Japan is an island country in East Asia. It is located in the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by the Sea of Japan and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk to the East China Sea. Japan is an archipelago and is comprised of four major islands and 14,121 smaller islands. The country is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional regions. Japan is about 75% mountainous terrain and is heavily forested, making the people live along its eastern coastal plains. It is the 11th most populous country with a population of over 123 million as of 2025. Tokyo is Japan's capital and largest city.
Japan is a constitutional monarchy. It has a bicameral legislature known as the National Diet. Japan is widely considered a great power and the only Asian member of the G7. It has one of the world's strongest militaries but has constitutionally renounced its right to declare war. Japan is a developed country with one of the world's largest economies. It leads in the automotive, electronics, and robotics industries globally. It makes significant contributions to science and technology as well. Japan's culture is well known worldwide, especially its popular culture, which includes art, cuisine, films, music, animation, comics, and video games.
Government and Politics
Japan is a unitary state and constitutional monarchy where the power of the Emperor (Tennล) is limited to a ceremonial role. Instead, the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet wield executive power. Naruhito is the Emperor of Japan, having succeeded his father Akihito upon his accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019.
5 Largest Cities or Towns in Japan
Tokyo - has a population of 9,272,740
Osaka - has a population of 3,724,844
Yokohama - has a population of 2,691,185
Nagoya - has a population of 2,295,638
Sapporo - has a population of 1,952,356
Economy
Japan has the world's fifth-largest economy, after that of the United States, China, Germany, and India. Japan's labor force is the world's tenth-largest, consisting of over 69.2 million workers in 2023. In 2024, Japan has a low unemployment rate of around 2.6%. Its poverty rate is the second highest within the G7. The Japanese yen is the world's third-largest reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro.
Agriculture and Fishery - 11.2% of Japan's land is apt for cultivation. As a result, a system of terraces is used to farm in small areas, ending in producing one of the world's highest levels of crop yields. Japan ranked seventh in the world in tonnage of fish caught and captured. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets.
Industry and Services - Japan has a large industrial capacity. It is home to some of the largest and most technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemical substances, textiles, and processed foods. Japan is in the top three worldwide for both automobile production and export, and is home to Toyota, the world's largest automobile company by production.
Science and Technology - Japan's research and development budget is the sixth or seventh highest in the world. It has 907,400 researchers sharing a 22-trillion-yen research and development budget in 2023. It has the second highest number of researchers in science and technology per capita in the world with 14 per 1000 employees. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is Japan's national space agency; it conducts space, planetary, and aviation research, and leads development of rockets and satellites.
Culture
Contemporary Japanese culture combines influences from Asia, Europe, and North America. Traditional Japanese arts include crafts such as ceramics, textiles, lacquerware, swords, and dolls. Japan has performances of bunraku, kabuki, noh, dance, and rakugo. Other practices are the tea ceremony, ikebana, martial arts, calligraphy, origami, onsen, Geisha, and games. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries worldwide. Manga, Japanese comics, developed in the mid-20th century and have become popular globally. A large number of manga series have become some of the best-selling comics series of all time, rivalling the American comics industry. Anime, Japanese animated films and television series, were largely influenced by manga and have become highly popular around the world.
