Region / Country specific information - Japan
| Background: |
While retaining its time-honored
culture, Japan rapidly absorbed Western technology during the late 19th
and early 20th centuries. After its devastating defeat in World War
II, Japan recovered to become the second most powerful economy in the
world and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne
as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful
politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced
a major slowdown in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented
growth. |
| Location: |
Eastern Asia, island chain between
the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
|
| Geographic coordinates: |
36 00 N, 138 00 E |
| Area: |
total: 377,835 sq
km
land: 374,744 sq km
water: 3,091 sq km
note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto,
Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano
Islands (Kazan-retto) |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly smaller than California
|
| Maritime
claims: |
contiguous zone:
24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM; between 3 NM and 12 NM in the international
straits - La Perouse or Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi, and Eastern and Western
Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait |
| Climate: |
varies from tropical in south
to cool temperate in north |
| Terrain: |
mostly rugged and mountainous
|
| Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Hachiro-gata
-4 m
highest point: Fujiyama 3,776 m |
| Natural
resources: |
negligible mineral resources,
fish |
| Land
use: |
arable land: 11%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 2%
forests and woodland: 67%
other: 19% (1993 est.) |
| Irrigated land: |
27,820 sq km (1993 est.) |
| Natural
hazards: |
many dormant and some active volcanoes;
about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis;
typhoons |
| Environment - current issues: |
air pollution from power plant
emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs
degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of
the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the
depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere |
| Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic
Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical
Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
|
| Geography - note: |
strategic location in northeast
Asia |
| Population: |
126,771,662 (July 2001 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years: 14.64%
(male 9,510,296; female 9,043,074)
15-64 years: 67.83% (male 43,202,513; female 42,790,187)
65 years and over: 17.53% (male 9,351,340; female 12,874,252)
(2001 est.) |
| Population growth rate: |
0.17% (2001 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
10.04 births/1,000 population
(2001 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
8.34 deaths/1,000 population (2001
est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2001 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
3.88 deaths/1,000 live births
(2001 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total population:
80.8 years
male: 77.62 years
female: 84.15 years (2001 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
1.41 children born/woman (2001
est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
0.02% (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
10,000 (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- deaths: |
150 (1999 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Japanese (singular
and plural)
adjective: Japanese |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Japanese 99.4%, Korean 0.6% (1999)
|
| Religions: |
observe both Shinto and Buddhist
84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%) |
| Literacy: |
definition: age 15
and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1970 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA% |
| Country
name: |
conventional long form:
none
conventional short form: Japan |
| Government type: |
constitutional monarchy with a
parliamentary government |
| Administrative divisions: |
47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita,
Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima,
Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa,
Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara,
Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane,
Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata,
Yamaguchi, Yamanashi |
| Independence: |
660 BC (traditional founding by
Emperor Jimmu) |
| National
holiday: |
Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23
December (1933) |
| Legal
system: |
modeled after European civil law
system with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative
acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with
reservations |
| Suffrage: |
20 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: |
chief of state: Emperor
AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989)
head of government: Prime Minister Junichiro KOIZUMI (since
24 April 2001)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the Diet designates
the prime minister; the constitution requires that the prime minister
must command a parliamentary majority, therefore, following legislative
elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority
coalition in the House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister
note: following the resignation of Prime Minister Yoshiro
MORI, Junichiro KOIZUMI was elected as the new president of the majority
Liberal Democratic Party, and soon thereafter designated by the Diet
to become the next prime minister |
| Legislative branch: |
bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists
of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (252 seats; one-half of the
members elected every three years - 76 seats of which are elected from
the 47 multi-seat prefectural districts and 50 of which are elected
from a single nationwide list; members elected by popular vote to serve
six-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats
- 180 of which are elected from 11 regional blocks on a proportional
representation basis and 300 of which are elected from 300 single-seat
districts; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: House of Councillors - last held 12 July 1998
(next to be held NA July 2001); House of Representatives - last held
25 June 2000 (next to be held by June 2004)
election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote
by party - NA%; seats by party - LDP 102, DPJ 47, JCP 23, Komeito 22,
SDP 13, Liberal Party 12, independents 26, others 7; note - the distribution
of seats as of February 2001 is as follows - LDP 112, DPJ 58, Komeito
24, JCP 23, SDP 13, Liberal Party 5, independents 7, others 10; House
of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party
- LDP 233, DPJ 127, Komeito 31, Liberal Party 22, JCP 20, SDP 19, other
28; note - the distribution of seats as of February 2001 is as follows
- LDP 239, DPJ 129, Komeito 31, Liberal Party 22, JCP 20, SDP 19, other
20 |
| Judicial
branch: |
Supreme Court (chief justice is
appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet; all other
justices are appointed by the cabinet) |
| Political parties and leaders: |
Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ
[Yukio HATOYAMA, leader, Naoto KAN, secretary general]; Japan Communist
Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII, chairman, Tadaaki ICHIDA, secretary general];
Komeito [Takenori KANZAKI, president, Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general];
Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president, Taku
YAMASAKI, secretary general]; Liberal Party [Ichiro OZAWA, president,
Hirohisa FUJII, secretary general]; New Conservative Party [Chikage
OGI, president, Takeshi NODA, secretary general]; Social Democratic
Party or SDP [Takako DOI, chairperson, Sadao FUCHIGAMI, secretary general]
|
| Political pressure groups and leaders: |
NA |
| International organization participation: |
AfDB, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner),
AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE (observer),
CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO,
IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest),
NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNRWA, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Shunji YANAI
chancery: 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20008
telephone: [1] (202) 238-6700
FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187
consulate(s) general: Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago,
Denver, Detroit, Hagatna (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City (Missouri),
Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco,
and Seattle
consulate(s): Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador-designate Howard H. BAKER, Jr.
embassy: 10-5 Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420
mailing address: Unit 45004, Box 205, APO AP 96337-5004
telephone: [81] (03) 3224-5000
FAX: [81] (03) 3224-5856
consulate(s) general: Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo
consulate(s): Fukuoka, Nagoya |
| Flag
description: |
white with a large red disk (representing
the sun without rays) in the center |
| Economy
- overview: |
Government-industry cooperation,
a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively
small defense allocation (1% of GDP) have helped Japan advance with
extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically powerful
economy in the world after the US and third largest economy in the world
after the US and China. One notable characteristic of the economy is
the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in
closely-knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been
the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the
urban labor force. Both features are now eroding. Industry, the most
important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw
materials and fuels. The much smaller agricultural sector is highly
subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the
world. Usually self-sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50%
of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains
one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15%
of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth
had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the
1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the
1990s largely because of the aftereffects of overinvestment during the
late 1980s and contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative
excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts
to revive economic growth have met little success and were further hampered
in late 2000 by the slowing of the US and Asian economies. The crowding
of habitable land area and the aging of the population are two major
long-run problems. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength,
with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots".
|
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $3.15
trillion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
1.3% (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $24,900
(2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture: 2%
industry: 35%
services: 63% (1999 est.) |
| Population below poverty line: |
NA% |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: 4.8%
highest 10%: 21.7% (1993) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
-0.7% (2000 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
67.7 million (December 2000) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
services 65%, industry 30%, agriculture
5% |
| Unemployment rate: |
4.7% (2000) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $441 billion
expenditures: $718 billion, including capital expenditures
(public works only) of about $84 billion (FY01/02 est.) |
| Industries: |
among world's largest and technologically
advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine
tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals; textiles, processed
foods |
| Industrial production growth rate: |
5.3% (2000 est.) |
| Electricity - production: |
1.018 trillion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 58.91%
hydro: 8.35%
nuclear: 30.31%
other: 2.43% (1999) |
| Electricity - consumption: |
947.038 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - exports: |
0 kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - imports: |
0 kWh (1999) |
| Agriculture - products: |
rice, sugar beets, vegetables,
fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish |
| Exports: |
$450 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
motor vehicles, semiconductors,
office machinery, chemicals |
| Exports
- partners: |
US 30%, Taiwan 7%, South Korea
6.4%, China 6.2%, Hong Kong 5.6% (2000 est.) |
| Imports: |
$355 billion (c.i.f., 2000) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals,
textiles, office machinery |
| Imports
- partners: |
US 19%, China 14.5%, South Korea
5.4%, Taiwan 4.8%, Indonesia 4.3%, Australia 3.9% (2000 est.) |
| Economic
aid - donor: |
ODA, $9.1 billion (1999) |
| Exchange
rates: |
yen per US dollar - 117.10 (January
2001), 107.77 (2000), 113.91 (1999), 130.91 (1998), 120.99 (1997), 108.78
(1996) |
| Fiscal
year: |
1 April - 31 March |
| Telephones - main lines in use: |
60.381 million (1997) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: |
63.88 million (2000) |
| Telephone system: |
general assessment:
excellent domestic and international service
domestic: high level of modern technology and excellent
service of every kind
international: satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4
Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region),
and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); submarine cables
to China, Philippines, Russia, and US (via Guam) (1999) |
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM 190, FM 88, shortwave 24 (1999)
|
| Radios: |
120.5 million (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations: |
7,108 (plus 441 repeaters; note
- in addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable
services) (1999) |
| Televisions: |
86.5 million (1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.jp |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
73 (2000) |
| Internet
users: |
27.06 million (2000) |
| Railways: |
total: 23,670.7 km
standard gauge: 2,893.1 km 1.435-m gauge (entirely electrified)
narrow gauge: 89.8 km 1.372-m gauge (89.8 km electrified);
20,656.8 km 1.067-m gauge (10,383.6 km electrified); 31 km 0.762-m gauge
(3.6 km electrified) (1994) |
| Highways: |
total: 1,152,207
km
paved: 863,003 km (including 6,114 km of expressways)
unpaved: 289,204 km (1997 est.) |
| Waterways: |
1,770 km approximately
note: seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas |
| Pipelines: |
crude oil 84 km; petroleum products
322 km; natural gas 1,800 km |
| Ports
and harbors: |
Akita, Amagasaki, Chiba, Hachinohe,
Hakodate, Higashi-Harima, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kawasaki, Kinuura, Kobe,
Kushiro, Mizushima, Moji, Nagoya, Osaka, Sakai, Sakaide, Shimizu, Tokyo,
Tomakomai |
| Merchant
marine: |
total: 630 ships
(1,000 GRT or over) totaling 11,691,174 GRT/15,484,848 DWT
ships by type: bulk 137, cargo 51, chemical tanker 15,
combination bulk 22, combination ore/oil 3, container 22, liquefied
gas 49, passenger 9, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 194, refrigerated
cargo 15, roll on/roll off 49, short-sea passenger 6, vehicle carrier
56 (2000 est.) |
| Airports: |
173 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total: 142
over 3,047 m: 8
2,438 to 3,047 m: 36
1,524 to 2,437 m: 38
914 to 1,523 m: 30
under 914 m: 30 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total: 31
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 27 (2000 est.) |
| Heliports: |
16 (2000 est.) |
| Military
branches: |
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
(Army), Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Japan Air Self-Defense
Force (Air Force) |
| Military
manpower - military age: |
18 years of age |
| Military
manpower - availability: |
males age 15-49:
29,926,614 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - fit for military service: |
males age 15-49:
25,876,484 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - reaching military age annually: |
males: 765,817 (2001
est.) |
| Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
$43 billion (FY01) |
| Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
0.96% (FY01) |
| Disputes
- international: |
islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri,
and Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in
1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; Liancourt Rocks
(Takeshima/Tokdo) disputed with South Korea; Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku
Islands) claimed by China and Taiwan |
|
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