|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =[[Yoshihide Suga]]Fumio Kishida
|area =377,832 sq. miles
|pop =125,000,000 (2020)
}}
'''Japan''' is a nation that consists of a group of islands off the eastern coast of [[Asia]]. Its capital, [[Tokyo]], is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 36 million people. Japan is divided into a total of 47 [[prefecture]]s.<ref>Demographia - 50 Largest World Metropolitan Areas Ranked:
2000 Estimates,[http://www.demographia.com/db-world-metro2000.htm]</ref> Japan has long suppressed [[Christianity]] and is now paying a hefty price for culture that, by suffering from a long-term population and economic decline, and thereby allowing [[China]] to replace Japan as [[Asia]]'s largest economyis more masculine in nature than comparable Western countries.
In the August 2009 national elections, the [[Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP) suffered a massive defeat as voters blamed it for the poor economy, numerous corruption scandals and Prime Minister [[Taro Aso]]'s uninspiring leadership. The LDP has ruled Japan for nearly all of the last 50 years and is generally conservative, but it lost two-thirds of its seats.
==Demographics==
===Population===
Japan's population, currently some 127 125 million, has experienced a phenomenal growth rate during the past 100 years as a result of scientific, industrial, and sociological changes, but this has ended because of falling birth rates and a lack of immigration. In 20052006, Japan's population declined for the first time, two years earlier than predicted. High sanitary and health standards and a diet of fish and rice produce a life expectancy exceeding that of the United States. However, the population of Japan is expected to fall to only 107 million in 2050, and by 2100, it would be down to 75 million, falling below the United Kingdom.
===Decline===
[[File:Niños japoneces.jpg|left]]
Japan's population peaked in 2006; the following year saw the second consecutive decline2008, with an official population of 127,053,471and has declined to 126 million in 2020. The [[birth rate]] has now increased from 2006's record low, but this has been offset by an all-time-high in the [[death rate]]. 51% of the population is female, and people over 65 now make up 26.4% of the country.<ref>''[[Japan Times]]'': '[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20070803a2.html Population shrinks again despite increase in births]'. 3rd August 2007; "Japan's changing demography: Cloud, or silver linings?" ''Economist'' (Jul 26th 2007) at [https://www.economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9539825].</ref>
In 1947 the proportion of Japanese over 65 was around 5% of the population, well below that in Britain, France or America. Today the elderly account for one-fifth of the population, and average lifespans have grown remarkably. Life expectancy today is 82, up from a little over 50 in 1947.
===Principal Government Officials===
[[File:Emperor Akihito Japan.jpg|thumb|Emperor Akihito.]]
*Head of State—Emperor NaruhitoAkihito*Prime Minister (Head of Government)--Yoshihide Suga
*Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura
*Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa
In May 2007, just prior to the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Prime Minister Abe announced an initiative to address greenhouse gas emissions and seek to mitigate the impact of energy consumption on climate. At the January 2008, [[World Economic Forum]] in Davos, Switzerland, Prime Minister Fu''''kuda reiterated his commitment to this plan. As host of the G8 Summit in July 2008, Japan will focus on four themes: environment and climate change, development and Africa, the world economy, and political issues including non-proliferation.
In September 2010, a Chinese fishing boat deliberately rammed two Japan Coast Guard patrol vessels off the Senkaku Islands.
===Relations with the United States===
== Economy ==
Japan was devastated by [[World War II]].<ref>World War II wiped out many of the gains Japan had made since 1868. About 40 percent of the nation's industrial plants and infrastructure were destroyed, and production reverted to levels of about fifteen years earlier.[http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-7176.html Japan - Patterns of Development]</ref>
Yet Japan's economy recovered over the years 1950-1980 through a partnership between government and industry. The goal in 1950 was to become the world leader in textiles, which was achieved by 1959. The goal in 1960 was to become the world's top producer in steel by 1970, and the goal in 1970 was to become the world's leader in the production of automobiles. Each goal was achieved within one year of the target date.<ref>[http://www.nightingale.com/Offers/ziglar-goalsvideo.html?promo=intgooga660&org=intgooga660&gclid=CIPP8tG736QCFUpe7AodkGqbKw Source: Zig Ziglar's motivational talk on goal setting]</ref>
[[File:Tokyo.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Tokyo.]]
Now Japan's industrialized, free market economy is the secondthird-largest in the world. Its economy is highly efficient and competitive in areas linked to international trade, but productivity is far lower in protected areas such as agriculture, distribution, and services. After achieving one of the highest economic growth rates in the world from the 1960s through the 1980s, the Japanese economy slowed dramatically in the early 1990s, when the "bubble economy" collapsed, marked by plummeting stock and real estate prices. Together with the impact of the worldwide [[recession of 2008]], Japan's status as a global economic power is slipping fast, with [[China ]] already surpassing Japan in 2011, thus becoming Asia's largest economy, and with India poised to supplant surpass Japan as the world' seconds third-largest economy by 2010 or 2011the late 2020s.
Japan's reservoir of industrial leadership and technicians, well-educated and industrious work force, high savings and investment rates, and intensive promotion of industrial development and foreign trade produced a mature industrial economy. Japan has few natural resources, and trade helps it earn the foreign exchange needed to purchase raw materials for its economy.
=== Economic History ===
In 1960, with a GDP with over $40 billion,<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_largest_historical_GDP</ref>, Japan was the ninth-largest economy, below the United States, the Soviet Union, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, China, and Canada. Because of economic reforms and economic freedom set out by the Japanese government, Japan boomed to $90 trillion in 1965, getting to sixth. The booming economy of Japan was doubling in less than five years, and got to fourth place with $200 billion in 1970. It went to $512.5 billion in 1975, becoming the third-largest economy. In 1980, Japan again more than doubled, with a $1.1 trillion GDP. Experts predicted another more-than-double in 1985. That wasn't the case. Instead, Japan went to $1.4 trillion in 1985, slowing down a little bit. In 1990, Japan had a $3.15 trillion GDP, more-than-doubling again, and now overtaking the Soviet Union's economy, and thus getting to 2nd. In 1995, Japan exploded to 5.5 trillion dollars, and experts thought Japan would overtake the US.<ref>https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-04-10-9504100029-story.html</ref> But Japan slowed down in 2000, going down to $4.9 trillion, but keeping second place. In 2005, Japan went down further to $4.75 trillion, still being second. But, in 2010, Japan was a $6 trillion dollar economy, tying with China. In 2015, Japan was down to 3rd, with $4.4 trillion. Japan is now a very risky investment, barely getting to $5 trillion in 2020.
===Agriculture, Energy, and Minerals===
===U.S./Japanese Economic Relations===
U.S. economic policy toward Japan is aimed at increasing access to Japan's markets and two-way investment, stimulating domestic demand-led economic growth, promoting economic restructuring, improving the climate for U.S. investors, and raising the standard of living in both the United States and Japan. The U.S.-Japan bilateral economic relationship—based on enormous flows of trade, investment, and finance—is strong, mature, and increasingly interdependent. Further, it is firmly rooted in the shared interest and responsibility of the United States and Japan to promote global growth, open markets, and a vital world trading system. In addition to bilateral economic ties, the U.S. and Japan cooperate closely in multilateral fora such as the WTO, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, and regionally in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
[[File:Japan US relations Obama Naoto.jpg|thumb|left|300px|President Obama and Prime Minister Naoto Kan.]]
Japan is a major market for many U.S. products, including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, films and music, commercial aircraft, nonferrous metals, plastics, and medical and scientific supplies. Japan also is the largest foreign market for U.S. agricultural products, with total agricultural exports valued at $10.1 billion in 2007, a 20% increase over the $8.39 billion in agricultural exports recorded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2006. Revenues from Japanese tourism to the United States reached nearly $13 billion in 2005.