Sea of Japan
Japanese name
Kanji 日本海 Hiragana にほんかい Hepburn Nihonkai
English: Japan Sea
North Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl 조선동해 Hancha 朝鮮東海 McCune-Reischauer Chosŏn Tonghae Revised Romanization Joseon Donghae
English: Korea East Sea
South Korean name
Hangul 동해 Hanja 東海 Revised Romanization Donghae McCune-Reischauer Tonghae
English: East Sea
Russian name
Cyrillic Японское море Romanization Yaponskoye more
English: Japanese Sea

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific Ocean.^[1] This isolation also reflects in the fauna species and in the water salinity, which is lower than in the ocean. The sea has no large islands, bays or capes. Its water balance is mostly determined by the inflow and outflow through the straits connecting it to the neighboring seas and Pacific Ocean. Few rivers discharge into the sea and their total contribution to the water exchange is within 1%.

The seawater is characterized by the elevated concentration of dissolved oxygen that results in high biological productivity. Therefore, fishing is the dominant economic activity in the region. The intensity of shipments across the sea has been moderate owing to political issues, but it is steadily increasing as a result of the growth of East Asian economies. A controversy exists about the sea name, with South Korea promoting the appellation East Sea.

Extent[link]

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the "Japan Sea" as follows:^[2]

On the Southwest. The Northeastern limit of the Eastern China Sea [From Nomo Saki (32°35'N) in Kyusyu to the South point of Hukae Sima (Goto Retto) and on through this island to Ose Saki (Cape Goto) and to Hunan Kan, the South point of Saisyu To (Quelpart), through this island to its Western extreme and thence along the parallel of 33°17' North to the mainland] and the Western limit of the Inland Sea [defined circuitously as "The Southeastern limit of the Japan Sea"].

On the Southeast. In Simonoseki Kaikyo. A line running from Nagoya Saki (130°49'E) in Kyûsû through the islands of Uma Sima and Muture Simia (33°58',5N) to Murasaki Hana (34°01'N) in Honsyû.

On the East. In the Tsugaru Kaikô. From the extremity of Siriya Saki (141°28'E) to the extremity of Esan Saki (41°48'N).

On the Northeast. In La Perouse Strait (Sôya Kaikyô). A line joining Sôni Misaki and Nishi Notoro Misaki (45°55'N).

On the North. From Cape Tuik (51°45'N) to Cape Sushcheva.

Geography and geology[link]

The Sea of Japan was once a landlocked sea when the land bridge of East Asia existed.^[3]

Onset of formation of Japan Arc was in Early Miocene.^[4] Early Miocene period also corresponds to incipient opening of the Japan Sea, and the northern and southern parts of the Japanese archipelago that were separated from each other.^[4] During the Miocene there was expansion of Sea of Japan.^[4] The northern part of the Japanese archipelago was further fragmented at later periods until the orogenesis of the northeastern Japanese archipelago began in the later Late Miocene.^[4] The southern part of the Japanese archipelago remained as a relatively large landmass.^[4] The land area had expanded northward in the Late Miocene.^[4] The orogenesis of high mountain ranges in the northeastern Japan started in Late Miocene and it lasts in Pliocene also.^[4]

Map showing Japanese archipelago, Sea of Japan and surrounding part of continental East Asia in Early Miocene (23-18 Ma).

Map showing showing Japanese archipelago, Sea of Japan and surrounding part of continental East Asia in Middle Pliocene to Late Pliocene (3.5-2 Ma).

Relief of the Sea of Japan and nearby areas

Nowadays it is bound by the Russian mainland and Sakhalin island to the north, the Korean Peninsula to the west, and the Japanese islands of Hokkaidō, Honshū and Kyūshū to the east and south. It is connected to other seas by five straits: the Strait of Tartary between the Asian mainland and Sakhalin; La Pérouse Strait between the islands of Sakhalin and Hokkaidō; the Tsugaru Strait between the islands of Hokkaidō and Honshū; the Kanmon Straits between the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū; and the Korea Strait between the Korean Peninsula and the island of Kyūshū. The Korea Strait is composed of the Western Channel and the Tsushima Strait, on either side of Tsushima Island. The straits were formed in recent geologic periods. The oldest of them are the Tsugaru and Tsushima straits. Their formation had interrupted the migration of elephants into the Japanese islands at the end of the Neogene Period (about 2.6 million years ago). The most recent is La Perouse Strait. Its formation about 60,000 to 11,000 years ago had closed the path used by the mammoths which had earlier moved to the northern Hokkaidō.^[5] All the straits are rather shallow with a minimal depth of the order of 100 meters or less. This hinders water exchange thereby isolating the water and aquatic life of the Sea of Japan from the neighboring seas and oceans.^[6] The sea has a surface area of about 978,000 km² (377,600 sq mi), a mean depth of 1,752 m (5,748 ft) and a maximum depth of 3,742 m (12,276 ft). It has a carrot-like shape, with the major axis extending from southwest to northeast and a wide southern part narrowing toward the north. The coastal length is about 7,600 km with the largest part (3,240 km) belonging to Russia. The sea extends from north to south for more than 2,255 km and has a maximum width of about 1,070 km.^[7] It has three major basins: the Yamato Basin in the southeast, the Japan Basin in the north and the Tsushima Basin (Ulleung Basin) in the southwest.^[5] The Japan Basin is of oceanic origin and is the deepest part of the sea, whereas the Tsushima Basin is the shallowest with the depths below 2,300 meters.^[7] On the eastern shores, the continental shelves of the sea are wide, but on the western shores, particularly along the Korean coast, they are narrow, averaging about 30 kilometers.^[6]

A bay at Sibiryakov Island, 50 km south from Vladivostok

Sunset on Little Verkhovsky islands near Vladivostok

There are three distinct continental shelves in the northern part (above 44°N). They form a staircase-like structure with the steps slightly inclined southwards and submerged to the depths of 900–1400, 1700–2000 and 2300–2600 meters. The last step sharply drops to the depths of about 3,500 meters toward the central (deepest) part of the sea. The bottom of this part is relatively flat, but has a few plateaus. In addition, an underwater ridge rising up to 2,300 meters runs from north to south through the middle of the central part.^[6]

The Japanese coastal area of the sea consists of Okujiri Ridge, Sado Ridge, Hakusan Banks, Wakasa Ridge and Oki Ridge. Yamato Ridge is of continental origin and is composed of granite, rhyolite, andesite and basalt. It has uneven bottom covered with boulders of volcanic rock. Most other areas of the sea are of oceanic origin. Seabed down to 300 meters (1,000 ft) is of continental nature and is covered with a mixture of mud, sand, gravel and fragments of rock. The depths between 300 and 800 meters (1,000–2,600 ft) are covered in hemipelagic sediments (i.e., of semi-oceanic origin); these sediments are composed of blue mud rich in organic matter. Pelagic sediments of red mud dominate the deeper regions.^[5]

There are no large islands in the sea. Most of the smaller ones are located near the eastern coast, except for Ulleungdo (South Korea). The most significant islands are Moneron, Rebun, Rishiri, Okushiri, Ōshima, Sado, Okinoshima, Ulleungdo, Askold, Russky and Putyatin. The shorelines are relatively straight and are lacking large bays or capes; the coastal shapes are simplest for Sakhalin and are more winding in the Japanese islands. The largest bays are Peter the Great Gulf, Sovetskaya Gavan, Vladimira, Olga, Posyet in Russia, East Korea Bay in North Korea and Ishikari (Hokkaidō), Toyama and Wakasa (Honshū) in Japan. Prominent capes include Lazareva, Peschanyi (sandy), Povorotny, Gromova, Pogibi, Tyk, Korsakova, Crillon, Sōya, Nosappu, Tappi, Nyuda, Rebun, Rishiri, Okushiri, Daso and Oki.^[6][7]

Climate[link]

Von Karman vortices off the coast of Rishiri Island^[8]

The sea climate is characterized by warm waters and monsoons. This combination results in strong evaporation, which is especially noticeable between October and March when the strong (12–15 m/s or higher) northwestern monsoon wind brings cold and dry continental air. The evaporation is blown further south causing snowfall in the mountainous western coasts of Japan. This winter monsoon brings typhoons and storms with the waves reaching 8–10 meters which erode the western coasts of Japan. Tsunami waves were also recorded in the sea. In addition, the monsoon enhances the surface water convection, down to the depths of 30 meters. The coldest months are January and February with the average air temperature of −20 °C in the north and 5 °C in the south. The northern one-quarter of the sea, particularly the Siberian coast and the Strait of Tartary, freezes for about 4–5 months.^[5] The timing and extent of freezing vary from year to year, so ice may start forming in the bays as early as in October and its remains may be seen even in June. Ice cover is continuous only in the bays and forms floating patches in the open sea. Ice melting in spring results in cold currents in the northern areas.^[6]

In summer the wind weakens to 2–7 m/s and reverses its direction, blowing warm and humid air from the North Pacific onto the Asian mainland. The warmest month is August with the average air temperature of 15 °C in the north and 25 °C in the south.^[6] Annual precipitation increases from 310–500 mm in the north-west to 1,500–2,000 mm in the south-east.^[7]

A peculiar turbulent cloud pattern, named Von Karman vortices, is sometimes observed over the Sea of Japan. It requires a stable field of low clouds driven by the wind over a small (isolated) and tall obstacle, and usually forms over small mountainous islands.^[8] The Sea of Japan meets these conditions as it has frequent winds and cloudy skies, as well as compact, tall islands such as Rishiri (1,721 m), Ulleungdo (984 m) and Ōshima (732 m).

Hydrology[link]

Tategami rock

Mitsukejima "Battleship Island"

The sea currents circulate in the counterclockwise direction. The Kuroshio (Japan Current), the Tsushima Current and the East Korea Warm Current bring warmer and more saline water to the north. There they merge into the Tsugaru Current and flow into the Pacific Ocean through the Tsugaru Strait. They also feed the Sōya Current and exit through the La Perouse Strait to the Sea of Okhotsk. The returning branch is composed of the Liman, North Korea and Central (or Mid-) Japan Sea currents which bring fresh and cold water along the Asian coast to the south.^[5]

Water temperature is mostly affected by exchange with the atmosphere in the northern part of the sea and by the currents in the southern part. Winter temperatures are 0 °C or below in the north and 10–14 °C in the south. In this season, there is a significant temperature difference between the western and eastern parts owing to the circular currents. So at the latitude of Peter the Great Gulf, the water temperature is about 0 °C in the west and 5–6 °C in the east. This east-west difference drops to 1–2 °C in summer, and the temperatures rise to 18–20 °C in the north and 25–27 °C in the south.^[6]

As a result of the enclosed nature of the sea, its waters form clearly separated layers which may show seasonal and spatial dependence. In winter, the temperature is almost constant with the depth in the northern part of the sea. However, in central-southern parts, it may be 8–10 °C down to 100–150 m, 2–4 °C at 200–250 m, 1.0–1.5 °C at 400–500 m and then remain at about 0 °C until the bottom. Heating by the sun and tropical monsoons increases the depth gradient in spring–summer. So in the north the surface layer (down to 15 m) may heat up to 18–20 °C. The temperature would sharply drop to 4 °C at 50 m, then slowly decrease to 1 °C at 250 m and remain so down to the seabed. On the contrary, the temperature in the south could gradually decrease to 6 °C at 200 m, then to 2 °C at 260 m and to 0.04–0.14 °C at 1000–1500 m, but then it would rise to about 0.3 °C near the bottom. This cold layer at about 1000 m is formed by sinking of cold water in the northern part of the sea in winter and is brought south by the sea currents; it is rather stable and is observed all through the year.^[5][6]

The hydrological isolation of the Sea of Japan also results in slightly lower average water salinity (34.09‰, where ‰ means parts per thousand) compared with the Pacific Ocean. In winter, the highest salinity at 34.5‰ is observed in the south where evaporation dominates over precipitation. It is the lowest at 33.8‰ in the south-east and south-west because of frequent rains and remains at about 34.09‰ in most other parts. Thawing of ice in spring reduces water salinity in the north, but it remains high at 34.60–34.70‰ in the south, partly because of the inflow of salty water through the Korea Strait. A typical variation of salinity across the sea in summer is 31.5‰ to 34.5‰ from north to south. The depth distribution of salinity is relatively constant. The surface layer tends to be more fresh in the sea parts which experience ice melting and rains.^[6] The average water density is 1.0270 g/cm³ in the north and 1.0255 g/cm³ in the south in winter. It lowers in summer to 1.0253 and 1.0215 g/cm³, respectively.^[7]

The Tumen River, at the border between North Korea and China. The picture is taken from the Chinese city of Tumen; the North Korean city of Namyang is across the bridge.

The mouth of Partizanskaya River near Nakhodka. View from Sopka Sestra.

Few rivers flow into the Sea of Japan from mainland Asia, the largest being Tumen,^[7] Rudnaya, Samarga, Partizanskaya and Tumnin; all of them have mountainous character. In contrast, numerous large rivers flow from Honshū and Hokkaidō into the sea, including Japan’s four largest rivers in the Shinano, Ishikari, Agano and Mogami. The total annual river discharge into the sea is 210 km³ and is relatively constant through the year, except for a minor increase in July.^[6] Most water (97% or 52,200 km³) flows into the sea through the Korea Strait and discharges through the Tsugaru (64% or 34,610 km³), La Pérouse (10,380 km³) and Korea straits. Rainfall, evaporation and riverine inflow make only 1% of the water balance. Between October and April, the outflow exceeds the inflow due to the lower income through the Korea Strait; this balance reverses between May and September.^[6][7]

The sea has complex tides, which are induced by the tidal wave of the Pacific Ocean penetrating through the Korea Strait and Tsugaru strait. The tides are semi-diurnal (rise twice a day) in the Korea Strait and in the northern part of the Strait of Tartary. They are diurnal at the eastern shore of Korea, Russian Far East and the Japanese islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō. Mixed tides occur in Peter the Great Gulf and Korea strait. The tidal waves have a speed of 10–25 cm/s in the open sea. They accelerate in the Korea Strait (40–60 cm/s), La Pérouse Strait (50–100 cm/s) and especially in the Tsugaru Strait (100–200 cm/s). The amplitude of the tides is relatively low and strongly varies across the sea. It reaches 3 meters in the south near the Korea Strait, but quickly drops northwards to 1.5 meters at the southern tip of Korean Peninsula and to 0.5 meters at the North Korean shores. Similar low tides are observed in Hokkaidō, Honshū and south Sakhalin. The amplitude however increases to 2.3–2.8 meters toward the north of the Strait of Tartary due to its funnel-like shape. Apart from tides, the water level also experiences seasonal, monsoon-related variations across the entire sea with the highest levels observed in summer and lowest in winter. Wind may also locally change the water level by 20–25 cm; for example, it is higher in summer at the Korean and lower at the Japanese coasts.^[6]

The sea waters have blue to green-blue color and a transparency of about 10 meters. They are rich in dissolved oxygen, especially in the western and northern parts, which are colder and have more phytoplankton than the eastern and southern areas. The oxygen concentration is 95% of the saturation point near the surface, it decreases with the depth to about 70% at 3,000 meters.^[6][7]

Flora and fauna[link]

Sea lions on Moneron Island

The high concentration of dissolved oxygen results in the rich aquatic life of the Sea of Japan - there are more than 800 species of aquatic plants and more than 3,500 animal species, including more than 900 species of crustaceans, about 1000 of fish and 26 of mammals. The coastal areas contain several kg/m² of biomass. Pelagic (oceanic) fishes include saury, mackerel, Jack mackerels, sardines, anchovies, herring, sea bream, squid and various species of salmon and trout. The demersal (sea-bottom) fishes include cod, pollock and Atka mackerel. Mammals are represented by seals and whales, and the crustaceans by shrimps and crabs.^[5] Because of the shallow straits connecting the sea with Pacific Ocean, the sea of Japan has no characteristic oceanic deep-water fauna.^[7] Flora and fauna unique to the region near the Sea of Japan are known as "Japan Sea elements".^[4]

Economy[link]

Heishi rock near Kamome Island, Hokkaido

Zolotoy Rog bay near Vladivostok, Russia

Fishery had long been the main economic activity on the Sea of Japan. It is mainly carried out on and near the continental shelves and focuses on herring, sardines and bluefin tuna. These species are however depleted from after World War II. Squid is mostly caught near the sea center and salmon near the northern and southwestern shores.^[5] There is also a well-developed seaweed production.^[6] The importance of the fishery in the sea is illustrated by the territorial disputes between Japan and South Korea over Liancourt Rocks and between Japan and Russia over the Kuril Islands. It is also reflected in various legends, such as the legend of the Heishi rock, which says that once when herring vanished, an old fairy threw a bottle with a magic water into the sea, and the herring returned. The bottle got stuck to the seabed and turned into a rock, which became a representation of the God of the Sea of Japan.^[9][10]

Vladivostok is a base for the Russian whaling fleet. Although it operates in the northern seas, its production is processed and partly distributed in the Vladivostok area. Vladivostok is also a terminal point of the Trans-Siberian Railway which brings much goods to and from this major port. There is a regular ferry service across the Strait of Tartary between the Russian continental port of Vanino and Kholmsk in Sakhalin.^[6]

The sea has magnetite sands as well as natural gas and petroleum fields near the northern part of Japan and Sakhalin Island. The intensity of shipments across the sea is moderate, owing to the cold relations between many bordering countries. As a result, the largest Japanese ports are located on the Pacific coast, and the significant ports on the Sea of Japan are Niigata, Tsuruta and Maizuru. Major South Korean ports are Busan, Ulsan, and Pohang situated on the southeastern coast of the Korean Peninsula, but they also mainly target countries not bordering the Sea of Japan. The major Russian port of Vladivostok mainly serves inland cargos, whereas Nakhodka and Vostochny are more international and have a busy exchange with Japan and South Korea. Other prominent Russian ports are Sovetskaya Gavan, Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky and Kholmsk, and the major ports of North Korea are Wonsan, Hamhung and Chongjin.^[7] The intensity of shipments across the Sea of Japan is steadily increasing as a result of the growth of East Asian economies.^[5]

History and exploration[link]

For centuries, the sea had protected Japan from land invasions, particularly by the Mongols. It had long been navigated by Asian and, from the 18th century, by European ships. Russian expeditions of 1733–1743 mapped Sakhalin and the Japanese islands. In the 1780s, the Frenchman Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, traveled northward across the sea through the strait that was named after him. In 1796, another Frenchman Robert Broughton explored the Strait of Tartary, the eastern coast of the Russian Far East and the Korean Peninsula. In 1803–1806, the Russian navigator Adam Johann von Krusenstern while sailing across the globe in the ship Nadezhda also explored, in passing, the Sea of Japan and the eastern shores of Japanese islands. In 1849, another Russian explorer Gennady Nevelskoy discovered the strait between the continent and Sakhalin and mapped the northern part of the Strait of Tartary. Russian expeditions were made in 1853–1854 and 1886–1889 to measure the surface temperatures and record the tides. They also documented the cyclonal character of the sea currents. Other notable expeditions of the 19th century include the American North Pacific Exploring and Surveying Expedition (1853–1856) and British Challenger expedition (1872–1876). The aquatic life was described by V. K. Brazhnikov in 1899–1902 and P. Yu. Schmidt in 1903–1904. The Japanese scientific studies of the sea began only in 1915 and became systematic since the 1920s.^[5][7]

Naming dispute[link]

The use of the term "Sea of Japan" as the dominant name is a point of contention. South Korea wants the name "East Sea" to be used, either instead of or in addition to "Sea of Japan;"^[11][12] while North Korea prefers the name "East Sea of Korea".^[13]

The primary issue in the dispute revolves around a disagreement about when the name "Sea of Japan" became the international standard. Japan claims the term has been the international standard since at least the early 19th century,^[14] while the Koreas claim that the term "Sea of Japan" arose later while Korea was under Japanese rule, and prior to that occupation other names such as "Sea of Korea" or "East Sea" were used in English.^[15] The International Hydrographic Organization, the international governing body for the naming bodies of water around the world, in 2012 rejected the use of "East Sea" and recognized the term "Sea of Japan" as the only title for the sea.^[16]

See also[link]

• Geography of Japan
• Geography of North Korea
• Geography of Russia
• Geography of South Korea
• Category:Islands of the Sea of Japan

References[link]

This article incorporates CC-BY-2.0 text from the reference^[4]

Further reading[link]

• Fukuoka N. (1966). "On the distribution patterns of the so-called Japan Sea elements confined to the Sea of Japan region". Journal of Geobotany 15: 63-80.

External links[link]

Media related to Sea of Japan at Wikimedia Commons The Wiktionary entry for Sea of Japan

Coordinates: 40°N 135°E / 40°N 135°E / 40; 135

State of Japan 日本国 Nippon-koku Nihon-koku
Flag Imperial Seal
Anthem:  Kimigayo (君が代)
Government Seal of Japan 五七桐 (Go-Shichi no Kiri?)
Capital (and largest city)		Tokyo (de facto) 35°41′N 139°46′E / 35.683°N 139.767°E / 35.683; 139.767
Official language(s)		None[1]
Recognised regional languages		Aynu itak, Ryukyuan languages, Eastern Japanese, Western Japanese, and several other Japanese dialects
National language		Japanese
Ethnic groups		98.5% Japanese, 0.5% Korean, 0.4% Chinese, 0.6% other[2]
Demonym		Japanese
Government		Unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy
-	Emperor	Akihito
-	Prime Minister	Yoshihiko Noda
Legislature		Diet
-	Upper house	House of Councillors
-	Lower house	House of Representatives
Formation
-	National Foundation Day	11 February 660 BC[3]
-	Meiji Constitution	29 November 1890
-	Current constitution	3 May 1947
-	Treaty of San Francisco	28 April 1952
Area
-	Total	377,944 km2 [4](62nd) 145,925 sq mi
-	Water (%)	0.8
Population
-	2011 estimate	127,799,000[5] (10th)
-	2010 census	128,056,026[6]
-	Density	337.1/km2 (36th) 873.1/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$4.440 trillion[7] (4th)
-	Per capita	$34,739[7] (25th)
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$5.869 trillion[7] (3rd)
-	Per capita	$45,920[7] (18th)
Gini		37.6 (2008)[8]
HDI (2011)		0.901[9] (very high) (12th)
Currency		Yen (¥) / En (円 or 圓) (JPY)
Time zone		JST (UTC+9)
-	Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC+9)
Date formats		yyyy-mm-dd yyyy年m月d日 Era yy年m月d日 (CE−1988)
Drives on the		left
ISO 3166 code		JP
Internet TLD		.jp
Calling code		81

This article contains Japanese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji and kana.

Japan ⁱ/dʒəˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国  Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.

Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.

A major economic power,^[2] Japan has the world's third-largest economy by nominal GDP and fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer. Although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military force in self-defense and peacekeeping roles. After Singapore, Japan has the lowest homicide rate (including attempted homicide) in the world.^[10] According to both UN and WHO estimates, Japan has the longest life expectancy of any country in the world. According to the UN, it has the third lowest infant mortality rate.^[11][12]

Etymology[link]

The English word Japan is an exonym. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon (にっぽん^?)  listen (help·info) and Nihon (にほん^?)  listen (help·info); both names are written using the kanji 日本. The Japanese name Nippon is used for most official purposes, including on Japanese yen, postage stamps, and for many international sporting events. Nihon is a more casual term and is used in contemporary speech.

Japanese people refer to themselves as Nihonjin (日本人^?) and to their language as Nihongo (日本語^?). Both Nippon and Nihon mean "sun-origin" and are often translated as Land of the Rising Sun. This nomenclature comes from Japanese missions to Imperial China and refers to Japan's eastward position relative to China. Before Nihon came into official use, Japan was known as Wa (倭^?) or Wakoku (倭国^?).^[13]

The English word for Japan came to the West via early trade routes. The early Mandarin or possibly Wu Chinese (吳語) word for Japan was recorded by Marco Polo as Cipangu. In modern Shanghainese, a Wu dialect, the pronunciation of characters 日本 'Japan' is Zeppen [zəʔpən]. The old Malay word for Japan, Jepang, was borrowed from a Chinese language – Jih'pen'kuo^[14]—, and this Malay word was encountered by Portuguese traders in Malacca in the 16th century. Portuguese traders were the first to bring the word to Europe.^[15] It was first recorded in English in a 1565 letter, spelled Giapan.^[16]

History[link]

Prehistory and ancient history[link]

The Golden Hall and five-storey pagoda of Hōryū-ji, among the oldest wooden buildings in the world, National Treasures, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

A Paleolithic culture around 30,000 BC constitutes the first known habitation of the Japanese archipelago. This was followed from around 14,000 BC (the start of the Jōmon period) by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture, who include ancestors of both the contemporary Ainu people and Yamato people,^[17][18] characterized by pit dwelling and rudimentary agriculture.^[19] Decorated clay vessels from this period are some of the oldest surviving examples of pottery in the world. Around 300 BC, the Yayoi people began to enter the Japanese islands, intermingling with the Jōmon.^[20] The Yayoi period, starting around 500 BC, saw the introduction of practices like wet-rice farming,^[21] a new style of pottery,^[22] and metallurgy, introduced from China and Korea.^[23]

Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese Book of Han.^[24] According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago during the 3rd century was called Yamataikoku. Buddhism was first introduced to Japan from Baekje of Korea, but the subsequent development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily influenced by China.^[25] Despite early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class and gained widespread acceptance beginning in the Asuka period (592–710).^[26]

The Nara period (710–784) of the 8th century marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state, centered on an imperial court in Heijō-kyō (modern Nara). The Nara period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent literature as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired art and architecture.^[27] The smallpox epidemic of 735–737 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of Japan's population.^[28] In 784, Emperor Kammu moved the capital from Nara to Nagaoka-kyō before relocating it to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto) in 794.

Byōdō-in (1053) is a temple of Pure Land Buddhism. It was registered to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This marked the beginning of the Heian period (794–1185), during which a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged, noted for its art, poetry and prose. Lady Murasaki's The Tale of Genji and the lyrics of Japan's national anthem Kimigayo were written during this time.^[29]

Buddhism began to spread during the Heian era chiefly through two major sects, Tendai by Saichō, and Shingon by Kūkai. Pure Land Buddhism greatly becomes popular in the latter half of the 11th century.

Feudal era[link]

Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence and dominance of a ruling class of warriors, the samurai. In 1185, following the defeat of the Taira clan, sung in the epic Tale of Heike, samurai Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed shogun and established a base of power in Kamakura. After his death, the Hōjō clan came to power as regents for the shoguns. The Zen school of Buddhism was introduced from China in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and became popular among the samurai class.^[30] The Kamakura shogunate repelled Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281, but was eventually overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo. Go-Daigo was himself defeated by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336.

Ginkaku-ji in Kyoto (Higashiyama period in Muromachi Period, c. 1489). It was registered as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto".

Ashikaga Takauji establishes the shogunate in Muromachi, Kyoto. It is a start of Muromachi Period (1336–1573). The Ashikaga shogunate receives glory in the age of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and the culture based on Zen Buddhism (art of Miyabi) has prospered. It evolves to Higashiyama Culture, and has prospered until the 16th century. On the other hand, the succeeding Ashikaga shogunate failed to control the feudal warlords (daimyo), and a civil war (the Ōnin War) began in 1467, opening the century-long Sengoku period ("Warring States").^[31]

During the 16th century, traders and Jesuit missionaries from Portugal reached Japan for the first time, initiating direct commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West. Oda Nobunaga conquered many other daimyo using European technology and firearms; after he was assassinated in 1582, his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified the nation in 1590. Hideyoshi invaded Korea twice, but following defeats by Korean and Ming Chinese forces and Hideyoshi's death, Japanese troops were withdrawn in 1598.^[32] This age is called Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573–1603).

Tokugawa Ieyasu served as regent for Hideyoshi's son and used his position to gain political and military support. When open war broke out, he defeated rival clans in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Ieyasu was appointed shogun in 1603 and established the Tokugawa shogunate at Edo (modern Tokyo).^[33] The Tokugawa shogunate enacted measures including buke shohatto, as a code of conduct to control the autonomous daimyo;^[34] and in 1639, the isolationist sakoku ("closed country") policy that spanned the two and a half centuries of tenuous political unity known as the Edo period (1603–1868).^[35] The study of Western sciences, known as rangaku, continued through contact with the Dutch enclave at Dejima in Nagasaki. The Edo period also gave rise to kokugaku ("national studies"), the study of Japan by the Japanese.^[36]

Modern era[link]

On 31 March 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry and the "Black Ships" of the United States Navy forced the opening of Japan to the outside world with the Convention of Kanagawa. Subsequent similar treaties with Western countries in the Bakumatsu period brought economic and political crises. The resignation of the shogun led to the Boshin War and the establishment of a centralized state nominally unified under the Emperor (the Meiji Restoration).^[37]

Adopting Western political, judicial and military institutions, the Cabinet organized the Privy Council, introduced the Meiji Constitution, and assembled the Imperial Diet. The Meiji Restoration transformed the Empire of Japan into an industrialized world power that pursued military conflict to expand its sphere of influence. After victories in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Japan gained control of Taiwan, Korea, and the southern half of Sakhalin.^[38] Japan's population grew from 35 million in 1873 to 70 million in 1935.^[39]

The Meiji Emperor (1868–1912), in whose name imperial rule was restored at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate

The early 20th century saw a brief period of "Taishō democracy" overshadowed by increasing expansionism and militarization. World War I enabled Japan, on the side of the victorious Allies, to widen its influence and territorial holdings. It continued its expansionist policy by occupying Manchuria in 1931; as a result of international condemnation of this occupation, Japan resigned from the League of Nations two years later. In 1936, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany, and the 1940 Tripartite Pact made it one of the Axis Powers.^[40] In 1941, Japan negotiated the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact.^[41]

The Empire of Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). In 1940, the Empire then invaded French Indochina, after which the United States placed an oil embargo on Japan.^[42] On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor and declared war, bringing the US into World War II.^[43][44] After the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender on 15 August.^[45] The war cost Japan and the rest of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere millions of lives and left much of the nation's industry and infrastructure destroyed. The Allies (led by the US) repatriated millions of ethnic Japanese from colonies and military camps throughout Asia, largely eliminating the Japanese empire and restoring the independence of its conquered territories.^[46] The Allies also convened the International Military Tribunal for the Far East on May 3, 1946 to prosecute some Japanese leaders for war crimes. However, the bacteriological research units and members of the imperial family involved in the war were exonerated from criminal prosecutions by the Supreme Allied Commander despite calls for trials for both groups.^[47]

In 1947, Japan adopted a new constitution emphasizing liberal democratic practices. The Allied occupation ended with the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952^[48] and Japan was granted membership in the United Nations in 1956. Japan later achieved rapid growth to become the second-largest economy in the world, until surpassed by China in 2010. This ended in the mid-1990s when Japan suffered a major recession. In the beginning of the 21st century, positive growth has signaled a gradual economic recovery.^[49] On 11 March 2011, Japan suffered the strongest earthquake in its recorded history; this triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, one of the worst disasters in the history of nuclear power.^[50]

Politics[link]

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko

Japan is a constitutional monarchy where the power of the Emperor is very limited. As a ceremonial figurehead, he is defined by the constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". Power is held chiefly by the Prime Minister of Japan and other elected members of the Diet, while sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people.^[51] Akihito is the current Emperor of Japan; Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan, stands as next in line to the throne.

Japan's legislative organ is the National Diet, a bicameral parliament. The Diet consists of a House of Representatives with 480 seats, elected by popular vote every four years or when dissolved, and a House of Councillors of 242 seats, whose popularly elected members serve six-year terms. There is universal suffrage for adults over 20 years of age,^[2] with a secret ballot for all elected offices.^[51] In 2009, the social liberal Democratic Party of Japan took power after 54 years of the liberal conservative Liberal Democratic Party's rule.^[52]

The Prime Minister of Japan is the head of government and is appointed by the Emperor after being designated by the Diet from among its members. The Prime Minister is the head of the Cabinet and appoints and dismisses the Ministers of State. Naoto Kan was designated by the Diet to replace Yukio Hatoyama as the Prime Minister of Japan on June 2, 2010.^[53] Although the Prime Minister is formally appointed by the Emperor, the Constitution of Japan explicitly requires the Emperor to appoint whoever is designated by the Diet. Emperor Akihito formally appointed Kan as the country's 94th Prime Minister on 8 June.^[54]

Historically influenced by Chinese law, the Japanese legal system developed independently during the Edo period through texts such as Kujikata Osadamegaki.^[55] However, since the late 19th century the judicial system has been largely based on the civil law of Europe, notably Germany. For example, in 1896, the Japanese government established a civil code based on a draft of the German Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch; with post–World War II modifications, the code remains in effect.^[56] Statutory law originates in Japan's legislature and has the rubber stamp of the Emperor. The Constitution requires that the Emperor promulgate legislation passed by the Diet, without specifically giving him the power to oppose legislation.^[51] Japan's court system is divided into four basic tiers: the Supreme Court and three levels of lower courts.^[57] The main body of Japanese statutory law is called the Six Codes.^[58]

Foreign relations and military[link]

JDS Kongō (DDG-173) guided missile destroyer launching a Standard Missile 3 anti-ballistic missile.

Japan is a member of the G8, APEC, and "ASEAN Plus Three", and is a participant in the East Asia Summit. Japan signed a security pact with Australia in March 2007^[59] and with India in October 2008.^[60] It is the world's third largest donor of official development assistance after the United States and France, donating US$9.48 billion in 2009.^[61]

Japan has close economic and military relations with the United States; the US-Japan security alliance acts as the cornerstone of the nation's foreign policy.^[62] A member state of the United Nations since 1956, Japan has served as a non-permanent Security Council member for a total of 19 years, most recently for 2009 and 2010. It is one of the G4 nations seeking permanent membership in the Security Council.^[63]

Japan is engaged in several territorial disputes with its neighbors: with Russia over the South Kuril Islands, with South Korea over the Liancourt Rocks, with China and Taiwan over the Senkaku Islands, and with China over the EEZ around Okinotorishima.^[64] Japan also faces an ongoing dispute with North Korea over the latter's abduction of Japanese citizens and its nuclear weapons and missile program (see also Six-party talks).^[65]

Japan maintains one of the largest military budgets of any country in the world.^[66] Japan contributed non-combatant troops to the Iraq War but subsequently withdrew its forces.^[67] The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is a regular participant in RIMPAC maritime exercises.^[68]

Japan's military is restricted by Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which renounces Japan's right to declare war or use military force in international disputes. Japan's military is governed by the Ministry of Defense, and primarily consists of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF), the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). The forces have been recently used in peacekeeping operations; the deployment of troops to Iraq marked the first overseas use of Japan's military since World War II.^[67] Nippon Keidanren has called on the government to lift the ban on arms exports so that Japan can join multinational projects such as the Joint Strike Fighter.^[69]

Administrative divisions[link]

Japan consists of forty-seven prefectures, each overseen by an elected governor, legislature and administrative bureaucracy. Each prefecture is further divided into cities, towns and villages.^[70] The nation is currently undergoing administrative reorganization by merging many of the cities, towns and villages with each other. This process will reduce the number of sub-prefecture administrative regions and is expected to cut administrative costs.^[71]

Geography[link]

Topographic map of the Japanese Archipelago.

Hanami celebrations under the cherry blossoms in Ueno Park, Tokyo.

Autumn maple leaves (momiji) at Kongōbu-ji on Mount Kōya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Japan has a total of 6,852 islands extending along the Pacific coast of East Asia.^[72][73] The country, including all of the islands it controls, lies between latitudes 24° and 46°N, and longitudes 122° and 146°E. The main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku and Kyūshū. The Ryūkyū Islands, including Okinawa, are a chain to the south of Kyūshū. Together they are often known as the Japanese Archipelago.^[74]

About 73 percent of Japan is forested, mountainous, and unsuitable for agricultural, industrial, or residential use.^[2][75] As a result, the habitable zones, mainly located in coastal areas, have extremely high population densities. Japan is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.^[76]

The islands of Japan are located in a volcanic zone on the Pacific Ring of Fire. They are primarily the result of large oceanic movements occurring over hundreds of millions of years from the mid-Silurian to the Pleistocene as a result of the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the continental Amurian Plate and Okinawa Plate to the south, and subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Okhotsk Plate to the north. Japan was originally attached to the eastern coast of the Eurasian continent. The subducting plates pulled Japan eastward, opening the Sea of Japan around 15 million years ago.^[77]

Japan has 108 active volcanoes. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur several times each century.^[78] The 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people.^[79] More recent major quakes are the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, a 9.0-magnitude^[80] quake which hit Japan on 11 March 2011, and triggered a large tsunami.^[50] On 24 May 2012, 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northearstern Japan.No tsunami is expected though.^[81]

Climate[link]

The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate, but varies greatly from north to south. Japan's geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones: Hokkaidō, Sea of Japan, Central Highland, Seto Inland Sea, Pacific Ocean, and Ryūkyū Islands. The northernmost zone, Hokkaido, has a humid continental climate with long, cold winters and very warm to cool summers. Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snowbanks in the winter.^[82]

In the Sea of Japan zone on Honshū's west coast, northwest winter winds bring heavy snowfall. In the summer, the region is cooler than the Pacific area, though it sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures because of the foehn wind. The Central Highland has a typical inland humid continental climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter, and between day and night; precipitation is light, though winters are usually snowy. The mountains of the Chūgoku and Shikoku regions shelter the Seto Inland Sea from seasonal winds, bringing mild weather year-round.^[83]

The Pacific coast features a humid subtropical climate that experiences milder winters with occasional snowfall and hot, humid summers because of the southeast seasonal wind. The Ryukyu Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very heavy, especially during the rainy season. The generally humid, temperate climate exhibits marked seasonal variation such as the blooming of the spring cherry blossoms, the calls of the summer cicada and fall foliage colors that are celebrated in art and literature.^[84]

The average winter temperature in Japan is 5.1 °C (41.2 °F) and the average summer temperature is 25.2 °C (77.4 °F).^[85] The highest temperature ever measured in Japan—40.9 °C (105.6 °F)—was recorded on 16 August 2007.^[86] The main rainy season begins in early May in Okinawa, and the rain front gradually moves north until reaching Hokkaidō in late July. In most of Honshū, the rainy season begins before the middle of June and lasts about six weeks. In late summer and early autumn, typhoons often bring heavy rain.^[87]

Biodiversity[link]

Japan has nine forest ecoregions which reflect the climate and geography of the islands. They range from subtropical moist broadleaf forests in the Ryūkyū and Bonin Islands, to temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the mild climate regions of the main islands, to temperate coniferous forests in the cold, winter portions of the northern islands.^[88] Japan has over 90,000 species of wildlife, including the brown bear, the Japanese macaque, the Japanese raccoon dog, and the Japanese giant salamander.^[89] A large network of national parks has been established to protect important areas of flora and fauna as well as thirty-seven Ramsar wetland sites.^[90][91]

Environment[link]

In the period of rapid economic growth after World War II, environmental policies were downplayed by the government and industrial corporations; as a result, environmental pollution was widespread in the 1950s and 1960s. Responding to rising concern about the problem, the government introduced several environmental protection laws in 1970.^[92] The oil crisis in 1973 also encouraged the efficient use of energy due to Japan's lack of natural resources.^[93] Current environmental issues include urban air pollution (NOx, suspended particulate matter, and toxics), waste management, water eutrophication, nature conservation, climate change, chemical management and international co-operation for conservation.^[94]

Japan is one of the world's leaders in the development of new environment-friendly technologies, and is ranked 20th best in the world in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index.^[95] As a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, and host of the 1997 conference which created it, Japan is under treaty obligation to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions and to take other steps to curb climate change.^[96]

Economy[link]

The Tokyo Stock Exchange, the largest stock exchange in Asia.^[97]

Some of the structural features for Japan's economic growth developed in the Edo period, such as the network of transport routes, by road and water, and the futures contracts, banking and insurance of the Osaka rice brokers.^[98] During the Meiji period from 1868, Japan expanded economically with the embrace of the market economy.^[99] Many of today's enterprises were founded at the time, and Japan emerged as the most developed nation in Asia.^[100] The period of overall real economic growth from the 1960s to the 1980s has been called the Japanese post-war economic miracle: it averaged 7.5 percent in the 1960s and 1970s, and 3.2 percent in the 1980s and early 1990s.^[101]

Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s during what the Japanese call the Lost Decade, largely because of the after-effects of the Japanese asset price bubble and domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth met with little success and were further hampered by the global slowdown in 2000.^[2] The economy showed strong signs of recovery after 2005; GDP growth for that year was 2.8 percent, surpassing the growth rates of the US and European Union during the same period.^[102]

As of 2011^[update], Japan is the third largest national economy in the world, after the United States and China, in terms of nominal GDP,^[103] and the fourth largest national economy in the world, after the United States, China and India in terms of purchasing power parity.^[7] As of January 2011^[update], Japan's public debt was more than 200 percent of its annual gross domestic product, the largest of any nation in the world. In August 2011, Moody's rating has cut Japan's long-term sovereign debt rating one notch from Aa3 to Aa2 inline with the size of the country's deficit and borrowing level. The large budget deficits and government debt since the 2009 global recession and followed by earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 made the rating downgrade.^[104] The service sector accounts for three quarters of the gross domestic product.^[105]

Japan has a large industrial capacity, and is home to some of the largest and most technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronics, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemical substances, textiles, and processed foods. Agricultural businesses in Japan cultivate 13 percent of Japan's land, and Japan accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global fish catch, second only to China.^[2] As of 2010, Japan's labor force consisted of some 65.9 million workers.^[106] Japan has a low unemployment rate of around four percent. Almost one in six Japanese, or 20 million people, lived in poverty in 2007.^[107] Housing in Japan is characterized by limited land supply in urban areas.^[108]

A plug-in hybrid car manufactured by Toyota, one of the world's largest carmakers. Japan is the second-largest producer of automobiles in the world.^[109]

Japan's exports amounted to US$4,210 per capita in 2005. Japan's main export markets are China (18.88 percent), the United States (16.42 percent), South Korea (8.13 percent), Taiwan (6.27 percent) and Hong Kong (5.49 percent) as of 2009. Its main exports are transportation equipment, motor vehicles, electronics, electrical machinery and chemicals.^[2] Japan's main import markets as of 2009 are China (22.2 percent), the US (10.96 percent), Australia (6.29 percent), Saudi Arabia (5.29 percent), United Arab Emirates (4.12 percent), South Korea (3.98 percent) and Indonesia (3.95 percent).^[110]

Japan's main imports are machinery and equipment, fossil fuels, foodstuffs (in particular beef), chemicals, textiles and raw materials for its industries.^[111] By market share measures, domestic markets are the least open of any OECD country.^[112] Junichiro Koizumi's administration began some pro-competition reforms, and foreign investment in Japan has soared.^[113]

Japan ranks 12th of 178 countries in the 2008 Ease of Doing Business Index and has one of the smallest tax revenues of the developed world. The Japanese variant of capitalism has many distinct features: keiretsu enterprises are influential, and lifetime employment and seniority-based career advancement are relatively common in the Japanese work environment.^[112][114] Japanese companies are known for management methods like "The Toyota Way", and shareholder activism is rare.^[115]

Some of the largest enterprises in Japan include Toyota, Nintendo, NTT DoCoMo, Canon, Honda, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sharp, Nippon Steel, Nippon Oil, and Seven & I Holdings Co.^[116] It has some of the world's largest banks, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (known for its Nikkei 225 and Topix indices) stands as the second largest in the world by market capitalization.^[117] Japan is home to 326 companies from the Forbes Global 2000 or 16.3 percent (as of 2006).^[118]

Science and technology[link]

H-II Transfer Vehicle.

Japan is a leading nation in scientific research, particularly technology, machinery and biomedical research. Nearly 700,000 researchers share a US$130 billion research and development budget, the third largest in the world.^[119] Japan is a world leader in fundamental scientific research, having produced fifteen Nobel laureates in either physics, chemistry or medicine,^[120] three Fields medalists,^[121] and one Gauss Prize laureate.^[122] Some of Japan's more prominent technological contributions are in the fields of electronics, automobiles, machinery, earthquake engineering, industrial robotics, optics, chemicals, semiconductors and metals. Japan leads the world in robotics production and use, possessing more than half (402,200 of 742,500) of the world's industrial robots.^[123]

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is Japan's space agency; it conducts space, planetary, and aviation research, and leads development of rockets and satellites. It is a participant in the International Space Station: the Japanese Experiment Module (Kibo) was added to the station during Space Shuttle assembly flights in 2008.^[124] Japan's plans in space exploration include: launching a space probe to Venus, Akatsuki;^[125][126] developing the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter to be launched in 2013;^[127][128] and building a moon base by 2030.^[129]

On 14 September 2007, it launched lunar explorer "SELENE" (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) on an H-IIA (Model H2A2022) carrier rocket from Tanegashima Space Center. SELENE is also known as Kaguya, after the lunar princess of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.^[130] Kaguya is the largest lunar mission since the Apollo program. Its purpose is to gather data on the moon's origin and evolution. It entered a lunar orbit on 4 October,^[131][132] flying at an altitude of about 100 km (62 mi).^[133] The probe's mission was ended when it was deliberately crashed by JAXA into the Moon on 11 June 2009.^[134]

Infrastructure[link]

Nozomi Shinkansen or 'Bullet Train' at Tokyo Station^[135]

As of 2008, 46.4 percent of energy in Japan is produced from petroleum, 21.4 percent from coal, 16.7 percent from natural gas, 9.7 percent from nuclear power, and 2.9 percent from hydro power. Nuclear power produced 25.1 percent of Japan's electricity, as of 2009.^[136] However, as of May 5, 2012, all of the countries nuclear power plants had been taken offline due to ongoing public opposition following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, though government officials have been continuing to try to sway public opinion in favor of returning at least some of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors to service.^[137] Given its heavy dependence on imported energy,^[138] Japan has aimed to diversify its sources and maintain high levels of energy efficiency.^[139]

Japan's road spending has been extensive.^[140] Its 1.2 million kilometers of paved road are the main means of transportation.^[141] A single network of high-speed, divided, limited-access toll roads connects major cities and is operated by toll-collecting enterprises. New and used cars are inexpensive; car ownership fees and fuel levies are used to promote energy efficiency. However, at just 50 percent of all distance traveled, car usage is the lowest of all G8 countries.^[142]

Dozens of Japanese railway companies compete in regional and local passenger transportation markets; major companies include seven JR enterprises, Kintetsu Corporation, Seibu Railway and Keio Corporation. Some 250 high-speed Shinkansen trains connect major cities and Japanese trains are known for their safety and punctuality.^[143][144] Proposals for a new Maglev route between Tokyo and Osaka are at an advanced stage.^[145] There are 173 airports in Japan; the largest domestic airport, Haneda Airport, is Asia's second-busiest airport.^[146] The largest international gateways are Narita International Airport, Kansai International Airport and Chūbu Centrair International Airport.^[147] Nagoya Port is the country's largest and busiest port, accounting for 10 percent of Japan's trade value.^[148]

Demographics[link]