16] This become observed from round 14,500 BC (the begin of the Jōmon duration) through a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer lifestyle characterised through pit residing and rudimentary agriculture.[17] Clay vessels from the duration are many of the oldest surviving examples of pottery.[18] From round one thousand BC, Yayoi human beings commenced to go into the archipelago from Kyushu, intermingling with the Jōmon;[19] the Yayoi duration noticed the creation of practices consisting of wet-rice farming,[20] a brand new fashion of pottery,[21] and metallurgy from China and Korea.[22] According to legend, Emperor Jimmu (grandson of Amaterasu) based a country in valuable Japan in 660 BC, starting a non-stop imperial line.[23]
Japan first seems in written records withinside the Chinese Book of Han, finished in 111 AD. Buddhism become brought to Japan from Baekje (a Korean country) in 552, however the improvement of Japanese Buddhism become generally prompted through China.[24] Despite early resistance, Buddhism become promoted through the ruling class, consisting of figures like Prince Shōtoku, and won considerable popularity starting withinside the Asuka duration (592–710).[25]
The far-accomplishing Taika Reforms in 645 nationalized all land in Japan, to be allotted similarly amongst cultivators, and ordered the compilation of a family registry as the idea for a brand new machine of taxation.[26] The Jinshin War of 672, a bloody war among Prince Ōama and his nephew Prince Ōtomo, have become a prime catalyst for similarly administrative reforms.[27] These reforms culminated with the promulgation of the Taihō Code, which consolidated current statutes and mounted the shape of the valuable and subordinate nearby governments.[26] These criminal reforms created the ritsuryō nation, a machine of Chinese-fashion centralized authorities that remained in vicinity for 1/2 of a millennium.[27]
The Nara duration (710–784) marked the emergence of a Japanese nation focused at the Imperial Court in Heijō-kyō (current Nara). The duration is characterised through the advent of a nascent literary lifestyle with the finishing touch of the Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720), in addition to the improvement of Buddhist-stimulated paintings and architecture.[28][29] A smallpox epidemic in 735–737 is assumed to have killed as tons as one-1/3 of Japan`s population.[29][30] In 784, Emperor Kanmu moved the capital, deciding on Heian-kyō (current-day Kyoto) in 794.[29] This marked the start of the Heian duration (794–1185), all through which a quite indigenous Japanese lifestyle emerged. Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji and the lyrics of Japan's countrywide anthem "Kimigayo" have been written all through this time.[31]
Feudal generation
Japanese samurai boarding a Mongol vessel for the duration of the Mongol invasions of Japan, depicted withinside the Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba, 1293
Three unifiers of Japan. Left to right: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu
Japan`s feudal generation changed into characterised with the aid of using the emergence and dominance of a ruling magnificence of warriors, the samurai.[32] In 1185, following the defeat of the Taira extended family withinside the Genpei War, samurai Minamoto no Yoritomo hooked up a navy authorities at Kamakura.[33] After Yoritomo's loss of life, the Hōjō extended family got here to strength as regents for the shōgun.[29] The Zen faculty of Buddhism changed into brought from China withinside the Kamakura length (1185–1333) and have become famous some of the samurai magnificence.[34] The Kamakura shogunate repelled Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281 however changed into finally overthrown with the aid of using Emperor Go-Daigo.[29] Go-Daigo changed into defeated with the aid of using Ashikaga Takauji in 1336, starting the Muromachi length (1336–1573).[35] The succeeding Ashikaga shogunate didn't manipulate the feudal warlords (daimyō) and a civil battle commenced in 1467, establishing the century-lengthy Sengoku length ("Warring States").[36]
During the sixteenth century, Portuguese buyers and Jesuit missionaries reached Japan for the primary time, starting up direct industrial and cultural change among Japan and the West.[29][37] Oda Nobunaga used European generation and firearms to overcome many different daimyō;[38] his consolidation of strength commenced what changed into referred to as the Azuchi–Momoyama length.[39] After the loss of life of Nobunaga in 1582, his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, unified the kingdom withinside the early 1590s and released unsuccessful invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597.[29]
Tokugawa Ieyasu served as regent for Hideyoshi's son Toyotomi Hideyori and used his role to advantage political and navy support.[40] When open battle broke out, Ieyasu defeated rival clans withinside the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. He changed into appointed shōgun with the aid of using Emperor Go-Yōzei in 1603 and hooked up the Tokugawa shogunate at Edo (cutting-edge Tokyo).[41] The shogunate enacted measures along with buke shohatto, as a code of behavior to govern the independent daimyō,[42] and in 1639 the isolationist sakoku ("closed country") coverage that spanned the 2 and a 1/2 of centuries of tenuous political solidarity referred to as the Edo length (1603–1868).[41][43] Modern Japan's monetary increase commenced on this length, ensuing in roads and water transportation routes, in addition to monetary units inclusive of futures contracts, banking and coverage of the Osaka rice brokers.[44] The look at of Western sciences (rangaku) persevered thru touch with the Dutch enclave in Nagasaki.[41] The Edo length gave upward push to kokugaku ("countrywide studies"), the look at of Japan with the aid of using the Japanese.[45]
Modern generation
Emperor Meiji (明治天皇, Meiji-tennō); 1852–1912
In 1854, Commodore Matthew C. Perry and the "Black Ships" of the USA Navy compelled the hole of Japan to the outdoor global with the Convention of Kanagawa.[41] Subsequent comparable treaties with different Western international locations introduced monetary and political crises.[41] The resignation of the shōgun caused the Boshin War and the established order of a centralized country nominally unified beneathneath the emperor (the Meiji Restoration).[46] Adopting Western political, judicial, and navy institutions, the Cabinet prepared the Privy Council, added the Meiji Constitution, and assembled the Imperial Diet.[47] During the Meiji duration (1868–1912), the Empire of Japan emerged because the maximum advanced country in Asia and as an industrialized global strength that pursued navy war to enlarge its sphere of affect.[48][49][50] After victories withinside the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Japan received manage of Taiwan, Korea and the southern 1/2 of of Sakhalin.[51][47] The Japanese populace doubled from 35 million in 1873 to 70 million via way of means of 1935, with a giant shift to urbanization.[52][53]
The early twentieth century noticed a duration of Taishō democracy (1912–1926) overshadowed via way of means of growing expansionism and militarization.[54][55] World War I allowed Japan, which joined the aspect of the triumphant Allies, to seize German possessions withinside the Pacific and in China.[55] The Twenties noticed a political shift closer to statism, a duration of lawlessness following the 1923 Great Tokyo Earthquake, the passing of legal guidelines in opposition to political dissent, and a chain of tried coups.[53][56][57] This system expanded at some point of the 1930s, spawning some of radical nationalist corporations that shared a hostility to liberal democracy and a willpower to growth in Asia. In 1931, Japan invaded and occupied Manchuria; following worldwide condemnation of the occupation, it resigned from the League of Nations years later.[58] In 1936, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany; the 1940 Tripartite Pact made it one of the Axis Powers.[53]
Japan`s imperial targets ended on September 2, 1945, with the country's give up to the Allies.
The Empire of Japan invaded different elements of China in 1937, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).[59] In 1940, the Empire invaded French Indochina, and then the USA located an oil embargo on Japan.[53][60] On December 7–8, 1941, Japanese forces accomplished marvel assaults on Pearl Harbor, in addition to on British forces in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong, amongst others, starting World War II withinside the Pacific.[61] Throughout regions occupied via way of means of Japan at some point of the conflict, severa abuses had been dedicated in opposition to nearby inhabitants, with many compelled into sexual slavery.[62] After Allied victories at some point of the subsequent 4 years, which culminated withinside the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional give up.[63] The conflict value Japan its colonies and hundreds of thousands of lives.[53] The Allies (led via way of means of the USA) repatriated hundreds of thousands of Japanese settlers from their former colonies and navy camps during Asia, in large part doing away with the Japanese empire and its affect over the territories it conquered.[64][65] The Allies convened the International Military Tribunal for the
Geography
Main articles: Geography of Japan and Geology of Japan
The Japanese archipelago
Japan comprises 6852 islands extending along the Pacific coast of Asia. It stretches over 3000 km (1900 mi) northeast–southwest from the Sea of Okhotsk to the East China Sea.[70][71] The country`s five main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa.[72] 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.[73] As of 2019, 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).[74][75]
The Japanese archipelago is 67% forests and 14% agricultural.[76] The primarily rugged and mountainous terrain is restricted for habitation.[77] Thus the habitable zones, mainly in the coastal areas, have very high population densities: Japan is the 40th most densely populated country.[78][79] Honshu has the highest population density at 450 persons/km² (1200/sq mi) as of 2010, while Hokkaido has the lowest density of 64.5 persons/km² as of 2016.[80] As of 2014, approximately 0.5% of Japan's total area is reclaimed land (umetatechi).[81] Lake Biwa is an ancient lake and the country's largest freshwater lake.[82]
Japan is substantially prone to earthquakes, tsunami and volcanic eruptions because of its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire.[83] It has the 17th highest natural disaster risk as measured in the 2016 World Risk Index.[84] Japan has 111 active volcanoes.[85] Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur several times each century;[86] the 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people.[87] More recent major quakes are the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, which triggered a large tsunami.[68]
Climate
Main article: Geography of Japan § Climate
Mount Fuji in Spring, view from Arakurayama Sengen ark
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.[88]
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.[89] 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.[88]
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. Rainfall is very high, especially during the rainy season[88]. In Okinawa, the rainy season begins in earnest in early May, and a rainy season front gradually develops.
managing section
Main article: Japanese administrative units and Japanese prefectures
Japan is divided into 47 prefectures, each overseen by an elected governor and assembly [106]. In the following table, prefectures are grouped by region: [115] Japan's
prefectures and Hokkaido's
regions
________________________________________
1. Hokkaido
Tohoku
________________________________________
2. Aomori
3. Iwate Prefecture
4. Miyagi
Five. Akita
6. Yamagata
7.Fukushima
Kanto
________________________________________
8. Ibaraki
9. Tochigi
Zehn. Gunma
11. Saitama
12. Chiba
13. Tokyo
14. Kanagawa
Chubu
________________________________________
Funfzehn. Niigata
16. Toyama
17. Ishikawa
18.Fukui
19. Yamanashi
20. Nagano
21. Gifu
22. Shizuoka
23. Aichi
Kansai
________________________________________
24.Mi
funfundzwanzig. Schiga
27. Ōsaka
28. Hyōgo
29. Nara
30. Wakayama
Chūgoku
________________________________________
31.Tottori
32. Schimane
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. Oita
45. Miyazaki
46. Kagoshima
47. Okinawa
Foreign family members
Main article: Foreign family members of Japan
Japan is a member of each the G7 and the G20.
A member kingdom of the United Nations when you consider that 1956, Japan is one of the G4 international locations searching for reform of the Security Council.[116] Japan is a member of the G7, APEC, and "ASEAN Plus Three", and is a player withinside the East Asia Summit.[117] It is the world`s 5th biggest donor of legitimate improvement assistance, donating US$9.2 billion in 2014.[118] In 2019, Japan had the fourth-biggest diplomatic community withinside the world.[119]
Japan has near monetary and navy family members with the United States, with which it continues a protection alliance.[120] The United States is a prime marketplace for Japanese exports and a prime supply of Japanese imports, and is dedicated to protecting the country, with navy bases in Japan.[120] Japan is likewise a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (greater commonly "the Quad"), a multilateral protection collaboration reformed in 2017 aiming to restriction Chinese impact withinside the Indo-Pacific region, together with the United States, Australia and India, reflecting present family members and styles of cooperation.[121][122]
Japan's courting with South Korea had traditionally been strained due to Japan's remedy of Koreans at some point of Japanese colonial rule, specially over the difficulty of consolation girls. In 2015, Japan agreed to settle the consolation girls dispute with South Korea via way of means of issuing a proper apology and paying cash to the surviving consolation girls.[123] As of 2019 Japan is a prime importer of Korean music (K-pop), television (K-dramas), and different cultural products.[124][125]
Japan is engaged in numerous territorial disputes with its neighbors. Japan contests Russia's manipulate of the Southern Kuril Islands, which have been occupied via way of means of the Soviet Union in 1945.[126] South Korea's manipulate of the Liancourt Rocks is recounted however now no longer conventional as they're claimed via way of means of Japan.[127] Japan has strained family members with China and Taiwan over the Senkaku Islands and the repute of Okinotorishima.[128]
In 2022, Japan agreed to protection agreements with Thailand[129] and the UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[130]
army
Main article: Japanese Self-Defense Forces
Maritime Self-Defense Force Kongo-class Destroyer
Japan is her second highest country in Asia in the 2020 Global Peace Index. [131] Japan maintains the largest military budget of any country in the world[132]. Japan's armed forces (Japan Self-Defense Forces) are limited by Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which waives Japan's right to declare war or use force in international conflicts.[133] The military is administered by the Ministry of Defense and consists mainly of the Ground Self-Defense Force, the Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Air Self-Defense Force. The deployment of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan was the first overseas deployment of Japanese forces since World War II. [134]
The Japanese government made changes to its security policy, including the establishment of the National Security Council, the adoption of the National Security Strategy, and the development of guidelines for national defense planning[135]. In May 2014, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Japan wanted to shed the passivity it had maintained since the end of World War II and take more responsibility for regional security[136]. Recent tensions with North Korea and China, in particular, have reignited debate over the status of the Self-Defense Forces and their relationship with Japanese society[137][138][139].
Domestic law enforcement
Main articles: Law Enforcement in Japan and Crime in Japan
Domestic security in Japan is provided primarily by prefectural police under the supervision of the National Police Agency [140]. The National Police Agency is administered by the National Public Safety Commission as the central coordinating body for prefectural police[141]. The Special Strike Team consists of national-level counter-terrorism tactical units that work in conjunction with the territorial-level counter-arms squad and the counter-NBC terrorism squad. [142] The Japan Coast Guard guards the territorial waters around Japan and applies surveillance and control measures against smuggling, maritime crime, poaching, piracy, spy vessels, unauthorized foreign fishing vessels, and illegal immigration.[143] ].
The Firearms and Swords Possession Control Act strictly regulates civilian possession of firearms, swords and other weapons.[144][145] According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, among United Nations member states reporting statistics since 2018, Japan has a very low incidence of violent crimes such as murder, kidnapping, sexual violence, and robbery [146]. [147][148][149]
Economy
Main article: Economy of Japan
Skyscrapers in Nakanoshima, Osaka; a prime monetary centre in Japan
Japan has the international`s third-biggest financial system with the aid of using nominal GDP, after that of the US and China; and the fourth-biggest financial system with the aid of using PPP. As of 2020, Japan's exertions pressure is the international's eighth-biggest, and includes 66.five million workers.[74] As of 2021, Japan has a low unemployment fee of round 2.eight%.[150] Its poverty fee is the second-maximum a few of the G7 nations,[151] and exceeds 15.7% of the population.[152] Japan has the best ratio of public debt to GDP amongst superior economies,[153] with country wide debt expected to at 248% relative to GDP as of 2022.[154] The Japanese yen is the international's third-biggest reserve foreign money after americaA greenback and the euro.[155]
Japan's exports amounted to 18.five% of GDP in 2018.[156] As of 2019, Japan's primary export markets had been the US (19.eight percent) and China (19.1 percent).[108] Its primary exports are motor vehicles, iron and metallic products, semiconductors and car parts.[74] Japan's primary import markets as of 2019 had been China (23.five percent), the US (eleven percent), and Australia (6.three percent).[108] Japan's primary imports are equipment and equipment, fossil fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, and uncooked substances for its industries.[108]
The Japanese variation of capitalism has many awesome features: keiretsu businesses are influential, and lifelong employment and seniority-primarily based totally profession development are not unusualplace withinside the Japanese paintings environment.[157][158] Japan has a big cooperative sector, with 3 of the international's ten biggest cooperatives, which include the biggest purchaser cooperative and the biggest agricultural cooperative as of 2018.[159] It ranks fantastically for competitiveness and monetary freedom. Japan ranked 6th withinside the Global Competitiveness Report in 2019.[160] It attracted 31.nine million global travelers in 2019,[161] and became ranked 11th withinside the international in 2019 for inbound tourism.[162] The 2021 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Japan first withinside the international out of 117 countries.[163] Its global tourism receipts in 2019 amounted to $32.1 billion.[162]
Agriculture and fisheries
Main article: Agriculture, forestry and fisheries in Japan
Paddy fields in Aizu, Fukushima Prefecture
Japan's agricultural sector accounts for about 1.2% of the country's total GDP as of 2018[108]. Only 11.5% of Japan's land area is suitable for cultivation[164]. Because of this scarcity of arable land, terraced systems are used to practice agriculture in small areas. This brings the agricultural self-sufficiency rate to about 50% as of 2018, making him one of the highest yields per unit area in the world[166]. Japan's smallholder agriculture sector is heavily subsidized and protected [167]. Anxiety about agriculture is increasing, such as the aging of farmers and lack of successors[168].
Japan ranked 7th in the world for her 2016 catch, catching 3,167,610 tonnes, compared with an annual average of 4 million tonnes over the past decade[169]. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets, accounting for nearly 15% of the world's catch,[74] and criticism that Japan's fishing industry is depleting fish stocks such as tuna. [170]. Japan has created controversy by supporting commercial whaling[171].
Industry and services
Main articles: Japanese manufacturing, Japanese trade and services, Japanese electronic industry, Japanese automotive industry
Toyota manufactured plug-in his hybrid vehicles. Japan is the world's third largest automaker[172].
Japan has significant industrial capacity and is home to "the largest and most technologically advanced manufacturers of automobiles, machine tools, steel and non-ferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles and processed foods"[74]. Japan's industrial sector accounts for about 27.5% of GDP[74]. The country's manufacturing output is her third highest in the world as of 2019[173].
Japan was the world's third-largest automaker as of 2017 and home to Toyota, the world's largest automaker.[172][174] Japan's shipbuilding industry faces competition from South Korea and China. . [175]
Japan's service sector accounts for about 70% of total economic output as of 2019[176]. Banking, retail, transportation, and telecommunications are all major industries, with companies such as Toyota, Mitsubishi UFJ, NTT, Aeon, Softbank, Hitachi, and Itochu cited as the world's largest[177][178].
Science and generation
Main articles: History of technological know-how and generation in Japan, Science and generation in Japan, Video gaming in Japan, and List of Japanese innovations and discoveries
The Japanese Experiment Module (Kibō) on the International Space Station
Japan is a main kingdom in clinical studies, specifically withinside the herbal sciences and engineering. The u . s . ranks 12th most of the maximum revolutionary international locations withinside the 2020 Bloomberg Innovation Index and thirteenth withinside the Global Innovation Index in 2021, up from fifteenth in 2019.[179][180] Relative to gross home product, Japan`s studies and improvement price range is the second one maximum withinside the global,[181] with 867,000 researchers sharing a 19-trillion-yen studies and improvement price range as of 2017.[182] The u . s . has produced twenty- Nobel laureates in both physics, chemistry or medicine,[183] and 3 Fields medalists.[184]
Japan leads the sector in robotics manufacturing and use, presenting 55% of the sector's 2017 total.[185] Japan has the second one maximum wide variety of researchers in technological know-how and generation according to capita withinside the global with 14 according to a thousand employees.[186]
The Japanese customer electronics industry, as soon as taken into consideration the most powerful withinside the global, is in a kingdom of decline as opposition arises in international locations like South Korea and China.[187] However, video gaming in Japan stays a main industry. In 2014, Japan's customer online game marketplace grossed $9.6 billion, with $5.eight billion coming from cell gaming.[188] By 2015, Japan had come to be the sector's fourth biggest PC recreation marketplace, in the back of best China, the United States, and South Korea.[189]
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is Japan's country wide area agency; it conducts area, planetary, and aviation studies, and leads improvement of rockets and satellites.[190] It is a player withinside the International Space Station: the Japanese Experiment Module (Kibō) turned into delivered to the station throughout Space Shuttle meeting flights in 2008.[191] The area probe Akatsuki turned into released in 2010 and accomplished orbit round Venus in 2015.[192] Japan's plans in area exploration consist of constructing a moon base and touchdown astronauts with the aid of using 2030.[193] In 2007, it released lunar explorer SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) from Tanegashima Space Center. The biggest lunar task for the reason that Apollo program, its motive turned into to collect statistics at the moon's beginning and evolution. The explorer entered a lunar orbit on October 4, 2007,[194][195] and turned into intentionally crashed into the Moon on June 11, 2009.[196]
shipping
Main article: Transportation in Japan
Japan Airlines, Japan's national airline
Japan has invested heavily in transportation infrastructure[197]. There are 1,000,000 km of municipal roads, 130,000 km of prefectural roads, and 54,736 km of general national roads, totaling approximately 1.2 million km. As of 2017, 7,641 kilometers (4,748 miles) of national highways.
Since privatization in 1987 [199], dozens of Japanese railway companies have competed in regional and regional passenger transport markets. The main companies are JR 7 companies, Kintetsu, Seibu Railway, and Keio Electric Railway. High-speed bullet trains (shinkansen) connecting major cities are known for their safety and punctuality[200].
As of 2013, there are 175 airports in Japan[74]. Tokyo's Haneda Airport, the largest domestic airport, was his second busiest airport in Asia in 2019. [201] Superport hubs Keihin and Hanshin are among the world's largest hubs with 7.98 million TEU and 5.22 million TEU respectively (as of 2017). [202]
energy
Main article: Japanese Energy
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant
In 2019, 37.1% of Japan's energy came from oil, 25.1% from coal, 22.4% from natural gas, 3.5% from hydropower, and 2.8% from nuclear power. Nuclear power has declined from 11.2% in 2010 [203]. [204] The Sendai nuclear power plant restarted in 2015[205], and since then several other nuclear power plants have restarted [206]. Japan does not have large domestic reserves and is heavily dependent on imported energy[207]. The country has therefore set goals to diversify its energy sources and maintain a high level of energy efficiency[208].
water supply and sanitation
Main article: Water and Sanitation in Japan
Responsibilities for the Water and Sanitation Department are shared with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which is responsible for supplying domestic water. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is responsible for the development and sanitation of water resources. Ministry of Environment responsible for water quality and environmental protection. [209] Access to improved water sources is ubiquitous in Japan. About 98% of the population is supplied with tap water by public utilities [210].
Demographics
Main articles: Demographics of Japan, Japanese human beings, Ethnic corporations of Japan, List of metropolitan regions in Japan, and List of towns in Japan
View of Tokyo from the pinnacle of the Tokyo Skytree. The Greater Tokyo Area is ranked because the maximum populous metropolitan region withinside the global.
Japan has a populace of 125.four million, of which 122.eight million are Japanese nationals (2021 estimates).[211] A small populace of overseas citizens makes up the remainder.[212] In 2019, 92% of the overall Japanese populace lived in towns.[213] The capital town Tokyo has a populace of thirteen.nine million (2022).[214] It is a part of the Greater Tokyo Area, the most important metropolitan region withinside the global with 38,140,000 human beings (2016).[215] Japan is an ethnically and culturally homogeneous society,[216] the Japanese human beings shape 98.1% of the u . s . a .`s populace.[217] Minority ethnic corporations withinside the u . s . a . encompass the indigenous Ainu and Ryukyuan human beings.[218] Zainichi Koreans,[219] Chinese,[220] Filipinos,[221] Brazilians broadly speaking of Japanese descent,[222] and Peruvians broadly speaking of Japanese descent also are amongst Japan's small minority corporations.[223] Burakumin make up a social minority group.[224]
Japan is the global's quickest growing older u . s . a . and has the very best share of aged residents of any u . s . a ., comprising one-1/3 of its overall populace;[225] that is the end result of a post–World War II toddler boom, which changed into observed through an growth in lifestyles expectancy and a lower in delivery rates.[226] Japan has a complete fertility price of 1.four, that's underneath the substitute price of 2.1, and is most of the global's lowest;[227] it has an average age of 48.four, the very best withinside the global.[228] As of 2020, over 28.7 percentage of the populace is over 65, or one in 4 out of the Japanese populace.[225] As a developing range of more youthful Japanese aren't marrying or last childless,[229][230] Japan's populace is anticipated to drop to round 88 million through 2065.[225]
The adjustments in demographic shape have created some of social issues, especially a decline in team of workers populace and growth withinside the price of social protection benefits.[229] The authorities of Japan tasks that there may be nearly one aged man or woman for everybody of operating age through 2060.[228] Immigration and delivery incentives are occasionally cautioned as a method to offer more youthful employees to assist the nation's growing older populace.[231][232] On April 1, 2019, Japan's revised immigration regulation changed into enacted, shielding the rights of overseas employees to assist lessen hard work shortages in sure sectors.[233]
• v
• t
• e
Largest towns or cities in Japan
2015 Census
Rank
Name
Prefecture
Pop.
Rank
Name
Prefecture
Pop.
1 Tokyo
Tokyo
nine,272,740 eleven Hiroshima
Hiroshima
1,194,034
2 Yokohama
Kanagawa
three,724,844 12 Sendai
Miyagi
1,082,159
three Osaka
Osaka
2,691,185 thirteen Chiba
Chiba
971,882
four Nagoya
Aichi
2,295,638 14 Kitakyushu
Fukuoka
961,286
five Sapporo
Hokkaido
1,952,356 15 Sakai
Osaka
839,310
6 Fukuoka
Fukuoka
1,538,681 sixteen Niigata
Niigata
810,157
7 Kobe
Hyōgo
1,537,272 17 Hamamatsu
Shizuoka
797,980
eight Kawasaki
Kanagawa
1,475,213 18 Kumamoto
Kumamoto
740,822
nine Kyoto
Kyoto
1,475,183 19 Sagamihara
Kanagawa
720,780
10 Saitama
Saitama
1,263,979 20 Okayama
Okayama
719,474
Religion
Main article: Religion in Japan
The torii of Itsukushima Shinto Shrine close to Hiroshima
Japan`s charter ensures complete non secular freedom.[234] Upper estimates advocate that 84–ninety six percentage of the Japanese populace join Shinto as its indigenous religion.[235] However, those estimates are primarily based totally on human beings affiliated with a temple, instead of the range of real believers. Many Japanese human beings exercise each Shinto and Buddhism; they are able to both discover with each religions or describe themselves as non-non secular or spiritual.[236] The degree of participation in non secular ceremonies as a cultural subculture stays high, specially at some stage in gala's and events together with the primary shrine go to of the New Year.[237] Taoism and Confucianism from China have additionally encouraged Japanese ideals and customs.[238]
Christianity became first delivered into Japan with the aid of using Jesuit missions beginning in 1549. Today, 1%[239] to 1.5% of the populace are Christians.[240] Throughout the ultra-modern century, Western customs in the beginning associated with Christianity (which include Western fashion weddings, Valentine's Day and Christmas) have emerge as famous as secular customs amongst many Japanese.[241]
About 90% of these practising Islam in Japan are foreign-born migrants as of 2016.[242] As of 2018 there had been an expected a hundred and five mosques and 200,000 Muslims in Japan, 43,000 of which had been ethnically Japanese.[243] Other minority religions encompass Hinduism, Judaism, and Baháʼí Faith, in addition to the animist ideals of the Ainu.[244]
Languages
Main article: Languages of Japan
Kanji and hiragana signs
The Japanese language is Japan`s de facto countrywide language and the number one language of maximum humans withinside the country.[245] Japanese writing makes use of kanji (Chinese characters) and units of kana (syllabaries primarily based totally on cursive script and radicals utilized by kanji), in addition to the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals.[246] English has taken a prime function in Japan as a commercial enterprise and global hyperlink language. As a result, the superiority of English withinside the academic device has increased, with English training turning into obligatory in any respect degrees of the Japanese college device through 2020.[245][247] Japanese Sign Language is the number one signal language utilized in Japan and has received a few legitimate recognition, however its utilization has been traditionally hindered through discriminatory rules and a loss of academic support.[245]
Besides Japanese, the Ryukyuan languages (Amami, Kunigami, Okinawan, Miyako, Yaeyama, Yonaguni), a part of the Japonic language family, are spoken withinside the Ryukyu Islands chain.[248] Few kids examine those languages,[249] however nearby governments have sought to growth focus of the conventional languages.[250] The Ainu language, that's a language isolate, is moribund, with just a few local audio system last as of 2014.[251] Additionally, some of different languages are taught and utilized by ethnic minorities, immigrant communities, and a developing range of foreign-language students, which include Korean (inclusive of a wonderful Zainichi Korean dialect), Chinese and Portuguese.[245]
education
Main article: Education in Japan
students celebrate after University of Tokyo entrance exam results announced
Since the Basic Education Act of 1947, compulsory education in Japan has included elementary and junior high school and lasts for a total of nine years[252]. Nearly all children continue their education at her three-year high school[253]. The two major universities in Japan are the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University[254]. Starting in April 2016, various schools began the school year integrating elementary and middle school into his nine-year compulsory education program. MEXT plans to adopt this approach nationwide [255].
The International Student Assessment Program (PISA), coordinated by the OECD, ranks her 15-year-old Japanese knowledge and skills as her third best in the world [256]. Japan ranks among her OECD countries in reading, mathematics and science, with an average student score of 529, and has the world's best-educated workforce among OECD countries. [257] [256] [258]. In 2017, Japan's public spending on education was just 3.3% of GDP, below her OECD average of 4.9%[259]. [260] About 60% of Japanese aged 25-34 have some form of higher education, and 30.4% of Japanese aged 25-64 have a bachelor's degree, second only to South Korea. her second highest in the OECD [260].
Health
Main articles: Health in Japan and Health care gadget in Japan
Health care in Japan is supplied with the aid of using country wide and nearby governments. Payment for private clinical offerings is obtainable thru a ordinary medical health insurance gadget that offers relative equality of access, with costs set with the aid of using a central authority committee. People with out coverage thru employers can take part in a country wide medical health insurance application administered with the aid of using nearby governments.[261] Since 1973, all aged individuals were blanketed with the aid of using government-backed coverage.[262]
Japan spent 10.seventy four% of its overall GDP on healthcare in 2019.[263] In 2020, the general lifestyles expectancy in Japan at delivery turned into 84.sixty two years (81.sixty four years for adult males and 87.seventy four years for females), the very best withinside the world;[264] even as it had a completely low little one mortality fee (2 according to 1,000 stay births).[265] Since 1981, the precept purpose of loss of life in Japan is cancer, which accounted for 27% of the overall deaths in 2018—observed with the aid of using cardiovascular diseases, which caused 15% of the deaths.[266] Japan has one of the world`s maximum suicide rates, that's taken into consideration a primary social problem.[267] Another massive public fitness problem is smoking amongst Japanese men.[268] However, Japan has the bottom fee of coronary heart sickness withinside the OECD, and the bottom stage of dementia amongst advanced countries.[269]
culture
Main article: Japanese culture
See also: Japanese popular culture
Modern Japanese culture combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America[270]. Traditional Japanese art includes handicrafts such as pottery, textiles, lacquerware, swords, and dolls. Performances of bunraku, kabuki, noh, dance, and rakugo. Other practices including tea ceremony, ikebana, martial arts, calligraphy, origami, hot springs, geisha, and games. Japan has a well-developed system to protect and promote both tangible and intangible cultural properties and national treasures[271]. There are 22 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, 18 of which are of cultural significance.
Art and structure
Main article: Japanese artwork
Further information: Japanese structure, Japanese garden, Japanese esthetics, Japanese portray, and Japanese sculpture
Hokusai`s nineteenth-century ukiyo-e woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa
Ritsurin Garden, one of the maximum well-known walking gardens in Japan
The records of Japanese portray famous synthesis and opposition among local Japanese esthetics and imported ideas.[272] The interplay among Japanese and European artwork has been extensive: as an example ukiyo-e prints, which started to be exported withinside the nineteenth century withinside the motion called Japonism, had a extensive have an impact on at the improvement of present day artwork withinside the West, maximum appreciably on post-Impressionism.[272]
Japanese structure is a aggregate among neighborhood and different influences. It has historically been typified with the aid of using timber or dust plaster structures, expanded barely off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs.[273] The Shrines of Ise had been celebrated because the prototype of Japanese structure.[274] Traditional housing and plenty of temple homes see the usage of tatami mats and sliding doorways that wreck down the difference among rooms and indoor and outside space.[275] Since the nineteenth century, Japan has integrated tons of Western present day structure into creation and design.[276] It turned into now no longer till after World War II that Japanese architects made an affect at the worldwide scene, first of all with the paintings of architects like Kenzō Tange after which with actions like Metabolism.[277]
Literature and philosophy
Main articles: Japanese literature, Japanese poetry, and Japanese 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.[278][279] In the early Heian period, the system of phonograms known as kana (hiragana and katakana) was developed.[280] The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest extant Japanese narrative.[281] 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.[282][283]
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.[284] 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).[285]
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 are evident not only in the Japanese concept of society and self, but also in the organization of government and the structure of society[286]. Buddhism has had a great influence on Japanese psychology, metaphysics, and aesthetics[287].
performing arts
Main article: Japanese music and Japanese theater
Noh performance at a shrine
Japanese music is eclectic and diverse. Many instruments such as the koto were introduced in the 9th and he 10th centuries. Popular folk music with a guitar-like shamisen dates back to his 16th century[288]. Western classical music, introduced in the late 19th century, forms an integral part of Japanese culture.[289] Kumi-daiko developed in postwar Japan and became very popular in North America.[290] Post-war Japanese popular music was strongly influenced by American and European trends, leading to the development of J-pop[291]. Karaoke is a major cultural activity [292].
Her four traditional theaters in Japan are Noh, Kyogen, Kabuki and Bunraku[293]. Noh is one of the oldest continuous theater traditions in the world.
holiday
Main article: Japanese Holidays and Japanese Festivals
Young women celebrate Coming of Age Day (Coming of Age Day) in Harajuku, Tokyo
Officially, Japan has her 16 nationally recognized national holidays. Japan's public holidays are regulated by the National Holiday Law of 1948 (Law on National Holidays, Law on National Holidays). [295] Starting in 2000, Japan introduced the Happy Monday system, moving many public holidays to Mondays to preserve the long weekends [296]. January 1st is New Year's Day, the second Monday of January is Coming-of-Age Day, February 11th is National Foundation Day, February 23rd is the Emperor's Birthday, and February 20th is Vernal Equinox. , March 21st is Showa Day. April 29th, May 3rd: Constitution Memorial Day, May 4th: Greenery Day, May 5th: Children's Day, Third Monday of July: Marine Day, August 11th: Mountain Day, 9th Respect for the Aged Day on the 3rd Monday of the month, Vernal Equinox on September 23rd or 24th, Sports Day on the 2nd Monday of October, Culture Day on November 3rd, Thanksgiving Day on November 23rd.
kitchen
Main article: Japanese cuisine
A plate of nigiri sushi
Japanese cuisine offers a wide variety of regional dishes using traditional recipes and local ingredients.[298] Seafood and Japanese rice and noodles are traditional staples[299]. Since its introduction to Japan from British India, curry has been widely consumed in Japan, along with ramen and sushi, and is considered a national dish. Traditional Japanese sweets are known as wagashi [303]. Ingredients such as red bean paste and mochi are used. One of the more modern flavors is green tea ice cream. [304]
Popular Japanese drinks include sake, which is a brewed alcoholic beverage made by multiple fermentations of rice, usually containing 14-17% alcohol [305]. Beer has been brewed in Japan since the late 17th century[306]. Green tea is produced in Japan and made in forms such as matcha used in Japanese tea ceremonies.[307]
Media
Main articles: Cinema of Japan, Manga, Anime, and Media of Japan
According to the 2015 NHK survey on tv viewing in Japan, seventy nine percentage of Japanese watch tv daily.[308] Japanese tv dramas are considered each inside Japan and internationally;[309] different famous suggests are withinside the genres of range suggests, comedy, and information programs.[310] Many Japanese media franchises which include Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, and Demon Slayer have won good sized worldwide recognition and are some of the international`s highest-grossing media franchises. Pokémon mainly is envisioned to be the highest-grossing media franchise of all time. Japanese newspapers are some of the maximum circulated withinside the international as of 2016.[311]
Japan has one of the oldest and biggest movie industries globally.[312] Ishirō Honda's Godzilla have become an worldwide icon of Japan and spawned a whole subgenre of kaiju movies, in addition to the longest-strolling movie franchise in history.[313][314] Japanese comics, called manga, advanced withinside the mid-twentieth century and feature emerge as famous worldwide.[315][316] A huge quantity of manga collection have emerge as a number of the best-promoting comics collection of all time, rivalling the American comics industry.[317] Japanese lively movies and tv collection, called anime, had been in large part motivated with the aid of using Japanese manga and feature emerge as notably famous internationally.[318][319]
Sports
Main article: Sport in Japan
Sumo wrestlers shape across the referee at some stage in the ring-getting into ceremony
Traditionally, sumo is taken into consideration Japan`s countrywide recreation.[320] Japanese martial arts including judo and kendo are taught as a part of the obligatory junior excessive college curriculum.[321] Baseball is the maximum famous spectator recreation withinside the u . s . a ..[322] Japan's pinnacle expert league, Nippon Professional Baseball, changed into mounted in 1936.[323] Since the established order of the Japan Professional Football League in 1992, affiliation soccer has won a extensive following.[324] The u . s . a . co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South Korea.[325] Japan has one of the maximum a success soccer groups in Asia, triumphing the Asian Cup 4 times,[326] and the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2011.[327] Golf is likewise famous in Japan.[328]
In motorsport, Japanese automobile producers had been a success in more than one one of a kind categories, with titles and victories in collection including Formula One, MotoGP, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, World Endurance Championship, World Touring Car Championship, British Touring Car Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.[329][330][331] Three Japanese drivers have completed podium finishes in Formula One, and drivers from Japan have victories on the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, similarly to fulfillment in home championships.[332][333] Super GT is the maximum famous countrywide collection in Japan, whilst Super Formula is the pinnacle degree home open-wheel collection.[334] The u . s . a . hosts important races including the Japanese Grand Prix.[335]
Japan hosted the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964 and the Winter Olympics in Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.[336] The u . s . a . hosted the respectable 2006 Basketball World Championship[337] and could co-host the 2023 Basketball World Championship.[338] Tokyo hosted the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021, making Tokyo the primary Asian metropolis to host the Olympics twice.[339] The u . s . a . won the web website hosting rights for the respectable Women's Volleyball World Championship on 5 occasions, greater than every other nation.[340] Japan is the maximum a success Asian Rugby Union u . s . a .[341] and hosted
2019 IRB Rugby World Cup.