No questions here on Borders, Civilizations, Historical flags — nothing recorded for Japan.

Japan

JP / JPN 35.0°, 136.0°

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland, it is bordered to the west by the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk in the north, and the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands alongside over 14,000 smaller islands. Japan is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional regions, and around 75% of its terrain is mountainous and heavily forested, concentrating its agriculture and highly urbanized population along its eastern coastal plains. With a population of almost 123 million as of 2026, it is the world's 11th most populous country. Tokyo is the country's capital and largest city.

Read Japan on Wikipedia · Recent news from Japan

You have not been asked about Japan yet.

People are called

Japanese

Driving side

Left

Calling code

+81

Capital

Tokyo

Population

123,802,000

Area

377,972 km2

Climate

Temperate

Government

Parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Currency

yen

Languages

Japanese

Sells

cars, integrated circuits, machinery, vehicle parts/accessories

Sells to

USA 19%, China 18%, Taiwan 6%

Land borders

None

Drives on the

left

Calling code

+81

Founded

1947

Hemisphere

Northern

WHAT PEOPLE ARE CALLED

Japanese

These are English demonyms for people from Japan. A demonym describes a connection to a place; it does not mean everyone shares an ethnicity, language or religion.

Demonym source: mledoze/countries · Download the attributed dataset (ODbL)

Practice demonyms around the world →

SAME LAND, DIFFERENT WORLDS

Civilizations, flags & standards

Modern borders are a starting point for exploring the past. These cultures and states occupied some of the same land; they were not the same country. Dates describe each civilization or state as a whole, not continuous rule over every place listed.

A sourced civilization and flag trail has not been added for Japan yet. No ancient flag is inferred from the modern one.

Explore the history of this land · Browse civilizations & empires

Turning points

Practice this section around the world →

A few starting points, not a complete history.

1603
The Tokugawa shogunate begins.
1868
The Meiji Restoration begins a major political and social transformation.
1945
Japan surrenders at the end of the Second World War.
1947
The postwar Constitution takes effect.

Read the historical overview →

Religion: state & society

Practice this section around the world →

An official religion is a legal status. The largest religious group is a population measure. Neither describes every person's beliefs.

Official status

No state religion under the postwar Constitution.

Status reference

Religious affiliation

Context, not a population ranking

Shinto and Buddhism are major traditions and practices can overlap. Shrine or temple membership counts are not mutually exclusive population shares.

Affiliation source & methodology

Explore recorded traditions

Buddhism Christianity Shinto

BEYOND THE MAP

Japan in the study desk

Places and things the general-knowledge library connects to Japan. Open one to follow its connections, then practise them with typed recall.

Geography 21

Mount Fuji Arashiyama Mount Hiei Mount Kita Mount Suribachi Mount Tokachi Ainodake Hotaka Mountains

Food & drink 18

osechi rousong takoyaki tonkatsu yakiniku champon chawanmushi Chinmi

Follow Japan into the rabbit holes →

Choose your next rabbit hole

History of Japan ↗Culture of Japan ↗Geography of Japan ↗Religion of Japan ↗ Civilizations across borders Languages, landmarks & shared connections

Where it is

Languages

Share of the population that speaks each. Click one to see every country that speaks it.

Japaneseofficial

—

What it sells, and to whom

Every line is a thread: click a commodity or a partner to see who else trades in it.

Farms and fisheries

rice
milk
sugar beets
vegetables
eggs
chicken

Largest cities

Tokyo capital	9,733,276
Yokohama	3,777,491
Osaka	2,753,862
Nagoya	2,332,176
Sapporo	1,973,832

Wars and conflicts

Conflicts this country is attached to. Click one to see the others. Each says what kind of claim it is: a principal belligerent is hand-checked against the modern state that succeeded the power that fought, while a recorded participant comes from the bulk import, which does not separate combat from funding, basing, occupation or reconstruction. Neither list is complete, so a country missing from a war may still have taken part — which is why the quiz no longer asks who fought in what.

World War II1939–1945 principal belligerent World War I1914–1918 principal belligerent Russo-Japanese War1904–1905 principal belligerent Second Sino-Japanese War1937–1945 principal belligerent Iraq War2003–2011 recorded participant Japanese–Montenegro War1904–2006 recorded participant

Form of government

Parliamentary constitutional monarchy.

hereditary monarchy-065–now unitary state constitutional monarchy1947–now

Money, belief and alliances

Money

yen

Belongs to

United Nations World Meteorological Organization International Energy Agency Antarctic Treaty System International Development Association Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Australia Group Asian Development Bank Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Missile Technology Control Regime UNESCO International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Nuclear Suppliers Group

Climate and geography

varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north

Climate zone

Temperate

Highest point

Mount Fuji

Landmarks and landscapes

Fushimi Inari-taisha Itsukushima Shrine Kinkaku-ji

Northern hemisphere.

In charge right now

Naruhito Head of state

Sanae Takaichi Head of government

Figures from its history

Emperor Meiji Presided over Japan's modernisation Emperor Meiji, personal name Mutsuhito, was Emperor of Japan from 30 January 1867 until his death in 1912.

Hirohito Emperor through the war years Emperor Shōwa, personal name Hirohito, was Emperor of Japan from 25 December 1926 until his death on 7 January 1989.

Tokugawa Ieyasu Founder of the shogunate Tokugawa Ieyasu was a Japanese samurai, daimyo and the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

Shinzo Abe Longest-serving prime minister Shinzo Abe was a Japanese statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020.