<text><span class="style12">JAPAN</span><span class="style14"></span><span class="style42">Official name: </span><span class="style13">Nihon (ΓÇÿThe Land of the Rising SunΓÇÖ/Japan)</span><span class="style42">Member of: </span><span class="style13">UN, G7, OECD, Apec</span><span class="style42">Area: </span><span class="style13">377835 km2 (145883 sq mi)</span><span class="style42">Population: </span><span class="style13">124670000 (1993 est)</span><span class="style42">Capital: </span><span class="style13">Tokyo 25000000 (city 11874000; Yokohama 3299000; Kawasaki 1195000; Chiba 816000; 1992 est)</span><span class="style42">Other major cities:</span><span class="style13"> Osaka 8735000 (city 2603000; Kobe 1457000; Sakai 803000), Kyoto 2606000, Nagoya 2162000, Sapporo 1717000, Fukuoka 1262000, Hiroshima 1097000, Kitakyushu 1021000, Sendai 889000, Okayama 597000, Kumamoto 579000 (1990 est).</span><span class="style42">Language: </span><span class="style13">Japanese (official)</span><span class="style42">Religions: </span><span class="style13">Shintoism (about 40%) overlaps with Buddhism (74%), Christian denominations (4%)</span><span class="style42">GOVERNMENT</span><span class="style13">The Emperor is head of state but has no executive power. The 252-member House of Councilors ΓÇô the upper house of the Diet ΓÇô is elected for six years by universal adult suffrage. One half of the councilors retire every three years. A system of proportional representation is used to elect 50 of the councilors. The 500-member House of Representatives is directly elected for 4 years ΓÇô 300 members are elected by the first-past-the-post system and 200 members elected under a system of proportional representation. The Diet chooses a Prime Minister who commands a majority in the lower house. The PM, in turn, appoints a Cabinet of Ministers, who are responsible to the Diet.</span><span class="style42">GEOGRAPHY</span><span class="style13">Japan consists of over 3900 islands, of which Hokkaido in the north occupies 22% of the total land area, and Shikoku and Kyushu in the south respectively occupy 5% and 11% of the area. The central island of Honshu occupies 61% of the area and contains 80% of the population. To the south of these main islands, the Ryukyu Islands ΓÇô including Okinawa ΓÇô stretch almost to Taiwan. Nearly 75% of Japan is mountainous. The population is concentrated into small coastal plains. The principal lowlands are Kanto (around Tokyo), Nobi (around Nagoya) and the Sendai Plain in the north of Honshu. The highest peak is Fujiyama at 3776 m (12388 ft), an extinct volcano. There are also over 60 active volcanoes, and the country is prone to severe earthquakes. </span><span class="style42">Climate: </span><span class="style13">Japan experiences great variations in climate. Although the whole country is temperate, the north has long cold snowy winters, while the south has hot summers and mild winters. Rainfall totals are high, with heavy rain and typhoons being common in the summer months.</span><span class="style42">ECONOMY</span><span class="style13">Despite the generally crowded living conditions in the cities, the Japanese enjoy a high standard of living. The country has the second largest industrial economy in the world, despite having very few natural resources. Japanese industry is heavily dependent on imported raw materials ΓÇô about 90% of JapanΓÇÖs energy requirements are imported and petroleum is the single largest import. JapanΓÇÖs economic success is based on manufacturing industry, which ΓÇô with construction ΓÇô employs 30% of the labor force. Japan is the worldΓÇÖs leading manufacturer of motor vehicles, and one of the major producers of ships, steel, synthetic fibers, chemicals, cement, electrical goods and electronic equipment. Rapid advances in Japanese research and technology have helped the expanding export-led economy. The banking and financial sectors have prospered, and Tokyo is one of the worldΓÇÖs main stock exchanges and commercial centers. Agriculture is labor intensive. Although Japan is self-sufficient in rice, agriculture is not a priority and a high percentage of its food requirements ΓÇô particularly cereals and fodder crops ΓÇô have to be imported. The traditional Japanese diet is sea-based and the fishing industry is a large one. </span><span class="style42">Currency: </span><span class="style13">Yen.HISTORYJapanese myth dates the first emperor, Jimmu, to 660 bc. However, the first known emperors reigned in Nara in the 8th century ad. The rise of imperial power, the feudal system and the shogunate in Japan are covered on pp. 386ΓÇô87. At the end of the 19th century, the Meiji Emperor overthrew the last shogun and restored power to the throne. He encouraged Western institutions and a Western-style economy, so that by the beginning of the 20th century Japan was rapidly industrializing and on the brink of becoming a world power.By the end of the Meiji era (1912), Japan had established an empire. Japan had defeated China (1894ΓÇô95) ΓÇô taking Port Arthur and Taiwan ΓÇô and startled Europe by beating Russia (1904ΓÇô05) by land and at sea. Korea was annexed in 1910. Allied with Britain from 1902, Japan entered World War I against Germany in 1914, in part to gain acceptance as an imperial world power. However, Japan gained little except some of the German island territories in the Pacific and became disillusioned that the country did not seem to be treated as an equal by the Great Powers. The rise of militarism and collapse of world trade led to the rise of totalitarianism and a phase of aggressive Japanese expansion. Japan became allied to Nazi Germany and in 1941 Japanese aircraft struck Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, bringing the USA into World War II. An initial rapid Japanese military expansion across Southeast Asia and the Pacific was halted, and the war ended for Japan in disastrous defeat and the horrors of atomic warfare.Emperor Hirohito (reigned 1926ΓÇô89) surrendered in 1945. Shintoism ΓÇô which had come to be identified with aggressive nationalism ΓÇô ceased to be the state religion, and in 1946 the emperor renounced his divinity. The Allied occupation (1945ΓÇô52) democratized politics and began an astonishing economic recovery based on an aggressive export policy. The economy was jolted by major rises in petroleum prices in 1973 and 1979, but Japan maintained its advance to become a technological front-runner and, after the USA, the worldΓÇÖs second largest economy. However, JapanΓÇÖs protectionism has led to accusations of unfair trading practices. By 1988 Japan surpassed the USA as the worldΓÇÖs largest aid-donor. The Japanese political world was dominated by the Liberal Democrats, who held office from 1955 to 1993 despite a number of financial scandals. Since then a number of coalitions have held power.</span></text>
