Japan Wikipedia

As a growing number of younger Japanese are not marrying or remaining childless, Japan’s population is expected to drop to around 88 million by 2065. As of 2025update, over 29.3% of the population is over 65, or more than one in four out of the Japanese population. The country has therefore aimed to diversify its sources and maintain high levels of energy efficiency. The Sendai Nuclear Power Plant restarted in 2015, and since then several other nuclear power plants have been restarted.
The Ryukyu and Nanp? Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snowbanks in the winter. The northernmost region, Hokkaido, has a humid continental climate with long, cold winters and very warm to cool summers.
The resignation of the sh?gun led to the Boshin War and the establishment of a centralized state nominally unified under the emperor (the Meiji Restoration). Modern Japan’s economic growth began in this period, resulting in roads (Kaid?) and water transportation routes, as well as financial instruments such as futures contracts, banking and insurance of the Osaka rice brokers. When open war broke out, Ieyasu defeated rival clans in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Tokugawa Ieyasu served as regent for Hideyoshi’s son Toyotomi Hideyori within the Council of Five Elders and used his position to gain political and military support. During the 16th century, Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries reached Japan for the first time, initiating direct commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West (see Nanban trade and Nanban art).

Main Industries

The Nara period (710–784) marked the emergence of a Japanese state centered on the Imperial Court in Heij?-ky? (modern Nara). These legal reforms created the ritsury? state, a system of Chinese-style centralized government that remained in place for half a millennium. These reforms culminated with the promulgation of the Taih? Code, which consolidated existing statutes and established the structure of the central and subordinate local governments.

• Adopting Western political, judicial, and military institutions, the Cabinet organized the Privy Council, introduced the Meiji Constitution (November 29, 1890), and assembled the Imperial Diet.
• Japan has one of the world’s highest suicide rates, which is considered a major social issue.
• Japan is a leading robotics producer, supplying 38% of the world’s 2024 total, down from 55% in 2017.
• The country’s manufacturing output is the fourth highest in the world as of 2023update.
• Japan maintains one of the world’s largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch, prompting critiques that Japan’s fishing is leading to depletion in fish stocks such as tuna.
• Nihon is typically used in everyday speech and reflects shifts in Japanese phonology during the Edo period.
• Japan is a unitary state and constitutional monarchy in which the power of the emperor (Tenn?) is limited to a ceremonial role.

Since the 19th century, Japan has incorporated much of Western modern architecture into construction and design. Japan has one of the world’s highest suicide rates, which is considered a major social issue. Since 1981, the principal cause of death in Japan is cancer, which accounted for 27% of the total deaths in 2018—followed by cardiovascular diseases, which led to 15% of the deaths. https://www.richyfox.co.uk/ Since 1973, all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance.

Land Area

Around 14,500 BC (the start of the J?mon period), a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture characterized by pit dwelling and rudimentary agriculture emerged. The old Malay name for Japan, Japang or Japun, was borrowed from a southern coastal Chinese dialect and encountered by Portuguese traders in Southeast Asia, who brought the word to Europe in the early 16th century. In the 13th century, Marco Polo recorded the Early Mandarin Chinese pronunciation of the characters ??? as Cipangu. The characters ?? mean ‘sun origin’, which is the source of the popular Western epithet “Land of the Rising Sun”. Nihon is typically used in everyday speech and reflects shifts in Japanese phonology during the Edo period.

Language

Japan has close economic and military relations with the United States, with which it maintains a security alliance. It is the world’s fifth-largest donor of official development assistance, donating US$9.2 billion in 2014. Since the late 19th century, the judicial system has been largely based on the civil law of Europe, notably Germany. Historically influenced by Chinese law, the Japanese legal system developed independently during the Edo period through texts such as Kujikata Osadamegaki. It consists of a lower House of Representatives with 465 seats, elected by popular vote every four years or when dissolved, and an upper House of Councillors with 248 seats, whose popularly-elected members serve six-year terms.

External links

As of 2019update, 37.1% of energy in Japan is produced from petroleum, 25.1% from coal, 22.4% from natural gas, 3.5% from hydropower and 2.8% from nuclear power, among other sources. The Keihin and Hanshin superport hubs are among the largest in the world, at 7.98 and 5.22 million TEU respectively as of 2017update. The largest domestic airport, Haneda Airport in Tokyo, was Asia’s second-busiest airport in 2019. The high-speed Shinkansen (bullet trains) that connect major cities are known for their safety and punctuality. The largest lunar mission since the Apollo program, its purpose was to gather data on the Moon’s origin and evolution. Japan’s plans in space exploration include building a Moon base and landing astronauts by 2030.
More recent major quakes are the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and the 2011 T?hoku earthquake, which triggered a large tsunami. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur several times each century; the 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people. As of 2014update, approximately 0.5% of Japan’s total area is reclaimed land (umetatechi). Honshu has the highest population density at 450 persons/km2 (1200/sq mi) as of 2010update, while Hokkaido has the lowest density of 64.5 persons/km2 as of 2016update. The Ryukyu Islands, which include Okinawa, are a chain to the south of Kyushu. In 2011, Japan suffered one of the largest earthquakes in its recorded history—the T?hoku earthquake—triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

The war cost Japan millions of lives and many of its conquered territories, including de jure parts of Japan such as Korea, Taiwan, Karafuto, and the Kurils. Throughout areas occupied by Japan during the war, numerous abuses were committed against local inhabitants. In 1940, the Empire invaded French Indochina, after which the United States placed an oil embargo on Japan.
The earliest works of Japanese literature include the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki chronicles and the Man’y?sh? poetry anthology, all from the 8th century and written in Chinese characters. It was not until after World War II that Japanese architects made an impression on the international scene, firstly with the work of architects like Kenz? Tange and then with movements like Metabolism. People without insurance through employers can participate in a national health insurance program administered by local governments. Throughout the latest century, Western customs originally related to Christianity, including Western style weddings, Valentine’s Day and Christmas, have become popular as secular customs among many Japanese. Few children learn these languages, but local governments have sought to increase awareness of the traditional languages. The Japanese language is Japan’s de facto national language and the primary written and spoken language of most people in the country.

Government and politics

• The country’s five main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa.
• The Ryukyu and Nanp? Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers.
• Since 1981, the principal cause of death in Japan is cancer, which accounted for 27% of the total deaths in 2018—followed by cardiovascular diseases, which led to 15% of the deaths.
• In 2011, Japan suffered one of the largest earthquakes in its recorded history—the T?hoku earthquake—triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
• Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur several times each century; the 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people.
• The Yayoi period saw the introduction of innovative practices including wet-rice farming, a new style of pottery, and metallurgy from China and Korea.

Executive power is instead wielded by the prime minister and the Cabinet, whose sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people. In 2020, the government of Japan announced a target of carbon-neutrality by 2050. Japan ranks 20th in the 2018 Environmental Performance Index, which measures a country’s commitment to environmental sustainability. Responding to rising concerns, the government introduced environmental protection laws in 1970. Japan has nine forest ecoregions which reflect the climate and geography of the islands.