75 Facts About Japan

Japan, officially the Republic of Japan, is an East Asian island country.

Japan has a total land area of 377,915 square kilometres.

Tokyo is Japan's capital and largest city.

Japan's national language is Japanese.

Japan's official currency is the Yen (). (JPY).

Taiwan (Republic of China), the Northern Mariana Islands (US territory), the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, China, and North Korea share maritime borders with Japan.

The "Land of the Rising Sun" is a popular nickname for Japan.

Japan is a member of the United Nations, the G7, the G8, and the G20, and is regarded as a great power.

There have been 28 Nobel Prize winners from Japan.

Japan has the world's shortest escalator, with only four steps.

Police in Japan shoot fleeing motorists with paintballs. This technique allows them to quickly identify defaulters.

Because there are so many passengers, train stations in Japan have staff to shove people into the trains.

Japan's postwar constitution forbids the country from having an army. Because it cannot invest in the arms race, the central government has poured money into trains.

Trains are extremely reliable. If your train is running late, the train company will notify you via the platform monitors and an employee will apologise via the public address system.

It is prohibited to use a mobile phone on the shinkansen (bullet train). Voices are generally kept low inside any train, even during conversations.

There is no restaurant cart on the Shinkansen. You can, on the other hand, buy your own food ("ekiben") and beverages before boarding and consume them during your journey.

In Japan, eating while walking is considered impolite.

In Japan, the unemployment rate is only 4%.

Square watermelons are grown by Japanese farmers for ease of storage.

Japan is well-known for being the world's largest creditor nation.

Japan produces up to 60% of all animated shows, making it the industry leader.

In Japan, male adults account for 98% of all adoptions. The Japanese do this in order to keep their family business within the family.

One interesting fact about Japan is that if you come across a raised floor in a building, it means you should remove your shoes there.

The Japanese Tsukiji fish market is the world's largest wholesale fish and seafood market.

Raw horse meat is a popular food in Japan.

Japan is known as 'Nippon' or 'Nihon' in Japanese. It means "the sun's origin". 'The Land of the Rising Sun' is a common translation.

Mount Fuji, at 3,776 metres, is Japan's highest point.

Almost three-quarters of Japan's land is unsuitable for industrial, residential, or agricultural use.

Japan is regarded as an industrial powerhouse. It manufactures high-quality machines, electronics, and vehicles.

Robotics is Japan's main source of talent. They are best known for ASIMO, the world's most advanced humanoid robot.

Sushi, Sashimi, and Tempura are popular Japanese dishes all over the world.

In Japan, the literacy rate for people over the age of 15 is 99%.

Japan is home to 118 volcanoes. This number outlasts all other countries' volcanoes and accounts for 10% of the world's total number of volcanoes.

The Japanese have a life expectancy of 83 years, which is higher than the American life expectancy of 81 years.

Japan's four main islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. There are a total of 6852 islands in the country.

Tokyo, Japan's capital, is the world's largest city in terms of land area, population, and density.

Sumo wrestling is the national sport of Japan.

Baseball is the most popular spectator sport in Japan.

In Japan, the beverage of choice is o-cha (お茶; green tea), which is served hot or cold depending on the season.

Itai-itai, Minimata, Niigata Minimata, and Yokkaichi Asthma are the four major diseases caused by pollution in Japan.

The Fukushima I nuclear power plant disaster triggered Japan's first nuclear emergency on March 11, 2011. 140,000 people were evacuated within 20 kilometres of the plant.

The Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant was shut down on May 6, 2011, due to an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 expected in the area where it operated.

The Japanese do not directly elect a president. They have a parliamentary government system.

Japan's new maglev bullet train is the world's fastest.

The sex ratio in Japan is 0.95.

In Japan, 98% of students attend high school, despite the fact that education is only compulsory for the first nine years of elementary and middle school.

One interesting fact about Japan is that black cats are thought to bring good luck.

Only 2% of Japanese people are immigrants.

Japanese families bathe in the same water that they use for other purposes.

Comic books are so popular in Japan that more paper is used to print them than toilet paper.

Toyota, a Japanese automaker, is the world's third-largest manufacturer.

Every year in Japan, approximately 1500 earthquakes occur.

Rice is widely consumed in Japan as a staple food.

Coffee is extremely popular in Japan, and a large amount is imported from Jamaica.

Japan is the world's largest producer of automobiles.

In Japan, over 50,000 people are at least 100 years old.

Between 578 AD and 2006, Japan had the world's oldest company.

Japan has the most punctual railways in the world. Their average lag time is 18 seconds.

Another fascinating fact about Japan is that 90% of cell phones are waterproof.

Cleaning classrooms and cafeterias is a joint responsibility shared by Japanese students and teachers.

The Japanese use nearly 24 billion chopsticks each year.

On Christmas Eve, the Japanese have a tradition of going to KFC.

Outside of Japan, Japanese people make up the majority in Brazil.

In Japan, over 2000 people committed suicide by jumping into Mount Mihara, a volcano. To prevent these suicides, Japanese authorities have built a fence around it.

Hikikomori, a Japanese social situation in which men lock themselves in their bedrooms for years, is thought to affect at least one million Japanese men.

Ancient stone tablets with the inscription "do not build your homes below this point" were discovered in Japan's Tsunami-hit areas in 2011.

There are 20 different ways to say "sorry" in Japanese.

Japan is the only country in the world to have been attacked with an atomic weapon.

Tokyo, Japan's capital, is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in.

Japan's national anthem is Kimigayo. With 11 measures and 32 characters, it is the world's shortest anthem.

Japan has the world's longest reigning monarchy.

Blowing your nose is considered impolite in Japan.

In Japan, the average monthly disposable salary after taxes is $2,782.

The average male height in Japan is 171.4 cm.

Almost a quarter of Japan's population is over the age of 65.