9% irrigated

Environment: many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic
occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; subject to tsunamis

Note: strategic location in northeast Asia

- People
Population: 123,642,461 (July 1990), growth rate 0.4% (1990)

Birth rate: 11 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 5 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 76 years male, 82 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun--Japanese (sing., pl.); adjective--Japanese

Ethnic divisions: 99.4% Japanese, 0.6% other (mostly Korean)

Religion: most Japanese observe both Shinto and Buddhist rites; about 16%
belong to other faiths, including 0.8% Christian

Language: Japanese

Literacy: 99%

Labor force: 63,330,000; 54% trade and services; 33% manufacturing,
mining, and construction; 7% agriculture, forestry, and fishing; 3% government
(1988)

Organized labor: about 29% of employed workers; 76.4% public service,
57.9% transportation and telecommunications, 48.7% mining, 33.7% manufacturing,
18.2% services, 9.3% wholesale, retail, and restaurant

- Government
Long-form name: none

Type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: Tokyo

Administrative divisions: 47 prefectures (fuken, singular and plural);
Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma,
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 BC, traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu;
3 May 1947, constitutional monarchy established

Constitution: 3 May 1947

Legal system: civil law system with English-American influence;
judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Birthday of the Emperor, 23 December (1933)

Executive branch: emperor, prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch: bicameral Diet (Kokkai) consists of an upper house or
House of Councillors (Sangi-in) and a lower house or House of Representatives
(Shugi-in)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Leaders:
Chie