Wikijunior:Asia/Japan



Japan (Japanese: 日本) is a country in East Asia. The "Land of the Rising Sun" (nickname) has a population of 127 million people (2014), and as a result, is the 10th largest (population-wise) country in the world.

Japan holds nearly 7,000 islands (the biggest being Honshu), making Japan the 7th largest island in the world! Due to the cluster/group of islands Japan has, Japan is often referred to, on a geographical stance, as an "archipelago".

Japan is a highly developed country (huge military/high living standard, and the 3rd lowest infant mortality (death of a child less than 1) than any other country--Also the most peaceful Asian country).

Japan elects prime ministers as leaders, and the current prime minister is Kishida Humio (2021). Japan's currency is Japanese yens.

Where is Japan?
Japan is located in East Asia. Japan is composed four main islands, namely Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. It is found on the east side of North and South Korea. Russia is located north of Japan and Taiwan is found south of the country. The Pacific Ocean is located east of the country, and west of the country is the Sea of Japan.

How many people live in Japan?
As of 2015, around 127.13 million (2014) people live in Japan. About 80 percent of people living in Japan are found in the island of Honshu. Tokyo is both the capital and largest city of Japan, with a staggering 9.1 million people! There is no current statics of ethnicity group percentages in Japan.

What are the most common languages in Japan?
There is no official language in Japan, although Japanese is the most common language in the country.

What is the most common religion in Japan?
There are different estimates regarding the most common religion in Japan. Some estimates that around 84 to 96 percent of the people in Japan practices Buddhism or Shinto. Others estimates that only 30 percent of the Japanese said that they have a religion.

However, many Japanese still observe some spiritual practices, especially in festivals and occasions like visiting a shrine during the New Year celebration. Taoism and Confucianism which came from China has influenced Japanese beliefs and customs. Decorations are common during the celebrations of Tanabata, Obon and even Christmas.

Less than one percent of people in Japan are Christians.

Less than 0.08% (which mainly consists of Indonesians in Japan) of the population are Muslims, while the percentage of Japanese Muslims is less than 0.008% of the total population.

What is the sport of Japan?
Sumo is considered as Japan's national sport. Japanese martial arts such as judo, karate and kendo are also popular. Western sports has also been introduced and made popular in Japan. Rugby union, baseball and football are the popular team sports in Japan.

Japan participated in recent World Cups in Football, participating in all the World Cups of the 21st Century.

What are some important sights?

 * Akihabara is a district in Tokyo. It is a well known place to buy anime and manga (Japanese cartoons and comics) and video games. Akihabara was originally and still a popular place to buy electronics.


 * Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776.24 m (12,389 ft). It is a popular climbing spot and a frequent subject in Japanese art and poetry. It is located in the island of Honshu west of Tokyo.


 * The Himeji Castle is the largest and most visited castle in Japan. It is found in Himeji in the Hyogo district.


 * Universal Studios of Japan opened on March 31, 2001 in Osaka, Japan, the Universal Studios of Japan is one out of four of the Universal Studio theme parks owned and operated by USJ Co., Ltd. Visiters to the Universal Studios of Japan are usually Japanese tourists, or tourists from other nearby countries, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. But the Universal Studios of Japan is also famous to westerners who come to visit. The park's number of visitors change a lot (like when they celebrated their anniversary in 2011), but the average yearly visitors are around 8 million.