Japan’s politics are dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has been in power since 1955. The party is considered to be a conservative and nationalist one, and it promotes economic growth and development through free-market policies. The LDP enjoys a majority in the House of Representatives, the lower house of Japan’s bicameral legislature. The upper house, or House of Councillors, is elected by popular vote every three years. Japan also has a prime minister who is appointed by the Diet, or legislature. The prime minister heads the Cabinet, which consists of ministers from the LDP and other political parties. Visit COUNTRYAAH for a list of countries that start with letter J.

The Japanese Constitution guarantees civil rights such as freedom of speech and religion as well as parliamentary democracy and universal suffrage for citizens over 20 years old. Elections are held regularly for both houses of Parliament as well as for local government offices throughout the country. Political parties must be officially recognized by the government in order to participate in elections. In addition to the LDP, there are currently eight other major political parties in Japan including the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and Komeito, a Buddhist-backed party that often supports LDP initiatives.

Yearbook 2016

Japan. In March, the laws that came into force last year came into force, which means that for the first time since World War II, Japan will be able to deploy troops in combat abroad under certain conditions.

In June, Japan participated for the first time in a missile defense exercise with the United States and South Korea. The reason for the joint exercise was the firing of medium-range missiles by the North Korean regime. The same month, the construction of a new US airbase on the island of Okinawa was suspended following a court decision. The plan is for the existing base on the island to be relocated, but residents have protested that it is there at all. In March, protests from the public also prompted a court order to shut down two nuclear reactors in Takahama, western Japan. The reason was that the nuclear power plant was criticized for inadequate safety.

Japan Population 2016

In July elections were held for the House of Parliament, the Senate. According to countryaah, the current population of Japan is 126,476,472. The election was the first held since changes in the electoral law lowered the voting age from 20 to 18 years. Just before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the Senate election, it was announced that the government had postponed the announced VAT increase (from 8 to 10%) by autumn 2019. The election meant a success for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by Abe. LDP together with its coalition partner New Komeito got its own majority. Abe’s pledges to work for a revision of the country’s constitution thus came close to realization. To make constitutional changes, support is required from at least two-thirds of the members of both chambers, which is now a prerequisite for the fact that two other parties and a number of independent parliamentarians are also for such changes.

In the Tokyo governor election held on the last day of July, Yuriko Koike, who had previously been Minister of Defense for a short period, won the first female governor of the metropolitan region. Formally, she belongs to the LDP government party, but because the party did not want to launch her as her candidate, she was elected party-independent. In September, the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party (DPJ), elected a new party chairman. Also on this post, a woman was appointed for the first time when the former TV profile and MP Renho Murata was elected.

In August, Emperor Akihito gave his second TV talk to the people ever. Akihito, who was born in 1933 and has been emperor since 1989, expressed a desire to renounce the throne. First in the throne is Crown Prince Naruhito, born in 1960.

In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Japan where he met Prime Minister Abe. The summit, among other things, touched on the disputed archipelago of Kurilas, which both countries claim. However, no formal agreement was reached.

  • Abbreviation Finder: Check to see how the 3-letter abbreviation of JPN stands for the nation of Japan in geography.

The death of Emperor Hirohito in January 1989 marked the end of the Showa era, which began in 1926. The coronation of his successor, Akihito, was at the same time the beginning of the Heisei era – “the realization of universal peace”. The coronation was celebrated with traditional Japanese rituals during a ceremony that became the world’s largest gathering of heads of state and whose spending sparked national protests.

According to thereligionfaqs, Japan’s relations with the EU and the US have been characterized by tensions over the past 20 years as a result of problems with protectionism and a lack of equilibrium in trade relations. In 87, Washington protested that in 1982-84, Japan had sold advanced submarine technology to the Soviet Union. In 89, however, Noboru Takeshita was the first head of state to meet with US new president, George Bush. Takeshita had to retire in April following a financial scandal. His successor, Sosuke Uno only held June-August, where he resigned after admitting to having sexual relations with a geisha.

On November 5, 91 Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu had to step down. He was replaced by 72-year-old Kiichi Miyazawa, who had been elected LDP chairman 9 days earlier. The only reason Kaifu was elected in August 89 was because he had not been involved in a single corruption scandal. He had to withdraw when he lost the support of the Takeshita clan – the most influential trend among the 5 tendencies in the ruling party. The same clan had supported Miyazawa’s choice. As of December 88, he had to retire as finance minister because of his involvement in the Recruit scandal. His election as prime minister therefore became a shining example of political rehabilitation in Japan. In his opening speech, Miyazawa outlined the main objectives of the government’s work: increased assistance and expanded relations with China, negotiate with the US and normalize relations with the Soviet Union. At the same time, he declared his willingness to open the Japanese rice market, in order to, like the EU and the US, give concessions that could prevent the Uruguay Round of GATT from collapsing.

The LDP’s historic leadership figure, Shin Kanemaru of 77 years, declared that despite his own personal aversions to Miyazawa, this was currently the only competent candidate the party could pose with.

On November 23, US Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney called on Japan to play a more active military and political role in the world. The US forces in Japan are concentrated on 3 military bases and consist of an airborne battle force and 56,000 soldiers, including a division of marines.

On February 9, 92, opposition candidate Yukihise Yoshida won with the support of 4 opposition parties over the ruling party candidate in western Nara district. The incident was linked to rising public discontent with the ruling party becoming increasingly notoriously corrupt. Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa himself was surrounded by employees who had been implicated in corruption scandals. The day after – 10/2 – it was reported that Post Minister Hideo Watanabe admitted to receiving $ 24,000 more than the amount he had previously acknowledged ($ 40,000) as a bribe in the 88 scandal, with the telecommunications company Recruit giving large sums of money to a a number of politicians hoping to obtain government countermeasures. On the 14th, four people were arrested in connection with the incident. a new financial scandal, Inagawagumi was involved. The Kyubin scandal was even bigger than the Recruit scandal. Dozens of billions of yen (over DKK 1 billion) had been used for bribery.

In the middle of the year, after intense debates, a law was passed that, for the first time since World War II, allowed Japanese soldiers to be sent outside the country. In September, the first soldiers were dispatched to join the UN peacekeeping force in Cambodia. At the beginning of 93, Miyazawa promised to expand the scope of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces within the framework of the UN peacekeeping missions – both through greater financial and personnel contributions.

Country data

Area: 377,930 km2 (world ranking: 61)

Residents: 126,786,000

Population density: 335 per km2 (as of 2017, world ranking: 11)

Capital: Tokyo (Tokyo)

Official languages: Japanese

Gross domestic product: 4872 billion US $; Real growth: 1.7%

Gross national product (GNP, per resident and year): 38,550 US$

Currency: 1 Yen (¥) = 100 Sen

Embassy

Hiroshimastr. 6, 10785 Berlin
Telephone 030 210940,
Fax 030 21094222
www.de.emb-japan.go.jp

Government
Head of State: Akihito, Head of Government: Shinzo Abe, Outside: Taro Kono

National Day: 23.12. (Birthday of the emperor)

Administrative structure
47 prefectures, including 3 city prefectures Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto

State and form of government
Constitution of 1947
Parliamentary secular monarchy
Parliament (Kokkai): Lower House (Shugi-in) with 465 members, election every 4 years;. Upper House (Sangi-in) with 242 chosen for 6 J. Mitgl, Part choice every 3 J.
option from 18 J.

Population: Japanese
last count 2015: 127,094,745 residents 99% Japanese, 25000-200000 Ainu (Native) on Hokkaido

Cities (with population): (As of 2015) Tokyo (Tokyo) 9,272,740 inh. (A 2015 38.0 million), Yokohama 3,724,844, Osaka 2,691,185 (A 20.2 million), Nagoya 2,295,638 (A 9.4 Million), Sapporo 1,952,356, Fukuoka 1,538,681, Kobe 1,537,272, Kawasaki 1,475,213, Kyoto 1,475,183, Saitama 1,263,979, Hiroshima 1,194,034, Sendai 1,082,159, Chiba 971,882, Kitakyushu 961,286, Sakai 839.310, Niigata 810.157, Hamamatsu 797.980

Religions: 49% Shintoists, 46% Buddhists (including Soka Gakkai), 1% Christians and others; many Japanese are assigned to different faith communities in the statistics (as of 2006)

Languages: Japanese; English

Workers by economic sector: agriculture. 3%, industry 26%, business 71% (2017)

Unemployment (in% of all economically active persons)
2017: 2.8%

Inflation rate (in%): 2017: 0.5%

Foreign trade: Import: 671.5 billion US $ (2017); Export: 698.1 billion US $ (2017)