Japan, constitutional monarchy in East Asia, comprising four large islands, as well as the Ryukyu Islands and more than 1,000 lesser adjacent islands. It is bounded on the north by the Sea of Okhotsk, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea, and on the west by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan (East Sea). In Japanese the country’s name is Dai (“great”) Nihon or Nippon (“origin of the Sun”), hence, Land of the Rising Sun. The Japanese islands extend in an irregular crescent from the island of Sakhalin (Russia) to the island of Taiwan (Formosa). Japan proper consists of the large islands of Hokkaido, the northernmost; Honshu, the largest, called the mainland; Shikoku; and Kyushu, the southernmost. The combined area of these islands is about 362,000 sq km (140,000 sq mi). The total area of Japan is 377,837 sq km (145,884 sq mi). Tokyo is Japan’s capital and largest city.
POPULATION
Japan has a population of 127,333,000 (2004 estimate). The overall population density is about 323 people per sq km (836 per sq mi), though local density varies considerably due to the mountainous terrain, with very many high concentrations along the Tokyo-Osaka metropolitan corridor and much lower densities in northern Honshu and Hokkaido.
RELIGION
The principal religious faiths of Japan are Shinto, a polytheistic religion based on ancestor and nature worship, with about 200 sects and denominations; and Buddhism, with about 207 sects and denominations. Christianity—represented in Japan by the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Greek Orthodox faiths—is practised by less than 4 per cent of the population. Virtually all the Japanese engage in Shinto ceremonies, and the majority of Shintoists are also Buddhists. In the latter half of the 19th century Shinto was made a state religion, stressing worship of the emperor as a divinity and the unique divine origin of the Japanese; all Japanese, regardless of their religious affiliation, were obliged to worship at Shinto shrines. In 1946 the Allied occupation authorities ordered Shinto disestablished and reduced it to the level of a sect. On January 1, 1946, Emperor Hirohito renounced all claim to divinity. The constitution promulgated in 1947 re-established absolute freedom of religion and ended state support of Shinto.
POPULATION
Japan has a population of 127,333,000 (2004 estimate). The overall population density is about 323 people per sq km (836 per sq mi), though local density varies considerably due to the mountainous terrain, with very many high concentrations along the Tokyo-Osaka metropolitan corridor and much lower densities in northern Honshu and Hokkaido.
RELIGION
The principal religious faiths of Japan are Shinto, a polytheistic religion based on ancestor and nature worship, with about 200 sects and denominations; and Buddhism, with about 207 sects and denominations. Christianity—represented in Japan by the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Greek Orthodox faiths—is practised by less than 4 per cent of the population. Virtually all the Japanese engage in Shinto ceremonies, and the majority of Shintoists are also Buddhists. In the latter half of the 19th century Shinto was made a state religion, stressing worship of the emperor as a divinity and the unique divine origin of the Japanese; all Japanese, regardless of their religious affiliation, were obliged to worship at Shinto shrines. In 1946 the Allied occupation authorities ordered Shinto disestablished and reduced it to the level of a sect. On January 1, 1946, Emperor Hirohito renounced all claim to divinity. The constitution promulgated in 1947 re-established absolute freedom of religion and ended state support of Shinto.
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