2000 Edition

Background

While retaining its time-honored culture, Japan rapidly absorbed Western technology during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After its devastating defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become the second most powerful economy in the world and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth.

Area

land

374,744 sq km

note

includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto, Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto)

total

377,835 sq km

water

3,091 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly smaller than California

Climate

varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north

Coastline

29,751 km

Elevation extremes

highest point

Fujiyama 3,776 m

lowest point

Hachiro-gata -4 m

Environment - current issues

air pollution from power plant emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere

Environment - international agreements

party to

Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geographic coordinates

36 00 N, 138 00 E

Geography - note

strategic location in northeast Asia

Irrigated land

27,820 sq km (1993 est.)

Land boundaries

0 km

Land use

arable land

11%

forests and woodland

67%

other

19% (1993 est.)

permanent crops

1%

permanent pastures

2%

Location

Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula

Map references

Asia

Maritime claims

exclusive economic zone

200 nm

territorial sea

12 nm; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the international straits - La Perouse or Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait

Natural hazards

many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis

Natural resources

negligible mineral resources, fish

Terrain

mostly rugged and mountainous

Age structure

0-14 years: 15% (male 9,575,637; female 9,105,713) 15-64 years: 68% (male 43,363,054; female 42,980,253) 65 years and over: 17% (male 9,024,015; female 12,501,304) (2000 est.)

Birth rate

9.96 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate

8.15 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Ethnic groups

Japanese 99.4%, other 0.6% (mostly Korean)

Infant mortality rate

3.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Languages

Japanese

Life expectancy at birth

female

84.05 years (2000 est.)

male

77.51 years

total population

80.7 years

Literacy

definition

age 15 and over can read and write

female

NA%

male

NA%

total population

99% (1970 est.)

Nationality

adjective

Japanese

noun

Japanese (singular and plural)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Population

126,549,976 (July 2000 est.)

Population growth rate

0.18% (2000 est.)

Religions

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

Sex ratio

at birth

1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female

total population

0.96 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.41 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Administrative divisions

47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi

Capital

Tokyo

Constitution

3 May 1947

Country name

conventional long form

none

conventional short form

Japan

Data code

JA

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission

Ambassador Thomas S. FOLEY

embassy

10-5, Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420

mailing address

Unit 45004, Box 205, APO AP 96337-5004

telephone

(3) 3224-5000

Diplomatic representation in the US

chancery

2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

chief of mission

Ambassador Shunji YANAI

telephone

(202) 238-6700

Executive branch

cabinet

Cabinet appointed by the prime minister

chief of state

Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989)

elections

none; the monarch is hereditary; 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

head of government

Prime Minister Yoshiro MORI (since 5 April 2000)

note

on 3 April 2000, Prime Minister Keizo OBUCHI suffered a stroke and was relieved of his duties; Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio AOKI became acting prime minister; on 5 April 2000, Yoshiro MORI was elected prime minister by a vote in both houses of the Diet, receiving 137 out of 244 votes cast in the House of Councillors ans 335 out of 488 votes cast in the House of Representatives

FAX

(202) 328-2187

(3) 3224-5856

consulate(s)

Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands)

consulate(s)

Fukuoka, Nagoya

consulate(s) general

Hagatna (Guam), Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City (Missouri), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle

consulate(s) general

Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo

Flag description

white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in the center

Government type

constitutional monarchy

Independence

660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu)

International organization participation

AfDB, APEC, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNRWA, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Judicial branch

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

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

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

House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LDP 102, DPJ 47, JCP 23, Komeito 22, SDP 13, Liberal Party 12, independents 26, others 7; note - the distribution of seats as of December 1999 is as follows - LDP 105, DPJ 57, Komeito 24, JCP 23, SDP 13, Liberal Party 12, independents 6, others 12; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LDP 240, NFP 142, DPJ 52, JCP 26, SDP 15, Sun Party 10, others 15; note - the distribution of seats as of December 1999 is as follows - LDP 267, DPJ 93, Komeito/Reform Club 48, Liberal Party 39, JCP 26, SDP 14, independents 9, others 4

elections

House of Councillors - last held 12 July 1998 (next to be held NA July 2001); House of Representatives - last held 20 October 1996 (next to be held by October 2000)

National holiday

Birthday of the Emperor, 23 December (1933)

Political parties and leaders

Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Yukio HATOYAMA, leader, Tsutomu HATA, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP ; Komeito [Takenori KANZAKI, president, Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Yoshiro MORI, president, Hiromu NONAKA, secretary general]; Liberal Party [Ichiro OZAWA, president, Hirohisa FUJII, secretary general]; Reform Club [Tatsuo OZAWA, leader, Katsuyuki ISHIDA, secretary general]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Takako DOI, chairperson, Sadao FUCHIGAMI, secretary general]

note

subsequent to the last legislative elections, the New Frontier Party or NFP and the Sun Party disbanded; in late 1997, the LP was formed by former NFP members; the DPJ was formed by former members of the SDP and Sakigake and, in April 1998, was joined by three additional parties which had formed after the NFP disbanded; New Peace Party and Komei merged to form Komeito in November 1998

Suffrage

20 years of age; universal

Agriculture - products

rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish

Budget

expenditures

$809 billion, including capital expenditures (public works only) of about $94 billion (FY00/01 est.)

revenues

$463 billion

Currency

yen

Debt - external

$NA

Economic aid - donor

ODA, $9.1 billion (1999)

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".

Electricity - consumption

926.263 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports

0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports

0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - production

995.982 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source

fossil fuel

56.68%

hydro

8.99%

nuclear

31.93%

other

2.4% (1998)

Exchange rates

yen per US$1 - 105.16 (January 2000), 113.91 (1999), 130.91 (1998), 120.99 (1997), 108.78 (1996), 94.06 (1995)

Exports

$413 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

Exports - commodities

motor vehicles, semiconductors, office machinery, chemicals

Exports - partners

US 31%, Taiwan 7%, China 5.5%, South Korea 5.4%, Hong Kong 5.2% (1999)

Fiscal year

1 April - 31 March

GDP

purchasing power parity - $2.95 trillion (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture

2%

industry

35%

services

63% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita

purchasing power parity - $23,400 (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

0.3% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Imports

$306 billion (c.i.f., 1999 est.)

Imports - commodities

fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, office machinery

Imports - partners

US 22%, China 14%, South Korea 5.1%, Australia 4.2%, Taiwan 4.1% (1999)

Industrial production growth rate

-0.1% (1999 est.)

Industries

among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals; textiles, processed foods

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

-0.8% (1999 est.)

Labor force

67.76 million (November 1999)

Labor force - by occupation

trade and services 65%, industry 30%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 5%

Population below poverty line

NA%

Unemployment rate

4.7% (1999 est.)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

357 (1999)

Radio broadcast stations

AM 190, FM 88, shortwave 24 (1999)

Radios

120.5 million (1997)

Telephone system

excellent domestic and international service

domestic

NA

international

satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); submarine cables to China, Philippines, Russia, and US (via Guam)

Telephones - main lines in use

60.3 million (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular

36.5 million (1998)

Television broadcast stations

7,108 (plus 441 repeaters; note - in addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable services) (1999)

Televisions

86.5 million (1997)

Airports

171 (1999 est.)

Airports - with paved runways

total

140 over 3,047 m: 6 2,438 to 3,047 m: 34 1,524 to 2,437 m: 41 914 to 1,523 m: 28 under 914 m: 31 (1999 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

total

31 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 28 (1999 est.)

Heliports

14 (1999 est.)

Highways

paved

863,003 km (including 6,114 km of expressways)

total

1,152,207 km

unpaved

289,204 km (1997 est.)

Merchant marine

ships by type

bulk 146, cargo 49, chemical tanker 13, combination bulk 16, combination ore/oil 4, container 25, liquified gas 45, passenger 9, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 214, refrigerated cargo 22, roll-on/roll-off 48, short-sea passenger 9, vehicle carrier 60 (1999 est.)

total

662 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 13,039,488 GRT/18,024,969 DWT

Pipelines

crude oil 84 km; petroleum products 322 km; natural gas 1,800 km

Ports and harbors

Akita, Amagasaki, Chiba, Hachinohe, Hakodate, Higashi-Harima, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kawasaki, Kinuura, Kobe, Kushiro, Mizushima, Moji, Nagoya, Osaka, Sakai, Sakaide, Shimizu, Tokyo, Tomakomai

Railways

narrow gauge

89.8 km 1.372-m gauge (89.8 km electrified); 20,656.8 km 1.067-m gauge (10,383.6 km electrified); 31 km 0.762-m gauge (3.6 km electrified) (1994)

standard gauge

2,893.1 km 1.435-m gauge (entirely electrified)

total

23,670.7 km

Waterways

about 1,770 km; seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas

Military branches

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

Military expenditures - dollar figure

$42.9 billion (FY98/99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP

0.9% (FY98/99)

Military manpower - availability

males age 15-49: 30,259,247 (2000 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service

males age 15-49: 26,139,516 (2000 est.)

Military manpower - military age

18 years of age

Military manpower - reaching military age annually

males

771,452 (2000 est.)

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

JARVIS ISLAND