d write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2002)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 15 years
male: 15 years
female: 15 years (2006)

Education expenditures:

3.5% of GDP (2005)

Government
Japan

Country name:

conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Japan
local long form: Nihon-koku/Nippon-koku
local short form: Nihon/Nippon

Government type:

constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government

Capital:

name: Tokyo
geographic coordinates: 35 41 N, 139 45 E
time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:

47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka,
Fukushima, Gifu, Gunma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki,
Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto,
Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita,
Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka,
Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata,
Yamaguchi, Yamanashi

Independence:

660 B.C. (traditional founding by Emperor JIMMU)

National holiday:

Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933)

Constitution:

3 May 1947

Legal system:

modeled after German civil law system with English-American
influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court;
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

Suffrage:

20 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989)
head of government: Prime Minister Taro ASO (since 24 September 2008)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister
elections: Diet 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

Legislative branch:

bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or
Sangi-in (242 seats - members elected for six-year terms; half
reelected every three years; 146 members in multi-seat
constituencies and 96 by proportional representation) and the House
of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - members elected for
four-year terms; 300 in single-seat constituencies; 180 members by
proportional representation in 11 regional blocs)
elect