Japan
This article is about the country in Asia. For other uses, see Japan (disambiguation). , officially
Japan, (日本国
Nihon or
Nippon-koku) is a
country in
East Asia. Located in the
Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of
China,
Korea, and
Russia, stretching from the
Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the
East China Sea in the south. Its
capital is
Tokyo.
Archaeological research indicates that people were living on the islands of Japan as early as the
upper paleolithic period. The written
history of Japan begins with brief appearances in
Chinese history texts from the
1st century. Japanese history has been marked by alternating periods of long isolation and radical influence from the outside world. Its culture today is a mixture of outside influences and
traditional culture.
At over 377,873
square kilometers, Japan is the
62nd largest country by area. It encompasses over 3,000 islands, the largest of which are
Honshū,
Hokkaido,
Kyūshū and
Shikoku. Most of Japan's islands are mountainous, and many are
volcanic, including the highest peak,
Mount Fuji. It ranks
10th in the world by population, with nearly 129 million people. Greater Tokyo, with over 30 million residents, is the largest metropolitan area in the world.
Since it adopted its
constitution on
May 3,
1947, Japan has maintained a
unitary constitutional monarchy with an
emperor and an elected parliament, the
Diet, which is one of the oldest legislative bodies in
Asia. Japan is the world's
second largest economy, sixth largest
exporter and
importer and a member of the
G8,
G4, and
APEC.
Jomon and Yayoi eras
Archaeological research indicates that the earliest inhabitants of the
Japanese Archipelago migrated over
land bridges from
Northeast Asia about 30,000 years ago. Other evidence also suggests that there may have been some migration by sea from
Southeast Asia during a period of general migration toward the
Pacific Ocean.
 |
A Middle Jomon vessel (3000 to 2000 BC) |
The first signs of civilization appeared around
10,000 BC with the
Jōmon culture, characterized by a
mesolithic to
neolithic semi-sedentary
hunter-gatherer lifestyle of pit dwelling and a rudimentary form of
agriculture.
Weaving was still unknown and clothes were often made of
bark. Around that time, however, the Jomon people started to make
clay vessels,
decorated with patterns made by impressing the wet clay with braided or unbraided cord and sticks (Jōmon means "patterns of plaited cord"). The oldest surviving
pottery in the world may be found in Japan, although the dating is disputed.
[Many believe that the Ainu, an indigenous people found mostly on the northern island of Hokkaidō, are descended from the Jomon and thus represent descendants of the first inhabitants of Japan.]Japan first appeared in written history in
57, with the following mention in
Book of Later Han: "Across the ocean from
Luoyang are the people of
Wa (in
Chinese,
Wo', "dwarf state"). Formed from more than one hundred tribes, they come and pay tribute frequently."
The start of the Yayoi period around 300 BC marked the influx of new practices such as rice farming, shamanism and iron and bronze-making brought by migrants from ancient China via the Korean peninsula.["Yayoi Period History Summary," BookRags.com; Jared Diamond, "Japanese Roots," ]Discover
19:6 (June 1998); Thayer Watkins, "The Genetic Origins of the Japanese"; "Shinto - History to 1900," Encyclopædia Britannica''. Japan was then called
Yamataikoku and ruled by a
shaman queen named
Himiko.
The ensuing
Kofun era, beginning around
250, saw the establishment of strong military states centered around powerful clans. The
Yamato Court, suppressing the clans and acquiring agricultural lands, maintained a strong influence in the western part of Japan (the
Asuka region). Based upon the Chinese model, they developed a central administration and an imperial court system and society was organized into occupation groups: farmers, fishermen, weavers, potters, artisans, armorers, and ritual specialists.
Classical era
The
Chinese writing system,
Buddhism, advanced
pottery, ceremonial burial, and other aspects of culture were introduced by aristocrats, artisans, scholars, and monks from
Baekje, one of the
Three Kingdoms of ancient Korea.
["Korean Buddhism Basis of Japanese Buddhism," Seoul Times, June 18, 2006; "Buddhist Art of Korea & Japan," Asia Society Museum; "Kanji," JapanGuide.com; "Pottery," MSN Encarta; "History of Japan," JapanVisitor.com.], to which Japan provided military support.
[See Nihon Shoki, volumes 19, Story of Kinmei. [1]"Nihon Shoki] Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the year 538 or 552 and was promoted by the ruling class.
Prince Shotoku devoted his efforts to the spread of
Buddhism and
Chinese cultural in Japan. He is credited with bringing peace and harmony to the Japanese nation through proclamation of
Seventeen-article constitution. He wrote in a letter to the
Emperor of China that the Emperor of the land where Sun rises (Japan) sends a letter to the Emperor of the land where Sun sets (China), implying a declaration of equal footing with China which angered the Chinese emperor .
[Book of Sui (隋書 東夷伝 第81巻列伝46): "日出处天子至书日没处天子无恙" [2]] Starting with the
Taika Reform Edicts of 645, Japanese intensified the adoption of
Chinese cultural practices and reorganized the government and the penal code in accordance with the Chinese administrative structure (the
Ritsuryo state) of the time. This paved the way for the dominance of
Confucian philosophy in Japan until the 19th century.
The use of the word
Nihon (日本) for the emerging state first appeared around the end of the 7th century.
The
Nara period of the 8th century marked the first emergence of a strong Japanese state, centered around an imperial court in the city of
Heijo-kyo (now
Nara). The imperial court then moved briefly to
Nagaoka, and then to Heian-kyō (now
Kyoto).
Historical writing in Japan culminated in the early 8th century with the massive chronicles,
Kojiki ("The Record of Ancient Matters",
712) and
Nihon Shoki ("Chronicles of Japan",
720). These chronicles give a legendary account of Japan's beginnings in which the people are descendants of the gods themselves. According to the myths contained in Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, Japan was founded in 660 BC by the ancestral
Emperor Jimmu, a direct descendant of the
Shinto deity
Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. The myths also claim that Jimmu started a line of emperors that remains unbroken to this day. However, historians believe the first emperor who actually existed was
Emperor Ōjin, though the date of his reign is uncertain. For most of Japan's history, however, actual political power has been in the hands of the
court nobility, the
shoguns, the military and, more recently, the prime minister.
A distinctly indigenous culture emerged during the
Heian period which lasted for nearly four centuries. After absorbing so much from the mainland over several centuries, the Japanese began to experience a growing sense of self-confidence and appreciation of their own land and heritage. The
arts and
literature flourished and, in the early 11th century,
Lady Murasaki wrote the world's oldest surviving novel called
The Tale of Genji. Although trade expeditions and Buddhist pilgrimages continued, the court decided to discontinue official relations with China.
["Heian Period," Metropolitan Museum of Art.] The
Fujiwara clan's regency regime dominated politics during this period.
Medieval era
Japan's
medieval era was characterized by the emergence of a ruling class of warriors, the
samurai. In 1185, following the defeat of the rival Taira clan,
Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed Seii Tai-
Shogun and established a base of power in
Kamakura. After Yoritomo's death, another warrior clan, the
Hojo, came to rule as regents for the shoguns. The
Kamakura shogunate managed to repel
Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281, with assistance from a storm that the Japanese interpreted as divine intervention (
kamikaze, Divine Wind). The Kamakura shogunate lasted another fifty years and was eventually overthrown by
Ashikaga Takauji in 1333. The succeeding
Ashikaga shogunate failed in the management of
daimyo, and a civil war erupted. The
Onin War rampaged throughout Japan from 1467 to 1477. Vassals rebelled against their liege lords and peasants rebelled against their superiors. This led to the "Warring States" or
Sengoku period.
During the 16th century, traders and
missionaries from
Portugal reached Japan for the first time, initiating the
Nanban ("southern barbarian") period of active commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West.
Oda Nobunaga conquered numerous other daimyo by using European technology and
firearms, and had almost unified the nation when he was assassinated in the
Incident at Honnoji in 1582.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi succeeded Nobunaga. He united Japan in 1590. Hideyoshi twice invaded
Korea, but
Ming China came to Korea's aid. After several defeats and Hideyoshi's death, Japanese troops were quickly withdrawn in 1598.
Edo era
After Hideyoshi's death,
Tokugawa Ieyasu utilized his position as a regent of
Toyotomi Hideyori, Hideyoshi's son, and also the conflicts among loyalists of the
Toyotomi family to gather daimyo around him, and defeated his rival clans in the
battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Ieyasu was appointed to be
shogun in 1603 and established the
Tokugawa shogunate in
Edo (
Tokyo). After defeating Toyotomi clan, at the
Siege of Osaka in 1614 and 1615, the Tokugawa clan became the ruler of Japan both in name and reality and set up the centralized feudal system with the Tokugawa shogunate at the head of the
feudal domains. After Ieyasu, the
Tokugawa shogunate enacted a variety of measures to control the daimyo, among them the
sankin-kotai of alternating between home and attendance in Edo. In 1639, the shogunate began the isolationist
sakoku ("closed country") policy that spanned the two and a half centuries of tenuous political unity known as the
Edo period, often considered to be the height of Japan's medieval culture. The study of Western sciences, known as
rangaku, continued during this period through contacts with the
Dutch enclave at
Dejima in
Nagasaki. This period saw the development of the ethnocentric
kokugaku philosophy .
Meiji, Taisho and Showa eras
Meiji Restoration
On
March 31,
1854,
Commodore Matthew Perry and the "
Black Ships" of the
United States Navy forced the opening of Japan to the West with the
Convention of Kanagawa. The
Boshin War of 1867 to 1868 led to the resignation of the shogunate, and the
Meiji Restoration established a government centered around the emperor along replacing previous
Tokugawa shogunate. One of the main figures that helped bring change was
Fukuzawa Yukichi who wrote the
article "
Leaving Asia", encouraging Japan to be open to change and modernize through
Westernization.
Empire of Japan
During the
Meiji period, Japan adopted numerous Western institutions, including a modern government, legal system, and military. Japan introduced a
parliamentary system modeled after the
British parliament, and
Ito Hirobumi became the 1st
Prime Minister in 1885. These reforms helped transform the
Imperial Japan into a
world power, which eventually decided to expand its territorial control by defeating
China in the
First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and
Russia in the
Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). The Russo-Japanese war was significant because it was the first time that an Asian country had defeated a
European imperial power. By
1910, Japan amalgamated
Korea,
Taiwan, and the southern half of
Sakhalin.
The early 20th century saw a brief period of "
Taisho democracy" overshadowed by the rise of
Japanese expansionism along with
militarization.
World War I enabled Japan, which fought on the side of the victorious
Allies, to expand its influence in Asia, and its territorial holdings in the Pacific. In 1920 Japan joined
the League of Nations and became a member of the security council.
In
1936, however, Japan signed the
Anti-Comintern Pact with
Germany, and then later joined Germany and
Italy to form the alliance called the
Axis Powers in
1940 that opposed the original
World War I Allies.
|
This map shows the growth of the Japanese empire before and during World War two. |
Japan continued its expansionist policy and invaded
China, occupying
Manchuria in 1931, and continued its expansion into China in 1937, starting the
Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), which lasted until the end of
World War II. In 1941, after the
oil embargoes and under diplomatic pressures from
United States,
United Kingdom and the
Netherlands, Japan
attacked the United States naval base in
Pearl Harbor and declared war on the United States and United Kingdom after which Germany declared war on the United States a week later, bringing the United States into
World War II. Japan continued its invasion and invaded and occupied British, Dutch, and U.S. colonies that now make up the present-day countries of
Hong Kong,
Indonesia,
Malaysia, the
Philippines, and
Singapore.
After a long campaign in the
Pacific Ocean, Japan lost many of its initial territorial gains especially after the defeat at the
Battle of Midway, and American forces moved close enough to begin
strategic bombing of Tokyo,
Osaka, and other major cities that culminated in the
1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing about 214,000 people, mostly civilians. After the atomic bombings, Imperial Japan surrended on
September 2,
1945. The
Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal was convened to prosecute
Japanese war crimes.
Post-war period
The war cost millions of lives in Japan and other countries, especially in
East Asia, and left much of the country's industries and infrastructure destroyed. Official
American occupation lasted until 1952. In 1947, Japan adopted a new
pacifist constitution, seeking international cooperation and emphasizing human rights and democratic practices. Japan granted membership of
United Nation in 1956. After the American occupation, under a program of aggressive industrial development and U.S. assistance, Japan achieved
spectacular growth to become the second largest economy in the world with remarkable pace averaging growth of 10% for four decades. Despite a major
stock market crash in 1990 and the resulting
recession from which the country is recovering gradually, Japan remains a
global economic power today and is now bidding for a permanent seat on the
United Nations Security Council.
Heisei era (1989-present)
Japan suffered a major
stock market crash in 1990 and the resulting
recession from which it has been recovering gradually. Japan remains a global economic power today and is now bidding for a permanent seat on the
United Nations Security Council.
In academic studies, Japan is generally considered a
constitutional monarchy, based largely upon the British system with strong influences from European continental
civil law countries such as Germany and France. For example, in 1896 the Japanese government established
Minpo, the
Civil Code, on the French model. With post-World War II modifications, the code remains in effect in present-day Japan.
["Japanese Civil Code", Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 14 May 2006.]The Emperor and the Japanese Imperial Family
The
Emperor (天皇 tennō, literally "heavenly sovereign") is defined by the Constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people" and is the head of the
Imperial family and he is the
head of state. He is a ceremonial figurehead in a constitutional monarchy and does not wield even emergency
reserve powers. Power is mainly held by the Prime Minister, and other elected members of the
Diet. Sovereignty is vested in the
Japanese people by the constitution. Although his official status is disputed, on diplomatic occasions the emperor effectively acts as the
head of state.
Akihito is the current emperor and the only reigning emperor in the world.
Parliament
The
Constitution of Japan states that the nation's "highest organ of state power" is its bicameral
parliament, the
National Diet (
Kokkai). The Diet consists of a
House of Representatives (Lower House or
Shūgi-in) containing 480 seats, elected by popular vote every 4 years or when dissolved, and a
House of Councillors (Upper House or
Sangi-in) of 242 seats, whose popularly-elected members serve six-year terms. There is universal adult (over 20 years old)
suffrage, with a
secret ballot for all elective offices.
The
Cabinet is composed of a
Prime Minister and ministers of state, and is responsible to the Diet. The Prime Minister must be a member of the
Diet, and is designated by his colleagues. The Prime Minister has the power to appoint and remove ministers, a majority of whom must be Diet members. The
liberal conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been in power since 1955, except for a short-lived
coalition government formed from its opposition parties in 1993; the largest opposition party is the liberal-socialist
Democratic Party of Japan.
Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Japan is the
head of government of Japan, although the literal translation is Prime Minister of the Cabinet. The Prime Minister is appointed by the
Emperor of Japan after being designated by the
Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the
House of Representatives to remain in office. The Prime Minister is the head of the Cabinet and appoints and dismisses the Ministers of State. The current Prime Minister of Japan, since
2001, is
Junichiro Koizumi. Theoretically, the Prime Minister of Japan is very powerful, with a role most similar to the
Chancellor of Germany and even greater because of Japan's unitary form of government. However, because of the factionalised and consensus-based nature of Japanese politics in the Diet and with the perpetual creation of coalition governments under the proportional representation schemes, the Prime Minister has much less actual power than his/her counterpart of many other nations. His position as president of the largest party involves negotiation with main party faction and coalition leaders, and legislation is usually initiated and reviewed by party committees rather than by the cabinet.
Foreign relations
Japan maintains close economic and military ties and remains friends with its key ally and partner, the
United States, and therefore the
US-Japan security alliance serves as the cornerstone of its
foreign policy. For example Japan contributed non-combatant troops to the
Operation Iraqi Freedom with the United States and others. Japan is a member state of the
United Nations and currently serving as a non-permanent
Security Council member. It is also one of the "
G4 nations" seeking permanent membership in the Security Council.
Japan is a member of the
G8, the
APEC, the "
ASEAN plus three", and a participant in the
East Asia Summit. Also Japan is the world's second-largest donor of official development assistance (ODA), donating 0.19% of its
Gross National Income in 2004.
[Net Official Development Assistance In 2004, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 11 April 2005. Retrieved 14 May 2006. ]With its geographical neighbors, it has several territorial disputes. These disputes are in part about the control of marine and natural resources, such as possible reserves of
crude oil and
natural gas. These disputes does not amount to any serious crisis in all of the countries involved.
In recent years, Japan has had an ongoing dispute with
North Korea over its
abduction of Japanese citizens and most seriously
nuclear weapons program and missile programs and has proposed
UN sanctions against North Korea along with others. It has officially condemned North Korean missile tests. It also has cooperated with the U.S. to build missile defense system after the North Korean 2006 missile tests. As member of the
G8, the collection of highly industrialized nations, Japan maintains good and cordial relationship with many countries in the world.
Military
|
AOE423 Tokiwa and DD111 Onami at the Port of Shimizu |
Japan's military is restricted by
Article 9 of the
Constitution of Japan of
1947 that states that "The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes". Thus, Japan's current constitution prohibits the use of military force to wage
war against other countries.
Japan's military is governed under
Japan Defense Agency (JDA) and primarily consists of the
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the
Japan Air Self-Defense Force.
Military budget of Japan is less than one percent of its
GDP, thus very less; however its military budget is estimated to be the sixth largest in the world at around $48 billion per year. The forces have been recently used in
peacekeeping operations and
Japan's recent deployment of non-combat troops to Iraq marked the first overseas use of its military since
World War II.
Japan has 47
prefectures. The prefecture is the largest administrative subdivision. Each has an elected governor and legislature, and an administrative bureaucracy.
The prefectures are often grouped into
regions. Those regions are not formally specified, they do not have elected officials, nor are they corporate bodies.
This table shows a commonly accepted example of organization of prefectures into regions, from north to south.
| Region | Prefectures | | Hokkaidō | Hokkaidō |
|---|
| Tōhoku | Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata |
|---|
| Kantō | Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, Tokyo |
|---|
| Chūbu | Aichi, Fukui, Gifu, Ishikawa, Nagano, Niigata, Shizuoka, Toyama, Yamanashi |
|---|
| Kinki | Hyōgo, Kyoto, Mie, Nara, Osaka, Shiga, Wakayama |
|---|
| Chūgoku | Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, Yamaguchi |
|---|
| Shikoku | Ehime, Kagawa, Kōchi, Tokushima |
|---|
| Kyūshū | Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Oita, Saga |
|---|
| Okinawa | Okinawa |
|---|
The prefectures are further subdivided into
cities,
towns and
villages. The nomenclature is different in the
former city of Tokyo, which is divided into 23 cities known as the
special wards (the part of Tokyo outside the 23 special wards uses the nationwide terminology for cities, towns, and villages). Cities (including special wards of Tokyo), towns, and villages have elected officials. In addition, major cities are divided into
wards. These wards, however, are not corporate entities.
Japan is currently undergoing administrative
reorganization by merging many of the cities, towns, and villages with each other. This process will reduce the number of sub-prefecture administrative regions, and is expected to cut administrative costs.
[http://siteresources.worldbank.org/WBI/Resources/wbi37175.pdf Mabuchi, Masaru, "Municipal Amalgamation in Japan," World Bank, 2001.] The Japanese government is also considering a plan by which several groups of prefectures would merge, creating a sub-national administrative division system consisting of 9, 11, or 13 states, and giving the states more local autonomy than the current prefectures enjoy.
[http://www.nira.go.jp/publ/seiken/ev18n10/ev18n10-s.html "Doshusei Regional System," National Association for Research Advancement]Japan, a country of
islands, extends along the eastern or
Pacific coast of
Asia. The main islands, running from north to south, are
Hokkaido,
Honshu (or the mainland),
Shikoku, and
Kyushu.
Naha in the
Ryukyu archipelago is over 600 kilometers (375
mi) to the southwest of Kyushu. In addition, about 3,000 smaller islands may be counted in the full extent of the
archipelago.
Japan is the 19th
most densely populated country in the world. About 70 to 80% of the country is forested,
mountainous
[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566679/Japan.html "Japan," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2006http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.][http://www.worldinfozone.com/country.php?country=Japan "Japan Information", © 1997 - 2006 World InfoZone Ltd],and unsuitable for
agricultural,
industrial, or residential use, due to the generally steep elevations, climate, and risk of landslides caused by earthquakes, soft ground, and heavy rain. This has resulted in an extremely high population density in the habitable zones that are mainly located in coastal areas.
Its location on the
Pacific Ring of Fire, at the juncture of three tectonic plates, gives Japan frequent low-intensity earth tremors and occasional volcanic activity. Destructive
earthquakes, often resulting in
tsunamis, occur several times each century. The most recent major quakes include the
2004 Chuetsu Earthquake and the
Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995.
Hot springs are numerous, and have been developed as resorts.
The climate of Japan is predominantly
temperate but varies greatly from north to south. Japan's geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones:
*
Hokkaido: The northernmost zone has a temperate climate with long, cold winters and cool summers.
Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snow banks in the winter.
*
Sea of Japan: On Honshu's west coast, the northwest wind in the wintertime brings heavy snowfall. In the summer, the region is cooler than the Pacific area, though it sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures, due to the
Föhn wind phenomenon.
*
Central Highlands: A typical inland climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter, and between day and night. Precipitation is light.
*
Seto Inland Sea: The mountains of the
Chugoku and
Shikoku regions shelter the region from the seasonal winds, bringing mild weather throughout the year.
*Pacific Ocean: The east coast experiences cold winters with little snowfall and hot, humid summers due to the southeast seasonal wind.
*
Southwest Islands: The Ryukyu Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very heavy, especially during the rainy season.
Typhoons are common.
The main
rainy season begins in early May in Okinawa, and the stationary rain front responsible for this gradually works its way north until it dissipates in northern Japan before reaching Hokkaido in late July. In most of Honshu, the rainy season begins before the middle of June and lasts about six weeks. In late summer and early
autumn,
typhoons often bring heavy rain.
Japan is home to nine forest
ecoregions which reflect the climate and geography of the islands. They range from
subtropical moist broadleaf forests in the Ryukyu 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.
Natural resources
Japan has very limited
natural resources to sustain economic development since most of the islands are
volcanic and
mountainous. As a result Japan is dependant on other nations for virtually all of its raw materials. A
mountainous, island country, Japan has inadequate
natural resources to support its growing economy and large population. Although many kinds of minerals were extracted throughout the country, most mineral resources had to be imported in the postwar era. Local deposits of metal-bearing ores were difficult to process because they were low grade. The nation's large and varied forest resources, which covered 70 percent of the country in the late 1980s, were not utilized extensively. Because of the precipitous terrain, underdeveloped road network, and high percentage of young trees, domestic sources were only able to supply between 25 and 30 percent of the nation's timber needs. Agriculture and fishing were the best developed resources, but only through years of painstaking investment and toil. The nation therefore built up the manufacturing and processing industries to convert raw materials imported from abroad. This strategy of economic development necessitated the establishment of a strong economic infrastructure to provide the needed energy, transportation, communications, and technological know-how
Japan is an economic
world power with
free-market economy with
GDP (nominal) of little over $4.6
trillion as of
2005.
Government-
industry cooperation, a strong
work ethic, mastery of
high technology, and a comparatively small
defense allocation have helped Japan advance with extraordinary speed to become one of the largest economies in the world. 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.
[http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-7176.html] Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s largely due to the after-effects of over-investment during the late 1980s and domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth have met with little success and were further hampered in 2000 to 2001 by the slowing of the global economy.
[https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ja.html "Japan Economy", CIA World Factbook] However, the economy saw signs of strong recovery in 2005. GDP growth for the year was 2.8%, with an annualized fourth quarter expansion of 5.5%, surpassing the growth rate of the US and European Union during the same period.
[http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/HC02Dh01.html] Unlike previous recovery trends, domestic consumption has been the dominant factor in leading the growth. Hence, the Japanese government predicts that recovery will continue in 2006.
Distinguishing characteristics of the Japanese economy include the cooperation of manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and banks in closely-knit groups called
keiretsu; the powerful enterprise unions and
shuntō; cozy relations with government bureaucrats, and the guarantee of lifetime employment (
shushin koyo) in big corporations and highly
unionized blue-collar factories. Recently, Japanese companies have begun to abandon some of these norms in an attempt to increase profitability.
The current government of
Junichiro Koizumi has enacted or attempted to pass (sometimes with failure) major privatization and foreign-investment laws intended to help stimulate Japan's dormant economy. Although the effectiveness of these laws is still ambiguous, the economy has begun to respond, but Japan's aging population is expected to place further strain on growth in the near future.
["Japan, Refutation of Neoliberalism", Post-Autistic Economics Network, 5 January 2004. Retrieved 14 May 2006.]Heterodox economists tend to claim that Japan is far stronger economically than is usually appreciated [
3]. Some mainstream economists acknowledge that Japan, which unlike most other Western countries has maintained its industrial base, and has vast capital reserves, currently has a strong economic outlook.
Trade
 |
Buildings in the central business district of Yokohama |
Exporting goods is an essential part of the Japanese economy. Its main export partners are the
USA 22.7%,
China 13.1%,
South Korea 7.8%,
Taiwan 7.4% and
Hong Kong 6.3%. Japan's main exports are transport equipment,
motor vehicles,
semiconductors, electrical machinery and
chemicals.
As a nation that relies heavily on
international trade, Japan also imports a wide variety of goods. Its main import partners are
China 20.7%,
US 14%,
South Korea 4.9%,
Australia 4.3%,
Indonesia 4.1%,
Saudi Arabia 4.1%,
UAE 4% (as of 2004). Japan's main imports are machinery and equipment,
beef,
fossil fuels,
foodstuffs,
chemicals,
textiles and raw materials for its industries.
Industrial sector
Japan is among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of
motor vehicles,
electronic equipment,
machine tools,
steel and nonferrous
metals,
ships,
chemical,
textiles, and
processed foods and is home to some of the largest and most well-known
multinational corporations and commercial
brands. It's also one of the leading research nations in these sectors.
Japan holds a very large market share in
high-technology industries such as
semiconductors, industrial chemicals, machine tools,
electronic media and (in recent years)
aerospace.
Construction has long been one of Japan's largest industries, with the help of multi-billion-dollar government contracts in the civil sector. These industries make Japan a major economic
global power.
Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength. There are very few, or if any countries in the world that matches Japan in production of
high technology electronic products. Main power of Japan in the industrial sector are
automobile (machinery) and electronics sectors.
Electronics
Japan is among the leading producers of high-end and consumer
electronics, holding a very large world market share in the industry with vast majority of the products are
exported. For example, many noted and one of the largest electronics
multinational corporations that works in many sectors and industries are based in Japan, including
Sharp,
Yamaha,
Pioneer,
Konica Minolta,
Kyocera,
TDK,
Sony,
Matsushita,
NEC,
Pentax,
Maxell,
Ricoh,
Toshiba,
Kenwood,
Seiko,
Nintendo,
Epson,
JVC,
Casio,
Fujifilm,
Citizen Watch,
Fujitsu,
Olympus,
Korg,
Sanyo,
Roland,
Hitachi,
Nikon and
Canon. It's also home to
7 out of top 20 world's largest
chip manufacturers as of 2005. Japan's electronic products are known for their
quality, durability and technological sophistication. Some of these companies cross over to automobile and finance sectors as part of a
keiretsu.
Automobile and machinery
Japan holds a large share in automobile, electrical machinery, parts and
engine manufacturing with home to
six out of top 10 largest vehicle manufacturers in the world. For example it is home to multinational companies such as
Toyota,
Honda,
Nissan,
Suzuki,
Mazda,
Kawasaki,
Komatsu,
Bridgestone,
Hitachi,
Mitsubishi,
Yamaha,
Subaru,
Isuzu and
Shimano. Some of these companies crossover to different sectors such as
electronics to produce electronic equipment as some of them being a part of
keiretsu. Japan's automobiles are generally known for their
quality, durability,
fuel efficiency and more
features with relatively cheaper price than their competitors.
Science and technology
Japan is a leading nation in scientific research and the production of innovative technological products. Some of the most important industrial contributions include
chemicals,
metals,
electronics,
robotics,
entertainment,
machinery,
industrial robotics and
optics. It is also one of the leading nations in
health care and
medical research and
robotics having produced
QRIO,
ASIMO,
Aibo, etc and possesses more (402,200 out of 742,500) than half of world's industrial robots used for manufacturing.[
4]
Japan is making headway into
aerospace research and
space exploration. It founded its
aerospace exploration agency,
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in
October 1,
2003 and is involved in many missions and projects and a possible independent
manned mission to the
moon having shifted some of its focus away from
international efforts beginning 2005. It's also one of the significant contributing members to the
International Space Station project, the most significant being
Kibo (Japanese Experiment Module) module that will complete installation in 2007.
Service sector
|
The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the second largest in the world with market capitalization of more than $4 trillion. |
Japan's service sector accounts for about three-fourths of its total economic output.
Banking,
insurance,
real estate,
retailing,
transportation, and
telecommunications are all major industries such as
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.,
Toyota Financial Group, Inc.,
Nomura Group, Inc.,
Miziho Financial Group, Inc.,
Japan Post,
All Nippon Airways Co.,Ltd.,
Nippon Tel & Tel (NTT DoCoMo) counting as one of the largest companies in the world. The
Koizumi government is attempting to privatize
Japan Post,
The Tokyo Electric Power Company, one of the country's largest providers of savings and insurance services by 2007. The six major
keiretsus are the
Mitsubishi,
Sumitomo,
Fuyo,
Mitsui,
Dai-Ichi Kangyo and
Sanwa Groups. Japan is home to 326 companies from the
Forbes Global 2000 or 16.3% (as of 2006).
Fishery and agricultural sectors
Japan ranked second in the world behind in tonnage of fish caught"11.9 million tons in 1989, down slightly from 11.1 million tons in 1980. After the 1973 energy crisis, deep-sea fishing in Japan declined, with the annual catch in the 1980s averaging 2 million tons. Offshore fisheries accounted for an average of 50 % of the nation's total fish catches in the late 1980s although they experienced repeated ups and downs during that period
Japan uses a system of terrace farming to build in a small area due to lack of available land. Japanese agriculture has one of the world's highest levels of productivity per unit area. Japan's small
agricultural sector, however, is also highly subsidized and protected, with government regulations that favor small-scale cultivation instead of large-scale agriculture as practiced in North America.
Imported
rice, the most protected crop, is subject to tariffs of 490% and restricted to a quota of only 7.2% of average rice consumption in between 1968 and 1988 Imports beyond the quota are unrestricted in legal terms, but subject to a 341 yen per kilogram tariff. This tariff is now estimated at 490%, but the rate will soar to a massive 778% under new calculation rules to be introduced as part of the
Doha Round.
["http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=2378"] Although Japan is usually self-sufficient in rice (except for its use in making rice crackers and processed foods), the country must import about 50%
["http://www.skillclear.co.uk/japan/default.asp"] of its requirements of other
grain and fodder crops, and relies on imports for most of its supply of
meat.
Japan maintains one of the world's largest
fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch
["https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ja.html#Econ"], prompting some claims that Japan's fishing is leading to depletion in
fish stocks such as
tuna.
["http://www.atimes.com/oceania/AH31Ah01.html"] Japan has also sparked controversy by supporting quasi-commercial
whaling.
["http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4118990.stm"]Infrastructure
Japan is unique in that its
electric power transmission runs at different
frequencies in different parts of the country — 50
Hz in Tokyo and elsewhere east of the
Fuji River, 60 Hz in Osaka and other parts west. The division was due to different technology imports for the initial plant construction; the eastern region imported
Siemens (Germany) technology and the western region imported
GE (U.S.) technology. The household power line voltage is constant 100
V throughout the nation.
Japan has 1,177,278
km of paved roadways, 173
airports, and 23,577
km of
railways as of 2004.
|
Shibuya crossing is one of the largest pedestrian crossings and shopping areas |
Population
Japan's population is estimated at around 128,085,000 people. Japanese society is
linguistically, though not ethnically, homogeneous with small populations of primarily
Ryukyuans (1.5 million),
Koreans (0.6 million),
Chinese and
Taiwanese (0.5 million),
Filipinos (0.5 million), and
Brazilians (250,000). Japan has indigenous minority groups such as the
Ainu and
Ryukyuans, and social minority group like
burakumin. Japanese
citizenship is conferred
jus sanguinis, and monolingual Japanese-speaking minorities often reside in Japan for generations under permanent residency status without acquiring citizenship in their country of birth. About 99% of the population speaks
Japanese as their first language.
Japan has the highest
life expectancy in the world: 85.2 years for women and 78.3 years for men in 2002.
[Vital statistics summary and expectation of life at birth: 1999-2003, United Nations Statistics Division. Retrieved 14 May 2006. ] However, the Japanese population is rapidly aging, the effect of
a postwar baby boom followed by a decrease in births in the latter part of the 20th century. In 2004, about 19.5% of the population was over the age of 65.
["http://www.stat.go.jp/English/data/handbook/c02cont.htm"] The changes in the demographic structure have created a number of social issues, particularly a potential decline in the workforce population and increases in the cost of social securities like the
public pension plan.
If Japan's birth rate remains at the current level, its population is expected to peak at 127.740 million in 2006 and then begin to decline.
["http://www.stat.go.jp/English/data/handbook/c02cont.htm"] At current birth and death rates, the population is expected to drop to 100 million persons in 2050, and to 64 million persons in 2100. Demographers and government planners are currently in a heated debate over how to cope with this problem.
["Demographic Trends and Their Implications for Japan's Future", The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 7 March 1997. Retrieved 14 May 2006.] Immigration and birth incentives are sometimes suggested as a possible solution to provide younger workers to support the nation's aging population. Immigration, however, is not publicly popular as recent increased
crime rates are often attributed to foreigners living in Japan.
Language
The
Japanese language is an
agglutinative language distinguished by a system of
honorifics reflecting the
hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary which indicate the relative status of speaker and listener. There is no consensus on what, if any, linguistic relationship Japanese has with other languages, but scholars continue to
research the issue.
Japanese incorporates many foreign elements. Japanese has borrowed or derived large amounts of vocabulary from
Chinese. When non-Chinese foreign words are written in Japanese, they are usually done so in a separate alphabet called
katakana. Since the end of World War II, Japanese has also extensively borrowed from
English. The
writing system uses
kanji (
Chinese characters) and two sets of
kana (
syllabaries based on simplified forms of Chinese characters), as well as the
Roman alphabet and
Hindu-Arabic numerals.
Japan's official language is Japanese, and about 99% of the population speaks Japanese as their first language. The
Ryukyuan languages, the other member of the
Japonic language family considered splitted from the main stream around the 8th century or before, are spoken in
Okinawa, but few children are learning these languages now.
Ainu, the language of the indigenous minority, is moribund, with only a few elderly
native speakers remaining in
Hokkaido. Most public and private schools require students to take courses in both Japanese and English.
Religion
The Japanese people's concern towards religion is mostly related to
mythology,
traditions, and neighborhood activities rather than the source of morality or the guideline for one's life, for which sometimes
Confucianism, or even
Taoism, tends to serve as the basis for the moral code. 84% of Japanese people profess to believe both
Shinto (the indigenous religion of Japan) and
Buddhism. Religion in Japan tends to be syncretic in nature, and this results in a variety of practices such as parents and children celebrating
Shinto rituals, students praying before exams, couples holding a wedding at a
Christian church and funerals being held at
Buddhist temples. A minority profess to
Christianity (0.7%) and other religions (4.7%) like
shamanism,
Islam, and
Hinduism. Also, since the mid-19th century, many religious sects called
shinkoshukyo, and later
shinshukyo, emerged.
Education
Compulsory education was introduced into Japan in 1872 as one result of the
Meiji Restoration. Since 1947, compulsory education consists of
elementary school and
middle school, which lasts for 9 years (from age 6 to age 15). Almost all children continue their education at a three-year senior
high school, and 96% of high school graduates attend a
university,
junior college, trade school, or other post-secondary institution. Japan's education is very competitive especially in the college level and has prestigious and large universities such as
University of Tokyo,
Keio University,
Waseda University,
Tokyo University etc.
Health
In Japan, healthcare services are provided by national and local governments. Payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal health care insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee. People without insurance through employers can participate in a national health insurance program administered by local governments. Since 1973, all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance. Patients are free to select physicians or facilities of their choice.
Major cities
The principal cities by population include:
Sapporo,
Sendai,
Tokyo(capital),
Yokohama,
Nagoya,
Osaka,
Kyoto,
Kobe,
Hiroshima,
FukuokaJapanese
culture has evolved greatly over the years, from the country's original
Jomon culture to its contemporary hybrid culture, which combines influences from
Asia,
Europe, and
North America.
Historically,
China and ancient
Korea have been the most influential, starting with the development of the
Yayoi culture from around 300 BC and culminating with the introduction of rice farming, ceremonial burial, pottery, painting, writing, poetry, etiquette, the
Chinese writing system, and
Mahayana Buddhism by the 7th century AD. From the mid-19th
century onward, Western influence prevailed, with American influence becoming especially predominant following the end of
World War II.
Japanese civilization flourished during this time and a refined sensibility and interest in the arts began to set in. Traditional
Japanese arts include
crafts (
ikebana,
origami,
ukiyo-e,
dolls,
lacquerware,
pottery), performances (
bunraku,
dance,
kabuki,
noh,
rakugo), traditions (
games,
onsen,
geisha,
sento,
tea ceremony,
budo,
architecture,
gardens,
swords), and
cuisine (
donburi,
mochi,
ramen,
sushi,
tempura,
udon).
Literature
|
Illustration of the Kaguya-hime |
In the early days of the
Heian period, the system of transcription known as
kana (
Hiragana and
Katakana) was invented.
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest Japanese narrative.
[Windows on asia (Michigan State University)] Sei Shōnagon writes
The Pillow Book, a daily of Heian court life.
The Tale of Genji, written by
Lady Murasaki, sometimes anachronically called the world's first novel, is arguably deemed to be the most canonical work of Japanese literature. Another central piece of the canon,
The Tale of the Heike, a samurai epic anonymously written and compiled from oral stories, shows the sway of Buddhist thought on the culture of Medieval Japan and has been a major influence on subsequent literary (particularly, dramatic) works.
During the Tokugawa/Edo era, literature, as entertainment and as practice, became not so much the field of the samurai aristocracy as that of the
chonin (commoners).
Yomihon, for example, became popular and reveals this profound change in the readership and authorship.
An even more significant rupture with traditional literary forms occurred with the Meiji Restoration, during which Japanese literature integrated Western influences, notably French naturalism, English and Russian novels of the time.
Natsume Soseki (who contributed to the massive import of foreign literature, particularly English),
Akutagawa Ryunosuke were the first "modern" novelists, followed by
Tanizaki Junichiro,
Kawabata Yasunari,
Mishima Yukio, and more recently,
Murakami Haruki. These writers are representative novelists of Japanese literature in the West.
Kawabata Yasunari, in 1968 and
Oe Kenzaburo, in 1994 won the
Nobel Prize for Literature.
Music
|
Taiko drummers in Aichi, Japan |
Outside of Japan, the country's music has an image closely tied to its
pop music, which is generally
bubblegum songs with Japanese lyrics and with English refrains. Pop stars (
aidoru kashu) of this scene are generally attractive singers,
boy bands and
girl groups. However, music author John Clewley has described Japan's musical output as a "wide range... from ancient Buddhist chanting and court music to folk and old urban styles, from localised popular styles like
kayokyoku and
enka to
Western classical,
jazz and every form of
pop... found in the West"
[Clewley, pg. 143].
Japanese music has long been tied to Japanese rituals,
literature and
dance.
Theatrical music is the most historically important field of Japanese music, which East Asian musical scholar Isabel Wong attributes to the "Japanese love of storytelling and preoccupation with ritual". She also notes the Japanese preoccupation with the "words and literature" of music, as opposed to the instrumentation, and that all Japanese instruments were "developed to emulate the human voice". She describes Japanese instrumental music as inherently
chamber music "in its conception"
[Wong, pgs. 128 - 129].
Sports and recreation
Sumo is considered Japan's
national sport and is one of its most popular. In the 8th century,
Emperor Shomu (724-749) held lavish tournaments where the best wrestlers in the country competed before hundreds. Professional sumo can trace its roots back to the Edo period as a form of sporting entertainment. Today, six major tournaments are held every year in Japan, each one lasting 15 days. Three are held in Tokyo (January, May, and September) and one each in Osaka (March), Nagoya (July), and Fukuoka (November). The highest rank for a wrestler in sumo is
yokozuna. |
Sumo is a traditional Japanese sport |
Beginning in the 12th century, Japan developed traditional
martial arts known as
budo, which were popular among the warrior class. These include
judo,
karate,
kendo, and others. Judo has been recognized as an official event in the
Olympic Games since the
1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. It is also one of the four main forms of amateur competitive wrestling practiced internationally today.
After the
Meiji Restoration, various kinds of Western sports were introduced into Japan.
Baseball arrived in 1872 and during the 1870s,
track and field events,
soccer,
rugby, and
ice skating were introduced. In 1911, an
Austrian gave
skiing instruction to the Japanese army. In those days, Western sports were played by few people, but through the educational system they spread throughout the country. Western sports were initially stressed as a form of mental discipline, but Japanese have now come to enjoy them as recreational activities.
[http://web-japan.org/factsheet/sports/index.html]Today, baseball is the most popular spectator sport in Japan, followed by (in no particular order)
football (soccer),
rugby,
golf,
badminton,
table tennis,
car racing,
MMA, and
fishing.
Automobile racing is also popular in Japan with
Super GT sports car series and
Formula Nippon formula racing.
Japanese board games include a form of chess, known as
shogi.
Go is also widely popular in the country.
Each year, Japan observes the second Monday in October as a national holiday called
Health and Sports Day. The date, originally October 10, commemorates the opening day of the
1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Other major sporting events that Japan has hosted include the
1972 Winter Olympics in
Sapporo and the
1998 Winter Olympics in
Nagano. It also co-hosted the
2002 FIFA World Cup with
South Korea.
| History | Paleolithic, Jomon, Yayoi, Yamato, Nara, Heian, Kamakura, Muromachi, Azuchi-Momoyama, Edo, Meiji, Taisho, Showa, Heisei |
|---|
Government
& politics | Emperor (list), Prime Minister(list), Cabinet, Ministries, Diet, House of Councillors, House of Representatives, Judiciary, Elections, Political parties, Fiscal policy, Foreign policy, Foreign relations, Human rights, Military |
|---|
| Geography | Environment, Regions, Prefectures, Cities, Districts, Towns, Villages, Addresses, Island, Lakes, Rivers |
|---|
| Economy | Primary sector, Manufacturing, Labor, Communications, Transportation, Currency, Central bank |
|---|
| Society | Demographics of Japan, Religion, Mythology, Education, Language, Culture, Values |
|---|
Official
*
Courts.go.jp - Official site of the
Japanese Supreme Court*
Encyclopaedia Britannica's Japan portal site*
Kantei.go.jp - Official
prime ministerial and cabinet site
*
Kunaicho.go.jp - Official site of the
Imperial family.
*
Links to Ministries and other Organizations*
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Detailed papers on Japan's foreign policy, education programs, culture and life.
*
Sangi-in.go.jp - Official site of the House of Councillors
*
Shugi-in.go.jp - Official site of the House of Representatives
*
Stat.go.jp - Statistics Bureau Home Page (English)
*
jnto.go.jp - Japan National Tourist Organization (English)
*[
5] - National Diet Library (English)
Media
*
NHK Online*
Kyodo News*
The Japan TimesOther
*[https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ja.html CIA World Factbook -
Japan]
*
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Japan*
electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies *
Japan Visa*
Guardian Unlimited - Special Report: Japan*
Library of Congress - Country Study: Japan data as of January 1994
*
Urban Employment Areas in Japan (Metropolitan Areas in Japan)
*
Japan main cities satellite views*
Japan Land Forums (includes news about Japan)
'''
nds-nl:Japanzh-yue:日本
