Japan

{{Main|Names of Japan}}

The name for Japan in Japanese is written using the kanji {{nihongo2|日本}} and is pronounced {{transliteration|ja|Nihon}} or {{transliteration|ja|Nippon}}.{{cite web|last1=Schreiber|first1=Mark|title=You say 'Nihon', I say 'Nippon', or let's call the whole thing 'Japan'?|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2019/11/26/language/nihon-nippon-japan/|website=The Japan Times|date=November 26, 2019|archivedate=October 27, 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027120630/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2019/11/26/language/nihon-nippon-japan/|url-status=live}} Before {{nihongo2|日本}} was adopted in the early 8th century, the country was known in China as {{transliteration|zh|Wa}} ({{lang|zh|倭}}, changed in Japan around 757 to {{Nihongo2|和}}) and in Japan by the endonym {{transliteration|ja|Yamato}}.{{cite journal|last1=Carr|first1=Michael|title=Wa Wa Lexicography|journal=International Journal of Lexicography|date=March 1992|volume=5|issue=1|pages=1–31|doi=10.1093/ijl/5.1.1|url=https://academic.oup.com/ijl/article/5/1/1/950449|url-access=subscription}} {{transliteration|ja|Nippon}}, the original Sino-Japanese reading of the characters, is favored for official uses, including on Japanese banknotes and postage stamps. {{transliteration|ja|Nihon}} is typically used in everyday speech and reflects shifts in Japanese phonology during the Edo period. The characters {{nihongo2|日本}} mean "sun origin", which is the source of the popular Western epithet "Land of the Rising Sun".{{cite book|title=The Emergence of Japanese Kingship|author1-link=Joan R. Piggott|first=Joan R.|last=Piggott|year=1997|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-2832-4|pages=143–144|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BruaJSZmjHcC}}

The name "Japan" is based on Min or Wu Chinese pronunciations of {{nihongo2|日本}} and was introduced to European languages through early trade. In the 13th century, Marco Polo recorded the Early Mandarin Chinese pronunciation of the characters {{lang|zh|日本國}} as {{transliteration|cmn|Cipangu}}.{{Cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2008/07/27/general/cipangus-landlocked-isles/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825151317/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2008/07/27/general/cipangus-landlocked-isles|archivedate=August 25, 2018|title=Cipangu's landlocked isles|newspaper=The Japan Times|date=July 27, 2008|last1=Hoffman|first1=Michael }} The old Malay name for Japan, {{lang|ms|Japang}} or {{lang|ms|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.{{cite book|title=Asia in the Making of Europe|volume=I|page=157|year=2010|publisher=University of Chicago Press|last=Lach|first=Donald}} The first version of the name in English appears in a book published in 1577, which spelled the name as Giapan in a translation of a 1565 Portuguese letter.{{cite book|last=Mancall|first=Peter C.|title=Travel Narratives from the Age of Discovery: an anthology|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=156–157|chapter=Of the Ilande of Giapan, 1565}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=giZnAgAAQBAJ&pg=PAPA79|title=London: The Selden Map and the Making of a Global City, 1549–1689|first=Robert K.|last=Batchelor|pages=76, 79|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-08079-6|year=2014}}

{{Main|History of Japan}}

{{For timeline|Timeline of Japanese history}}

File:Emperor Jimmu.jpgary {{Nihongo|Emperor Jimmu|神武天皇|Jinmu-tennō}}]]

Modern humans arrived in Japan around 38,000 years ago (~36,000 BC), marking the beginning of the Japanese Paleolithic.{{Cite journal |last=Kondo |first=Y. |last2=Takeshita |first2=Y. |last3=Watanabe |first3=T. |last4=Seki |first4=M. |last5=Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group |date=April 2018 |title=Geology and Quaternary environments of the Tategahana Paleolithic site in Nojiri-ko (Lake Nojiri), Nagano, central Japan |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618217300307 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=471 |pages=385–395 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2017.12.012}} This was followed from around 14,500 BC (the start of the Jōmon period) by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture characterized by pit dwelling and rudimentary agriculture.{{cite book |last1=Habu |first1=Junko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vGnAbTyTynsC&pg=PA43 |title=Ancient Jomon of Japan |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-77670-7 |page=43}} Clay vessels from the period are among the oldest surviving examples of pottery.{{cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jomo/hd_jomo.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|title=Jōmon Culture (ca. 10,500–ca. 300 B.C.)|accessdate=August 28, 2020|archive-date=December 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213222716/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jomo/hd_jomo.htm|url-status=live}} The Japonic-speaking Yayoi people entered the archipelago from the Korean Peninsula,{{cite news |last=Wade |first=Nicholas |date=May 4, 2011 |title=Finding on Dialects Casts New Light on the Origins of the Japanese People |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/science/04language.html |url-access=limited |archivedate=March 31, 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331175152/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/science/04language.html |url-status=live }}{{cite book | surname = Vovin | given = Alexander | author-link = Alexander Vovin | chapter = Origins of the Japanese Language | doi = 10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.277 | doi-access = free | title = Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2017 | isbn = 978-0-19-938465-5}} intermingling with the Jōmon;{{cite journal |last1= Watanabe |first1=Yusuke |last2=Naka |first2=Izumi |last3= Khor |first3=Seik-Soon |last4=Sawai |first4=Hiromi |last5=Hitomi |first5=Yuki |last6=Tokunaga |first6=Katsushi |last7=Ohashi |first7= Jun |title=Analysis of whole Y-chromosome sequences reveals the Japanese population history in the Jomon period |journal= Scientific Reports |date=June 17, 2019 |volume=9 |issue=1 |page =8556 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-44473-z |doi-access=free }} the Yayoi period saw the introduction of practices including wet-rice farming,{{cite web|title=Road of rice plant|url=http://www.kahaku.go.jp/special/past/japanese/ipix/5/5-25.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430010530/http://www.kahaku.go.jp/special/past/japanese/ipix/5/5-25.html|archivedate=April 30, 2011|publisher=National Science Museum of Japan|accessdate=January 15, 2011}} a new style of pottery,{{cite web|title=Kofun Period (ca. 300–710)|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kofu/hd_kofu.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=August 28, 2020|archive-date=February 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221210151/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kofu/hd_kofu.htm|url-status=live}} and metallurgy from China and Korea.{{cite web|title=Yayoi Culture (ca. 300 B.C.–300 A.D.)|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yayo/hd_yayo.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=August 28, 2020|archive-date=January 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104161858/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yayo/hd_yayo.htm|url-status=live}} According to legend, Emperor Jimmu (descendant of Amaterasu) founded a kingdom in central Japan in 660 BC, beginning a continuous imperial line.{{cite book |last=Hendry |first=Joy |url=https://archive.org/details/understandingjap00hend |title=Understanding Japanese Society |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-136-27918-8 |page=9 |url-access=registration}}

Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese Book of Han, completed in 111 AD, where it is described as having a hundred small kingdoms. A century later, the Book of Wei records that the kingdom of Yamatai (which may refer to Yamato) unified most of these kingdoms.{{cite book |last=Henshall |first=Kenneth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vD76fF5hqf8C |title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-230-34662-8 |pages=14–16}} Buddhism was introduced to Japan from Baekje (a Korean kingdom) in 552, but the development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily influenced by China.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Delmer M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A3_6lp8IOK8C&pg=PA141 |title=The Cambridge History of Japan |last2=Hall |first2=John Whitney |last3=Jansen |first3=Marius B. |last4=Shively |first4=Donald H. |last5=Twitchett |first5=Denis |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-521-22352-2 |volume=1 |pages=140–149, 275}} Despite early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class, including figures like Prince Shōtoku, and gained widespread acceptance beginning in the Asuka period (592–710).{{cite book |last=Beasley |first=William Gerald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AivK7yMICgC&pg=PA42 |title=The Japanese Experience: A Short History of Japan |publisher=University of California Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-520-22560-2 |page=42}}

In 645, the government led by Prince Naka no Ōe and Fujiwara no Kamatari devised and implemented the far-reaching Taika Reforms. The Reform began with land reform, based on Confucian ideas and philosophies from China.{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan|edition=2nd|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}} It nationalized all land in Japan, to be distributed equally among cultivators, and ordered the compilation of a household registry as the basis for a new system of taxation. The true aim of the reforms was to bring about greater centralization and to enhance the power of the imperial court, which was also based on the governmental structure of China. Envoys and students were dispatched to China to learn about Chinese writing, politics, art, and religion. The Jinshin War of 672, a bloody conflict between Prince Ōama and his nephew Prince Ōtomo, became a major catalyst for further administrative reforms. These reforms culminated with the promulgation of the Taihō Code, which consolidated existing statutes and established the structure of the central and subordinate local governments.{{cite book|first=George|last=Sansom|year=1961|title=A History of Japan: 1334–1615|publisher=Stanford University Press|pages=57, 68|isbn=978-0-8047-0525-7|url={{Google books|0syC6L77dpAC|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} }} These legal reforms created the {{transliteration|ja|ritsuryō}} state, a system of Chinese-style centralized government that remained in place for half a millennium.{{cite book|first=Conrad|last=Totman|year=2002|title=A History of Japan|publisher=Blackwell|pages=107–108|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}

The Nara period (710–784) marked the emergence of a Japanese state centered on the Imperial Court in Heijō-kyō (modern Nara). The period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent literary culture with the completion of the {{transliteration|ja|Kojiki}} (712) and {{transliteration|ja|Nihon Shoki}} (720), as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired artwork and architecture.{{cite book|first=Conrad|last=Totman|year=2002|title=A History of Japan|publisher=Blackwell|pages=64–79|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}{{cite book |author=Henshall, Kenneth |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p5OL-k7A4mAC&pg=PT40 |title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-230-36918-4 |pages=24–52 |chapter=Of Courtiers and Warriors: Early and Medieval History (710–1600)}} A smallpox epidemic in 735–737 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of Japan's population.{{cite book |last=Hays |first=J.N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GyE8Qt-kS1kC&pg=PA31 |title=Epidemics and pandemics: their impacts on human history |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-85109-658-9 |page=31}} In 784, Emperor Kanmu moved the capital, settling on Heian-kyō (modern-day Kyoto) in 794. This marked the beginning of the Heian period (794–1185), during which a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged. Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji and the lyrics of Japan's national anthem {{transliteration|ja|"Kimigayo"}} were written during this time.{{cite book|first=Conrad|last=Totman|year=2002|title=A History of Japan|publisher=Blackwell|pages=79–87, 122–123|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}}

File:Mokoshuraiekotoba.jpg boarding a Mongol vessel during the Mongol invasions of Japan, depicted in the {{transliteration|ja|Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba}}, 1293]]

File:The Three Unifiers of Japan.jpg, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.]]

Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence and dominance of a ruling class of warriors, the samurai.{{cite book|first=Steven A.|last=Leibo|title=East and Southeast Asia 2015–2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1yX-CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA99|year=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4758-1875-8|pages=99–104}} In 1185, following the defeat of the Taira clan by the Minamoto clan in the Genpei War, samurai Minamoto no Yoritomo established a military government at Kamakura.{{cite book|title=World Monarchies and Dynasties|last=Middleton|first=John|year=2015|page=616|publisher=Routledge}} After Yoritomo's death, the Hōjō clan came to power as regents for the {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}}. The Zen school of Buddhism was introduced from China in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and became popular among the samurai class.{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan|edition=2nd|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|pages=106–112|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}} The Kamakura shogunate repelled Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281 but was eventually overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo. Go-Daigo was defeated by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336, beginning the Muromachi period (1336–1573).{{cite book|first=Haruo|last=Shirane|title=Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E8qq6zhhM5kC&pg=PA409|year=2012|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-15730-8|page=409}} The succeeding Ashikaga shogunate failed to control the feudal warlords ({{transliteration|ja|daimyō}}) and a civil war began in 1467, opening the century-long Sengoku period ("Warring States").{{cite book|first=George|last=Sansom|year=1961|title=A History of Japan: 1334–1615|publisher=Stanford University Press|pages=42, 217|isbn=978-0-8047-0525-7|url={{Google books|0syC6L77dpAC|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} }}

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.{{cite book|title=Tanegashima|year=2005|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=0-203-47957-2|last=Lidin|first=Olof}} Oda Nobunaga used European technology and firearms to conquer many other {{transliteration|ja|daimyō}};{{cite journal|title=The impact of firearms on Japanese warfare, 1543–98|last=Brown|first=Delmer|journal=The Far Eastern Quarterly|volume=7|issue=3|date=May 1948|doi=10.2307/2048846|pages=236–253}} his consolidation of power began what was known as the Azuchi–Momoyama period.{{cite web|url=https://collections.dma.org/essay/dAg2pDvx|publisher=Dallas Museum of Art|title=Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573–1603)|accessdate=October 3, 2020|archive-date=November 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106110854/https://collections.dma.org/essay/dAg2pDvx|url-status=live}} After the death of Nobunaga in 1582, his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, unified the nation in the early 1590s and launched two unsuccessful invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597.

Tokugawa Ieyasu served as regent for Hideyoshi's son Toyotomi Hideyori and used his position to gain political and military support.{{cite book|last=Turnbull|first=Stephen|title=Toyotomi Hideyoshi|year=2011|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-84603-960-7|page=61|url={{Google books|x8govgAACAAJ|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}}} When open war broke out, Ieyasu defeated rival clans in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. He was appointed {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}} by Emperor Go-Yōzei in 1603 and established the Tokugawa shogunate at Edo (modern Tokyo).{{cite book|chapter=The Closed Country: the Tokugawa Period (1600–1868)|pages=53–74|author=Henshall, Kenneth|title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower|isbn=978-0-230-36918-4|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2012}} The shogunate enacted measures including {{transliteration|ja|buke shohatto}}, as a code of conduct to control the autonomous {{transliteration|ja|daimyō}},{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan|edition=2nd|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|pages=142–143|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}} and in 1639 the isolationist {{transliteration|ja|sakoku}} ("closed country") policy that spanned the two and a half centuries of tenuous political unity known as the Edo period (1603–1868).{{cite journal|last=Toby|first=Ronald P.|title=Reopening the Question of Sakoku: Diplomacy in the Legitimation of the Tokugawa Bakufu|journal=Journal of Japanese Studies|year=1977|volume=3|issue=2|pages=323–363|doi=10.2307/132115|jstor=132115}} Modern Japan's economic growth began in this period, resulting in roads and water transportation routes, as well as financial instruments such as futures contracts, banking and insurance of the Osaka rice brokers.{{cite book|title=The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy|author=Howe, Christopher|publisher=Hurst & Company|year=1996|isbn=978-1-85065-538-1|pages=58ff|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XkCRcv0iXn0C}} The study of Western sciences ({{transliteration|ja|rangaku}}) continued through contact with the Dutch enclave in Nagasaki. The Edo period gave rise to {{transliteration|ja|kokugaku}} ("national studies"), the study of Japan by the Japanese.{{cite journal|last1=Ohtsu|first1=M.|last2=Imanari|first2=Tomio|title=Japanese National Values and Confucianism|journal=Japanese Economy|year=1999|volume=27|issue=2|pages=45–59|doi=10.2753/JES1097-203X270245}}

{{multiple image

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| caption1 = {{nihongo|Emperor Meiji|明治天皇|Meiji-tennō}}; 1852–1912

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| caption2 = The Empire of Japan and its influence, 1942

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The United States Navy sent Commodore Matthew C. Perry to force the opening of Japan to the outside world. Arriving at Uraga with four "Black Ships" in July 1853, the Perry Expedition resulted in the March 1854 Convention of Kanagawa. Subsequent similar treaties with other Western countries brought economic and political crises. The resignation of the {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}} led to the Boshin War and the establishment of a centralized state nominally unified under the emperor (the Meiji Restoration).{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan|edition=2nd|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|pages=289–296|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}} 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.{{cite book|chapter=Building a Modern Nation: the Meiji Period (1868–1912)|pages=75–107|author=Henshall, Kenneth|title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower|isbn=978-0-230-36918-4|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2012}} During the Meiji period (1868–1912), the Empire of Japan emerged as the most developed state in Asia and as an industrialized world power that pursued military conflict to expand its sphere of influence.{{cite book|last=McCargo|first=Duncan|title=Contemporary Japan|year=2000|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-333-71000-5|pages=18–19|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8au8QgAACAAJ}}{{Cite book|title=The Political Economy of Growth|last=Baran|first=Paul|publisher=Monthly Review Press|year=1962|isbn=|page=160}}{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan|edition=2nd|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|pages=312–314|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_a_QgAACAAJ}} After victories in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Japan gained control of Taiwan, Korea and the southern half of Sakhalin,{{cite book|last=Matsusaka|first=Y. Tak|title=Companion to Japanese History|year=2009|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-1690-9|pages=224–241|editor=Tsutsui, William M.|chapter=The Japanese Empire}} and annexed Korea in 1910.{{Cite journal |date=October 15, 2019 |title=Japanese Colonial Ideology In Korea (1905–1945)|journal=The Yale Review of International Studies |url=https://yris.yira.org/essays/japanese-colonial-ideology-in-korea-1905-1945/S|author=Yi Wei}} The Japanese population doubled from 35 million in 1873 to 70 million by 1935, with a significant shift to urbanization.{{cite book|last=Hiroshi|first=Shimizu|title=Japan and Singapore in the world economy: Japan's economic advance into Singapore, 1870–1965|year=1999|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-19236-1|author2=Hitoshi, Hirakawa|page=17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7k0F8YoZ6P0C}}{{cite book|chapter=The Excesses of Ambition: the Pacific War and its Lead-Up|pages=108–141|author=Henshall, Kenneth|title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower|isbn=978-0-230-36918-4|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2012}}

The early 20th century saw a period of Taishō democracy (1912–1926) overshadowed by increasing expansionism and militarization.{{cite book|title=The Pursuit of Power in Modern Japan 1825–1995|chapter=Taisho Democracy and the First World War|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205890.001.0001|last=Tsuzuki|first=Chushichi|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-820589-0}}{{cite book|chapter=The Taisho Period (1912–1926): Transition from Democracy to a Military Economy|title=China's Economic Rise|last=Ramesh|first=S|pages=173–209|isbn=978-3-030-49811-5|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2020}} World War I allowed Japan, which joined the side of the victorious Allies, to capture German possessions in the Pacific and China in 1920. The 1920s saw a political shift towards statism, a period of lawlessness following the 1923 Great Tokyo Earthquake, the passing of laws against political dissent, and a series of attempted coups.{{cite book|title=Nationalism Today: Extreme Political Movements around the World|page=20|editor=Burnett, M. Troy|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2020}}{{cite book|page=268|title=Embracing 'Asia' in China and Japan|year=2018|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|last=Weber|first=Torsten}} This process accelerated during the 1930s, spawning several radical nationalist groups that shared a hostility to liberal democracy and a dedication to expansion in Asia.{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Louise |chapter=The Breakdown in Democracy in 1930s Japan |date=2024 |title=When Democracy Breaks |pages=108–141 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-776078-3}} In 1931, Japan invaded China and occupied Manchuria, which led to the establishment of puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932; following international condemnation of the occupation, it resigned from the League of Nations in 1933.{{cite magazine|title=The Japanese Nation: It has a history of feudalism, nationalism, war and now defeat|magazine=LIFE|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t0kEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA109|date=September 17, 1945|volume=19|issue=12|pages=109–111}} In 1936, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany; the 1940 Tripartite Pact made it one of the Axis powers.

File:Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Instrument of Surrender, officially ending the Second World War.jpg

The Empire of Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).{{cite book|first=S. C. M.|last=Paine|title=The Wars for Asia, 1911–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bAYgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA123|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-56087-0|pages=123–125}} In 1940, the Empire invaded French Indochina, after which the United States placed an oil embargo on Japan.{{cite book| first=Roland H. Jr. |last=Worth|title=No Choice But War: the United States Embargo Against Japan and the Eruption of War in the Pacific|publisher=McFarland|year=1995|pages=56, 86|isbn=978-0-7864-0141-3|url={{Google books|ezBnAAAAMAAJ|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} }} On December 7–8, 1941, Japanese forces carried out surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor, as well as on British forces in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong, among others, beginning World War II in the Pacific.{{cite book|chapter=Introduction: December 7/8, 1941|last1=Bailey|first1=Beth|last2=Farber|first2=David|pages=1–8|title=Beyond Pearl Harbor: A Pacific History|year=2019|publisher=University Press of Kansas}} Throughout areas occupied by Japan during the war, numerous abuses were committed against local inhabitants, with many forced into sexual slavery.{{cite journal|last=Yōko|first=Hayashi|title=Issues Surrounding the Wartime "Comfort Women"|journal=Review of Japanese Culture and Society|year=1999–2000|volume=11/12|issue=Special Issue|pages=54–65|jstor=42800182}} After Allied victories during the next four years, which culminated in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender.{{cite journal|last=Pape|first=Robert A.|title=Why Japan Surrendered|journal=International Security|year=1993|volume=18|issue=2|pages=154–201|doi=10.2307/2539100}} The war cost Japan millions of lives and its colonies, including de jure parts of Japan such as Korea, Taiwan, Karafuto, and the Kurils. The Allies (led by the United States) repatriated millions of Japanese settlers from their former colonies and military camps throughout Asia, largely eliminating the Empire of Japan and its influence over the territories it conquered.{{cite book|last=Watt|first=Lori|title=When Empire Comes Home: Repatriation and Reintegration in Postwar Japan|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-674-05598-8|pages=1–4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_F3AN6x6AQ8C}} The Allies convened the International Military Tribunal for the Far East to prosecute Japanese leaders except the Emperor{{Cite web |last=Frank|first=Richard|date=August 26, 2020 |title=The Fate of Emperor Hirohito |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/what-happened-to-emperor-hirohito |publisher=The National WWII Museum |archivedate=May 9, 2024 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509105645/https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/what-happened-to-emperor-hirohito |url-status=live }} for Japanese war crimes.{{cite book|chapter=A Phoenix from the Ashes: Postwar Successes and Beyond|pages=142–180|author=Henshall, Kenneth|title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower|isbn=978-0-230-36918-4|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2012}}

In 1947, Japan adopted a new constitution emphasizing liberal democratic practices. The Allied occupation ended with the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952,{{Cite news|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/03/06/national/52-coup-plot-bid-to-rearm-japan-cia/|title='52 coup plot bid to rearm Japan: CIA|first=Joseph|last=Coleman|date=March 6, 2007|newspaper=The Japan Times|archive-date=April 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411091335/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/03/06/national/52-coup-plot-bid-to-rearm-japan-cia/|url-status=dead}} and Japan was granted membership in the United Nations in 1956. A period of record growth propelled Japan to become the world's second-largest economy at that time; this ended in the mid-1990s after the popping of an asset price bubble, beginning the "Lost Decade".{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/1467-9701.00522|title=The bubble and the lost decade|last1=Saxonhouse|first1=Gary|last2=Stern|first2=Robert|journal=The World Economy|year=2003|pages=267–281|volume=26|issue=3|hdl=2027.42/71597|hdl-access=free}} In 2011, Japan suffered one of the largest earthquakes in its recorded history—the Tōhoku earthquake—triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.{{cite news|last1=Fackler|first1=Martin|author1-link=Martin Fackler (journalist)|last2=Drew|first2= Kevin|title=Devastation as Tsunami Crashes Into Japan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/asia/12japan.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/asia/12japan.html |archive-date=January 3, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 11, 2011}}{{cbignore}} On May 1, 2019, after the historic abdication of Emperor Akihito, his son Naruhito became Emperor, beginning the {{Lang|ja-latn|Reiwa}} era.{{cite web|title=Japan's emperor thanks country, prays for peace before abdication|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Japan-s-Reiwa-era/Japan-s-emperor-thanks-country-prays-for-peace-before-abdication|website=Nikkei Asian Review|date=April 30, 2019|archivedate=May 11, 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511172939/https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Japan-s-Reiwa-era/Japan-s-emperor-thanks-country-prays-for-peace-before-abdication|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Geography of Japan|Geology of Japan}}

File:Japan topo en.jpg

Japan comprises 14,125 islands extending along the Pacific coast of Asia.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/16/japan-sees-its-number-of-islands-double-after-recount |title=Japan sees its number of islands double after recount |first=Justin |last=McCurry |date=February 16, 2023 |work=The Guardian |archivedate=March 1, 2023 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301154105/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/16/japan-sees-its-number-of-islands-double-after-recount |url-status=live }} It stretches over {{convert|3000|km|mi|abbr=on|comma=5}} northeast–southwest from the Sea of Okhotsk to the East China Sea.{{cite web|title = Water Supply in Japan|url = https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/policy/health/water_supply/1.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126130519/https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/policy/health/water_supply/1.html|archivedate = January 26, 2018|publisher = Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare|accessdate = September 26, 2018 }}{{cite journal|title=An Invitation to Japan's Borderlands: At the Geopolitical Edge of the Eurasian Continent|last=Iwashita|first=Akihiro|pages=279–282|doi=10.1080/08865655.2011.686969|year=2011|journal=Journal of Borderlands Studies|volume=26|issue=3}} The country's five main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa.{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.imic.2012.04.004|title=The development of small islands in Japan: An historical perspective|last=Kuwahara|first=Sueo|year=2012|volume=1|issue=1|journal=Journal of Marine and Island Cultures|pages=38–45|doi-access=free}} The Ryukyu Islands, which include Okinawa, are a chain to the south of Kyushu. The Nanpō Islands are south and east of the main islands of Japan. Together they are often known as the Japanese archipelago.{{cite book|last=McCargo|first=Duncan|title=Contemporary Japan|year=2000|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-333-71000-5|pages=8–11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8au8QgAACAAJ}} {{As of|2019}}, Japan's territory is {{convert|comma=5|377,975.24|km²|sqmi|abbr=on}}. Japan has the sixth-longest coastline in the world at {{convert|comma=5|29751|km|mi|abbr=on}}. Because of its far-flung outlying islands, Japan's exclusive economic zone is the eighth-largest in the world, covering {{convert|comma=5|4470000|km²|sqmi|abbr=on}}.{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/08865655.2011.686972|last=Yamada|first=Yoshihiko|title=Japan's New National Border Strategy and Maritime Security|pages=357–367|year=2011|volume=26|issue=3|journal=Journal of Borderlands Studies}}

The Japanese archipelago is 67% forests and 14% agricultural.{{cite web|url=https://www.env.go.jp/en/nature/npr/ncj/section1.html|publisher=Ministry of the Environment|title=Natural environment of Japan: Japanese archipelago|accessdate=August 4, 2022|archive-date=August 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805032536/https://www.env.go.jp/en/nature/npr/ncj/section1.html|url-status=live}} The primarily rugged and mountainous terrain is restricted for habitation.{{cite journal|first1=Shouji|last1=Fujimoto|first2=Takayuki|last2=Mizuno|first3=Takaaki|last3= Ohnishi|first4=Chihiro|last4=Shimizu|first5=Tsutomu|last5=Watanabe|title=Relationship between population density and population movement in inhabitable lands|journal=Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review|year=2017|volume=14|pages=117–130|doi=10.1007/s40844-016-0064-z|doi-access=free}} Thus the habitable zones, mainly in the coastal areas, have very high population densities: Japan is the 40th most densely populated country even without considering that local concentration.{{cite web|url=http://statisticstimes.com/demographics/countries-by-population-density.php|website=Statistics Times|title=List of countries by population density|accessdate=October 12, 2020|archive-date=September 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926222139/http://statisticstimes.com/demographics/countries-by-population-density.php|url-status=live}}{{cite conference|title=Geographic Dependency of Population Distribution|conference=International Conference on Social Modeling and Simulation, plus Econophysics Colloquium 2014 |pages=151–162|first1=Shouji|last1=Fujimoto|first2=Takayuki|last2= Mizuno|first3=Takaaki|last3=Ohnishi|first4=Chihiro|last4=Shimizu|first5=Tsutomu|last5=Watanabe|series=Springer Proceedings in Complexity|year=2015|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-20591-5_14|isbn=978-3-319-20590-8|url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-20591-5_14}} Honshu has the highest population density at 450 persons/km² (1200/sq mi) {{as of|2010|lc=y}}, while Hokkaido has the lowest density of 64.5 persons/km² {{as of|2016|lc=y}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/jichi_gyousei/c-gyousei/daityo/index.html|script-title=ja:総務省｜住基ネット|trans-title=Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Resident Registration net|work=soumu.go.jp|accessdate=November 13, 2021|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224144613/https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/jichi_gyousei/c-gyousei/daityo/index.html|url-status=live}} {{As of|2014}}, approximately 0.5% of Japan's total area is reclaimed land ({{transliteration|ja|umetatechi}}).{{cite journal|first=Yang|last=Hua|title=Legal Regulation of Land Reclamation in China's Coastal Areas|journal=Coastal Management|volume=42|issue=1|year=2014|pages=59–79|doi=10.1080/08920753.2013.865008}} Lake Biwa is an ancient lake and the country's largest freshwater lake.{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1002/ece3.2070|title = Phylogeny and historical demography of endemic fishes in Lake Biwa: The ancient lake as a promoter of evolution and diversification of freshwater fishes in western Japan|year = 2016|last1 = Tabata|first1 = Ryoichi|last2 = Kakioka|first2 = Ryo|last3 = Tominaga|first3 = Koji|last4 = Komiya|first4 = Takefumi|last5 = Watanabe|first5 = Katsutoshi|journal = Ecology and Evolution|volume = 6|issue = 8|pages = 2601–2623|pmid = 27066244|pmc = 4798153}}

Japan is substantially prone to earthquakes, tsunami and volcanic eruptions because of its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire.{{cite web|last=Israel|first=Brett|date=March 14, 2011|title=Japan's Explosive Geology Explained|url=http://www.livescience.com/30226-japan-tectonics-explosive-geology-ring-of-fire-110314.html|website=Live Science|archivedate=August 5, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805085127/https://www.livescience.com/30226-japan-tectonics-explosive-geology-ring-of-fire-110314.html|url-status=live}} It has the 17th highest natural disaster risk as measured in the 2016 World Risk Index.{{Cite web|title=World Risk Report 2016|url=http://collections.unu.edu/view/UNU:5763#viewMetadata|publisher=UNU-EHS|accessdate=November 8, 2020|archive-date=September 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923203844/https://collections.unu.edu/view/UNU:5763#viewMetadata|url-status=live}} Japan has 111 active volcanoes.{{cite journal|title=A New Japan Volcanological Database|last1=Fujita|first1=Eisuke|last2=Ueda|first2=Hideki|last3=Nakada|first3=Setsuya|journal=Frontiers in Earth Science|date=July 2020|volume=8|page=205|doi=10.3389/feart.2020.00205|doi-access=free}} Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur several times each century;{{cite web|url=http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_asia/japan_tec.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204064754/http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_asia/japan_tec.html|archivedate=February 4, 2007|title=Tectonics and Volcanoes of Japan|publisher=Oregon State University|accessdate=March 27, 2007}} the 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people.{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-japan-earthquake-of-1923-1764539/|website=Smithsonian Magazine|last=Hammer|first=Joshua|date=May 2011|title=The Great Japan Earthquake of 1923|archive-date=March 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318031207/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-japan-earthquake-of-1923-1764539/|url-status=live}} More recent major quakes are the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, which triggered a large tsunami.

{{Main|Geography of Japan#Climate}}

File:Series-N700a-Mt.Fuji.jpg and Shinkansen]]

The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate but varies greatly from north to south. The northernmost region, Hokkaido, has a humid continental climate with long, cold winters and very warm to cool summers. Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snowbanks in the winter.{{cite book|last=Karan|first=Pradyumna Prasad|title=Japan in the 21st century|year=2005|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-2342-4|pages=18–21, 41|author2=Gilbreath, Dick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oze_mWihnU0C}}

In the Sea of Japan region on Honshu's west coast, northwest winter winds bring heavy snowfall during winter. In the summer, the region sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures because of the Foehn.{{cite web|url=https://www.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/cpd/longfcst/en/tourist/file/Hokuriku.html|publisher=Japan Meteorological Agency|title=Climate of Hokuriku district|accessdate=October 24, 2020|archive-date=November 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115152056/https://www.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/cpd/longfcst/en/tourist/file/Hokuriku.html|url-status=live}} The Central Highland has a typical inland humid continental climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter. The mountains of the Chūgoku and Shikoku regions shelter the Seto Inland Sea from seasonal winds, bringing mild weather year-round.

The Pacific coast features a humid subtropical climate that experiences milder winters with occasional snowfall and hot, humid summers because of the southeast seasonal wind. The Ryukyu and Nanpō Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very heavy, especially during the rainy season. The main rainy season begins in early May in Okinawa, and the rain front gradually moves north. In late summer and early autumn, typhoons often bring heavy rain.{{cite web|url=https://www.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/cpd/longfcst/en/tourist_japan.html|publisher=Japan Meteorological Association|title=Overview of Japan's climate|accessdate=December 11, 2020|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112031532/https://www.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/cpd/longfcst/en/tourist_japan.html|url-status=live}} According to the Environment Ministry, heavy rainfall and increasing temperatures have caused problems in the agricultural industry and elsewhere.{{Cite web|title=Japan 2030: Tackling climate issues is key to the next decade|url=https://features.japantimes.co.jp/climate-crisis-2030/|website=The Japan Times|last=Ito|first=Masami|accessdate=September 24, 2020|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309021632/https://features.japantimes.co.jp/climate-crisis-2030///|url-status=live}} The highest temperature ever measured in Japan, {{convert|comma=5|41.1|°C}}, was recorded on July 23, 2018,{{Cite web|agency=Associated Press|date=July 23, 2018|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/07/23/world/asia/ap-as-asia-heat-wave.html|title=Record High in Japan as Heat Wave Grips the Region|website=The New York Times|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723124113/https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/07/23/world/asia/ap-as-asia-heat-wave.html|archivedate=July 23, 2018|url-status=dead }} and repeated on August 17, 2020.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/18/weather/japan-hottest-temperature-record-climate-intl-hnk/index.html|publisher=CNN|date=August 18, 2020|title=Japan's heat wave continues, as temperatures equal highest record|last1=Ogura|first1=Junko|last2=Regan|first2=Helen|archive-date=November 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120015703/https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/18/weather/japan-hottest-temperature-record-climate-intl-hnk/index.html|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Wildlife of Japan}}

Japan has nine forest ecoregions which reflect the climate and geography of the islands. They range from subtropical moist broadleaf forests in the Ryūkyū 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc/spotflora.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213035135/http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc/spotflora.htm|archivedate=February 13, 2007|title=Flora and Fauna: Diversity and regional uniqueness|publisher=Embassy of Japan in the USA|accessdate=April 1, 2007}} Japan has over 90,000 species of wildlife {{as of|2019|lc=y}},{{cite book|first=Ryo|last=Sakurai|title=Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management in Japan: From Asia to the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=68OWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA12|year=2019|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-981-13-6332-0|pages=12–13}} including the brown bear, the Japanese macaque, the Japanese raccoon dog, the small Japanese field mouse, and the Japanese giant salamander.{{cite web|title=The Wildlife in Japan|url=https://www.env.go.jp/nature/yasei/pamph/pamph01/WildlifePamphlet-EN_151126.pdf|publisher=Ministry of the Environment|date=March 2015|archive-date=December 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221054522/http://www.env.go.jp/nature/yasei/pamph/pamph01/WildlifePamphlet-EN_151126.pdf|url-status=live}} There are 53 Ramsar wetland sites in Japan.{{cite web|url=https://www.ramsar.org/wetland/japan|publisher=Ramsar|title=Japan|accessdate=December 11, 2020|archive-date=October 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021083523/https://ramsar.org/wetland/japan|url-status=live}} Five sites have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for their outstanding natural value.{{Cite web|title=Japan|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/jp |accessdate=September 29, 2024 |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre }}

{{Main|Environmental issues in Japan|Climate change in Japan}}

File:Kongobuji Koyasan07n3200.jpg ({{transliteration|ja|momiji}}) at Kongōbu-ji on Mount Kōya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site]]

In the period of rapid economic growth after World War II, environmental policies were downplayed by the government and industrial corporations; as a result, environmental pollution was widespread in the 1950s and 1960s. Responding to rising concerns, the government introduced environmental protection laws in 1970.{{cite web|script-title=ja:日本の大気汚染の歴史|trans-title=Historical Air Pollution in Japan|url=http://www.erca.go.jp/taiki/history/ko_syousyu.html|publisher=Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency|accessdate=March 2, 2014|language=Japanese|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501085231/http://www.erca.go.jp/taiki/history/ko_syousyu.html|archivedate=May 1, 2011}} The oil crisis in 1973 also encouraged the efficient use of energy because of Japan's lack of natural resources.{{cite web|last=Sekiyama|first=Takeshi|title=Japan's international cooperation for energy efficiency and conservation in Asian region|url=http://nice.erina.or.jp/en/pdf/C-SEKIYAMA.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216005103/http://nice.erina.or.jp/en/pdf/C-SEKIYAMA.pdf|archivedate=February 16, 2008|publisher=Energy Conservation Center|accessdate=January 16, 2011}}

Japan ranks 20th in the 2018 Environmental Performance Index, which measures a country's commitment to environmental sustainability.{{cite web|title=Environmental Performance Index: Japan|url=https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/epi-country-report/JPN|publisher=Yale University|accessdate=February 26, 2018|archive-date=November 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119100506/https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/epi-country-report/JPN|url-status=dead}} Japan is the world's fifth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide. As the host and signatory of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, Japan is under treaty obligation to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions and to take other steps to curb climate change.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUST191967|title=Japan sees extra emission cuts to 2020 goal – minister|date=June 24, 2009|publisher=Reuters|archive-date=October 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012011542/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUST191967|url-status=live}} In 2020, the government of Japan announced a target of carbon-neutrality by 2050.{{cite news|last1=Davidson|first1=Jordan|title=Japan Targets Carbon Neutrality by 2050|url=https://www.ecowatch.com/japan-carbon-neutral-2648499409.html|website=Ecowatch|date=October 26, 2020|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101101328/https://www.ecowatch.com/japan-carbon-neutral-2648499409.html|url-status=live}} Environmental issues include urban air pollution (NOx, suspended particulate matter, and toxics), waste management, water eutrophication, nature conservation, climate change, chemical management and international co-operation for conservation.{{cite web|title=Environmental Performance Review of Japan|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/0/17/2110905.pdf|publisher=OECD|accessdate=January 16, 2011|archive-date=February 15, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100215084051/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/0/17/2110905.pdf|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Emperor of Japan|Government of Japan|Politics of Japan|Law of Japan}}

File:Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako cropped Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako 20191110 1.jpg, current head of state, and Empress Masako participated in the Imperial Procession by motorcar after the Ceremony of the Enthronement in Tokyo on November 10, 2019.]]

Japan is a unitary state and constitutional monarchy in which the power of the Emperor (Tennō) is limited to a ceremonial role.{{cite web|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI%282020%29651951|publisher=European Parliament|title=Japan's Parliament and other political institutions|date=June 9, 2020|archive-date=October 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019205439/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2020)651951|url-status=live}} Executive power is instead wielded by the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet, whose sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people.{{cite web|url=http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html|title=The Constitution of Japan|publisher=Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet|date=November 3, 1946|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214104438/http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html|archivedate=December 14, 2013}} Naruhito is the Emperor of Japan, having succeeded his father Akihito upon his accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019.

File:Diet of Japan Kokkai 2009.jpg]]

Japan's legislative organ is the National Diet, a bicameral parliament. 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 245 seats, whose popularly-elected members serve six-year terms.{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/837056/000119312520211213/d477441dex1.htm|publisher=US Securities and Exchange Commission|date=August 6, 2020|title=Japan|archive-date=November 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106133727/https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/837056/000119312520211213/d477441dex1.htm|url-status=live}} There is universal suffrage for adults over 18 years of age,{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2016/07/japan-youth-can-make-difference-new-voting-rights-u-n-envoy/|publisher=UN Envoy on Youth|title=Japan Youth Can Make Difference with New Voting Rights: UN Envoy|date=July 2016|archive-date=October 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028222010/https://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2016/07/japan-youth-can-make-difference-new-voting-rights-u-n-envoy/|url-status=live}} with a secret ballot for all elected offices. The prime minister as the head of government has the power to appoint and dismiss Ministers of State, and is appointed by the emperor after being designated from among the members of the Diet. Shigeru Ishiba is Japan's prime minister; he took office after winning the 2024 Liberal Democratic Party leadership election.{{cite news |last=Ninivagi|first=Gabriele |title=Ishiba wins: An unusual result for an unusual election |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/09/27/japan/politics/ldp-presidential-election-analysis/|date=September 27, 2024 |work=The Japan Times|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240930195331/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/09/27/japan/politics/ldp-presidential-election-analysis/ |archivedate=September 30, 2024 |url-status=live}} The broadly conservative Liberal Democratic Party has been the dominant party in the country since the 1950s, often called the 1955 System.{{cite journal|last=Crespo|first=José Antonio|title=The Liberal Democratic Party in Japan: Conservative Domination|journal=International Political Science Review|volume=16|number=2|pages=199–209|date=April 1995|doi=10.1177/019251219501600206|jstor=1601459}}

Historically influenced by Chinese law, the Japanese legal system developed independently during the Edo period through texts such as {{transliteration|ja|Kujikata Osadamegaki}}.{{cite book|last=Dean|first=Meryll|title=Japanese legal system: text, cases & materials|year=2002|publisher=Cavendish|isbn=978-1-85941-673-0|pages=55–58, 131|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lt9jB5CjfRIC}} Since the late 19th century, the judicial system has been largely based on the civil law of Europe, notably Germany. In 1896, Japan established a civil code based on the German Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, which remains in effect with post–World War II modifications.{{cite journal|last=Kanamori|first=Shigenari|title=German influences on Japanese Pre-War Constitution and Civil Code|journal=European Journal of Law and Economics|date=January 1, 1999|volume=7|issue=1|pages=93–95|doi=10.1023/A:1008688209052}} The Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947, is the oldest unamended constitution in the world.{{cite news|last=McElwain|first=Kenneth Mori|title=The Anomalous Life of the Japanese Constitution|url=https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a05602/the-anomalous-life-of-the-japanese-constitution.html|date=August 15, 2017|website=Nippon.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811213143/https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a05602/the-anomalous-life-of-the-japanese-constitution.html|url-status=live|archivedate=August 11, 2019}} Statutory law originates in the legislature, and the constitution requires that the emperor promulgate legislation passed by the Diet without giving him the power to oppose legislation. The main body of Japanese statutory law is called the Six Codes. Japan's court system is divided into four basic tiers: the Supreme Court and three levels of lower courts.{{cite web|url=http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/judiciary/0620system.html|publisher=Office of the Prime Minister of Japan|title=The Japanese Judicial System|date=July 1999|archive-date=January 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116032711/http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/judiciary/0620system.html|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Administrative divisions of Japan|Prefectures of Japan}}

Japan is divided into 47 prefectures, each overseen by an elected governor and legislature. In the following table, the prefectures are grouped by region:{{cite web|url=https://web-japan.org/factsheet/en/pdf/e02_regions.pdf|title=Regions of Japan|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan|accessdate=January 13, 2021|archive-date=January 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119041311/https://web-japan.org/factsheet/en/pdf/e02_regions.pdf|url-status=live}}

{|

|rowspan="2"|File:Regions and Prefectures of Japan 2.svg

|style="padding-right:1em; padding-left:2em; vertical-align:top;"|

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1. Hokkaido{{pb}}

|style="padding-right:1em; vertical-align:top;"|

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2. Aomori{{pb}}

3. Iwate{{pb}}

4. Miyagi{{pb}}

5. Akita{{pb}}

6. Yamagata{{pb}}

7. Fukushima

|style="padding-right:1em; vertical-align:top;"|

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8. Ibaraki{{pb}}

9. Tochigi{{pb}}

10. Gunma{{pb}}

11. Saitama{{pb}}

12. Chiba{{pb}}

13. Tokyo{{pb}}

14. Kanagawa

|style="padding-right:1em; vertical-align:top;"|

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15. Niigata{{pb}}

16. Toyama{{pb}}

17. Ishikawa{{pb}}

18. Fukui{{pb}}

19. Yamanashi{{pb}}

20. Nagano{{pb}}

21. Gifu{{pb}}

22. Shizuoka{{pb}}

23. Aichi

|-

|style="padding-right:1em; padding-left:2em; vertical-align:top;"|

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24. Mie{{pb}}

25. Shiga{{pb}}

26. Kyoto{{pb}}

27. Osaka{{pb}}

28. Hyōgo{{pb}}

29. Nara{{pb}}

30. Wakayama

|style="padding-right:1em; vertical-align:top;"|

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31. Tottori{{pb}}

32. Shimane{{pb}}

33. Okayama{{pb}}

34. Hiroshima{{pb}}

35. Yamaguchi

|style="padding-right:1em; vertical-align:top;"|

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36. Tokushima{{pb}}

37. Kagawa{{pb}}

38. Ehime{{pb}}

39. Kōchi

|style="padding-right:1em; vertical-align:top;"|

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40. Fukuoka{{pb}}

41. Saga{{pb}}

42. Nagasaki{{pb}}

43. Kumamoto{{pb}}

44. Ōita{{pb}}

45. Miyazaki{{pb}}

46. Kagoshima{{pb}}

47. Okinawa

|}

{{clear}}

{{Main|Foreign relations of Japan}}

File:G7 in het Catshuis.jpg and the G20.]]

A member state of the United Nations since 1956, Japan is one of the G4 countries seeking reform of the Security Council.{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/2017/html/chapter3/c030105.html|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan|title=Japan's Efforts at the United Nations (UN)|work=Diplomatic Bluebook 2017|accessdate=December 11, 2020|archive-date=February 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214051435/https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/2017/html/chapter3/c030105.html|url-status=live}} Japan is a member of the G7, APEC, and "ASEAN Plus Three", and is a participant in the East Asia Summit.{{cite book|url=https://www.jcie.org/researchpdfs/PacificNation/Terada.pdf|last=Terada|first=Takashi|chapter=The United States and East Asian Regionalism|title=A Pacific Nation|editor1=Borthwick, Mark|editor2=Yamamoto, Tadashi|editor2-link=Tadashi Yamamoto|year=2011|isbn=978-4-88907-133-7|publisher=Japan Center for International Exchange|archive-date=November 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106123037/https://www.jcie.org/researchpdfs/PacificNation/Terada.pdf|url-status=live}} It is the world's fifth-largest donor of official development assistance, donating US$9.2 billion in 2014.{{cite web|title=Statistics from the Development Co-operation Report 2015|url=http://www.oecd.org/dac/japan.htm|publisher=OECD|accessdate=November 15, 2015|archive-date=January 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123081241/http://www.oecd.org/dac/Japan.htm|url-status=live}} In 2024, Japan had the fourth-largest diplomatic network in the world.{{Cite web |title=Global Diplomacy Index – Country Rank |url=https://globaldiplomacyindex.lowyinstitute.org/country_rank.html |accessdate=February 26, 2024 |publisher=Lowy Institute |archive-date=February 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201012801/http://globaldiplomacyindex.lowyinstitute.org/country_rank.html |url-status=dead }}

Japan has close economic and military relations with the United States, with which it maintains a security alliance.{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-japan/|publisher=US Department of State|title=US Relations with Japan|date=January 21, 2020|archive-date=May 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503135404/https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4142.htm|url-status=live}} The United States is a major market for Japanese exports and a major source of Japanese imports, and is committed to defending the country, with military bases in Japan. In 2016, Japan announced the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision, which frames its regional policies.{{Cite web |last2=Hosoya |first1=Nicholas |last1=Szechenyi |first2=Yuichi |title=Working Toward a Free and Open Indo-Pacific |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2019/10/working-toward-a-free-and-open-indo-pacific?lang=en |access-date=May 8, 2024 |publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |language=en |archive-date=October 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029041716/https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/10/10/working-toward-free-and-open-indo-pacific-pub-80023 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Achieving the 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)' Vision: Japan Ministry of Defense's Approach |url=https://www.mod.go.jp/en/d_act/exc/india_pacific/india_pacific-en.html |accessdate=May 8, 2024 |publisher=Japan Ministry of Defence |archive-date=May 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508095151/https://www.mod.go.jp/en/d_act/exc/india_pacific/india_pacific-en.html |url-status=live }} Japan is also a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue ("the Quad"), a multilateral security dialogue reformed in 2017 aiming to limit Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region, along with the United States, Australia, and India.{{Cite report |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17325 |title=Japan, the Indo-Pacific, and the "Quad" |last=Chanlett-Avery |first=Emma |date=2018 |publisher=Chicago Council on Global Affairs }}{{Cite web |title=The Quad in the Indo-Pacific: What to Know |first=Sheila A. |last=Smith |date=May 27, 2021 |url=https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/quad-indo-pacific-what-know |accessdate=January 26, 2022 |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |archive-date=May 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503162143/https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/quad-indo-pacific-what-know |url-status=live }}

Japan is engaged in several territorial disputes with its neighbors. Japan contests Russia's control of the Southern Kuril Islands, which were occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945.{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/europe/russia/territory/index.html|title=Japanese Territory, Northern Territories|date=April 4, 2014|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs|archive-date=June 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626202149/https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/europe/russia/territory/index.html|url-status=live}} South Korea's control of the Liancourt Rocks is acknowledged but not accepted as they are claimed by Japan.{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/takeshima/index.html|title=Japanese Territory, Takeshima|date=July 30, 2014|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs|archive-date=June 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613022420/https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/takeshima/index.html|url-status=live}} Japan has strained relations with China and Taiwan over the Senkaku Islands and the status of Okinotorishima.{{cite journal|doi=10.1177/0920203X16665778|date=September 2016|title=The Senkaku Shoto/Diaoyu Islands and Okinotorishima disputes: Ideational and material influences|last=Fox|first=Senan|journal=China Information|volume=30|issue=3|pages=312–333}}

{{Main|Japan Self-Defense Forces}}

File:US Navy 051115-N-8492C-125 The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer JDS Kongou (DDG 173) sails in formation with other JMSDF ships and ships assigned to the USS Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group.jpg Kongō-class destroyer]]

Japan is the third highest-ranked Asian country in the 2024 Global Peace Index.{{Cite web |title=2024 Global Peace Index |url=https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf|publisher=Institute for Economics & Peace|date=June 2024}} It spent 1.1% of its total GDP on its defence budget in 2022,{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?locations=JP|title=Military expenditure (% of GDP) – Japan|publisher=World Bank|accessdate=August 11, 2022|archive-date=August 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811211411/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?locations=JP|url-status=live}} and maintained the tenth-largest military budget in the world in 2022.{{cite web |date=April 2023 |title=Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2022 |url=https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/2304_fs_milex_2022.pdf |publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute |accessdate=May 22, 2023 |archive-date=April 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423231601/https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/2304_fs_milex_2022.pdf |url-status=live }} The country's military (the Japan Self-Defense Forces) is restricted by Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which renounces Japan's right to declare war or use military force in international disputes.{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/law/help/japan-constitution/article9.php|publisher=Library of Congress|title=Japan: Article 9 of the Constitution|date=February 2006|archive-date=November 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113230055/https://www.loc.gov/law/help/japan-constitution/article9.php|url-status=live}} The military is governed by the Ministry of Defense, and primarily consists of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. The deployment of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan marked the first overseas use of Japan's military since World War II.{{cite web|url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/japan-and-its-military|last=Teslik|first=Lee Hudson|date=April 13, 2006|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|title=Japan and its military|archive-date=November 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111193330/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/japan-and-its-military|url-status=live}}

The Government of Japan has been making changes to its security policy which include the establishment of the National Security Council, the adoption of the National Security Strategy, and the development of the National Defense Program Guidelines.{{cite news|title= Japan's Security Policy|publisher= Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan|url= http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/security/|date= April 6, 2016|archive-date= January 28, 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150128132310/http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/security/|url-status= live}} In May 2014, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan wanted to shed the passiveness it has maintained since the end of World War II and take more responsibility for regional security.{{cite news|title=Abe offers Japan's help in maintaining regional security|url=http://www.japanherald.com/index.php/sid/222467193/scat/c4f2dd8ca8c78044/ht/Abe-offers-Japans-help-in-maintaining-regional-security|date=May 30, 2014|newspaper=Japan Herald|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531184828/http://www.japanherald.com/index.php/sid/222467193/scat/c4f2dd8ca8c78044/ht/Abe-offers-Japans-help-in-maintaining-regional-security|archivedate=May 31, 2014|url-status=dead}} In December 2022, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida further confirmed this trend, instructing the government to increase spending by 65% until 2027.{{Cite web |last=Liff |first=Adam P. |date=May 22, 2023 |title=No, Japan is not planning to 'double its defense budget' |url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2023/05/22/no-japan-is-not-planning-to-double-its-defense-budget/ |publisher=Brookings Institution|archive-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523074432/https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2023/05/22/no-japan-is-not-planning-to-double-its-defense-budget/ |url-status=live }} Recent tensions, particularly with North Korea and China, have reignited the debate over the status of the JSDF and its relation to Japanese society.{{cite news|url=https://thediplomat.com/2020/09/japan-dealing-with-north-koreas-growing-missile-threat/|work=The Diplomat|last=Yoji|first=Koda|date=September 18, 2020|title=Japan: Dealing with North Korea's Growing Missile Threat|archive-date=November 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111164739/https://thediplomat.com/2020/09/japan-dealing-with-north-koreas-growing-missile-threat/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-china-military-provocations-revival-disputed-islands-pacifism-11594735596|work=The Wall Street Journal|title=China Provocations Hasten Japan's Military Revival|last1=Gale|first1=Alastair|last2=Tsuneoka|first2=Chieko|date=July 14, 2020|archive-date=November 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111145238/https://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-china-military-provocations-revival-disputed-islands-pacifism-11594735596|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Law enforcement in Japan|Crime in Japan}}

File:警視庁 - panoramio.jpg]]

Domestic security in Japan is provided mainly by the prefectural police departments, under the oversight of the National Police Agency.{{Cite web|publisher=Supreme Court of Japan|year=2005|title=Who will conduct the investigation?|url=http://www.courts.go.jp/saiban/qa_keizi/qa_keizi_09/index.html|accessdate=November 1, 2018|archive-date=September 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924211451/http://www.courts.go.jp/saiban/qa_keizi/qa_keizi_09/index.html|url-status=live}} As the central coordinating body for the Prefectural Police Departments, the National Police Agency is administered by the National Public Safety Commission.{{Cite book|editor=National Police Agency Police History Compilation Committee|year=1977|title=Japan post-war police history|publisher=Japan Police Support Association|language=Japanese}} The Special Assault Team comprises national-level counter-terrorism tactical units that cooperate with territorial-level Anti-Firearms Squads and Counter-NBC Terrorism Squads.{{cite web|url=http://www.npa.go.jp/english/kokusai9/White_Paper_2009_7.pdf|title=Chapter IV. Maintenance of Public Safety and Disaster Countermeasures|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110323151825/https://www.npa.go.jp/english/kokusai9/White_Paper_2009_7.pdf|accessdate=March 25, 2011|archivedate=March 23, 2011|publisher=Japanese National Police Agency|url-status=dead}} The Japan Coast Guard guards territorial waters surrounding Japan and uses surveillance and control countermeasures against smuggling, marine environmental crime, poaching, piracy, spy ships, unauthorized foreign fishing vessels, and illegal immigration.{{cite web|url=https://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/e/image/15_b%20of%20jcg.pdf|title=Japan Coast Guard|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708235951/https://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/e/image/15_b%20of%20jcg.pdf|accessdate=July 8, 2019|archivedate=July 8, 2019|publisher=Japan Coast Guard|url-status=live}}

The Firearm and Sword Possession Control Law strictly regulates the civilian ownership of guns, swords, and other weaponry.{{cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2008/11/29/national/diet-tightens-laws-on-knives-guns/#.XS9faShKi01|title=Diet tightens laws on knives, guns|date=November 29, 2008|work=The Japan Times|archive-date=April 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230413233016/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2008/11/29/national/diet-tightens-laws-on-knives-guns/#.XS9faShKi01|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/a-land-without-guns-how-japan-has-virtually-eliminated-shooting-deaths/260189/|title=A Land Without Guns: How Japan Has Virtually Eliminated Shooting Deaths|date=July 23, 2012|first=Max|last=Fisher|work=The Atlantic|archive-date=December 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151216014947/http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/a-land-without-guns-how-japan-has-virtually-eliminated-shooting-deaths/260189/|url-status=live}} According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, among the member states of the UN that report statistics {{as of|2018|lc=y}}, the incidence rates of violent crimes such as murder, abduction, sexual violence, and robbery are very low in Japan.{{Cite web|publisher=UNODC|title=Victims of intentional homicide, 1990–2018|url=https://dataunodc.un.org/content/data/homicide/homicide-rate|accessdate=November 11, 2020|archive-date=March 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328012947/https://dataunodc.un.org/content/data/homicide/homicide-rate|url-status=live}}{{cite web|publisher=UNODC|url=https://dataunodc.un.org/data/crime/kidnapping|title=Kidnapping: 2018|accessdate=November 11, 2020|archive-date=October 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021235926/https://dataunodc.un.org/data/crime/kidnapping|url-status=live}}{{cite web|publisher=UNODC|title=Sexual violence|url=https://dataunodc.un.org/data/crime/sexual-violence|accessdate=November 11, 2020|archive-date=November 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107001709/https://dataunodc.un.org/data/crime/sexual-violence|url-status=live}}{{cite web|publisher=UNODC|title=Robbery: 2018|url=https://dataunodc.un.org/data/crime/Robbery|accessdate=November 11, 2020|archive-date=November 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111163831/https://dataunodc.un.org/data/crime/Robbery|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Human rights in Japan}}

Japanese society traditionally places a strong emphasis on collective harmony and conformity, which has led to the suppression of individual rights.{{cite journal | last=Matsui | first=Shigenori | title=Fundamental Human Rights and 'Traditional Japanese Values': Constitutional Amendment and Vision of the Japanese Society | journal=Asian Journal of Comparative Law | volume=13 | issue=1 | date=February 22, 2018 | doi=10.1017/asjcl.2017.25 | doi-access=free | pages=59–86}} Japan's constitution prohibits racial and religious discrimination,{{Cite web |title=Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination started consideration of the initial and second periodic reports of Japan |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2009/10/committee-elimination-racial-discrimination-started-consideration-initial |accessdate=May 8, 2024 |publisher=Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights |archive-date=May 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508101622/https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2009/10/committee-elimination-racial-discrimination-started-consideration-initial |url-status=live }}{{Cite wikisource|title=Constitution of Japan|wslanguage=en}} and the country is a signatory to numerous international human rights treaties.{{cite web |title=Japan Strengthening Its Presence in the International Community|work=Diplomatic Bluebook | publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan | url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/2021/en_html/chapter4/c040207.html | year=2021}} However, it lacks any laws against discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity and does not have a national human rights institution.{{cite book | author=Human Rights Watch | title=World Report 2024: Events of 2023 | publisher=Seven Stories Press | year=2024 | isbn=978-1-64421-338-4 | url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=HjrBEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT425| page=425}}

Japan has faced criticism for its gender inequality,{{cite journal | last=Iida | first=Aki | title=Gender inequality in Japan: The status of women, and their promotion in the workplace | journal=Corvinus Journal of International Affairs | volume=3 | issue=3 | year=2018 | doi=10.14267/cojourn.2018v3n3a5 | doi-access=free | pages=43–52}} not allowing same-sex marriages,{{cite web | last=Shiraishi | first2=Frances|last2= Mao |first1=Sakiko | title=Japan same-sex marriage ban ruled unconstitutional again by courts | publisher=BBC | date=March 14, 2024 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68561968}} use of racial profiling by police,{{Cite news |date=December 17, 2022 |title=Racial profiling, discrimination in Japan far more serious than stats reported by police |url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20221217/p2a/00m/0na/010000c |work=Mainichi Daily News |archive-date=May 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508101627/https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20221217/p2a/00m/0na/010000c |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Japan |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/japan/ |accessdate=May 8, 2024 |publisher=U.S. Department of State |archive-date=September 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230924171500/https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/japan/ |url-status=live }} and allowing capital punishment.{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa22/006/2006/en/|title=Japan: 'Will this day be my last?' The death penalty in Japan|publisher=Amnesty International|date=July 6, 2006}} Other human rights issues include the treatment of marginalized groups, such as ethnic minorities,{{cite web | title=Japan: Long-standing discrimination unchanged |publisher=Amnesty International | url=https://www.amnesty.org/es/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ASA2257602022ENGLISH.pdf |year=2023}} refugees and asylum seekers.{{cite web | title=Japan's new deportation rule for asylum seekers raises rights concerns | website=Nikkei Asia | date=June 10, 2024 | url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Japan-immigration/Japan-s-new-deportation-rule-for-asylum-seekers-raises-rights-concerns}}

{{Main|Economy of Japan}}

File:Nakanoshima Skyscrapers in 201504 001.jpg, Osaka; a major financial center in Japan]]

Japan has the world's fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP, after that of the United States, China and Germany; and the fifth-largest economy by PPP-adjusted GDP.{{cite web |date=October 10, 2023 |title=World Economic Outlook Database, October 2023 |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/October/weo-report?c=512,914,612,171,614,311,213,911,314,193,122,912,313,419,513,316,913,124,339,638,514,218,963,616,223,516,918,748,618,624,522,622,156,626,628,228,924,233,632,636,634,238,662,960,423,935,128,611,321,243,248,469,253,642,643,939,734,644,819,172,132,646,648,915,134,652,174,328,258,656,654,336,263,268,532,944,176,534,536,429,433,178,436,136,343,158,439,916,664,826,542,967,443,917,544,941,446,666,668,672,946,137,546,674,676,548,556,678,181,867,682,684,273,868,921,948,943,686,688,518,728,836,558,138,196,278,692,694,962,142,449,564,565,283,853,288,293,566,964,182,359,453,968,922,714,862,135,716,456,722,942,718,724,576,936,961,813,726,199,733,184,524,361,362,364,732,366,144,146,463,528,923,738,578,537,742,866,369,744,186,925,869,746,926,466,112,111,298,927,846,299,582,487,474,754,698,&s=NGDPD,&sy=2021&ey=2028&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 |publisher=International Monetary Fund |archive-date=October 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029120100/https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/October/weo-report?c=512,914,612,171,614,311,213,911,314,193,122,912,313,419,513,316,913,124,339,638,514,218,963,616,223,516,918,748,618,624,522,622,156,626,628,228,924,233,632,636,634,238,662,960,423,935,128,611,321,243,248,469,253,642,643,939,734,644,819,172,132,646,648,915,134,652,174,328,258,656,654,336,263,268,532,944,176,534,536,429,433,178,436,136,343,158,439,916,664,826,542,967,443,917,544,941,446,666,668,672,946,137,546,674,676,548,556,678,181,867,682,684,273,868,921,948,943,686,688,518,728,836,558,138,196,278,692,694,962,142,449,564,565,283,853,288,293,566,964,182,359,453,968,922,714,862,135,716,456,722,942,718,724,576,936,961,813,726,199,733,184,524,361,362,364,732,366,144,146,463,528,923,738,578,537,742,866,369,744,186,925,869,746,926,466,112,111,298,927,846,299,582,487,474,754,698,&s=NGDPD,&sy=2021&ey=2028&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 |url-status=live }} {{As of|2021}}, Japan's labor force is the world's eighth-largest, consisting of over 68.6 million workers. {{As of|2022}}, Japan has a low unemployment rate of around 2.6%.{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS?locations=JP|title=Unemployment, total (% of the total labor force) (modeled ILO estimate): Japan|publisher=World Bank|accessdate=July 31, 2022|archive-date=July 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731125918/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS?locations=JP|url-status=live}} Its poverty rate is the second highest among the G7 countries,{{cite web|last1=Komiya|first1=Kantaro|last2=Kihara|first2=Leiha|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-confronts-rising-inequality-after-abenomics-2021-10-12/|title=Japan confronts rising inequality after Abenomics|publisher=Reuters|date=October 31, 2021|archive-date=July 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731125918/https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-confronts-rising-inequality-after-abenomics-2021-10-12/|url-status=live}} and exceeds 15.7% of the population.{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/03/japans-middle-class-is-disappearing-as-poverty-rises-warns-economist.html|title=Japan's middle class is 'disappearing' as poverty rises, warns economist|date=July 2, 2020|publisher=CNBC|last=Huang|first=Eustance|archive-date=July 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731125917/https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/03/japans-middle-class-is-disappearing-as-poverty-rises-warns-economist.html|url-status=live}} Japan has the highest ratio of public debt to GDP among advanced economies,{{cite journal|last1=Ímrohoroğlu|first1=Selahattin|last2=Kitao|first2=Sagiri|last3=Yamada|first3=Tomoaki|title=Achieving fiscal balance in Japan|volume=57|number=1|pages=117–154|journal=International Economic Review|date=February 2016|doi=10.1111/iere.12150|jstor=44075341}} with a national debt estimated at 248% relative to GDP {{as of|2022|lc=y}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.fitchratings.com/research/sovereigns/monetary-tightening-poses-medium-term-risks-to-japans-debt-dynamics-06-05-2022|publisher=Fitch Ratings|title=Monetary Tightening Poses Medium-Term Risks to Japan's Debt Dynamics|date=May 6, 2022|archive-date=May 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519084011/https://www.fitchratings.com/research/sovereigns/monetary-tightening-poses-medium-term-risks-to-japans-debt-dynamics-06-05-2022|url-status=live}} The Japanese yen is the world's third-largest reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro.{{cite web|title=Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserve|publisher=IMF|url=https://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=41175|accessdate=October 10, 2021|archive-date=May 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512202858/https://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=41175|url-status=live}}

Japan was the world's fifth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer in 2022.{{cite web |title=List of importing markets for the product exported by Japan in 2022 |url=https://www.trademap.org/Country_SelProductCountry.aspx?nvpm=1%7c392%7c%7c%7c%7cTOTAL%7c%7c%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1 |accessdate=August 11, 2023 |publisher=International Trade Centre |archive-date=April 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410225438/https://www.trademap.org/Country_SelProductCountry.aspx?nvpm=1%7C392%7C%7C%7C%7CTOTAL%7C%7C%7C2%7C1%7C1%7C2%7C1%7C%7C2%7C1%7C1%7C1 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=List of supplying markets for the product imported by Japan in 2022 |url=https://www.trademap.org/Country_SelProductCountry.aspx?nvpm=1%7c392%7c%7c%7c%7cTOTAL%7c%7c%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1 |accessdate=August 11, 2023 |publisher=International Trade Centre |archive-date=April 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410225448/https://www.trademap.org/Country_SelProductCountry.aspx?nvpm=1%7C392%7C%7C%7C%7CTOTAL%7C%7C%7C2%7C1%7C1%7C1%7C1%7C%7C2%7C1%7C1%7C1 |url-status=live }} Its exports amounted to 18.2% of its total GDP in 2021.{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS?locations=JP|publisher=World Bank|title=Exports of goods and services (% of GDP): Japan|accessdate=November 11, 2020|archive-date=November 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130064945/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS?locations=JP|url-status=live}} In 2022, Japan's main export markets were China (23.9 percent, including Hong Kong) and the United States (18.5 percent).{{cite web |title=Japanese Trade and Investment Statistics |url=https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/reports/statistics/ |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301094344/https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/reports/statistics/ |archivedate=March 1, 2021 |accessdate=March 3, 2021 |publisher=Japan External Trade Organization}} Its main exports are motor vehicles, iron and steel products, semiconductors, and auto parts.{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/japan/|title=World Factbook: Japan|publisher=CIA|accessdate=September 24, 2022|archive-date=January 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105105736/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/japan/|url-status=live}} Japan's main import markets in 2022 were China (21.1 percent), the United States (9.9 percent), and Australia (9.8 percent). Japan's main imports are machinery and equipment, fossil fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, and raw materials for its industries.

The Japanese variant of capitalism has many distinct features: keiretsu enterprises are influential, and lifetime employment and seniority-based career advancement are common in the Japanese work environment.{{cite web|url=http://www.oecd.org/document/17/0,3343,en_2649_34111_40353553_1_1_1_1,00.html|title=Economic survey of Japan 2008|publisher=OECD|accessdate=August 25, 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101109122744/http://www.oecd.org/document/17/0%2C3343%2Cen_2649_34111_40353553_1_1_1_1%2C00.html|archivedate=November 9, 2010 }}{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/node/7193984?story_id=7193984|title=Japan's Economy: Free at last|newspaper=The Economist|date=July 20, 2006|archive-date=April 30, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430001614/http://www.economist.com/node/7193984?story_id=7193984|url-status=live}} Japan has a large cooperative sector, with three of the world's ten largest cooperatives, including the largest consumer cooperative and the largest agricultural cooperative {{as of|2018|lc=y}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.ica.coop/sites/default/files/publication-files/wcm2018-printx50-227290600.pdf|title=The 2018 World Cooperative Monitor: Exploring the Cooperative Economy|date=October 2018|publisher=International Co-operative Alliance|archive-date=February 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202042643/https://www.ica.coop/sites/default/files/publication-files/wcm2018-printx50-227290600.pdf|url-status=live}} It ranks highly for competitiveness and economic freedom. Japan ranked sixth in the Global Competitiveness Report in 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2019.pdf|title=The Global Competitiveness Report|publisher=World Economic Forum|last=Schwab|first=Klaus|author-link=Klaus Schwab|year=2019|archive-date=July 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730051309/https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2019.pdf|url-status=live}} It attracted 31.9 million international tourists in 2019,{{Cite web|url=https://statistics.jnto.go.jp/en/graph/#graph--inbound--travelers--transition|title=Trends in the Visitor Arrivals to Japan by Year|publisher=Japan National Tourism Organization|accessdate=December 11, 2020|archive-date=November 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126123636/https://statistics.jnto.go.jp/en/graph/#graph--inbound--travelers--transition|url-status=live}} and was ranked eleventh in the world in 2019 for inbound tourism.{{cite journal|date=August–September 2020|title=Statistical Annex|journal=UNWTO World Tourism Barometer|volume=18|issue=5|page=18|doi=10.18111/wtobarometereng.2020.18.1.5|doi-access=free}} The 2021 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Japan first in the world out of 117 countries.{{cite web|title=The Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021|date=May 2022|publisher=World Economic Forum|url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Travel_Tourism_Development_2021.pdf|accessdate=July 31, 2022|archive-date=July 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703090138/https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Travel_Tourism_Development_2021.pdf|url-status=live}} Its international tourism receipts in 2019 amounted to $46.1 billion.

{{Main|Agriculture, forestry, and fishing in Japan}}

File:Rice Paddies In Aizu, Japan.JPG in Aizu, Fukushima Prefecture]]

The Japanese agricultural sector accounts for about 1.2% of the country's total GDP {{as of|2018|lc=yes}}. Only 11.5% of Japan's land is suitable for cultivation.{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.ARBL.ZS|title=Arable land (% of land area)|publisher=World Bank|accessdate=November 11, 2020|archive-date=November 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107201125/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.ARBL.ZS|url-status=live}} Because of this lack of arable land, a system of terraces is used to farm in small areas.{{cite web|url=http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/the-people-who-sustain-japans-historic-terraced-rice-fields|title=Urbanites Help Sustain Japan's Historic Rice Paddy Terraces|website=Our World|date=May 22, 2012|author1=Nagata, Akira|author2=Chen, Bixia|archive-date=September 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924164244/http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/the-people-who-sustain-japans-historic-terraced-rice-fields|url-status=live}} This results in one of the world's highest levels of crop yields per unit area, with an agricultural self-sufficiency rate of about 50% {{as of|2018|lc=y}}.{{cite journal|title=The spatial patterns in long-term temporal trends of three major crops' yields in Japan|doi=10.1080/1343943X.2018.1459752|year=2018|volume=21|last=Chen|first=Hungyen|journal=Plant Production Science|issue=3|pages=177–185|doi-access=free}} Japan's small agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected.{{cite web|work=Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation|title=Japan: Support to agriculture|year=2020|publisher=OECD|accessdate=November 11, 2020|url=https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/751935f0-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/751935f0-en|archive-date=June 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620151745/https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/751935f0-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/751935f0-en|url-status=live}} There has been a growing concern about farming as farmers are aging with a difficult time finding successors.{{cite web|url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/12/31/grown-from-necessity-vertical-farming-takes-off-in-ageing-japan.html|title=Grown from necessity: Vertical farming takes off in aging Japan|last=Nishimura|first=Karyn|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=January 1, 2020|website=The Jakarta Post|archive-date=February 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205084025/https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/12/31/grown-from-necessity-vertical-farming-takes-off-in-ageing-japan.html|url-status=live}}

Japan ranked seventh in the world in tonnage of fish caught and captured 3,167,610 metric tons of fish in 2016, down from an annual average of 4,000,000 tons over the previous decade.{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/3/i9540en/i9540en.pdf|title=The state of world fisheries and aquaculture|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization|date=2018|accessdate=May 25, 2020|archive-date=February 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211011147/http://www.fao.org/3/I9540EN/i9540en.pdf|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/24/japan-criticised-exceed-bluefin-tuna-fishing-quota|newspaper=The Guardian|last=McCurry|first=Justin|title=Japan to exceed bluefin tuna quota amid warnings of commercial extinction|date=April 24, 2017|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112024926/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/24/japan-criticised-exceed-bluefin-tuna-fishing-quota|url-status=live}} Japan has sparked controversy by supporting commercial whaling.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48821797|work=BBC News|title=Japan resumes commercial whaling after 30 years|date=July 1, 2019|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020054/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48821797|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Manufacturing in Japan|Trade and services in Japan|Electronics industry in Japan|Automotive industry in Japan}}

File:2018 Nissan GT-R Premium in Super Silver, Front Right, 10-11-2022.jpg, a sports car manufactured by Nissan. Japan is the third-largest producer of motor vehicles in the world.]]

Japan has a large industrial capacity and is home to some of the "largest and most technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemical substances, textiles, and processed foods". Japan's industrial sector makes up approximately 27.5% of its GDP. The country's manufacturing output is the fourth highest in the world {{as of|2023|lc=yes}}.{{Cite web|title=Manufacturing, value added (current US$)|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.IND.MANF.CD?most_recent_value_desc=true|accessdate=March 17, 2020|publisher=World Bank|archive-date=January 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107135049/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.IND.MANF.CD?most_recent_value_desc=true|url-status=live}}

Japan is in the top three globally for both automobile production{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=2022 Production Statistics |url=https://www.oica.net/category/production-statistics/2022-statistics/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408125523/https://www.oica.net/category/production-statistics/2022-statistics/ |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |accessdate=May 22, 2023 |website= |publisher=OICA}} and export,{{cite web |last1=He |first1=Laura |last2=Semans |first2=Himari |date=February 2, 2024 |title=Is China now the world's top car exporter? It's complicated |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/02/cars/japan-china-top-car-exporter-data-intl-hnk/index.html |publisher=CNN}}{{Cite web |title=Cars |url=https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/cars |accessdate=July 27, 2024 |website=The Observatory of Economic Complexity}} and is home to Toyota, the world's largest automobile company by production. The Japanese shipbuilding industry faces increasing competition from its East Asian neighbors, South Korea and China; a 2020 government initiative identified this sector as a target for increasing exports.{{cite web|url=https://japan-forward.com/japan-targets-to-export-more-ships-revive-global-market-share/|website=Japan Forward|title=Japan Targets to Export More Ships, Revive Global Market Share|last=Okada|first=Mizuki|date=September 5, 2020|archive-date=January 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123140851/https://japan-forward.com/japan-targets-to-export-more-ships-revive-global-market-share/|url-status=live}}

Once considered the strongest in the world, the Japanese consumer electronics industry is in a state of decline as regional competition arises in neighboring East Asian countries such as South Korea and China.{{cite web |last=Pham |first=Sherisse |date=May 4, 2017 |title=How things got ugly for some of Japan's biggest brands |url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/05/04/technology/japanese-companies-fall-toshiba-olympus-sanyo-sharp/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204154837/https://money.cnn.com/2017/05/04/technology/japanese-companies-fall-toshiba-olympus-sanyo-sharp/index.html |archive-date=December 4, 2020 |website=CNN Money}} However, Japan's video game sector remains a major industry. In 2014, Japan's consumer video game market grossed $9.6 billion, with $5.8 billion coming from mobile gaming.{{cite web |last=Nutt |first=Christian |date=June 19, 2015 |title=Japan's game market hits record high as consoles decline and mobile grows |url=http://gamasutra.com/view/news/246644/Japans_game_market_hits_record_high_as_consoles_decline_and_mobile_grows.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922173536/http://gamasutra.com/view/news/246644/Japans_game_market_hits_record_high_as_consoles_decline_and_mobile_grows.php |archive-date=September 22, 2018 |website=Gamasutra}} By 2015, Japan had become the world's fourth-largest PC game market by revenue, behind only China, the United States, and South Korea.{{cite web |date=August 2, 2016 |title=PC games revenue to hit $42 billion in 2020 – DFC |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-08-02-pc-games-revenue-to-hit-usd42-billion-in-2020-dfc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210180401/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-08-02-pc-games-revenue-to-hit-usd42-billion-in-2020-dfc |archive-date=February 10, 2022 |website=GamesIndustry.biz}}

Japan's service sector accounts for about 69.5% of its total economic output {{as of|2021|lc=y}}.{{cite web |title=Services, value added (% of GDP) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.SRV.TOTL.ZS?locations=JP |accessdate=November 11, 2020 |publisher=World Bank |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516063109/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.SRV.TOTL.ZS?locations=JP |url-status=live }} Banking, retail, transportation, and telecommunications are all major industries, with companies such as Toyota, Mitsubishi UFJ, -NTT, Aeon, SoftBank, Hitachi, and Itochu listed as among the largest in the world.{{cite news|url=https://fortune.com/global500/2020/search/?fg500_country=Japan&non-us-cos-y-n=true|title=Fortune Global 500|accessdate=November 11, 2020|website=Fortune|archive-date=November 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117130030/https://fortune.com/global500/2020/search/?fg500_country=Japan&non-us-cos-y-n=true|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/global2000/#2cb352db335d|title=The World's Largest Public Companies|work=Forbes|accessdate=November 11, 2020|archive-date=December 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221222151/http://www.forbes.com/global2000/#2cb352db335d|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Science and technology in Japan|History of science and technology in Japan|Research and development in Japan|List of Japanese inventions and discoveries}}

File:Kibo PM and ELM-PS.jpg (Kibō) at the International Space Station]]

Relative to gross domestic product, Japan's research and development budget is the sixth or seventh highest in the world,{{cite web|url=http://uis.unesco.org/apps/visualisations/research-and-development-spending/|publisher=UNESCO|title=How much does your country invest in R&D?|accessdate=November 11, 2020|archive-date=January 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123180417/http://uis.unesco.org/apps/visualisations/research-and-development-spending/|url-status=live}} with 867,000 researchers sharing a 19-trillion-yen research and development budget {{as of|2017|lc=y}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00388/japan%E2%80%99s-science-and-technology-research-spending-at-new-high.html|website=Nippon.com|date=February 19, 2019|title=Japan's Science and Technology Research Spending at New High|archive-date=March 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303221423/https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00388/japan%E2%80%99s-science-and-technology-research-spending-at-new-high.html|url-status=live}} Japan has the second highest number of researchers in science and technology per capita in the world with 14 per 1000 employees.{{cite web |title=Science, technology, and innovation: Researchers by sex, per million inhabitants, per thousand labour force, per thousand total employment (FTE and HC) |url=http://data.uis.unesco.org/index.aspx?queryid=64 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205173957/http://data.uis.unesco.org/index.aspx?queryid=64 |archive-date=December 5, 2020 |accessdate=November 11, 2020 |publisher=UNESCO}} The country has produced twenty-two Nobel laureates in either physics, chemistry or medicine,{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists/all-nobel-prizes/|publisher=Nobel Foundation|title=All Nobel Prizes|accessdate=November 11, 2020|archive-date=August 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813202249/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/all/|url-status=live}} and three Fields medalists.{{cite web|url=https://www.mathunion.org/imu-awards/fields-medal|publisher=International Mathematical Union|title=Fields Medal|accessdate=November 11, 2020|archive-date=December 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226015744/https://www.mathunion.org/imu-awards/fields-medal|url-status=live}}

Japan leads the world in robotics production and use, supplying 45% of the world's 2020 total;{{Cite web |last=Wessling |first=Brianna |date=December 15, 2021 |title=10 most automated countries worldwide |url=https://www.therobotreport.com/10-most-automated-countries-wordlwide-in-2020/ |website=The Robot Report|archive-date=August 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818213733/https://www.therobotreport.com/10-most-automated-countries-wordlwide-in-2020/ |url-status=live }} down from 55% in 2017.{{cite web|url=https://ifr.org/post/why-japan-leads-industrial-robot-production|title=Why Japan leads industrial robot production|publisher=International Federation of Robotics|date=December 17, 2018|last=Fujiwara|first=Hiroshi|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112002714/https://ifr.org/post/why-japan-leads-industrial-robot-production|url-status=live}}

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is Japan's national space agency; it conducts space, planetary, and aviation research, and leads development of rockets and satellites.{{cite web|url=https://www.space.com/22672-japan-aerospace-exploration-agency.html|website=Space|first=Elizabeth|last=Howell|date=May 19, 2016|title=JAXA: Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency|archive-date=November 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111105102/https://www.space.com/22672-japan-aerospace-exploration-agency.html|url-status=live}} It is a participant in the International Space Station: the Japanese Experiment Module (Kibō) was added to the station during Space Shuttle assembly flights in 2008.{{cite web|title=Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Homepage|publisher=Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency|date=August 3, 2006|url=http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070321160909/http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html|archivedate=March 21, 2007}} The space probe Akatsuki was launched in 2010 and achieved orbit around Venus in 2015.{{cite web|url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/akatsuki/in-depth/|publisher=NASA|title=Akatsuki|accessdate=November 11, 2020|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112195838/https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/akatsuki/in-depth/|url-status=live}} Japan's plans in space exploration include building a Moon base and landing astronauts by 2030.{{cite web|url=https://www.space.com/japan-robots-build-moon-base.html|first=Elizabeth|last=Howell|date=April 7, 2019|website=Space|title=Can Robots Build a Moon Base for Astronauts? Japan Hopes to Find Out|archive-date=November 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107232039/https://www.space.com/japan-robots-build-moon-base.html|url-status=live}} In 2007, it launched lunar explorer SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) from Tanegashima Space Center. The largest lunar mission since the Apollo program, its purpose was to gather data on the Moon's origin and evolution. The explorer entered a lunar orbit on October 4, 2007,{{cite web|url=http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=15429|title=Japan Successfully Launches Lunar Explorer 'Kaguya'|publisher=Japan Corporate News Network|date=September 14, 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430010519/http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=15429|archivedate=April 30, 2011}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6994272.stm|title=Japan launches first lunar probe|work=BBC News|date=September 14, 2007|archive-date=May 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511101523/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6994272.stm|url-status=live}} and was deliberately crashed into the Moon on June 11, 2009.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8094863.stm|title=Japanese probe crashes into Moon|work=BBC News|date=June 11, 2009|archive-date=September 30, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930160652/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8094863.stm|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Transport in Japan}}

File:Japan Airlines, Boeing 787-9 JA861J NRT (19455285040).jpg, the flag carrier of Japan]]

Japan has invested heavily in transportation infrastructure since the 1990s.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-19893379|work=BBC News|last=Wingfield-Hayes|first=Rupert|title=Japan's high-spending legacy|date=October 10, 2012|archive-date=August 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809172340/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-19893379|url-status=live}} The country has approximately {{convert|comma=5|1200000|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} of roads made up of {{convert|comma=5|1000000|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} of city, town and village roads, {{convert|comma=5|130000|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} of prefectural roads, {{convert|comma=5|54736|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} of general national highways and {{convert|comma=5|7641|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} of national expressways {{as of|2017|lc=y}}.{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s12544-017-0255-7|title=Japan's transport planning at the national level, natural disasters, and their interplays|year=2017|journal=European Transport Research Review|last=Shibayama|first=Takeru|volume=9|issue=3|doi-access=free}}

Since privatization in 1987,{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2017/04/04/editorials/privatization-jnr-30-years/|website=The Japan Times|date=April 4, 2017|title=Privatization of JNR, 30 years on|archive-date=April 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404110226/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2017/04/04/editorials/privatization-jnr-30-years/|url-status=live}} dozens of Japanese railway companies compete in regional and local passenger transportation markets; major companies include seven JR enterprises, Kintetsu, Seibu Railway and Keio Corporation. The high-speed Shinkansen (bullet trains) that connect major cities are known for their safety and punctuality.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-10-07/can-japan-s-bullet-trains-get-back-up-to-speed|publisher=Bloomberg|date=October 7, 2020|last=Sieloff|first=Sarah|title=Japan's Bullet Trains Are Hitting a Speed Bump|archive-date=October 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008005117/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-10-07/can-japan-s-bullet-trains-get-back-up-to-speed|url-status=live}}

There are 175 airports in Japan {{as of|2021|lc=y}}. The largest domestic airport, Haneda Airport in Tokyo, was Asia's second-busiest airport in 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/asia-busiest-airports-2019/index.html|publisher=CNN|date=April 22, 2019|last=Falcus|first=Matt|title=Asia's 9 busiest airports in 2019|archive-date=April 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422235856/https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/asia-busiest-airports-2019/index.html|url-status=live}} The Keihin and Hanshin superport hubs are among the largest in the world, at 7.98 and 5.22 million TEU respectively {{as of|2017|lc=y}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.worldshipping.org/about-the-industry/global-trade/top-50-world-container-ports|publisher=World Shipping Council|title=Top 50 World Container Ports|accessdate=November 16, 2020|archive-date=November 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119000412/https://www.worldshipping.org/about-the-industry/global-trade/top-50-world-container-ports|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Energy in Japan}}

File:Setokazenooka-park01.jpg]]

{{As of|2019}}, 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. Nuclear power was down from 11.2 percent in 2010.{{cite report|title=Statistical Handbook of Japan 2021|url=https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/index.html|section=Chapter 7: Energy – 1. Supply and Demand|section-url=http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/pdf/2021all.pdf#page=93|pp=77, 79|publisher=Statistics Bureau of Japan|accessdate=January 8, 2021|archive-date=January 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120232017/http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/index.html|url-status=live}} By May 2012 all of the country's nuclear power plants had been taken offline because of ongoing public opposition following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March 2011, though government officials continued to try to sway public opinion in favor of returning at least some to service.{{cite news|last=Tsukimori|first=Osamu|title=Japan nuclear power-free as last reactor shuts|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nuclear-japan-idUSBRE84405820120505|publisher=Reuters|date=May 5, 2012|archivedate=September 24, 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924163821/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/05/us-nuclear-japan-idUSBRE84405820120505|url-status=live}} The Sendai Nuclear Power Plant restarted in 2015,{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-33858628/nuclear-power-back-in-japan-for-first-time-since-fukushima|title=Nuclear power back in Japan for the first time since Fukushima|work=BBC News|date=August 11, 2015|archive-date=August 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801113235/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-33858628/nuclear-power-back-in-japan-for-first-time-since-fukushima|url-status=live}} and since then several other nuclear power plants have been restarted.{{cite web|url=https://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsmixed-progress-for-japans-nuclear-plant-restarts-7887062|work=Nuclear Engineering International|date=April 23, 2020|title=Mixed progress for Japan's nuclear plant restarts|archive-date=June 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609023614/https://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsmixed-progress-for-japans-nuclear-plant-restarts-7887062|url-status=live}} Japan lacks significant domestic reserves and has a heavy dependence on imported energy.{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/A-Review-of-the-Evolution-of-the-Japanese-Oil-Industry-Oil-Policy-and-its-Relationship-with-the-Middle-East-WPM-76.pdf|pages=5–12|title=A Review of the Evolution of the Japanese Oil Industry, Oil Policy and its Relationship with the Middle East|date=April 2018|publisher=Oxford Institute for Energy Studies|last=Thorarinsson|first=Loftur|archive-date=April 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410013607/https://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/A-Review-of-the-Evolution-of-the-Japanese-Oil-Industry-Oil-Policy-and-its-Relationship-with-the-Middle-East-WPM-76.pdf|url-status=live}} The country has therefore aimed to diversify its sources and maintain high levels of energy efficiency.{{cite journal|title=Japan's 2014 Strategic Energy Plan: A Planned Energy System Transition|doi=10.1155/2017/4107614|last1=Kucharski|first1=Jeffrey|last2=Unesaki|first2=Hironobu|year=2017|journal=Journal of Energy|volume=2017|pages=1–13|doi-access=free}}

{{Main|Demographics of Japan|Japanese people|Ethnic groups of Japan|List of metropolitan areas in Japan|List of cities in Japan}}

File:Tokyo from the top of the SkyTree.JPG. The Greater Tokyo Area is ranked as the most populous metropolitan area in the world.]]

Japan has a population of almost 125 million, of whom nearly 122 million are Japanese nationals (2022 estimates).{{cite web|url=https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/jinsui/tsuki/index.html|title=Population Estimates Monthly Report November 2020|date=June 20, 2019|publisher=Statistics Bureau of Japan|accessdate=April 29, 2021|archive-date=April 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405030144/https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/jinsui/tsuki/index.html|url-status=live}} A small population of foreign residents makes up the remainder.{{cite web|url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190710/p2g/00m/0dm/075000c|title=Japan population drops by record number to 124.8 mil.: gov't|last=|first=|date=July 10, 2019|website=The Mainichi|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711174837/https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190710/p2g/00m/0dm/075000c|archivedate= July 11, 2019}}

Japan is the world's fastest aging country and has the highest proportion of elderly citizens of any country, comprising one-third of its total population;{{cite web|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2020/659419/EPRS_BRI(2020)659419_EN.pdf|title=Japan's ageing society|publisher=European Parliament|last=D'Ambrogio|first=Enrico|date=December 2020|archive-date=December 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216060510/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2020/659419/EPRS_BRI(2020)659419_EN.pdf|url-status=live}} this is the result of a post–World War II baby boom, which was followed by an increase in life expectancy and a decrease in birth rates.{{cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/05/national/numbers-tell-tale-japans-postwar-rise-fall/|website=The Japan Times|title=Numbers tell tale of Japan's postwar rise and fall|last=Yoshida|first=Reiji|date=January 5, 2015|archive-date=January 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107180452/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/05/national/numbers-tell-tale-japans-postwar-rise-fall/|url-status=live}} Japan has a total fertility rate of 1.4, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1, and is among the world's lowest;{{cite report|last=Noriko|first=Tsuya|title=Low fertility in Japan—no end in sight|pages=1–4|volume=131|date=June 2017|publisher=East–West Center|url=https://www.eastwestcenter.org/system/tdf/private/api131.pdf?file=1&type=node&id=36147|archive-date=July 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702014801/https://www.eastwestcenter.org/system/tdf/private/api131.pdf?file=1&type=node&id=36147|url-status=dead}} it has a median age of 48.4, the highest in the world.{{cite web|url=https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/02/10/na021020-japan-demographic-shift-opens-door-to-reforms|title=Japan: Demographic Shift Opens Door to Reforms|publisher=International Monetary Fund|date=February 10, 2020|archive-date=February 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212164106/https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/02/10/na021020-japan-demographic-shift-opens-door-to-reforms|url-status=live}} {{as of|2020}}, over 28.7 percent of the population is over 65, or more than one in four out of the Japanese population. As a growing number of younger Japanese are not marrying or remaining childless,{{cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/11/19/commentary/japan-commentary/economic-challenge-japans-aging-crisis/|website=The Japan Times|title=The economic challenge of Japan's aging crisis|last=Walia|first=Simran|date=November 19, 2019|archive-date=November 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191119155159/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/11/19/commentary/japan-commentary/economic-challenge-japans-aging-crisis/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/07/japan-mystery-low-birth-rate/534291/|website=The Atlantic|title=The Mystery of Why Japanese People Are Having So Few Babies|last=Semuels|first=Alana|date=July 20, 2017|archive-date=July 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720214203/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/07/japan-mystery-low-birth-rate/534291/|url-status=live}} Japan's population is expected to drop to around 88 million by 2065.

The changes in demographic structure have created several social issues, particularly a decline in the workforce population and an increase in the cost of social security benefits. The Government of Japan projects that there will be almost one elderly person for each person of working age by 2060. Immigration and birth incentives are sometimes suggested as a solution to provide younger workers to support the nation's aging population.{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/07/health/japan-child-population-record-low-intl/index.html|publisher=CNN|last1=Wakatsuki|first1=Yoko|last2=Griffiths|first2=James|date=May 7, 2018|title=Number of children in Japan shrinks to new record low|archive-date=May 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507083400/https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/07/health/japan-child-population-record-low-intl/index.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20181210-more-seniors-more-foreigners-how-japan-is-rapidly-changing|publisher=BBC|title=More seniors, more foreigners: How Japan is changing|last=Lufkin|first=Bryan|date=December 10, 2018|archive-date=July 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727073218/https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20181210-more-seniors-more-foreigners-how-japan-is-rapidly-changing|url-status=live}} On April 1, 2019, Japan's revised immigration law was enacted, protecting the rights of foreign workers to help reduce labor shortages in certain sectors.{{cite web|title=New immigration rules to stir up Japan's regional rentals scene — if they work|url=https://www.rethinktokyo.com/2019/03/27/new-immigration-visa-rules-japan-foreign-workers|website= REthink Tokyo|date=March 27, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702124120/https://www.rethinktokyo.com/2019/03/27/new-immigration-visa-rules-japan-foreign-workers|archivedate=July 2, 2019}}

In 2022, 92% of the total Japanese population lived in cities.{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS?locations=JP|publisher=World Bank|title=Urban population (% of total population)|accessdate=November 19, 2020|archive-date=January 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121222411/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS?locations=JP|url-status=live}} The capital city, Tokyo, has a population of 13.9 million (2022).{{cite web|url=http://www.toukei.metro.tokyo.jp/jsuikei/js-index.htm|script-title=ja:東京都の人口（推計）|trans-title=Population of Tokyo (estimate)|publisher=Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Statistics Department|accessdate=October 22, 2018|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002162446/http://www.toukei.metro.tokyo.jp/jsuikei/js-index.htm|archivedate=October 2, 2018}} It is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, the biggest metropolitan area in the world with 37.4 million people (2024).{{Cite web |last=Cutmore |first=James |date=2024-12-05 |title=Top 14 largest cities in the world |url=https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/in-pictures-the-largest-cities-in-the-world |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=BBC Science Focus |language=en}} Japan is an ethnically and culturally homogeneous society,{{cite news|url=https://apjjf.org/-Chris-Burgess/2389/article.html|last=Burgess|first=Chris|title=Multicultural Japan? Discourse and the 'Myth' of Homogeneity|date=March 1, 2007|volume=5|issue=3|journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus|archive-date=November 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124154805/https://apjjf.org/-Chris-Burgess/2389/article.html|url-status=live}} with the Japanese people forming 97.4% of the country's population.{{cite web|title=Population Estimates by Age (Five-Year Groups) and Sex|url=https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/jinsui/tsuki/index.html|publisher=Statistics Bureau of Japan|accessdate=September 10, 2024}} Minority ethnic groups in the country include the indigenous Ainu and Ryukyuan people.{{cite journal|author=Japanese Archipelago Human Population Genetics Consortium|title=The history of human populations in the Japanese Archipelago inferred from genome-wide SNP data with a special reference to the Ainu and the Ryukyuan populations|journal=Journal of Human Genetics|volume=57|pages=787–795|year=2012|issue=12|doi=10.1038/jhg.2012.114|pmid=23135232|doi-access=free}} Zainichi Koreans,{{cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/06/13/zainichi-being-korean-in-japan/|publisher=Al Jazeera|title=Zainichi: Being Korean in Japan|last1=Ambrose|first1=Drew|last2=Armont|first2=Rhiona-Jade|date=June 13, 2018|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128055446/https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/06/13/zainichi-being-korean-in-japan/|url-status=live}} Chinese,{{cite encyclopedia|doi=10.1007/978-0-387-29904-4_70|title=Chinese in Japan|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Diasporas|last=Chen|first=Lara Tien-shi|year=2005|pages=680–688|isbn=978-0-306-48321-9}} Filipinos,{{cite journal|title='Mixed' Japanese-Filipino identities under Japanese multiculturalism|journal=Social Identities|last=Seiger|first=Fiona-Katharina|pages=392–407|doi=10.1080/13504630.2018.1499225|volume=25|issue=3|year=2019|doi-access=free}} Brazilians mostly of Japanese descent,{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-33114120|work=BBC News|title=The Brazilians winning in Japan|date=July 17, 2015|last=Tobace|first=Ewerthon|archive-date=August 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814090917/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-33114120|url-status=live}} and Peruvians mostly of Japanese descent are also among Japan's small minority groups.{{cite web|url=https://www.nippon.com/en/people/e00054/|last=Escala|first=Elard|website=Nippon.com|title=Peruvians Struggling to Find a Place in Japanese Society|date=February 13, 2014|archive-date=February 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213181022/https://www.nippon.com/en/people/e00054/|url-status=live}} Burakumin make up a social minority group.{{cite news|title=Japan's hidden caste of untouchables|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34615972|work=BBC News|date=October 23, 2015|archive-date=September 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902111214/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34615972|url-status=live}}

{{Largest cities of Japan}}

{{Main|Languages of Japan}}

File:豚骨らーめん 博多天神 いらっしゃい 2010 (5023366778).jpg and hiragana signs]]

The Japanese language is Japan's de facto national language and the primary written and spoken language of most people in the country.{{Cite book |last=Fujita-Round |first=Sachiyo |title=Language Policy and Political Issues in Education |last2=Maher |first2=John C. |date=2017 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-319-02343-4 |editor-last=McCarty |editor-first=Teresa L. |edition=3rd |series=Encyclopedia of Language and Education |pages=491–505 |chapter=Language Policy and Education in Japan |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-02344-1_36 |editor-last2=May |editor-first2=Stephen |chapter-url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-02344-1_36}} Japanese writing uses kanji (Chinese characters) and two sets of kana (syllabaries based on cursive script and radicals used by kanji), as well as the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals.{{cite web|last=Miyagawa|first=Shigeru|title=The Japanese Language|url=http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/articles/JapaneseLanguage.html|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|accessdate=January 16, 2011|archive-date=April 13, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000413210711/http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/articles/JapaneseLanguage.html|url-status=live}} English has taken a major role in Japan as a business and international link language, and is a compulsory subject at the junior and senior high school levels.{{cite web|url=https://education.jnto.go.jp/en/school-in-japan/japanese-education-system/|title=Japanese Educational System|accessdate=November 4, 2024|publisher=Japan National Tourism Organization}} Japanese Sign Language is the primary sign language used in Japan and has gained some official recognition, but its usage has been historically hindered by discriminatory policies and a lack of educational support.

Besides Japanese, the Ryukyuan languages (Amami, Kunigami, Okinawan, Miyako, Yaeyama, Yonaguni), part of the Japonic language family, are spoken in the Ryukyu Islands chain.{{cite book|last=Anderson|first=Mark|chapter=Language shift in the Ryukyu Islands|pages=370–388|title=Routledge Handbook of Japanese Sociolinguistics|editor=Heinrich, Patrick|editor2=Ohara, Yumiko|year=2019|isbn=978-1-315-21337-8|publisher=Routledge}} Few children learn these languages,{{cite book|last1=Fujita-Round|first1=Sachiyo|last2=Maher|first2=John|chapter=Language Policy and Education in Japan|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-02320-5_36-2|editor-last1=McCarty|editor-first1=T|editor-last2=May|editor-first2=S|title=Language Policy and Political Issues in Education|year=2017|publisher=Springer|pages=1–15|isbn=978-3-319-02320-5}} but local governments have sought to increase awareness of the traditional languages.{{cite book|chapter=Language Revitalization Efforts in the Ryukyus|last=Ishihara|first=Masahide|pages=67–82|year=2016|title=Self-determinable Development of Small Islands|publisher=Springer|editor=Ishihara, Masahide|editor2=Hoshino, Eiichi|editor3=Fujita, Yoko|isbn=978-981-10-0132-1}} The Ainu language, which is a language isolate, is moribund, with only a few native speakers remaining {{as of|2014|lc=y}}.{{cite book|page=1058|chapter=The ethnohistory and anthropology of 'modern' hunter-gatherers: north Japan (Ainu)|last=Hudson|first=Mark|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-19-955122-4|title=The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers|editor=Cummings, Vicki|editor2=Jordan, Peter|editor3=Zvelebil, Marek}} Additionally, a number of other languages are taught and used by ethnic minorities, immigrant communities, and a growing number of foreign-language students, such as Korean (including a distinct Zainichi Korean dialect), Chinese and Portuguese.

{{Main|Religion in Japan}}

File:Itsukushima Shrine Torii Gate (13890465459).jpg of Itsukushima Shinto Shrine near Hiroshima]]

Japan's constitution guarantees full religious freedom.{{cite book|first=Kyoko|last=Inoue|title=MacArthur's Japanese Constitution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ffeE989AWrAC&pg=PA132|year=2007|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-38391-0|pages=132–133|edition=2nd}} Upper estimates suggest that 84–96% of the Japanese population subscribe to Shinto as its indigenous religion.{{cite web|title=A View of Religion in Japan|url=https://www.japansociety.org/a_view_of_religion_in_japan|accessdate=January 29, 2017|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123023617/http://www.japansociety.org/a_view_of_religion_in_japan|archivedate=January 23, 2016|last=McQuaid|first=John|publisher=Japan Society}} However, these estimates are based on people affiliated with a temple, rather than the number of true believers. Many Japanese people practice both Shinto and Buddhism; they can identify with both religions or describe themselves as non-religious or spiritual.{{cite web|title=How religious are Japanese people?|url=https://japantoday.com/category/features/opinions/how-religious-are-japanese-people|date=October 27, 2013|website=Japan Today|archive-date=December 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223021631/https://japantoday.com/category/features/opinions/how-religious-are-japanese-people|url-status=live}} The level of participation in religious ceremonies as a cultural tradition remains high, especially during festivals and occasions such as the first shrine visit of the New Year.{{cite journal|title=Women between Religion and Spirituality: Observing Religious Experience in Everyday Japanese Life|last=Cavaliere|first=Paola|journal=Religions|year=2019|volume=10|issue=6|page=377|doi=10.3390/rel10060377|doi-access=free}} Taoism and Confucianism from China have also influenced Japanese beliefs and customs.

{{As of|2018}}, 1%{{cite web|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/may/japan-unesco-hidden-christian-persecution-world-heritage.html|website=Christianity Today|title=Why Japan Wants Its Past Persecution of Christians to Be World Renowned|last=Shellnutt|first=Kate|date=May 29, 2018|archive-date=May 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503143743/https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/may/japan-unesco-hidden-christian-persecution-world-heritage.html|url-status=live}} to 1.5% of the population are Christians.{{cite book|url=https://www.bunka.go.jp/tokei_hakusho_shuppan/hakusho_nenjihokokusho/shukyo_nenkan/pdf/r01nenkan.pdf#page=49|title=Shūkyō nenkan reiwa gan'nen-ban|publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs|year=2019|page=35|language=ja|script-title=ja:宗教年鑑 令和元年版|trans-title=Religious Yearbook 2019|archive-date=December 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225124108/https://www.bunka.go.jp/tokei_hakusho_shuppan/hakusho_nenjihokokusho/shukyo_nenkan/pdf/r01nenkan.pdf#page=49|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news|last=Kato|first=Mariko|title=Christianity's long history in the margins|newspaper=The Japan Times|date=February 24, 2009}}

About 90% of those practicing Islam in Japan are foreign-born migrants {{as of|2016|lc=y}}.{{Cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2016/07/13/issues/shadow-surveillance-looms-japans-muslims/|website=The Japan Times|title=Shadow of surveillance looms over Japan's Muslims|last=Blakkarly|first=Jarni|date=July 13, 2016|archive-date=December 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205035509/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2016/07/13/issues/shadow-surveillance-looms-japans-muslims/|url-status=live}} In 2018 there were an estimated 105 mosques and 200,000 Muslims in Japan, 43,000 of which were Japanese nationals.{{cite news|url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20191128/p2a/00m/0fe/014000c|website=The Mainichi|date=November 29, 2019|title=No. of Muslims, mosques on the rise in Japan amid some misconceptions, prejudice|archive-date=February 10, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210235636/https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20191128/p2a/00m/0fe/014000c|url-status=live}} Other minority religions include Hinduism, Judaism, and Baháʼí Faith, as well as the animist beliefs of the Ainu.{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/JAPAN-2018-INTERNATIONAL-RELIGIOUS-FREEDOM-REPORT.pdf|publisher=US Department of State|title=Japan 2018 International Religious Freedom Report|accessdate=November 20, 2020|archive-date=January 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128074718/https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/JAPAN-2018-INTERNATIONAL-RELIGIOUS-FREEDOM-REPORT.pdf|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Education in Japan}}

File:Tokyo University Entrance Exam Results 6.JPG to the University of Tokyo]]

Since the 1947 Fundamental Law of Education, compulsory education in Japan comprises elementary and junior high school, which together last for nine years.{{cite book|url=https://www.jica.go.jp/jica-ri/IFIC_and_JBICI-Studies/english/publications/reports/study/topical/educational/pdf/educational_02.pdf|page=23|chapter=The Modernization and Development of Education in Japan|publisher=Japan International Cooperation Agency Research Institute|date=March 2004|title=The History of Japan's Educational Development|archive-date=November 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105093000/https://www.jica.go.jp/jica-ri/IFIC_and_JBICI-Studies/english/publications/reports/study/topical/educational/pdf/educational_02.pdf|url-status=live}} Almost all children continue their education at a three-year senior high school.{{cite web|url=https://ncee.org/what-we-do/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/japan-overview/japan-instructional-systems/|publisher=Center on International Education Benchmarking|title=Japan: Learning Systems|accessdate=November 22, 2020|archive-date=November 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127083408/https://ncee.org/what-we-do/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/japan-overview/japan-instructional-systems/|url-status=live}} The top-ranking university in the country is the University of Tokyo.{{cite web | url=https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?countries=jp | title=QS World University Rankings – 2025 | publisher=QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited | access-date=7 June 2024}} Starting in April 2016, various schools began the academic year with elementary school and junior high school integrated into one nine-year compulsory schooling program; MEXT plans for this approach to be adopted nationwide.{{cite news|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/06/10/national/compulsory-nine-year-school-system-kicks-off-japan/|title=Compulsory nine-year school system kicks off in Japan|date=June 10, 2016|newspaper=The Japan Times|archive-date=October 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021063018/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/06/10/national/compulsory-nine-year-school-system-kicks-off-japan|url-status=live}}

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) coordinated by the OECD ranks the knowledge and skills of Japanese 15-year-olds as the third best in the world.{{cite web|title=Japan – Student performance (PISA 2015)|publisher=OECD|url=http://gpseducation.oecd.org/CountryProfile?plotter=h5&primaryCountry=JPN&treshold=10&topic=PI|accessdate=December 6, 2020|archive-date=September 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922235259/https://gpseducation.oecd.org/CountryProfile?plotter=h5&primaryCountry=JPN&treshold=10&topic=PI|url-status=live}} Japan is one of the top-performing OECD countries in reading literacy, math, and sciences with the average student scoring 520 and has one of the world's highest-educated labor forces among OECD countries.{{cite web|url=https://www.nier.go.jp/kokusai/pisa/pdf/2018/01_point-eng.pdf|title=Key Features of OECD Programme for International Student Assessment 2018 (PISA 2018)|page=2|publisher=National Institute for Educational Policy Research|accessdate=September 1, 2022|archive-date=May 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200509072224/https://www.nier.go.jp/kokusai/pisa/pdf/2018/01_point-eng.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=PISA – Results in Focus – Japan|publisher=OECD|url=https://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/PISA2018_CN_JPN.pdf|page=1|accessdate=December 6, 2020|year=2018|archive-date=December 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203151025/https://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/PISA2018_CN_JPN.pdf|url-status=live}} It spent 7.4% of its total GDP on education in 2021.{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS?locations=JP|title=Government expenditure on education, total (% of government expenditure) – Japan|publisher=World Bank|accessdate=September 7, 2022|archive-date=December 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202163842/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS?locations=JP|url-status=live}} In 2021, the country ranked third for the percentage of 25- to 64-year-olds that have attained tertiary education with 55.6%.{{cite web|url=https://gpseducation.oecd.org/CountryProfile?plotter=h5&primaryCountry=JPN&treshold=10&topic=EO|title=Japan|publisher=OECD|accessdate=January 29, 2023|archive-date=August 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815110716/https://gpseducation.oecd.org/CountryProfile?plotter=h5&primaryCountry=JPN&treshold=10&topic=EO|url-status=live}} Approximately 65% of Japanese aged 25 to 34 have some form of tertiary education qualification, with bachelor's degrees being held by 34.2% of Japanese aged 25 to 64, the second most in the OECD after South Korea. Japanese women are more highly educated than the men: 59 percent of women possess a university degree, compared to 52 percent of men.{{cite web|title=Womenomics, Will women help solve Japan's economic problems?|publisher=Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada|url=https://asiapacificcurriculum.ca/sites/default/files/2019-10/Japan%20-%20Womenomics%20-V3-October%202019.pdf|page=4|year=2019|archive-date=October 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027141529/https://asiapacificcurriculum.ca/sites/default/files/2019-10/Japan%20-%20Womenomics%20-V3-October%202019.pdf|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Health in Japan|Health care system in Japan}}

File:University of Tokyo Hospital.JPG]]

Health care in Japan is provided by national and local governments. Payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal health 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.{{cite book|first=Naoki|last=Ikegami|title=Universal Health Coverage for Inclusive and Sustainable Development: Lessons from Japan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q6m1BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA16|date=October 14, 2014|publisher=World Bank Publications|isbn=978-1-4648-0408-3|pages=16–17}} Since 1973, all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance.{{cite web|url=http://www.nyu.edu/projects/rodwin/lessons.html|first=Victor|last=Rodwin|title=Health Care in Japan|publisher=New York University|accessdate=March 10, 2007|archive-date=June 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619212526/https://www.nyu.edu/projects/rodwin/lessons.html|url-status=live}}

Japan spent 10.82% of its total GDP on healthcare in 2021.{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS?locations=JP|title=Current healthcare expenditure (% of GDP): Japan|publisher=World Bank|accessdate=July 25, 2022|archive-date=July 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220725125322/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS?locations=JP|url-status=live}} In 2020, the overall life expectancy in Japan at birth was 85 years (82 years for men and 88 years for women),{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.MA.IN?end=2020&locations=JP|title=Life expectancy at birth, male (years)|publisher=World Bank|accessdate=August 21, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.FE.IN?end=2020&locations=JP|title=Life expectancy at birth, female (years)|publisher=World Bank|accessdate=August 21, 2024}} the highest in the world;{{cite web|title=Life expectancy at birth, total|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?end=2020&locations=JP|publisher=World Bank|accessdate=July 25, 2022|archive-date=May 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501205550/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?end=2020|url-status=live}} while it had a very low infant mortality rate (2 per 1,000 live births).{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN?Locations=RU&locations=JP|title=Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births): Japan|publisher=World Bank|accessdate=July 25, 2022|archive-date=July 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220725125128/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN?Locations=RU&locations=JP|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite journal|last=Tsugane|first=Shoichiro|title=Why has Japan become the world's most long-lived country: insights from a food and nutrition perspective|date=July 2020|volume=75|pages=921–928|doi=10.1038/s41430-020-0677-5|journal=European Journal of Clinical Nutrition|doi-access=free}} Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates, which is considered a major social issue.{{cite journal|title=Cultural influences on suicide in Japan|last1=Russell|first1=Roxanne|last2=Metraux|first2=Daniel|last3=Tohen|first3=Mauricio|journal=Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences|doi=10.1111/pcn.12428|volume=71|year=2017|issue=1|pages=2–5|pmid=27487762|doi-access=free}} Another significant public health issue is smoking among Japanese men.{{cite journal|doi= 10.1016/j.je.2016.12.017|last1=Akter|first1=Shamima|last2=Goto|first2=Atsushi|last3=Mizoue|first3=Tetsuya|title=Smoking and the risk of type 2 diabetes in Japan: A systematic review and meta-analysis|journal=Journal of Epidemiology|year=2017|volume=27|issue=12|pages=553–561|doi-access=free}} Japan has the lowest rate of heart disease in the OECD, and the lowest level of dementia among developed countries.{{cite book|last1=Britnell|first1=Mark|title=In Search of the Perfect Health System|date=2015|publisher=Palgrave|isbn=978-1-137-49661-4|page=18}}

{{Main|Culture of Japan}}

{{See also|Japanese popular culture}}

Contemporary Japanese culture combines influences from Asia, Europe, and North America.{{Cite book|title=Japan's Open Future: An Agenda for Global Citizenship|last1=Haffner|first1=John|last2=Klett|first2=Tomas|last3=Lehmann|first3=Jean-Pierre|publisher=Anthem Press|year=2009|isbn=978-1-84331-311-3|page=17}} Traditional Japanese arts include crafts such as ceramics, textiles, lacquerware, swords, and dolls; performances of bunraku, kabuki, noh, dance, and rakugo; and other practices, the tea ceremony, ikebana, martial arts, calligraphy, origami, onsen, Geisha, and games. Japan has a developed system for the protection and promotion of both tangible and intangible Cultural Properties and National Treasures.{{cite web|url=http://www.bunka.go.jp/english/index.html|title=Administration of Cultural Affairs in Japan|publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs|accessdate=May 11, 2011|archive-date=October 31, 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021031062304/http://www.bunka.go.jp/english/index.html|url-status=live}} Twenty-two sites have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, eighteen of which are of cultural significance.{{cite web |title=Japan |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/jp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805220232/http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/JP/ |archive-date=August 5, 2020 |accessdate=December 11, 2020 |publisher=UNESCO}} Japan is considered a cultural superpower.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2002/jun/01/artsfeatures.features|title=The other superpower|work=The Guardian|date=June 1, 2001|archive-date=November 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121170416/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2002/jun/01/artsfeatures.features|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/01/how-japan-became-a-pop-culture-superpower/|title=How Japan became a pop culture superpower|date=January 31, 2015|website=The Spectator|last=Hoskin|first=Peter|archive-date=December 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210190111/https://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/01/how-japan-became-a-pop-culture-superpower/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|title='Pure Invention': How Japan's pop culture became the 'lingua franca' of the internet|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2020/07/18/books/pure-invention-jpop-culture/|work=The Japan Times|date=July 18, 2020|last=Schley|first=Matt|archive-date=December 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214054619/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2020/07/18/books/pure-invention-jpop-culture/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|title=How Japan's global image morphed from military empire to eccentric pop-culture superpower|url=https://qz.com/1806376/japans-image-has-changed-from-fierce-to-lovable-over-the-decades/|work=Quartz|date=May 27, 2020|last=Bain|first=Marc|archive-date=October 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021121139/https://qz.com/1806376/japans-image-has-changed-from-fierce-to-lovable-over-the-decades/amp/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Japanese art}}

{{Further|Japanese architecture|Japanese garden|Japanese esthetics|Japanese painting|Japanese sculpture}}

{{multiple image

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|caption1 = Hokusai's 19th-century ukiyo-e woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa

|caption2 = Ritsurin Garden, one of the most famous strolling gardens in Japan

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|image1 = The Great Wave off Kanagawa.jpg

|image2 = 150504 Ritsurin Park Takamatsu Kagawa pref Japan01s3.jpg

}}

The history of Japanese painting exhibits synthesis and competition between native Japanese esthetics and imported ideas.{{cite book|last=Arrowsmith|first=Rupert Richard|title=Modernism and the Museum: Asian, African, and Pacific Art and the London Avant-Garde|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-959369-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MIBNXScRj3QC}} The interaction between Japanese and European art has been significant: for example ukiyo-e prints, which began to be exported in the 19th century in the movement known as Japonism, had a significant influence on the development of modern art in the West, most notably on post-Impressionism.

Japanese architecture is a combination of local and other influences. It has traditionally been typified by wooden or mud plaster structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njnRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT26|pages=26–27|title=Traditional Japanese Architecture: An Exploration of Elements and Forms|last=Locher|first=Mira|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|year=2012|isbn=978-1-4629-0606-2}} Traditional housing and many temple buildings see the use of tatami mats and sliding doors that break down the distinction between rooms and indoor and outdoor space.{{cite book|title=What is Japanese Architecture?: A Survey of Traditional Japanese Architecture with a List of Sites and a Map|author1=Kazuo, Nishi|author2=Kazuo, Hozumi|year=1995|publisher=Kodansha|isbn=978-4-7700-1992-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZl_yEJGtUYC}} Since the 19th century, Japan has incorporated much of Western modern architecture into construction and design.{{cite journal|title=Early Western Architecture in Japan|last=Abe|first=K|volume=13|issue=2|journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians|pages=13–18|date=May 1954|doi=10.2307/987685|jstor=987685}} 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 Kenzō Tange and then with movements like Metabolism.{{cite encyclopedia|last=Inagaki|first=Eizo|title=Japan: Architecture after 1868 (Meiji and after)|doi=10.1093/oao/9781884446054.013.90000369666|year=2003|encyclopedia=Oxford Art Online}}

{{Main|Japanese literature|Japanese poetry|Japanese philosophy}}

File:Genji emaki 01003 001.jpg of The Tale of Genji, a National Treasure]]

The earliest works of Japanese literature include the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} and {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} chronicles and the {{lang|ja-latn|Man'yōshū}} poetry anthology, all from the 8th century and written in Chinese characters.{{cite book|title=Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century|author=Keene, Donald|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-231-11441-7|url={{Google books|_DEwTJq3TbcC|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} }}{{cite web|url=http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~ascj/2000/200015.htm|title=Asian Studies Conference, Japan (2000)|publisher=Meiji Gakuin University|accessdate=April 1, 2007|archive-date=January 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116015033/http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~ascj/2000/200015.htm|url-status=dead}} In the early Heian period, the system of phonograms known as kana (hiragana and katakana) was developed.{{cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/heia/hd_heia.htm|publisher=The Met|title=Heian Period (794–1185)|date=October 2002}} The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest extant Japanese narrative.{{cite web|url=https://calisphere.org/item/35b0ea2b3cd767b5ae9e0df7b07f43db/|website=Calisphere|title=Tale of the bamboo cutter|accessdate=November 23, 2020}} An account of court life is given in The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon, while The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu is often described as the world's first novel.{{cite book|last=Totman|first=Conrad|title=A History of Japan|edition=2nd|year=2005|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-2359-4|pages=126–127|url={{Google books|Z_a_QgAACAAJ|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}}}{{Cite book|title=The Tale of Genji|editor=Royall, Tyler|publisher=Penguin Classics|year=2003|isbn=978-0-14-243714-8|pages=i–ii, xii|url={{Google books|AIUvc9FnZ5AC|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}}}

During the Edo period, the chōnin ("townspeople") overtook the samurai aristocracy as producers and consumers of literature. The popularity of the works of Saikaku, for example, reveals this change in readership and authorship, while Bashō revivified the poetic tradition of the Kokinshū with his haikai (haiku) and wrote the poetic travelogue Oku no Hosomichi.{{cite book|title=World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era, 1600–1867|author=Keene, Donald|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-231-11467-7|url={{Google books|gwQTF-9axqoC|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} }} The Meiji era saw the decline of traditional literary forms as Japanese literature integrated Western influences. Natsume Sōseki and Mori Ōgai were significant novelists in the early 20th century, followed by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Kafū Nagai and, more recently, Haruki Murakami and Kenji Nakagami. Japan has two Nobel Prize-winning authors – Yasunari Kawabata (1968) and Kenzaburō Ōe (1994).{{cite encyclopedia|title=Japanese literature|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|last=Keene|first=Donald|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Japanese-literature|accessdate=July 7, 2024}}

Japanese philosophy has historically been a fusion of both foreign, particularly Chinese and Western, and uniquely Japanese elements. In its literary forms, Japanese philosophy began about fourteen centuries ago. Confucian ideals remain evident in the Japanese concept of society and the self, and in the organization of the government and the structure of society.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/japanese-confucian/|title=Japanese Confucian Philosophy|date=May 20, 2008|encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy}} Buddhism has profoundly impacted Japanese psychology, metaphysics, and esthetics.{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2011/entries/japanese-aesthetics/|title=Japanese aesthetics|first=Graham|last=Parkes|editor-first=Edward N.|editor-last=Zalta|date=January 1, 2011|encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}

{{Main|Music of Japan|Theatre of Japan}}

File:春日神社ー篠山ー翁奉納P1011774.jpg performance at a Shinto shrine]]

Japanese music is eclectic and diverse. Many instruments, such as the koto, were introduced in the 9th and 10th centuries. The popular folk music, with the guitar-like shamisen, dates from the 16th century.{{cite book|last=Malm|first=William P.|title=Traditional Japanese music and musical instruments|year=2000|publisher=Kodansha International|isbn=978-4-7700-2395-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/traditionaljapan0000malm/page/31 31–45]|edition=New|url=https://archive.org/details/traditionaljapan0000malm/page/31}} Western classical music, introduced in the late 19th century, forms an integral part of Japanese culture.{{cite book|chapter=Katsu Watanabe, Akane Oki, and Yasushi Ishii, Librarians of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo|pages=156–167|title=Conversations with the World's Leading Orchestra and Opera Librarians|last=Lo|first=Patrick|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2016}} Kumi-daiko (ensemble drumming) was developed in postwar Japan and became very popular in North America.{{cite web|url=https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordtaiko/cgi-bin/history.html|publisher=Stanford Taiko|title=History of Taiko|accessdate=November 24, 2020}} Popular music in post-war Japan has been heavily influenced by American and European trends, which has led to the evolution of J-pop.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/aug/21/popandrock3|title= J-Pop History|work=The Observer|first=Chris|last=Campion|date=August 22, 2005}} Karaoke is a significant cultural activity.{{cite web|url=https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/karaoke-in-japan|work=Thrillist|title=What Karaoke Means to the Country That Invented It|last=Caracciolo|first=Frankie|date=September 18, 2020}}

The four traditional theaters from Japan are noh, kyōgen, kabuki, and bunraku.{{cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/art/traditional-japanese-theatre-overview|website=Time Out Tokyo|date=September 27, 2009|title=Traditional Japanese theatre: overview}} Noh is one of the oldest continuous theater traditions in the world.{{cite web|first=Edwin|last=Lee|date=December 6, 2018|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/577531/noh-japanese/|title=The Oldest Surviving Form of Theater|website=The Atlantic}}

{{Main|Cinema of Japan|Manga|Anime|Media of Japan}}

According to the 2015 NHK survey on television viewing in Japan, 79 percent of Japanese watch television daily.{{cite web|url=https://www.nhk.or.jp/bunken/english/reports/pdf/report_16042101.pdf|title=Television Viewing and Media Use Today: From "The Japanese and Television 2015" Survey|publisher=NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute|date= April 2016}} Japanese television dramas are viewed both within Japan and internationally.{{cite book|editor-last=Iwabuchi|editor-first=Koichi|title=Feeling Asian Modernities: Transnational Consumption of Japanese TV Dramas|publisher= Hong Kong University Press|year=2004|jstor=j.ctt2jc5b9|isbn=9789622096318}} Many Japanese media franchises have gained considerable global popularity and are among the world's highest-grossing media franchises. Japanese newspapers are among the most circulated in the world {{as of|2016|lc=y}}.{{cite web|page=19|title=World Press Trends 2016|publisher=WAN-IFRA|url=http://anp.cl/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WAN-IFRA_WPT_2016_3.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724194049/http://anp.cl/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WAN-IFRA_WPT_2016_3.pdf|accessdate=November 11, 2020|archivedate=July 24, 2020}}

Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries globally.{{cite book|page=xi|title=Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema|last=Sharp|first=Jasper|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2011}} Ishirō Honda's Godzilla became an international icon of Japan and spawned an entire subgenre of kaiju films, as well as the longest-running film franchise in history.{{cite web|url=https://www.nypl.org/blog/2014/05/21/godzilla|publisher=New York Public Library|last=Ingoglia|first=Jesse|date=May 21, 2014|title=Godzilla: monster, metaphor, pop icon}}{{cite book|chapter=Introduction|year=2017|publisher=McFarland|last=Kalat|first=David|edition=2nd|title=A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series}} Japanese comics, known as manga, developed in the mid-20th century and have become popular worldwide.{{cite journal|first=Kinko|last=Ito|title=A History of Manga in the Context of Japanese Culture and Society|journal=Journal of Popular Culture|volume=38|issue=3|pages=456–475|date=February 2005|doi=10.1111/j.0022-3840.2005.00123.x}}{{cite web|last=Ro|first=Christine|title=Did manga shape how the world sees Japan?|url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190610-did-manga-shape-how-the-world-sees-japan|publisher=BBC|date=June 12, 2019}} A large number of manga series have become some of the best-selling comics series of all time, rivalling the American comics industry.{{cite news|last=Medina|first=Cynthia|title= Why are manga outselling superhero comics?|url=https://www.rutgers.edu/news/why-are-manga-outselling-superhero-comics|website=Rutgers Today|date=December 5, 2019}} Japanese animated films and television series, known as anime, were largely influenced by Japanese manga and have become highly popular globally.{{cite book|chapter=Miyazaki and Takahata anime cinema|pages=105–136|last=Hu|first=Tze-Yue|title=Frames of Anime: Culture and Image-Building|year=2010|publisher=Hong Kong University Press}}{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/japan-anime-global-identity-hnk-intl/index.html|last=Jozuka|first=Emiko|title=Japanese anime: From 'Disney of the East' to a global industry worth billions|publisher= CNN|date=July 29, 2019}}

{{Main|Public holidays in Japan|Japanese festivals}}

File:Young ladies at Harajuku.jpg|成人の日|Seijin no Hi}} in Harajuku, Tokyo.]]

Officially, Japan has 16 national, government-recognized holidays. Public holidays in Japan are regulated by the {{Nihongo|Public Holiday Law|国民の祝日に関する法律|Kokumin no Shukujitsu ni Kansuru Hōritsu}} of 1948.{{cite news|author=Nakamura, Akemi|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080408i1.html|title=National holidays trace roots to China, ancients, harvests|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713203247/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080408i1.html|archivedate=July 13, 2009|newspaper=The Japan Times|date=April 8, 2008}} Beginning in 2000, Japan implemented the Happy Monday System, which moved a number of national holidays to Monday in order to obtain a long weekend.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/596910.stm|work=BBC News|title=Happy Monday in Japan|last=Hindell|first=Juliet|date=January 10, 2000}} The national holidays in Japan are New Year's Day on January 1, Coming of Age Day on the second Monday of January, National Foundation Day on February 11, The Emperor's Birthday on February 23, Vernal Equinox Day on March 20 or 21, Shōwa Day on April 29, Constitution Memorial Day on May 3, Greenery Day on May 4, Children's Day on May 5, Marine Day on the third Monday of July, Mountain Day on August 11, Respect for the Aged Day on the third Monday of September, Autumnal Equinox on September 23 or 24, Health and Sports Day on the second Monday of October, Culture Day on November 3, and Labor Thanksgiving Day on November 23.{{cite web|url=https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00738/|website=Nippon.com|title=Japan's National Holidays in 2021|date=June 10, 2020}}

{{Main|Japanese cuisine}}

File:East West sushi 01.jpg]]

Japanese cuisine offers a vast array of regional specialties that use traditional recipes and local ingredients.{{cite web|url=https://www.frommers.com/destinations/japan/in-depth/food--drink|publisher=Frommer's|title=Food & Drink in Japan|accessdate=December 1, 2020|archive-date=November 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127114557/https://www.frommers.com/destinations/japan/in-depth/food--drink|url-status=dead}} Seafood and Japanese rice or noodles are traditional staples.{{cite book|title=Street Foods|last=von Bargen|first=Hinnerk|page=14|publisher=Wiley|year=2015}} Japanese curry, since its introduction to Japan from British India, is so widely consumed that it can be termed a national dish, alongside ramen and sushi.{{cite web |last=Makalintal |first=Bettina |date=February 11, 2018 |title=A brief history of how curry ended up in Japan |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/nepjbw/a-brief-history-of-how-curry-ended-up-in-japan |website=Vice}}{{cite web |last=McCurry |first=Justin |date=June 18, 2010 |title=Ramen: Japan's super slurpy noodles |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jun/18/ramen-japan-national-dish |website=The Guardian}} Traditional Japanese sweets are known as wagashi.{{cite book|first=Darra|last=Goldstein|title=The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets|url={{Google books|jbi6BwAAQBAJ|page=PA777|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|year=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-931339-6|page=777}} Ingredients such as red bean paste and mochi are used. More modern-day tastes include green tea ice cream.{{cite book|first1=Hiroko|last1=Fujita|first2=Fran|last2=Stallings|title=Folktales from the Japanese Countryside|url={{Google books|p7nNJAt75XQC|page=PA148|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|year=2008|publisher=Libraries Unlimited|isbn=978-1-59158-488-9|page=148}}

Popular Japanese beverages include sake, a brewed rice beverage that typically contains 14–17% alcohol and is made by multiple fermentation of rice.{{cite book|first=Carl A.|last=Batt|title=Encyclopedia of Food Microbiology|url={{Google books|1b1CAgAAQBAJ|page=PA846|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|year=2014|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-12-384733-1|page=846}} Beer has been brewed in Japan since the late 17th century.{{cite book|first1=Christopher|last1=Boulton|first2=David|last2=Quain|title=Brewing Yeast and Fermentation|url={{Google books|QpDVsu-vaBcC|page=PT20|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|year=2013|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-68534-1|page=20}} Green tea is produced in Japan and prepared in forms such as matcha, used in the Japanese tea ceremony.{{hosking-jfood|30}}

{{Main|Sport in Japan}}

File:Aki basho dohyō-iri on Sept. 28 2014.jpg wrestlers form around the referee during the ring-entering ceremony.]]

Traditionally, sumo is considered Japan's national sport.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/sumoeastandwest/sumo.html|title=Sumo: East and West|publisher=PBS|accessdate=March 10, 2007|archive-date=March 7, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307073410/http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/sumoeastandwest/sumo.html|url-status=dead}} Japanese martial arts such as judo and kendo are taught as part of the compulsory junior high school curriculum.{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/04/24/reference/prewar-bayonetting-martial-art-makes-return-schools/|website=The Japan Times|title=Prewar bayonetting martial art makes a return to schools|last=Aoki|first=Mizuho|date=April 24, 2017}} Baseball is the most popular sport in the country.{{cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/japan-baseball-history|last=Adler|first=David|date=February 21, 2023|publisher=Major League Baseball|title=History of baseball in Japan}} Japan's top professional league, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), was established in 1936.{{cite book|author1=Nagata, Yoichi|author2=Holway, John B.|editor=Palmer, Pete|title=Total Baseball|edition=4th|year=1995|publisher=Viking Press|page=547|chapter=Japanese Baseball}} Since the establishment of the Japan Professional Football League (J.League) in 1992, association football gained a wide following.{{cite web|url=http://www.tjf.or.jp/takarabako/PDF/TB09_JCN.pdf|title= Soccer as a Popular Sport: Putting Down Roots in Japan|work= The Japan Forum|accessdate=April 1, 2007}} The country co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South Korea.{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/worldcup/2018/05/24/every-fifa-world-cup-winner-germany-brazil-italy/540978002/|website=USA Today|title=Every FIFA World Cup champion: Brazil, Germany, Italy historically dominate tournament|last=Reineking|first=Jim|date=May 25, 2018}} Japan has one of the most successful football teams in Asia, winning the Asian Cup four times,{{cite web|title=Team Japan|url=http://www.afcasiancup.com/team/en/Japan|publisher=Asian Football Confederation|accessdate=March 2, 2014|archive-date=January 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125085954/http://www.afcasiancup.com/team/en/Japan|url-status=dead}} and the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2011.{{cite web|url=https://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/matches/round=255989/match=300144437/summary.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718121005/http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/matches/round=255989/match=300144437/summary.html|url-status=dead|archivedate=July 18, 2011|title=Japan edge USA for maiden title|date=July 17, 2011|publisher=FIFA}} Golf is also popular in Japan.{{cite web|url=http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/604/sports.asp|title= Japanese Golf Gets Friendly|website=Metropolis|first=Fred|last=Varcoe|accessdate=April 1, 2007|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070926215517/http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/604/sports.asp|archivedate = September 26, 2007}}

In motorsport, Japanese automotive manufacturers have been successful in multiple different categories, with titles and victories in series such as Formula One, MotoGP, and the World Rally Championship.{{Cite web |date=December 13, 2021 |title=Honda Wins F1 Championship in Its Final Season |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2021121200336/ |website=Nippon.com |archive-date=December 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213075303/https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2021121200336/ |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.wrc.com/en/more/wrc-history/group-a/|title=Group A|publisher=World Rally Championship|accessdate=February 21, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2017/10/11/japanese-industry-in-motogp/241690|title=Japanese industry in MotoGP|date=October 11, 2017|website=MotoGP|accessdate=February 21, 2020}} Drivers from Japan have victories at the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as podium finishes in Formula One, in addition to success in domestic championships.{{Cite news|last=Nagatsuka|first=Kaz|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2017/06/14/more-sports/auto-racing/sato-revels-glow-historic-indy-500-triumph/|title=Sato revels in glow of historic Indy 500 triumph|date=June 14, 2017|work=The Japan Times }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.autosport.com/general/news/the-man-behind-japans-only-le-mans-winner-5110896/5110896/|work=Autosport|title=The man behind Japan's only Le Mans winner|last=Newbold|first=James|date=June 7, 2018}} Super GT is the most popular national racing series in Japan, while Super Formula is the top-level domestic open-wheel series.{{cite web|url=http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/623/sports.asp|title=Japanese Omnibus: Sports|last=Clarke|first=Len|website=Metropolis|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926215524/http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/623/sports.asp|archivedate=September 26, 2007|accessdate=April 1, 2007}} The country hosts major races such as the Japanese Grand Prix.{{cite web|url=https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2018/04/for-the-love-of-cars-auto-racing-in-japan/|website=Tokyo Weekender|date=April 18, 2018|title=For the Love of Cars: Auto Racing in Japan}}

Japan hosted the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964 and the Winter Olympics in Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.{{cite web|title=Olympic History in Japan|url=http://www.joc.or.jp/english/historyjapan/history_japan_bid.html|publisher=Japanese Olympic Committee|accessdate=January 7, 2011}} The country hosted the official 2006 Basketball World Championship{{cite web|title=2006 FIBA World Championship|url=http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/06_wcm/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903040643/http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/06_wcm/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 3, 2006|publisher=FIBA|accessdate=May 10, 2017}} and co-hosted the 2023 Basketball World Championship.{{cite web|title=FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023|url=http://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023|accessdate=September 24, 2020|publisher=FIBA}} Tokyo hosted the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021, making Tokyo the first Asian city to host the Olympics twice.{{cite web|url=http://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-selects-tokyo-as-host-of-2020-summer-olympic-games/208784|title=IOC selects Tokyo as host of 2020 Summer Olympic Games|date=July 21, 2016|publisher=International Olympic Committee}} The country gained the hosting rights for the official Women's Volleyball World Championship on five occasions, more than any other country.{{cite web|title=The Game – World Championships – FIVB Women's World Championships Finals|url=http://www.fivb.org/TheGame/TheGame_WorldChampionships.htm|publisher=FIVB|accessdate=June 13, 2017}} Japan is the most successful Asian Rugby Union country{{cite web|url=https://www.asiarugby.com/about-asia-rugby/history/|title=History|publisher=Asia Rugby|accessdate=December 5, 2020}} and hosted the 2019 IRB Rugby World Cup.{{cite web|url=http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/rugbyworldcup2019/news/newsid=2069327.html#japan+reaches+rest+asia|title=Japan reaches out to the rest of Asia|date=November 1, 2013|publisher=Rugby World Cup|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217224929/http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/rugbyworldcup2019/news/newsid%3D2069327.html|archivedate=December 17, 2013 }}

{{Portal|Japan}}

• Index of Japan-related articles
• Outline of Japan{{clear}}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|group=nb}}

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{{Sister project links|Japan|s=no|q=no|voy=Japan}}

Government

• [https://www.japan.go.jp/ JapanGov – The Government of Japan] {{in lang|en}}
• [https://japan.kantei.go.jp/index.html Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet Official website] {{in lang|en}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20161120104322/http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/eindex.html The Imperial Household Agency] – official site of the Imperial House of Japan (archived November 20, 2016)
• [https://www.ndl.go.jp/en/index.html National Diet Library]

General information

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090421051351/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/japan.htm Japan] from UCB Libraries GovPubs (archived April 21, 2009)
• [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-14918801 Japan] from BBC News
• [https://www.oecd.org/japan/ Japan] from the OECD
• {{OSM relation|382313}}

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