Japan

Official name: Nihon, or Nippon (Japan).Form of government: constitutional monarchywith a national Diet consisting of two legislativehouses (House of Councillors [242]; House ofRepresentatives [475]).

Symbol of state: Emperor Akihito.Head of government: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.Capital: Tokyo.Official language: none1.Official religion: none.Monetary unit: yen (¥); valuation (Sept. 1, 2015) 1

U.S.$ = ¥119.88; 1 £ = ¥183.72.

DemographyPopulation (2015): 126,843,000.Density (2015): persons per sq mi 869.4,persons per sq km 335.7.

Sex distribution (20152): male 48.63%;female 51.37%.

Population projection: (2020)125,407,000; (2030) 120,649,000.

Immigration/Emigration (20133): perma-nent immigrants/registered aliens inJapan 2,066,445. Japanese nationals

living abroad (20124) 1,249,577, in the U.S. 32.9%, in China 12.0%, in Australia6.3%, in the U.K. 5.2%, in Canada 4.9%, in Brazil 4.5%, in Thailand 4.5%, other 29.7%. Permanent expatri-ates (including those with dual nationality; 20124) 411,859, of which living in the U.S. 39.2%, in Brazil12.9%, in Australia 10.8%, in Canada 8.9%.

Major cities (20144): Tokyo 9,143,041; Yokohama 3,710,008; −saka 2,686,246; Nagoya 2,276,590; Sapporo1,952,255; Kobe 1,537,864; Fukuoka 1,519,349; Kyoto 1,469,253; Kawasaki 1,461,043; Saitama 1,251,549;Hiroshima 1,185,656; Sendai 1,073,242.

Major metropolitan areas (2011): Tokyo 37,217,000; −saka-Kobe 11,494,000; Nagoya 3,328,000; Fukuoka–Kita-Kyushu 2,868,000; Sapporo 2,742,000; Sendai 2,428,000; Hiroshima 2,119,000; Kyoto 1,804,000.

Households (2010). Total households 51,842,000; average household size (2012) 2.6; composition of house-holds: 1 person 32.4%, 2 persons 27.2%, 3 persons 18.2%, 4 persons 14.4%, 5 persons 5.0%, 6 or more per-sons 2.8%. Family households (2009) 32,823,000 (68.4%); nonfamily 15,189,000 (31.6%).

Mobility (2013). Percentage of total population moving: within a prefecture 2.1%; between prefectures 1.8%.

Urban-rural (2104):Amajor story in Japan in 2015 was the revision of

the country’s constitution, which, until then, hadrestricted Japan’s military to self-defense combat

only. Both chambers of the National Diet (legislature)passed bills that would allow Japanese forces to engage inoverseas combat if an attack on Japan or a close allythreatened Japan’s survival and if all other options hadfailed. The constitutional revision, which had long been atop priority for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, elicited con-siderable popular opposition. In November the country’seconomy slipped back into recession after two consecu-tive quarters of GDP decline.

Area and populationarea population area population

Regions 20144 Regions 20144

Prefectures Capitals sq mi sq km estimate Prefectures Capitals sq mi sq km estimate

Chubu 25,786 66,786 21,461,407Aichi Nagoya 1,991 5,156 7,444,513Fukui Fukui 1,617 4,189 789,633Gifu Gifu 4,092 10,598 2,041,690Ishikawa Kanazawa 1,616 4,185 1,155,450Nagano Nagano 5,245 13,585 2,108,441Niigata Niigata 4,858 12,582 2,313,820Shizuoka Shizuoka 3,003 7,779 3,697,651Toyama Toyama 1,640 4,247 1,070,070Yamanashi Kofu 1,724 4,465 840,139

Chugoku 12,322 31,913 7,438,204Hiroshima Hiroshima 3,273 8,477 2,833,673Okayama Okayama 2,746 7,112 1,924,556Shimane Matsue 2,590 6,707 697,015Tottori Tottori 1,354 3,507 574,022Yamaguchi Yamaguchi 2,359 6,110 1,408,938

Hokkaido 32,221 83,453 5,422,873Hokkaido Sapporo 32,221 83,453 5,422,873

Kanto 12,522 32,432 42,792,243Chiba Chiba 1,991 5,156 6,197,784Gumma Maebashi 2,457 6,363 1,977,013Ibaraki Mito 2,354 6,096 2,921,184Kanagawa Yokohama 932 2,415 9,098,984Saitama Saitama 1,466 3,797 7,237,734Tochigi Utsunomiya 2,474 6,408 1,980,960Tokyo-to Tokyo 848 2,197 13,378,584

Kinki 12,783 33,108 22,589,766Hyogo Kobe 3,240 8,392 5,541,205

Kyoto-fu Kyoto 1,781 4,613 2,613,594Mie Tsu 2,230 5,776 1,820,491Nara Nara 1,425 3,691 1,376,466Osaka-fu Osaka 731 1,893 8,850,607Shiga Otsu 1,551 4,017 1,416,500Wakayama Wakayama 1,825 4,726 970,903

Kyushu 17,157 44,436 14,484,205Fukuoka Fukuoka 1,919 4,971 5,092,513Kagoshima Kagoshima 3,547 9,187 1,668,273Kumamoto Kumamoto 2,859 7,404 1,794,623Miyazaki Miyazaki 2,986 7,734 1,113,974Nagasaki Nagasaki 1,580 4,092 1,385,570Oita Oita 2,447 6,338 1,171,702Okinawa Naha 877 2,271 1,422,534Saga Saga 942 2,439 835,016

Shikoku 7,259 18,802 3,878,179Ehime Matsuyama 2,192 5,676 1,395,609Kagawa Takamatsu 724 1,876 980,936Kochi Kochi 2,743 7,105 737,761Tokushima Tokushima 1,600 4,145 763,873

Tohoku 25,825 66,886 9,038,589Akita Akita 4,483 11,612 1,037,060Aomori Aomori 3,709 9,606 1,321,863Fukushima Fukushima 5,321 13,782 1,936,630Iwate Morioka 5,899 15,278 1,284,384Miyagi Sendai 2,813 7,285 2,327,993Yamagata Yamagata 3,600 9,323 1,130,659

TOTAL 145,8985 377,8735 127,105,466

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Age breakdown (20152):

Religious affiliation (2003):

Social indicatorsQuality of working life. Average hours worked per week (2012): 33.9. Annual rate of deaths/nonfatal injuries per 100,000

workers (2008): 1.9/177.5. Proportion of labour force insured for damages or income loss resulting from injury, permanentdisability, and death (2005): 53.1%. Average man-days lost to labour stoppages per 1,000 workdays (2012): 3.1. Averageduration of journey to work (2008): 27.8 minutes.

Access to services (2004). Proportion of households having access to: safe public water supply 96.9%; public sewage systemc. 68%.

Social participation. Eligible voters participating in last national election (July 2013): 53%. Adult population working asvolunteers at least once in the year (2006) 26.2%. Trade union membership in total workforce (2012): 15.0%.

Social deviance (2012). Offense rate per 100,000 population for: homicide 0.8; robbery 2.9; larceny and theft 815.9.Incidence in general population of: alcoholism per 100,000 population, n.a.; drug and substance abuse (2005) 0.1. Rate ofsuicide per 100,000 population: 21.0.

Favourite sports according to the rates of participation (2012): males—jogging/marathon 31.9%, gymnastics 18.2%, bowling17.3%, cycling 14.3%, fishing 12.8%, golf 12.8%, baseball 12.5%, swimming in pool 11.1%; females—gymnastics 26.3%,jogging/marathon 16.4%, swimming in pool 12.1%, bowling 11.1%, table tennis 8.2%, badminton 7.5%, cycling 7.1%.

Favourite amusements according to the rates of participation (2012): males—lotteries 37.8%, karaoke 35.2%, home videogames 34.5%; females—karaoke 36.6%, card games 32.2%, lotteries 31.6%.

Favourite hobbies according to the rates of participation (2012): average for both sexes—personal computer–related activi-ties c. 68%, listening to music c. 39%, gardening c. 30%.

Favourite excursions according to the rates of participation (2012): average for both sexes—taking part in domestic sight-seeing tours c. 56%, going for a drive c. 51%, visiting zoos, museums, aquariums, or botanical gardens c. 36%, visitingamusement parks c. 22%, picnicking/hiking c. 21%.

Material well-being. Households possessing: automobile (2003–04) 81.6%; air conditioner (2002) 87.2%; personal computer(2007) 85.0%.

Permanent immigrants/registered aliens (20133):

Vital statisticsBirth rate per 1,000 population (2013):8.2 (world avg. 19.5).

Death rate per 1,000 population(2013): 10.0 (world avg. 8.1).

Natural increase rate per 1,000 popula-tion (2013): –1.8 (world avg. 11.4).

Life expectancy at birth (2013): male80.2 years; female 86.6 years.

Other principal cities (20144)population population population

Akita 318,700Amagasaki 447,466Asahikawa 341,410Chiba 965,679Fujisawa 419,916Fukuyama 461,529Funabashi 619,214Gifu 409,314Hachioji 579,740Hamamatsu 791,191Higashi-Osaka 504,029Himeji 534,794Hirakata 404,794Ichikawa 472,338Ichinomiya 378,928Iwaki 326,169Kagoshima 606,750Kanazawa 464,550Kashiwa 408,198Kasugai 308,184Kawagoe 349,735

Kawaguchi 571,091Kita-Kyushu 963,259Kochi 339,034Koriyama 328,816Koshigaya 332,405Kumamoto 740,204Kurashiki 478,714Kurume 302,768Machida 428,766Maebashi 335,327Matsudo 481,346Matsuyama 516,459Miyazaki 402,433Morioka 300,116Nagano 377,626Nagasaki 433,514Naha 320,719Nara 362,226Niigata 808,143Nishinomiya 487,409Oita 477,788

Okayama 714,583Okazaki 375,889Otsu 341,902Sagamihara 722,931Sakai 840,016Shizuoka 706,553Suita 365,904Takamatsu 420,758Takasaki 371,413Takatsuki 353,950Tokorozawa 342,117Toyama 418,863Toyohashi 373,086Toyonaka 394,983Toyota 419,844Utsunomiya 517,696Wakayama 364,092Yokkaichi 306,107Yokosuka 407,240

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National economyGross national income (GNI; 2014): U.S.$5,339,076,000,000(U.S.$42,690 per capita); purchasing power parity GNI(U.S.$37,920 per capita).

Budget (2011–12)7. Revenue: ¥100,535,000,000,000 (govern-ment bonds 51.8%, income tax 13.4%, VAT 10.4%, corpo-rate taxes 8.8%). Expenditures: ¥100,537,000,000,000 (socialsecurity 29.3%, debt service 21.4%, public works 7.0%, education and science 6.4%, national defense 4.8%).

Public debt (February 2012): U.S.$12,511,900,000,000.Population economically active (2014): total 66,230,0004; participation rates: ages 15–64, male 70.4%; female 49.2%; unemployed3.6%, of which youth (ages 15–24) 6.2%.

Production (metric tons except as noted). Agriculture, forestry, fishing (2012): rice (2013) 10,758,000, sugar beets (2013)3,435,000, potatoes (2013) 2,600,000, cabbages and other brassicas 2,300,000, sugarcane (2013) 1,191,000, dry onions 1,097,000,sweet potatoes (2013) 942,300, tangerines and mandarin oranges 846,300, wheat (2013) 811,700, apples 793,800, tomatoes722,300, carrots and turnips 619,000, cucumbers 586,500, green onions and shallots 550,000, lettuce and chicory 543,000, eggplant327,400, pears 299,000, spinach 275,000, persimmons 253,800, soybeans (2013) 199,900, grapes 198,300, strawberries 185,000, taro

(2013) 175,000, yams (2013) 170,000, chilies and peppers145,000, peaches and nectarines 135,200, apricots 90,000,tea 85,900, mushrooms and truffles 61,500, ginger 55,000,string beans 45,000, asparagus 30,000, kiwi fruit 28,000,garlic 21,500, chestnuts 20,900, cherries 17,800; cut flowers(number of flowers) 4,069,000; livestock (number of liveanimals; 2013) 9,685,000 pigs, 4,065,000 cattle, 306,408,000chickens, 190,000 beehives; roundwood (2013) 18,555,566cu m, of which fuelwood 0.4%; fisheries production8

4,841,000, of which mackerel 440,000, bonito 280,000, pol-lack 229,000, squid 214,000, tuna 201,000 (from aquacul-ture [including aquatic plants] 22% [of which laver341,000, oysters 165,000, yellowtail 159,000, wakame (sea-

weed) 49,000, pearls 19,000]); whales caught (2011–12) 267. Mining and quarrying (2012): iodine (2013) 9,400 (world rank: 2);gypsum (2013) 5,500,000 (world rank: 7); silica (industrial sand and gravel) 3,200,000 (world rank: 10); limestone 140,038,000;dolomite 3,361,000; pyrophyllite 340,000; magnesium 15,000; gold 7,233 kg; silver 3,577 kg; platinum 1,735 kg.

Energy production (consumption): electricity (kW-hr; 2013) 1,090,723,000,000 (992,627,000,000); coal (metric tons; 2012) 700,000([2011] 174,000,000); crude petroleum (barrels; 2013–14) 4,120,000 ([2012] 1,460,000,000); petroleum products (metric tons; 2011)145,497,000 (147,533,000); natural gas (cu m; 2013–14) 2,866,000,000 ([2011] 112,600,000,000). Composition of energy supply bysource (2012): fossil fuels 85.8%; nuclear power 1.8%; renewable energy 12.4%, of which hydroelectric 7.7%, biomass and waste3.4%, solar 0.7%.

Land use as % of total land area (2011): in temporary crops or leftfallow 11.7%, in permanent crops 0.8%, in pasture (2007) 1.7%, for-est area 68.6%.

Structure of gross domestic product and labour force2013 20134

in value % of total labour % of labour¥’000,000,000 value force force

Agriculture, forestry, fishing 5,730.1 1.2 2,370,000 3.6Mining and quarrying 306.2 0.1 … …Manufacturing 85,637.3 18.1 10,410,000 15.7Construction 26,653.1 5.6 5,100,000 7.7Public utilities 8,083.8 1.7 … …Transportation andcommunications 49,970.7 10.5 5,400,000 8.1

Trade, hotels 68,122.2 14.4 14,810,000 22.3Finance, real estate 78,430.5 16.6 2,620,000 4.0Pub. admin., defense 43,497.2 9.2 2,130,000 3.2Services 104,922.9 22.1 19,390,000 29.3Other 2,423.09 0.59 4,060,00010 6.110

TOTAL 473,777.211 100.0 66,290,000 100.0

Financial aggregates2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Exchange rate3, ¥ per:U.S. dollar 118.95 114.00 90.75 92.06 81.45 77.72 86.55£ 233.50 228.39 132.30 149.09 127.51 120.16 136.58SDR 178.95 180.15 139.78 144.32 125.44 119.32 133.02Gold (’000,000 fine

troy oz) 24.60 24.60 24.60 24.60 24.60 24.60 24.60% world reserves 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.4

Interest and pricesCentral bank discount (%)3 0.40 0.75 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30Govt. bond yield (%) 1.73 1.65 1.45 1.34 1.15 1.12 0.84Share prices (2005 = 100) 128.2 131.1 93.5 68.4 69.8 64.8 60.6

Manufacturing enterprises (2005)annual

avg. no. wages as aof persons % of avg. of value addedengaged all mfg. wages (U.S.$’000,000)

Food products 1,067,940 60.5 80,059Paints, soaps, and pharmaceuticals 203,164 148.4 65,407

Motor vehicle parts 533,865 142.9 61,424Special purpose machinery 481,666 101.0 58,629Motor vehicles 157,138 220.1 56,461Iron and steel 136,210 167.6 47,941General purpose machinery 376,192 117.2 45,210Plastics 393,660 79.3 39,458Fabricated metal products(not structural) 433,195 77.8 39,340

Electronic valves and tubes 247,858 148.4 37,958Television and radio receivers,sound or video equipment 268,461 128.0 36,464

Base chemicals 105,820 174.1 33,896Printing 328,159 76.0 29,260Publishing … … …Structural metal products 259,709 66.5 24,878Bricks, cement, and ceramics 220,148 63.8 24,306Paper and paper products 197,817 90.7 23,363Medical appliances and instruments 155,601 117.2 19,779

Beverages 64,097 97.0 18,609Office machines and computers 118,012 142.7 15,170Domestic appliances 83,741 115.5 12,493Rubber products 108,272 108.8 11,985Electricity distribution and control apparatus 114,290 107.8 10,216

Education and healthLiteracy: percentage of total population age 15 and overliterate, virtually 100%.

Health (2012): physicians 303,268 (1 per 421 persons); den-tists 102,551 (1 per 1,244 persons); nurses and assistantnurses 1,373,521 (1 per 93 persons); pharmacists 280,052(1 per 455 persons); midwives 31,835 (1 per 4,007 per-sons); hospital beds 1,703,853 (1 per 75 persons); infantmortality rate per 1,000 live births 2.2; undernourishedpopulation (2006–08) less than 5% of total population.

MilitaryTotal active duty personnel (November 2014): 247,150 (army61.1%, navy 18.4%, air force 19.1%, central staff 1.4%).U.S. troops 50,00012. Military expenditure as percentage ofGDP (2014): 1.0%; per capita expenditure U.S.$375.

Breakdown of 12.4% renewable energy by source (2012)

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Foreign trade13

Imports (2012): ¥70,689,000,000,000 (mineral fuels34.1%, of which crude petroleum 17.3%, LNG8.5%, refined petroleum products 3.5%, coal3.3%; machinery and apparatus 19.0%, of whichnonelectrical machinery and apparatus 7.1%,microcircuits, transistors, and photosensitivedevices 2.5%; chemicals and chemical products8.4%; food and food products 8.3%; wearingapparel and accessories 3.8%; transportationequipment 3.3%; professional, scientific, and con-trolling instruments 2.2%; nonferrous base metals[particularly aluminum and platinum-group]1.9%). Major import sources:

Exports (2012): ¥63,748,000,000,000 (machinery andapparatus 38.0%, of which machinery specialized forparticular industries 8.2%, microcircuits, transistors,and photosensitive devices 7.2%, power-generatingmachinery 3.5%, office machines, computers, and parts2.3%, telecommunications, sound recording, and repro-ducing equipment 2.0%; transportation equipment23.5%, of which road vehicles 14.5%, parts for roadvehicles 5.0%; iron and steel 5.5%; chemicals andchemical products 3.7%; professional, scientific, andcontrolling instruments 3.4%). Major export destinations:

Transport and communicationsTransport. Railroads (2012): route length (2009) 16,426 mi, 26,435km; passengers carried 23,042,000; passenger-km 404,394,000,000;metric ton-km cargo 20,471,000,000. Roads (2012): total length754,965 mi, 1,215,000 km (paved 81%); passenger-km75,200,000,00014; metric ton-km cargo 210,000,000,000. Vehicles(2011–12): passenger cars 59,357,223; trucks/buses 15,077,713.

Urban transport (2000)15: passengers carried 57,719,000, of which byrail 34,020,000, by road 19,466,000, by subway 4,233,000.

Radio and television broadcasting (2007): total radio stations 1,703,of which commercial 807; total television stations 15,386, of whichcommercial 8,115. Commercial broadcasting hours (by percentageof programs; 2010): reports—radio 11.7%, television 19.8%; educa-tion—radio 2.5%, television 11.7%; culture—radio 13.8%, televi-sion 24.8%; entertainment—radio 69.2%, television 38.2%.

1Japanese is the national language. 2April. 3End of year. 4October 1. 5Region areasdo not sum to total given because of particular excluded inland water areas; totalarea in 2013 per Statistical Handbook of Japan 2015 equals 145,932 sq mi (377,962sq km). 6Many Japanese practice both Shintoism and Buddhism. 7Budgeted fundsfor General Account. 8Excludes production in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima pre-fectures. Total aquatic plants production (metric tons; 2012) 539,268 (from aqua-culture 82%). 9Statistical discrepancy and import duties less imputed bank servicecharges and less consumption taxes for gross capital formation. 10Includes 1,430,000not adequately defined and 2,630,000 unemployed. 11Detail does not add to totalgiven because of rounding. 12As of June 2015 there were no troops deployed inAfghanistan. 13Imports c.i.f.; exports f.o.b. 14Passenger cars 7,200,000,000; trucksand buses 68,000,000,000. 15Tokyo, Nagoya, and −saka metropolis traffic rangeonly. 16Subscribers.

Internet resources for further information:• Bank of Japan www.boj.or.jp/en• Statistics Bureau and Statistical Research and Training

Institute www.stat.go.jp/english/

Trade by commodity group (2012)

imports exports

SITC group ¥’000,000,000 % ¥’000,000,000 %

00 Food andlive animals 5,852 8.3 355 0.6

01 Beverages and tobacco … … … …02 Crude materials,

excluding fuels 4,768 6.7 1,060 1.703 Mineral fuels, lubricants,

and related materials 24,088 34.1 1,026 1.604 Animal and vegetable

oils, fats, and waxes … … … …05 Chemicals and

related products, n.e.s. 5,926 8.4 6,365 10.006 Basic manufactures 5,508 7.8 8,442 13.207 Machinery and transport

equipment 15,754 22.3 39,243 61.508 Miscellaneous manufactured

articles … … … …09 Goods not classified

by kind/remainder 8,793 12.4 7,258 11.4TOTAL 70,689 100.0 63,74811 100.0

Direction of trade (2012) imports exports

¥’000,000,000 % ¥’000,000,000 %

Africa 1,696 2.4 1,032 1.6Asia 44,907 63.5 37,227 58.4Eastern Asia … … … …Southeastern Asia … … … …Western Asia … … … …

Oceania 4,901 6.9 1,837 2.9Europe (excl. Russia) 7,601 10.8 7,204 11.3Russia 1,660 2.4 1,005 1.6North America 7,716 10.9 14,352 22.5South America 2,208 3.1 1,091 1.7TOTAL 70,689 100.0 63,748 100.0

Distribution of traffic (2013)cargo % of passengers % of

carried national carried national(’000,000 tons) total (’000,000) total

Road 4,346 91.1 6,153 20.6Rail (intercity) 44 0.9 23,606 79.1Inland water 378 7.9 … …Air 1 0.0 92 0.3TOTAL 4,769 100.011 29,851 100.0

Other communications media (2011–12)titles titles

Print Cinema (2012–13)Books (new) 82,200 Feature films 1,117

of which Domestic 591Social sciences 16,094 Foreign 526Fiction 13,893Arts 12,763 trafficEngineering 9,104 (’000)Natural sciences 6,935 PostHistory 4,847 Postal offices 24,514Philosophy 4,342 Mail 18,398,300

Magazines/journals 3,936 Domestic 18,351,700Weekly 104 International 46,600Monthly 2,184 Parcels 3,484,800

Domestic 3,483,500International 1,300

Communications units unitsnumber per 1,000 number per 1,000

Medium date in ’000s persons Medium date in ’000s persons

TelephonesCellular 2014 152,69616 1,20216

Landline 2014 63,610 501

Internet users 2009 99,144 780Broadband 2014 37,22516 29316

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