12 Facts about Japan
1. Rice is incredibly popular. Most meals include rice in Japan.
2. Big cities. Japan is home to the biggest city in the world. Tokyo, home to 38 million people. It is also home to the 8th largest city in the world, Osaka, 20.2 million people.
3. Loves research. Japan spends a great deal of money on research and development and is the world’s largest producer of patents.
4. Love vending machines. There are 5.52 million vending machines in Japan. One for every 23 people. There are even vending machines at the top of Mount Fuji!
5. Comics are very popular. More paper is used for printing comics than for toilet paper in Japan.
Tokyo from space
6. Cherry blossom parties. The cherry blossom season is a big event in Japan when most people will sit under cherry blossom trees and have a picnic with their friends or family. Pizza delivery companies will deliver to your picnic under the trees!
7. Busiest train station in the world. Shinjuku station is used by 3,640,000 people every weekday. It has 34 platforms, 200 exits and is so large, that you can access another 17 station platforms in neighbouring stations without going outside.
8. Japan loves theme parks. Five of the top 25 most visited theme parks in the world are in Japan. Tokyo Disneyland (14.45 million visits), Tokyo DisneySea (12.66 million visits), Universal Studios in Osaka (8.16 million visits), Nagashima Spa Land, Mie Prefecture (4.47 million visits) and Yokohama Sea Paradise (4.02 million visits).
9. My friend, Hiroshi Sato. The most common surnames are Sato, Suzuki and Takahashi. There are so many men called Hiroshi Sato, you could fill the Tokyo Dome (50,000 seater stadium) with them.
10. Still at war. Japan is still technically at war with Russia over Russia’s appropriation of the Kurile Islands at the end of World War II.
11. Godzilla loves Tokyo. Godzilla loves to destroy Tokyo might be more accurate having destroyed it 28 times in the movies. If you are keen to see Godzilla destroying part of Tokyo, make your way to Shinagawa which he has destroyed the most
times!
12. Sightseeing. Mount
Fuji is visible from Tokyo but
only 79 days a year on
average, mostly in winter.
When you see it – amazing!
10 facts about the Geography of Japan
1. Active volcanoes.
Japan has over 100 active
volcanoes.
2. Mountains everywhere.
Nearly 70% of the land is covered in
mountains.
3. Daily earthquakes. Japan
experiences about 1500 earthquakes
per year.
4. Island nation. Japan has a
mammoth 6800 islands.
5. Extensive road network.
Japan has the 7th longest road
network in the world.
6. Loves travel by train. Japan has the 2nd largest rail market in the world.
7. Average sized country. Japan is 377,800 square kilometres large. (The 62nd largest country in the world). Roughly the same size as Germany or Zimbabwe. Half the size of Chile and one third the size of Ethiopia.
8. Tall mountains. The highest point in Japan is Mount Fuji at a height of 3776 metres above sea level.
9. Fairly densely populated. Japan has 337 people per square kilometre making it the 38th most densely populated country in the world.
10. Long coastline. The coastline is 29,751 kilometres long.
12 facts about the People of Japan
This 90 year old lady ran the 100 meters in 23.8 seconds.
1. Most literate. Despite the Japanese language being a difficult one to learn, Japan has one of the highest literacy levels in the world with 99% literacy in children over 15 years old.
2. High life expectancy. The life expectancy of the Japanese is 84 years. This is 4 years more than that of the United States.
3. Lots of centenarians. Over 50,000 people in Japan are more than 100 years old.
4. Lots of pets. The population of pets in Japan is larger than that of children.
5. Few immigrants. The population in Japan has very few immigrants with the Japanese making up 98% of the population.
6. Long history. Japan has been inhabited since 30,000 BC
7. Large population. 127,000,000 people live in Japan. This makes it the tenth largest country in terms of population in the world.
8. Declining population. In 2050, it will have a population of 108 million people making it the 16th largest in the world. It is one of 21 countries in the world with a declining population.
9. Fewest babies. Second lowest birth rate in the world. 8 births per 1000 of the population, after Monaco.
10. High median age. Second highest median age in the world of 45.9 years old, after Monaco.
11. Most old people. The second highest percentage of old people in the world – 32.3 %, after Monaco.
12. Healthy babies. Japan has the third lowest infant mortality in the world.
Facts about the economy of Japan
1. Large government debt. Largest government debt as a percentage of GDP. 227.9%
2. Large bank reserves. 2nd largest official bank reserves in the world.
3. Major car producer. 2nd largest car producer in the world producing over 8 million cars a year.
4. Large economy. 3rd largest economy in the world.
5. Major industrial producer. 3rd largest industrial output in the world.
6. Major oil consumer. 3rd largest oil consumer in the world.
7. Large car market. 3rd largest car market in the world.
8. Large stock market. 3rd largest stock market in the world.
Tea plantation in Japan.
Car manufacturing employs a high degree of mechanisation
9. Low inflation. 3rd lowest inflation in the world (2009-2014) 0.4%
10. Major exporter. 4th largest exporter in the world.
11. Frequent flyer. 4th largest air market in the world.
12. Charity giver. 4th largest bilateral donor in the world
13. Loves coffee. 4th largest coffee consumer in the world.
14. Major farmer. 7th largest agricultural output in the world, despite agriculture only representing 1.2% of the economy.
15. Major rice farmer. 10th largest rice producer in the world.
16. Major tea producer. 10th largest tea producer in the world.
17. Loves cartoons. Japan is the largest producer of animated TV shows with up to 60% of the market share in the world.
18. Oldest company. Japan boasts the world’s oldest company which operated from 578AD to 2006.