JAPAN

Environment Agency - Government of Japan

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Population:

• 126,771,662 (July 2001 est.)

Net migration rate:

• 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

• 3.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

• total population: 80.8 years
• male: 77.62 years
• female: 84.15 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:

• 1.41 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Nationality:

• noun: Japanese (singular and plural)
• adjective: Japanese

Ethnic groups:

• Japanese 99.4%, other 0.6% (mostly Korean) (1999)

Religions:

• observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)

Languages:

• Japanese

Literacy:

• definition: age 15 and over can read and write
• total population: 99% (1970 est.)
• male: NA%
• female: NA%

Statistics Bureau & Statistics Center of Japan

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Country name:

• conventional long form: none
• conventional short form: Japan

Data code:

• JA

Government type:

• constitutional monarchy

National capital:

• Tokyo

Administrative divisions:

• 47 prefectures

Independence:

• 660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu)

National holiday:

• Birthday of the Emperor, 23 December (1933)

Constitution

• 3 May 1947

Legal system

• modeled after European civil law system with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage:

• 20 years of age; universal

Executive branch

• chief of state: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989)
• head of government: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (since April 2001)
• cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister
• elections: none; the emperor is a constitutional monarch; the Diet designates the prime minister; the constitution requires that the prime minister must command a parliamentary majority, therefore, following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition in the House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister

Legislative branch:

• bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (252 seats; one-half of the members elected every three years—76 seats of which are elected from the 47 multi-seat prefectural districts and 50 of which are elected from a single nationwide list with voters casting ballots by party; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Shugi-in (500 seats—200 of which are elected from 11 regional blocks on a proportional representation basis and 300 of which are elected from 300 single-seat districts; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
• election results

National Diet Library

Judicial branch

• Supreme Court, chief justice is appointed by the emperor after designation by the cabinet, all other justices are appointed by the cabinet

Political parties and Groups

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Ryozo Kato
chancery: 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 939-6700
FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187
consulate(s) general: Agana (Guam), Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City (Missouri), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle
consulate(s): Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands)

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Howard Baker
embassy: 10-5, Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku (107), Tokyo
mailing address: Unit 45004, Box 258, APO AP 96337-0001
telephone: [81] (3) 3224-5000
FAX: [81] (3) 3505-1862
consulate(s) general: Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo
consulate(s): Fukuoka, Nagoya

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Economy—overview:

• Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) have helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically powerful economy in the world after the US and third largest economy in the world after the US and China. One notable characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding. Industry, the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The much smaller agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self-sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in 1992-95 largely because of the aftereffects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Growth picked up to 3.9% in 1996, largely a reflection of stimulative fiscal and monetary policies as well as low rates of inflation. But in 1997-98 Japan experienced a wrenching recession, centered about financial difficulties in the banking system and real estate markets and exacerbated by rigidities in corporate structures and labor markets. In 1999 output started to stabilize as emergency government spending began to take hold and business confidence gradually improved. The crowding of habitable land area and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength, with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots".

GDP:

• purchasing power parity: $3.15 trillion (2000 est.) 
• real growth rate:  1.3% (2000 est.)
• per capita: purchasing power parity—$24,900 (2000 est.)
• composition by sector: agriculture: agriculture: 2% industry: 35% services: 63% (1999 est.)

Inflation rate—consumer price index:

• -0.7% (2000 est.)

Labor force:

• total: 67.7 million (December 2000)
• by occupation: trade and services 65%, industry 30%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 5% (1999)

Unemployment rate:

• 4.7% (2000 est.)

Budget:

• revenues: $441 billion
• expenditures: $718 billion, including capital expenditures (public works only) of about $84 billion (FY01/02 est.)

Exports:

• total value: $450 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
• commodities: manufactures 96% (including machinery 50%, motor vehicles 19%, consumer electronics 3%)
• partners: US 22%, China 14%, South Korea 5.1%, Australia 4.2%, Taiwan 4.1% (1999)

Imports:

• total value: $339 billion (c.i.f., 1997)
• commodities:  motor vehicles, semiconductors, office machinery, chemicals
• partners: US 30%, Taiwan 7%, South Korea 6.4%, China 6.2%, Hong Kong 5.6% (2000 est.)

Japan External Trade Organization

Debt—external:

• $NA

Economic aid:

• donor: ODA, $9.1 billion (1999)

Currency:

• yen (¥)

Exchange rates:

• yen (¥) per US$1—117.10 (January 2001), 105.16 (January 2000), 113.91 (1999), 130.91 (1998)

Yahoo guide to Japan Economics

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Military branches:

• Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Japan Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force)

Military manpower—military age:

• 18 years of age

Military manpower—availability:

• males age 15-49: 29,926,614 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures—dollar figure:

• $43 billion (FY01)

Military expenditures—percent of GDP:

• 0.96% (FY01)

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Disputes—international:

• Islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan
• Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima/Tokdo) disputed with South Korea; Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands) claimed by China and Taiwan