Japan: Map & History
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.
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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.
Modern Countries Once Part of Japan
At its mapped extent, Japan covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Japan's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Japan in Depth
History
Modern humans arrived in Japan around 38,000 years ago (~36,000 BC), marking the beginning of the Japanese Paleolithic. Around 14,500 BC (the start of the Jōmon period), a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture characterized by pit dwelling and rudimentary agriculture emerged. Clay vessels from the period are among the oldest surviving examples of pottery. The Japonic-speaking Yayoi people later entered the archipelago from the Korean Peninsula, intermingling with the Jōmon people. The Yayoi period saw the introduction of innovative practices including wet-rice farming, a new style of pottery, and metallurgy from China and Korea.
Government and politics
Japan is a unitary state and constitutional monarchy in which the power of the emperor (Tennō) is limited to a ceremonial role. Executive power is instead wielded by the prime minister and the Cabinet, whose sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people. Naruhito is the Emperor of Japan, having succeeded his father Akihito upon his accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019.
Japan's legislative organ is the National Diet, a bicameral parliament. It consists of a lower House of Representatives with 465 seats, elected by popular vote every four years or when dissolved, and an upper Senate with 248 seats, whose popularly elected members serve six-year terms. There is universal suffrage for adults over 18 years of age, with a secret ballot for all elected offices.
Economy
Japan has the world's fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP, after that of the United States, China and Germany; and the fifth-largest by PPP-adjusted GDP. As of 2023, Japan's labor force is the world's tenth-largest, consisting of over 69.2 million workers. As of 2025, Japan has a low unemployment rate of around 2.5%. Its poverty rate is the second highest among the G7 countries, and exceeds 15.7% of the population. Japan has the highest ratio of public debt to GDP among advanced economies, with a national debt estimated at 237% relative to GDP as of 2026. The Japanese yen is the world's third-largest reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro.
In 2024, Japan was the world's eight-largest exporter and sixth-largest importer. Its exports amounted to 22.8% of its total GDP in 2024.
Culture
Contemporary Japanese culture combines influences from Asia, Europe, and North America. Traditional Japanese arts include crafts such as ceramics, textiles, lacquerware, swords, and dolls; performances of bunraku, kabuki, noh, dance, and rakugo; and other practices, the tea ceremony, ikebana, martial arts, calligraphy, origami, onsen, Geisha, and games. Japan has a developed system for the protection and promotion of both tangible and intangible Cultural Properties and National Treasures.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Japan (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Japan: Key Facts
| Capital | Tokyo |
|---|---|
| Official language | Japanese |
| Religion | State Shinto |
| Form of government | monarchy, constitutional monarchy |
| Currency | yen |
| Founded | 3 January 1868 |
| Dissolved | 3 May 1947 |
Preceded by
Succeeded by
- Japan
Facts from Wikidata Q188712 (CC0).
Japan: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Japan exist?
Japan is dated to 1953 CE – 2024 CE, in the Industrial era.
What was the capital of Japan?
The capital of Japan was Tokyo.
How large was Japan at its peak?
At its peak in 2024 Japan covered about 413,216 km².
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