COUNTRY FACTS
Country name: Internationally: Japan, local: Nihon / Nippon,
Capital: Tokyo
National holiday: Birthday of Emperor NARUHITO, 23 February (1960); note - celebrates the birthday of the current emperor
Independence: 660 B.C. (traditional founding by Emperor JIMMU)
Total area: 377,835 sq km (incl. water area 3,091 sq km)
Japanese Government
Government type: Parliamentary constitutional monarchyChief of state: Emperor NARUHITO (since 1 May 2019); note - succeeds his father who abdicated on 30 April 2019
Head of government: Prime Minister Shinzo ABE (since 26 December 2012); Deputy Prime Minister Taro ASO (since 26 December 2012)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister
Elections: Diet (Kokkai), the national parliament of Japan, designates prime minister; constitution requires that prime minister commands parliamentary majority; following legislative elections, leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition in House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister; monarch is hereditary.
People
Language: JapanesePopulation: 125,507,472 (July 2020)
Life expectancy at birth: Male: 82.7 years Female: 89.5 years (2020 est.)
Suffrage: 18 years
Religions
Shintoism 70.4%< Buddhism 69.8%
Christianity 1.5%
Islands
Japan has 4 main islands and 6,848 smaller islands and islets.The four major islands of the Japanese archipelago are:
Honshu (230.000 sq. km) – the main island with the capital Tokyo
Hokkaido (78.500 sq. km) –situated north of Honshu
Kyushu (44.000 sq. km) – situated at the south western tip of Honshu
Shikoku (18.800 sq. km) – situated south of Honshu, east of Kyushu
Our sommelier
Chief Sommelier Mats Bruzaeus had the pleasure of studying Sake over the years in Japan.More »