In 1603, after decades of civil warfare, the Tokugawa shogunate (a military-led, dynastic government) ushered in a long period of relative political stability and isolation from foreign influence. For more than two centuries this policy enabled Japan to enjoy a flowering of its indigenous culture. Japan opened its ports after signing the Treaty of Kanagawa with the US in 1854 and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1931-32 Japan occupied Manchuria, and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and an ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, elected politicians hold actual decision-making power. Following three decades of unprecedented growth, Japan's economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s, but the country remains an economic power. In March 2011, Japan's strongest-ever earthquake, and an accompanying tsunami, devastated the northeast part of Honshu island, killed thousands, and damaged several nuclear power plants. The catastrophe hobbled the country's economy and its energy infrastructure, and tested its ability to deal with humanitarian disasters. Prime Minister Shinzo ABE was reelected to office in December 2012, and has since embarked on ambitious economic and security reforms to improve Japan's economy and bolster the country's international standing.

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

36 00 N, 138 00 E

Asia

slightly smaller than California

0 km

29,751 km

varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north

mostly rugged and mountainous

highest point: Mount Fuji 3,776 m

negligible mineral resources, fish

arable land 11.7%; permanent crops 0.8%; permanent pasture 0%

24,690 sq km (2012)

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

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; following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan originally planned to phase out nuclear power, but it has now implemented a new policy of seeking to restart nuclear power plants that meet strict new safety standards

strategic location in northeast Asia; composed of four main islands - from north Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu (the "Home Islands") - and 6,848 smaller islands and islets

126,702,133 (July 2016 est.)

Japanese 98.5%, Koreans 0.5%, Chinese 0.4%, other 0.6%

Japanese

Shintoism 79.2%, Buddhism 66.8%, Christianity 1.5%, other 7.1%

-0.19% (2016 est.)

7.8 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)

9.6 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)

TOKYO (capital) 38.001 million; Osaka-Kobe 20.238 million; Nagoya 9.406 million; Kitakyushu-Fukuoka 5.51 million; Shizuoka-Hamamatsu 3.369 million; Sapporo 2.571 million (2015)

30.3 (2012 est.)

5 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)

1.41 children born/woman (2016 est.)

54.3%

10.2% of GDP (2014)

2.3 physicians/1,000 population (2010)

13.7 beds/1,000 population (2009)

urban: 100% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 100% of population

urban: 0% of population

rural: 0% of population

total: 0% of population (2015 est.)

urban: 100% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 100% of population

urban: 0% of population

rural: 0% of population

total: 0% of population (2015 est.)

NA

NA

NA

3.5% (2014)

3.4% (2010)

3.8% of GDP (2014)

parliamentary constitutional monarchy

47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gunma, 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

3 May 1947 (current constitution adopted as amendment to Meiji Constitution); notable earlier dates: 660 B.C. (traditional date of the founding of the nation by Emperor JIMMU); 29 November 1890 (Meiji Constitution provides for constitutional monarchy)

Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933)

previous 1890; latest approved 6 October 1946, adopted 3 November 1946, effective 3 May 1947 ; note - the constitution has not been amended since its enactment in 1947 (2016)

civil law system based on German model; system also reflects Anglo-American influence and Japanese traditions; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LDP 291, DPJ 71, Komeito 35, JCP 21, JIP 21, Osaka Ishin no Kai 13, Group of Reformists 5, SDP 2, PLPTYF 2, independents 13, 1 seat vacant

Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Renho MURATA]

Group of Reformists [Sakihito OZAWA]

Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII]

Japan Innovation Party or JIP [Yorihisa MATSUNO]

Komeito [Natsuo YAMAGUCHI]

Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Shinzo ABE]

New Renaissance Party [Hiroyuki ARAI]

Osaka Ishin no Kai [Ichiro MATSUI]

Party for Future Generations or PFG [Kyoko NAKAYAMA]

People's Life Party & Taro Yamamoto and Friends or PLPTYF [Ichiro OZAWA]

Social Democratic Party or SDP [Tadatomo YOSHIDA]

The Assembly to Energize Japan and the Independents [Kota MATSUDA]

ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), APEC, Arctic Council (observer), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CD, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CICA (observer), CP, CPLP (associate), EAS, EBRD, EITI (implementing country), FAO, FATF, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMISS, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

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

red sun disc, chrysanthemum; national colors: red, white

Over the past 70 years, government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) have helped Japan develop an advanced economy. Two notable characteristics of the post-World War II economy were the close interlocking structures of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors, known as keiretsu, and the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding under the dual pressures of global competition and domestic demographic change.

Scarce in many natural resources, Japan has long been dependent on imported raw materials. Since the complete shutdown of Japan’s nuclear reactors after the earthquake and tsunami disaster in 2011, Japan's industrial sector has become even more dependent than before on imported fossil fuels. A small agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. While self-sufficient in rice production, Japan imports about 60% of its food on a caloric basis.

For three decades, overall real economic growth had been impressive - a 10% average in the 1960s, 5% in the 1970s, and 4% in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s, averaging just 1.7%, largely because of the aftereffects of inefficient investment and an asset price bubble in the late 1980s, after which it took a considerable time for firms to reduce excess debt, capital, and labor. Modest economic growth continued after 2000, but the economy has fallen into recession four times since 2008. Government stimulus spending helped the economy recover in late 2009 and 2010, but the economy contracted again in 2011 as the massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami in March of that year disrupted economic activity. The economy has largely recovered in the five years since the disaster, although output in the affected areas continues to lag behind the national average.

Japan enjoyed a sharp uptick in growth in 2013 on the basis of Prime Minister Shinzo ABE’s “Three Arrows” economic revitalization agenda - dubbed “Abenomics” - of monetary easing, “flexible” fiscal policy, and structural reform. In 2015, ABE revised his “Three Arrows” to raise nominal GDP by 20% to 600 trillion yen by 2020, stem population decline by raising the fertility rate, and provide more support for workers with children and aging relatives. ABE’s government has replaced the preceding administration’s plan to phase out nuclear power with a new policy of seeking to restart nuclear power plants that meet strict new safety standards, and emphasizing nuclear energy’s importance as a base-load electricity source. Japan successfully restarted two nuclear reactors at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Kagoshima prefecture. In October 2015, Japan and 11 trading partners reached agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a pact that promises to open Japan's economy to increased foreign competition and create new export opportunities for Japanese businesses.

Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis that adjusts for price differences, Japan in 2015 stood as the fourth-largest economy in the world after first-place China, which surpassed Japan in 2001, and third-place India, which edged out Japan in 2012. While seeking to stimulate and reform the economy, the government must also devise a strategy for reining in Japan's huge government debt, which amounts to more than 230% of GDP. To help raise government revenue, Japan adopted legislation in 2012 to gradually raise the consumption tax rate to 10% by 2015, beginning with a hike from 5% to 8%, implemented in April 2014. That increase had a contractionary effect on GDP, however, so PM ABE in late 2014 decided to postpone the final phase of the increase until April 2017 to give the economy more time to recover. Led by the Bank of Japan’s aggressive monetary easing, Japan is making progress in ending deflation, but demographic decline – a low birthrate and an aging, shrinking population – poses a major long-term challenge for the economy.

$4.83 trillion (2015 est.)

$4.807 trillion (2014 est.)

$4.809 trillion (2013 est.)

$4.123 trillion (2015 est.)

0.5% (2015 est.)

0% (2014 est.)

1.4% (2013 est.)

$38,100 (2015 est.)

$37,800 (2014 est.)

$37,800 (2013 est.)

25.3% of GDP (2015 est.)

22.6% of GDP (2014 est.)

22.2% of GDP (2013 est.)

vegetables, rice, fish, poultry, fruit, dairy products, pork, beef, flowers, potatoes/taros/yams, sugar cane, tea, legumes, wheat and barley

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

0.6% (2015 est.)

65.98 million (2015 est.)

3.4% (2015 est.)

3.6% (2014 est.)

16.1% (2013 est.)

37.9 (2011)

24.9 (1993)

35.9% of GDP (2015 est.)

-5.4% of GDP (2015 est.)

230% of GDP (2015 est.)

227.7% of GDP (2014 est.)

1 April - 31 March

0.8% (2015 est.)

2.7% (2014 est.)

0.3% (31 December 2015)

0.3% (31 December 2014)

1.48% (31 December 2015 est.)

1.48% (31 December 2014 est.)

$5.131 trillion (31 December 2015 est.)

$4.896 trillion (31 December 2014 est.)

$8.073 trillion (31 December 2014 est.)

$8.035 trillion (31 December 2013 est.)

$11.09 trillion (31 December 2015 est.)

$10.92 trillion (31 December 2014 est.)

$4.782 trillion (31 December 2015 est.)

$4.584 trillion (31 December 2014 est.)

$3.715 trillion (31 December 2013 est.)

$137.5 billion (2015 est.)

$24.4 billion (2014 est.)

$622 billion (2015 est.)

$699.1 billion (2014 est.)

motor vehicles 14.9%; iron and steel products 5.4%; semiconductors 5%; auto parts 4.8%; power generating machinery 3.5%; plastic materials 3.3% (2014 est.)

US 20.2%, China 17.5%, South Korea 7.1%, Hong Kong 5.6%, Thailand 4.5% (2015)

$627.3 billion (2015 est.)

$799 billion (2014 est.)

petroleum 16.1%; liquid natural gas 9.1%; clothing 3.8%; semiconductors 3.3%; coal 2.4%; audio and visual apparatus 1.4% (2014 est.)

China 24.8%, US 10.5%, Australia 5.4%, South Korea 4.1% (2015)

$1.233 trillion (31 December 2015 est.)

$1.261 trillion (31 December 2014 est.)

$5.18 trillion (31 December 2013 est.)

$4.026 trillion (31 December 2012)

$202.4 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$196.9 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$1.258 trillion (31 December 2015 est.)

$1.177 trillion (31 December 2014 est.)

yen (JPY) per US dollar -

121.02 (2015 est.)

105.86 (2014 est.)

97.44 (2013 est.)

79.79 (2012 est.)

79.81 (2011 est.)

980 billion kWh (2014 est.)

934 billion kWh (2014 est.)

0 kWh (2014 est.)

0 kWh (2014 est.)

313 million kW (2014 est.)

64.4% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

15.1% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

7.6% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

3.8% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

4,247 bbl/day (2015 est.)

0 bbl/day (2015 est.)

3.433 million bbl/day (2015 est.)

541.6 million bbl (March, 2015 est.)

3.527 million bbl/day (2015 est.)

4.12 million bbl/day (2015 est.)

367,600 bbl/day (2015 est.)

1.067 million bbl/day (2015 est.)

4.757 billion cu m (2014 est.)

131.3 billion cu m (2014 est.)

0 cu m (2014 est.)

124.7 billion cu m (2014 est.)

20.9 billion cu m (1 January 2016 es)

1.257 billion Mt (2013 est.)

a mixture of public and commercial broadcast TV and radio stations; 6 national terrestrial TV networks including 1 public broadcaster; the large number of radio and TV stations available provide a wide range of choices; satellite and cable services provide access to international channels (2012)

.jp

JA (2016)

175 (2013)

16 (2013)

gas 4,456 km; oil 174 km; oil/gas/water 104 km (2013)

1,770 km (seagoing vessels use inland seas) (2010)

Japanese Ministry of Defense (MOD): Ground Self-Defense Force (Rikujou Jieitai, GSDF), Maritime Self-Defense Force (Kaijou Jieitai, MSDF), Air Self-Defense Force (Koukuu Jieitai, ASDF) (2011)

18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; mandatory retirement at age 53 for senior enlisted personnel and at 62 years for senior service officers (2012)

0.97% of GDP (2012)

1.01% of GDP (2011)

0.99% of GDP (2010)

the sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kuril Islands," occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; Japan and South Korea claim Liancourt Rocks (Take-shima/Tok-do) occupied by South Korea since 1954; the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands are also claimed by China and Taiwan