Country Facts

Country name: Internationally: Japan, local: Nihon / Nippon,

Capital: Tokyo

National holiday: Birthday of Emperor NARUHITO, 23 February (1960); note - celebrates the birthday of the current emperor

Independence: 660 B.C. (traditional founding by Emperor JIMMU)

Total area: 377,835 sq km (incl. water area 3,091 sq km)

Japanese Government

Government type: Parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Chief of state: Emperor NARUHITO (since 1 May 2019); note - succeeds his father who abdicated on 30 April 2019

Head of government: Prime Minister Shinzo ABE (since 26 December 2012); Deputy Prime Minister Taro ASO (since 26 December 2012)

Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister

Elections: Diet (Kokkai), the national parliament of Japan, designates prime minister; constitution requires that prime minister commands parliamentary majority; following legislative elections, leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition in House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister; monarch is hereditary.

People

Language: Japanese

Population: 125,507,472 (July 2020)

Life expectancy at birth: Male: 82.7 years Female: 89.5 years (2020 est.)

Suffrage: 18 years

Religions

Shintoism 70.4%
< Buddhism 69.8%
Christianity 1.5%

Islands

Japan has 4 main islands and 6,848 smaller islands and islets.

The four major islands of the Japanese archipelago are:
Honshu (230.000 sq. km) – the main island with the capital Tokyo
Hokkaido (78.500 sq. km) –situated north of Honshu
Kyushu (44.000 sq. km) – situated at the south western tip of Honshu
Shikoku (18.800 sq. km) – situated south of Honshu, east of Kyushu