Where is Japan?
About Japan
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media
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Japan is a large country made up of over 6,800 islands, of which 430 are inhabited. The four main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu.
Japan has a border on the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan.
The land is a mainly mountains.
The geographical coordinates for the centre of Japan, also known as lines of latitude and longtitude, are:-
Latitude - 36 00N
Longitude - 138 00E
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Check the weather in Tokyo now.
This is the time in Tokyo now
The Japanese flag is white with a large
red disc in the centre. The red disc represents the sun.
The capital of Japan is Tokyo.
Japan is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with an Emperor as head of state and a prime minister as head of the government.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Japan is the yen.
Japanese is the official language.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
Japan is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with an Emperor as head of state and a prime minister as head of the government.
In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.
The currency in Japan is the yen.
Japanese is the official language.
Hear the National Anthem
These are the anthem words
We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Japan to provide us with a detailed history of
their own country. Check how here.
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The total land area of Japan is 384,485 sq kms which is the 18th largest in Asia.
Japan has lakes, rivers and canals which total 13,430 sq kms.
Japan has no boundaries with other countries.
Japan has a coastline of 29,751 kms which is the 4th longest in Asia.
The highest point in Japan is Mount Fuji at 3,776 metres.
The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.
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The total population of Japan is 126.70 million people, making it the 8th largest country in Asia by population.
Of this number 65.25 million are females and 61.45 million are males.
A person from Japan is called Japanese.
To be a citizen of Japan, one of your parents must be a citizen of Japan. It is not sufficient to be born in Japan. You have to live in Japan for
5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.
The largest five cities in Japan, by population are:-
- Tokyo 8,336,559 people
- Yokohama 3,574,443
- Osaka 2,592,413
- Nagoya 2,191,279
- Sapporo 1,883,027
For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
93.5% of the people live in cities or towns.
Each little Owlbut is 1 person and
the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as
more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.
93.5% of the people live in cities or towns.
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The birth rate in Japan is 7.8 births per 1,000 of population
The death rate in Japan is 9.6 deaths per 1,000 people.
Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then
the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.
There are 1.8 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 2.3 deaths of boys.
The median age for females is 48.7 and for males is 46.0. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number
of people above the median age as below it.
The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 30.7.
The elderly dependency ratio is 42.7. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).
The potential support ratio is 2.3. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.
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Japan spends 10.2% of its total income on health care.
There are 2.30 doctors per 1,000 people.
There are 13.7 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
4.3% of the population are estimated as obese.
100% of Japanese have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or
protected rainwater collection facility.
100% of Japanese have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer. a pit latrine (that is a
permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.
apan releases 1,257.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 5th highest in Asia.
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Japan spends 3.8% of its total income on education.
Children usually start school at age 6 in Japan. Primary education is for six years until age 12 and secondary education must continue till 15 but can go on to 18/19. This may be followed
by further education at a university or college.
Generally the school year consists of 3 terms and starts in the beginning of April and finishes in the middle of March. There is usually a 6 week
break starting in the third week of July and a 2 week break for the last week in December and the first week in January.
We have no figures for the number of people who are able to read and write by the age of 15.
5.1% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 4.5% are unemployed while with males 5.7% can't find work.
The total number of people available for work in Japan is 67.77 million.
They work in the following sectors.
- Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
- Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
- Services is everything else
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There are 142 paved airports in Japan, which is the 5th highest number in Asia.
There are 27,311 kilometres of railways in Japan, the 4th longest in Asia.
There are 992,835 kilometres of roads in Japan, which means Japan is in 3rd place for the most kilometres of roads in Asia.
There are 5 major national newspapers in Japan.
There are 166.85 million mobile phone users.
51% of the people have a fixed landline.
116.57 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).
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