Japan
Japan
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According
to the 2002 national population census, Japan's
total population was 127 million. This made
Japan the seventh most populous nation in the world.
The population has more than doubled since the first
national census in 1920, when it was about 56
million.
Population
growth has slowed in recent years. The annual
growth rate averaged 0.3% in the 1990-95 period,
considerably lower than the world average of 1.6%.
As of 1994 Japan' population
density was 335.4 persons per square kilometer, one
of the highest in the world.
By
comparison, the population density was 828 persons
per square kilometer in Bangladesh, 440 in South
Korea, 328 in Belgium, 237 in Britain, 124 in China
and 27 in the United States (1992 figures).
Japan's
Geography
Japan,
lying off the eastern coast of the Asian continent,
consists of four main islands - Hokkaido, Honshu,
Shikoku, and Kyushu - as well as thousands of
adjacent smaller islands. The archipelago runs
in an arc from north to south, stretching 3,800 km.
Its total land area is 377,818 sq km, which is about
4% of that of the United States and slightly more
than one and a half times as large as that of
Britain. Japan occupies about 0.3% of the
earth's total land area.
Mountains
claim 71% of Japan's land area, with plains and
basins accounting for the remaining 29%. A chain of
mountains extends along the middle of the long,
narrow archipelago, dividing it into two sides, one
facing the Pacific and the other the Sea of Japan.
In general, the rivers are short and swift-flowing.
Politics
in Japan
In
1890 the Imperial Diet was established, making Japan
the first country in Asia to introduce parliamentary
politics. The Diet is the sole legislative
organ of the state and the highest organ of power.
It is vested with such powers as initiating
constitutional revisions, deciding on the budget,
approving treaties and designating a prime minister.
The
upper house, or the House of Peers, of the Imperial
Diet was made up of representatives of the
privileged class, especially the peerage and the
Japan remained an absolute monarch, with sovereignty
in the hands of the emperor. It was only in
November 1946, when the present Constitution was
promulgated, that sovereignty was given to the
people and a democratic system government was
adopted. Now the emperor is the symbol of the
state and the Diet is the supreme organ of state
power.
The
present system is built on the separation of powers
of the three branches of government - legislative,
executive and judicial - which act to check and
balance one another. Administration at the
prefectural level is centered on the governor and
assembly of each of the 47 prefectures.
The governor and assembly members are elected
directly by residents of the prefecture. Under
each prefectural government is a system of city,
town, and village administrations. These
municipal assemblies and mayors are also elected
directly by local residents.
Language
Japanese
is the sixth most spoken language in the world, with
over 99% percent of the country's population using
it. Amazingly, the language is spoken in
scarcely any region outside Japan.
The
origin of the Japanese language has many theories in
reference to it, some believe it is similar to the
Altaic languages, namely Turkish or Mongolian.
It is recognized and acknowledged to be close in
syntax to the Korean language.
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Food
in General
Food of all types and
from every country under the sun, is one of
the great pleasures of life in Japan.
Not only has Japan developed one of the
world's great cuisines, which offers
palate-tickling sensations that range fro the
subtle joys of "sashimi" to the
hearty basics of its noodles, but some of the
best world-class chefs have come to Japan to
cook for its discriminating gourmets.
Tokyo especially, as befits its status as a
global capital of finance and business, is
host to a lip-smacking cornucopia of food
flavors and textures.
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Japan's
Religion
and Philosophy
Two
major currents of religion in Japan are Buddhism,
which was brought to Japan in the sixth century, and
Shinto, which developed a the nation's folk
religion. As of the end of 1994, there were
231,428 religious institutions, including Buddhist
temples, Shinto shrines and Christian churches.
Culturally, historically, and politically Buddhism
has had a great influence on the Japanese mentality.
Buddhism is divided into a number of sects with the
major sects being Jodo Shinshu, Nichiren, and Zen.
As of the end of 1994, there were over 78,000
Buddhist temples in Japan.
Shinto
has survived in the form of traditional beliefs and
customs and in such practices as individual prayers
and a variety of ties and festivities. Unlike
such imported systems as Buddhism and Confucianism,
Shinto embodies an indigenous religion and
philosophy. Under the present Constitution
Shinto has no official status of any situation,
however, Shinto has no official status of any kind.
Statistics show that there are 117 million followers
of Shinto and 90 million adherents of Buddhism in
Japan. In customary practice, Shinto rites are
observed to celebrate such occasions as birth and
marriage, while Buddhist ceremonies are used for
funerals and memorial services.
Christianity
was brought to Japan in 1549 by Spanish Jesuits and
propagated until it was officially banned in 1612.
The ban was lifted in 1873 after the Meiji
Restoration. In 1994 there were 6,574 churches
in Japan, divided about evenly between Catholic and
Protestant. The number of Japanese Christians
totaled 1,519,396.
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