Japan
Article
May 22, 2022

Japan (日本国, Nipponkoku) is an island nation in East Asia. It is located at the western end of the Pacific Ocean, east of the Sea of Japan, and is neighboring China, South Korea, and Russia. The northernmost islands are in the Sea of Okhotsk, and the southernmost region is a group of small islands in the East China Sea, to the south of Okinawa, which is neighboring Taiwan. Japan consists of 6,852 islands and makes it an archipelago. The main islands from north to south are Hokkaido, Honshu (the largest island), Shikoku, and Kyushu. About 97% of Japan's land area is located on the four largest islands. Most of Japan's islands are mountainous, and some of them are volcanic. The highest mountain in Japan is Mount Fuji which is a volcano. Japan's population is 128 million people, and is ranked as the 10th most populous country in the world. Tokyo is de facto the capital of Japan, and is domiciled as a prefecture. Greater Tokyo is the name for Tokyo and several cities in the surrounding prefectures. As the largest metropolitan area in the world, Greater Tokyo has a population of more than 30 million people. According to traditional mythology, the Kingdom of Japan was founded by Emperor Jimmu in the 7th century BC. Emperor Jimmu started the chain of Japan's monarchy that has not been broken to this day. However, throughout its history, most of the real power period was in the hands of the Shogun, Samurai, Daimyo and into modern times, in the hands of the prime minister. According to the Japanese Constitution of 1947, Japan is a unitary constitutional monarchy under the leadership of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Parliament. As a developed country in the economic field, Japan has the second largest gross domestic product after the United States, and is in the top three in the balance of purchasing power. Japan is a member of the United Nations, G8, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. Japan has an adequate military force complete with modern defense systems such as AEGIS and a large fleet of destroyers. In foreign trade, Japan is ranked as the 4th largest exporting country and the 6th largest importing country in the world. As a developed country, Japan's population has a high standard of living (ranked 8th in the list of countries according to the human development index) and the highest life expectancy in the world according to UN estimates. In the field of technology, Japan has advanced in the fields of telecommunications, machinery, and robotics.