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Japan - GENERAL INFORMATION
 
Population - Local time - Languages - Religion - Political system - Climate - Tourism - Food



Population



Main Cities Population
Tokyo   27,200,000  
Osaka   10,600,000  
Yokohama   3,324,000  
Nagoya   3,300,000  
Sapporo   1,778,000  
Kyoto   1,700,000  



Total population (millions): 127.8
Source: World Bank 2004

Urban population: 66%
Source: World Bank 2004

Average annual population growth: 0.1%
Source: World Bank 2004

Surface area (km²) : 377,8


Population origin

Origin of the population% Of the population
Japanese 98.9 %
Korean 0.5 %
Chinese 0.3 %
Other 0.3 %




Local time


It is %T:%M %A in Tokyo


GMT+9


Languages


Official language: Japanese
You should find in most companies an English-speaking person. It is however highly recommended to use the services of an interpreter in case of negotiations.
Japanese has one of the most complex writing systems in the world

Free translation tools in Japan :
Systran
Free English-Japanese-English translator of texts and web pages

Tranexp
Free English-Japanese-English translator of texts and web pages



Religion


Religious practises : Shintoïsts 40.3%
Buddhists 39 %
Others 16.6%
Christians 4.1%


Political system


The Japanese political system is a constitutional monarchy. The Diet, a two chambers parliament, is composed of the House of Representatives (511 members elected every three years) and the Chamber of Councillors (252 members elected for 6 years, with a third reelected every two years).The president is Akihito (1999) and the Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (2001).


Climate

 

The climate is very complex over there: the island is mountainous, the archipelago is very stretched, and the huge continental mass quite close... The North benefits from short summers and long and snowy winters, whereas the islands in the South are warmer and more humid. Over the winter, the cold and dry air coming from Siberia meets the clammy air masses coming from the Pacific, provoking large-scale snowfalls in the West of the country. Summertime is dominated by the warm and humid air of the Pacific, entailing some high temperatures and an important humidity rate. The end of the summer brings cyclones - the coasts then undergo torrential rains and very heavy winds.


Tourism

Number of visitors in Japan 2002 2003 2004 World rank
Number of visitors (1000) 5239   5212   6138   n.a.
Source : World Tourisme Organization, data available in November 2005

 

Tourist sites


Tokyo: almost completely reconstructed after the 1923 earthquake and the bombings of WW2, Tokyo splits into shiny brand new commercial and business districts, on the West of Ginza's central district, and more usual residential zones, in the East. Most tourist places are located on the JR Yamanote line, the railway which surrounds the city center.
Kyoto which shelters hundred of temples and gardens, was the imperial capital from 794 to 1868 and always stands as the cultural heart of the country. In spite of the assaults of modernism, it preserved its well-raked gardens, its sensual roofs which used to shelter the geishas... The imperial Palace is one of the rare sites which is located in Kyoto's centre; it is in the East district, and notably in Higashiyama, that you will admire some luxurious temples, which shelter the 1,001 statues of the Buddhist goddess of Mercy. The Northwest of the city shelters some magnificent Zen temples, and in particular the Kinkaku-ji temple, which was burned by a mad monk in 1950, reconstructed since and covered with golden sheets.
The Takao's district is famous for the magnificent colors of its autumnal foliage, whereas the Himeji-jo's castle, quite close from Kyoto, is the most beautiful castle of Japan.
The Mount Fuji : highest mountain in Japan (3,776 m), the Mount Fuji is the only natural site that tourists absolutely want to visit. "Fuji-san" is a perfectly symmetric volcanic cone of which the summit exploded for the last time in 1707, covering with ashes the streets of Tokyo which is a 100 km away.
The Daisetsuzan's national park is the biggest national park: with its 2,309 km?, it's located in the center of Hakkaido, the most up north island of the country. This park constitutes an ideal place to practise trekking and skiing. The Noto-Hanto's peninsula, which is perched in the North of the Honshu island can offer you some wild landscapes, an outlook of the traditional rural life and of some cultural sites altogether. Its Occidental bank is less developed than the Oriental one, but it is more interesting.

For more information about tourism in Japan , check out the following web site(s) :
Japan National Tourist Organization


Food


Traditional dishes


Japanese food has more dishes than the perpetual sushis and other sukiyaki. Except for the shokudo (general-purpose establishments) and the izakaya (equivalent to English pubs, but with food), most restaurants specialize in a single style of food: the okonomiyaki offers a mixture of meats, seafood and vegetables fried in cabbage; the robatayaki is a rural establishment that specializes in grills... You can eat for a reasonable price in modest shokudos or by choosing the bento (set menus) in the cafeteria-style restaurants. To drink is a kind of social disposition: everybody devotes himself to it. Beer can be found everywhere, as much in temples than in slot machines. The Japanese tea is green, refreshing and wholesome; it contains a lot of caffeine and C vitamin. The sake (alcohol of rice) can either be drunk cold or warm. It should be pointed out that Japanese meal does not include any dessert except in rare occasions. Japanese usually finish their meal with a seasonal fruit: Japanese pear, khaki , etc.

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Last modified in October 2005
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