Japan

Japan Geography Image:ja-map.gif Map of Japan Location Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula Geographic coordinates 36 00 N, 138 00 E Area total: 377,835 sq km note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto, Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto) water: 3,091 sq km land: 374,744 sq km Area - comparative slightly smaller than California Land boundaries 0 km Coastline 29,751 km Maritime claims contiguous zone: 24 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 exclusive economic zone: 200 NM Climate varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north Terrain mostly rugged and mountainous Elevation extremes lowest point: Hachiro-gata -4 m highest point: Fujiyama 3,776 m Natural resources negligible mineral resources, fish Land use arable land: 12.13% permanent crops: 1.01% other: 86.86% (1998 est.) Irrigated land 26,790 sq km (1998 est.) Natural hazards many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis; typhoons 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 Geography - note strategic location in northeast Asia Japan People Population 126,974,628 (July 2002 est.) Age structure 0-14 years: 14.5% (male 9,465,282; female 8,999,888) 15-64 years: 67.5% (male 43,027,320; female 42,586,112) 65 years and over: 18% (male 9,664,112; female 13,231,914) (2002 est.) Population growth rate 0.15% (2002 est.) Birth rate 10.03 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) Death rate 8.53 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) 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: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2002 est.) Infant mortality rate 3.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) Life expectancy at birth total population: 80.91 years female: 84.25 years (2002 est.) male: 77.73 years Total fertility rate 1.42 children born/woman (2002 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate 0.02% (1999 est.) Nationality noun: Japanese (singular and plural) adjective: Japanese Ethnic groups Japanese 99%, others 1% (Korean 511,262, Chinese 244,241, Brazilian 182,232, Filipino 89,851, other 237,914) (2000) 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% Japan Government Country name conventional long form: none conventional short form: Japan Government type constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government Capital Tokyo 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 Independence 660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu) National holiday Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 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 Flag description white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in the center Japan Economy 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 the 1990s 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. Government efforts to revive economic growth have met with little success and were further hampered in 2000-02 by the slowing of the US and Asian economies. 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”. Internal conflict over the proper means to reform the ailing banking system will continue in 2003. Currency yen (JPY) Currency code JPY Exchange rates yen per US dollar - 132.66 (January 2002), 121.53 (2001), 107.77 (2000), 113.91 (1999), 130.91 (1998), 120.99 (1997) Fiscal year 1 April - 31 March Communications Telephones - land lines Phone boxes used to be ubiquitous but are slowly disappearing since Japan has an extremely high rate of cellphone penetration. Public phones take either special cards or coins. It is also possible to use foreign calling cards such as AT&T from most phones. Telephones - mobile cellular You cannot use GSM phones in Japan (nor CDMA ?), however it is generally possible to rent a cell phone from an operator that has some reciprocal arrangement with your own carrier. Japan does have a 3G (WCDMA or 3GSM) network so if you have a 3G phone then that will work. Telephone system general assessment: excellent domestic and international service domestic: high level of modern technology and excellent service of every kind 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) (1999) Television broadcast stations 211 plus 7,341 repeaters note: in addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable services (1999) Internet country code .jp Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 73 (2000) Internet users 56 million (2002) Transportation Railways total: 23,654 km (15,895 km electrified) standard gauge: 3,059 km 1.435-m gauge (entirely electrified) narrow gauge: 77 km 1.372-m gauge (entirely electrified); 20,491 km 1.067-m gauge (12,732 km electrified); 27 km 0.762-m gauge (entirely electrified) (2000) Highways total: 1,152,207 km paved: 863,003 km (including 6,114 km of expressways) unpaved: 289,204 km (1997 est.) Waterways 1,770 km approximately note: seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas 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 Airports 173 (2001) Airports - with paved runways total: 141 over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 37 914 to 1,523 m: 27 under 914 m: 32 (2002) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 38 Airports - with unpaved runways total: 31 31 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 27 (2002) Heliports 15 (2002) (Article from/based on Wikitravel article and may be copied freely) | | |