Japan has the highest ratio of public debt to GDP among advanced economies, with a national debt estimated at 248% relative to GDP as of 2022update. Its poverty rate is the second highest among the G7 countries, and exceeds 15.7% of the population. As of 2023update, Japan’s labor force is the world’s tenth-largest, consisting of over 69.2 million workers. Japan has the world’s fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP, after that of the United States, China, Germany and India; and the fifth-largest by PPP-adjusted GDP. Other human rights issues include the treatment of marginalized groups, such as ethnic minorities, refugees and asylum seekers.
Japan
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. The early 20th century saw a period of Taishō democracy (1912–1926) overshadowed by increasing expansionism and militarization. The Edo period gave rise to kokugaku (“national studies”), the study of Japan by the Japanese.
Japan is in the top three globally for both automobile production and export, and is home to Toyota, the world’s largest automobile company by production. The country’s manufacturing output is the fourth highest in the world as of 2023update. Japan maintains one of the world’s largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch, prompting critiques that Japan’s fishing is leading to depletion in fish stocks such as tuna. 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 2018update. In 2024, Japan was the world’s eight-largest exporter and sixth-largest importer. The Japanese yen is the world’s third-largest reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro.
Between the 4th https://www.richyfox.co.uk/ and 6th centuries, its kingdoms were united under an emperor in Nara and later in Heian-kyō. Japan’s neighbors include the Republic of Korea, China and Russia.
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. Japanese animated films and television series, known as anime, were largely influenced by Japanese manga and have become highly popular globally. Many Japanese media franchises have gained considerable global popularity and are among the world’s highest-grossing media franchises. Popular music in post-war Japan has been heavily influenced by American and European trends, which has led to the evolution of J-pop.
National Flag and Anthem
More recent major quakes are the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, which triggered a large tsunami. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur several times each century; the 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people. As of 2014update, approximately 0.5% of Japan’s total area is reclaimed land (umetatechi). Honshu has the highest population density at 450 persons/km2 (1200/sq mi) as of 2010update, while Hokkaido has the lowest density of 64.5 persons/km2 as of 2016update. The Ryukyu Islands, which include Okinawa, are a chain to the south of Kyushu. In 2011, Japan suffered one of the largest earthquakes in its recorded history—the Tōhoku earthquake—triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
Because of its far-flung outlying islands, Japan’s exclusive economic zone is the eighth-largest in the world, covering 4,470,000 km2 (1,730,000 sq mi). The country’s five main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa. The Allies convened the International Military Tribunal for the Far East to prosecute Japanese leaders except the Emperor for Japanese war crimes. 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.
GDP per capita
With a population of over 123 million as of 2025, it is the world’s 11th most populous country. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands alongside 14,121 smaller islands. (The population of Tokyo Metropolitan Area as of June 1, 2021 is 13,999,568, approximately 10% of Japan’s total population.) Japan is the most successful Asian Rugby Union country and hosted the 2019 IRB Rugby World Cup. The country gained the hosting rights for the official Women’s Volleyball World Championship on five occasions, more than any other country.
- 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.
- The Yayoi period saw the introduction of innovative practices including wet-rice farming, a new style of pottery, and metallurgy from China and Korea.
- In 1936, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany; the 1940 Tripartite Pact made it one of the Axis powers.
- Japanese animated films and television series, known as anime, were largely influenced by Japanese manga and have become highly popular globally.
- 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.
Executive power is instead wielded by the prime minister and the Cabinet, whose sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people. In 2020, the government of Japan announced a target of carbon-neutrality by 2050. Japan ranks 20th in the 2018 Environmental Performance Index, which measures a country’s commitment to environmental sustainability. Responding to rising concerns, the government introduced environmental protection laws in 1970. Japan has nine forest ecoregions which reflect the climate and geography of the islands.
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Since the 19th century, Japan has incorporated much of Western modern architecture into construction and design. Japan has one of the world’s highest suicide rates, which is considered a major social issue. Since 1981, the principal cause of death in Japan is cancer, which accounted for 27% of the total deaths in 2018—followed by cardiovascular diseases, which led to 15% of the deaths. Since 1973, all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance.
- 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.
- It spent 1.4% of its total GDP on its defence budget and maintained the tenth-largest military budget in the world in 2024.
- Japan has the world’s fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP, after that of the United States, China, Germany and India; and the fifth-largest by PPP-adjusted GDP.
- Japan is a leading robotics producer, supplying 38% of the world’s 2024 total, down from 55% in 2017.
- Modern Japan’s economic growth began in this period, resulting in roads (Kaidō) and water transportation routes, as well as financial instruments such as futures contracts, banking and insurance of the Osaka rice brokers.
- The early 20th century saw a period of Taishō democracy (1912–1926) overshadowed by increasing expansionism and militarization.
Western classical music, introduced in the late 19th century, forms an integral part of Japanese culture. 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. 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. During the Edo period, the chōnin (“townspeople”) overtook the samurai aristocracy as producers and consumers of literature. In the early Heian period, the system of phonograms known as kana (hiragana and katakana) was developed.
The resignation of the shōgun led to the Boshin War and the establishment of a centralized state nominally unified under the emperor (the Meiji Restoration). Modern Japan’s economic growth began in this period, resulting in roads (Kaidō) and water transportation routes, as well as financial instruments such as futures contracts, banking and insurance of the Osaka rice brokers. When open war broke out, Ieyasu defeated rival clans in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Tokugawa Ieyasu served as regent for Hideyoshi’s son Toyotomi Hideyori within the Council of Five Elders and used his position to gain political and military support. During the 16th century, Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries reached Japan for the first time, initiating direct commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West (see Nanban trade and Nanban art).
As of 2019update, 37.1% of energy in Japan is produced from petroleum, 25.1% from coal, 22.4% from natural gas, 3.5% from hydropower and 2.8% from nuclear power, among other sources. The Keihin and Hanshin superport hubs are among the largest in the world, at 7.98 and 5.22 million TEU respectively as of 2017update. The largest domestic airport, Haneda Airport in Tokyo, was Asia’s second-busiest airport in 2019. The high-speed Shinkansen (bullet trains) that connect major cities are known for their safety and punctuality. The largest lunar mission since the Apollo program, its purpose was to gather data on the Moon’s origin and evolution. Japan’s plans in space exploration include building a Moon base and landing astronauts by 2030.
Go-Daigo was defeated by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336, beginning the Muromachi period (1336–1573). After Yoritomo’s death, the Hōjō clan came to power as regents for the shōgun. Japan’s feudal era was characterized by the emergence and dominance of a ruling class of warriors, the samurai.