Japan (jah-PAN), Japanese Nihon (nee-HON) or Nippon (neep-PON) [from Chinese=the place where the sun comes from, or Land of the Rising Sun], country (142,811 sq mi/369,881 sq km; 1991 population 124,017,137; 2004 estimated population 127,330,002), occupying an archipelago off the coast of E Asia; (cap.) Tokyo, which, along with neighboring Yokohama, forms the world’s most populous metropolitan region.
Geography
Japan proper has four main islands, which are, from N to S, Hokkaido, Honshu (the largest island, where the capital and most major cities are located), Shikoku, and Kyushu. There are also many smaller islands stretched in an arc between the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea (W) and the Pacific Ocean proper (E). Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu enclose the Inland Sea. The general features of the four main islands are shapely mountains, sometimes snowcapped, the highest and most famous being the sacred Fuji-san; short rushing rivers; forested slopes; irregular and lovely lakes; and small, rich plains. Mountains, many of them volcanoes, cover two-thirds; of Japan’s surface, hampering transportation and limiting agriculture. On the arable land, which is only one-eighth of Japan’s total land area, the population density is among the highest in the world. The climate ranges from chilly humid continental to humid subtropical. Rainfall is abundant, and typhoons and earthquakes are frequent. (For a more detailed description of geography, see separate articles on the individual islands.)
Population
The Japanese people are primarily the descendants of various peoples who migrated from Asia in prehistoric times; the dominant strain is N Asian or Mongoloid, with some Malay and Indonesian admixture. One of the earliest groups, the Ainu, who still persist to some extent in Hokkaido, are physically somewhat similar to Caucasians. Non-Japanese, mostly Koreans, make up less than 1% of the population.
Religion
Japan’s principal religions are Shinto and Buddhism. While the development of Shinto was radically altered by the influence of Buddhism, which was brought from China in the 6th century, special varieties of Japanese Buddhism have developed in sects such as Jodo, Shingon, Nichiren, and Zen. Numerous cults formed after World War II and called the “New Religions” have attracted many members. One of these, the Sokagakkai, a Buddhist sect, built up a large following in the 1950s and 1960s, and became a strong social and political force. Less than 1% of the population are Christians. Confucianism has deeply affected Japanese thought and was part of the generally significant influence that Chinese culture wielded on the formation of Japanese civilization.
Family
The family has long been the basic social unit in Japan. Family elders command much respect, and even in the 21st century many parents continue to select marriage partners for their children. The status of women improved after the end of World War II, when they received the right to vote, but social customs still tend to restrict their freedom. Because many young women have chosen to concentrate on their careers, the Japanese government has turned to actively promoting marriage and parenting in order to maintain an adequate level of population growth.
Education
The Japanese educational system, established during the Allied occupation after World War II, is one of the most comprehensive and effective in the world. Nine years of schooling is compulsory, although the great majority of citizens are in school much longer. The two leading national universities are at Tokyo and Kyoto.
Social Welfare
The standard of living improved dramatically between the 1950s and the early 1970s, and the Japanese have the highest per capita income of all Asians. Programs for social welfare and health insurance are fairly comprehensive. Since 1961 Japan has had a health-insurance system that covers all of its citizens. A major concern confronting policy planners is the large and growing portion of the population that is elderly. Traditional Japanese sports include judo, kendo (a kind of fencing), and sumo wrestling. Baseball and golf, though not native to Japan, are also very popular.
Economy
Mineral resources are meager, except for coal, which was an important source of industrial energy. The rapid streams supply hydroelectric power. Imported oil, however, is the major source of energy. One third of Japan’s electricity comes from nuclear power, with c.50 reactors having been built since the 1960s and several additional ones being planned or under construction. The rivers are generally unsuited for navigation (only two, the Ishikari and the Shinano, are over 200 mi/322 km long), and railroads and ships along the coast are the chief means of transportation. The “Shinkansen” bullet train, the second-fastest train system in the world after France’s TGV, was inaugurated in 1964 between Tokyo and Osaka, and then extended to Okayama.
Japan’s farming population has been declining steadily and was about 5.3% of the total population in 2003; agriculture accounted for only 1.3% of the GNP. Arable land is intensively cultivated; farmers use irrigation, terracing, and multiple cropping to coax crops from the overworked soil. Rice and other cereals are the main crops; some vegetables and industrial crops, such as mulberry trees (for feeding silkworms), are also grown, and livestock is raised.
Fishing is highly developed, and the annual catch is one of the biggest in the world. The decision by many nations to extend economic zones 200 mi/322 km offshore has forced Japan to concentrate on more efficiently exploiting its own coastal and inland waters. In the late 19th century Japan was rapidly and thoroughly industrialized.
Textiles were a leading item; vast quantities of light manufactures were also produced, and, in the 1920s and 1930s, heavy industries were greatly expanded, principally to support Japan’s growing imperialistic ambitions.
Japan’s economy collapsed after the defeat in World War II, and its merchant marine, one of the world’s largest in the 1930s, was almost totally destroyed. In the late 1950s, however, the nation reemerged as a major industrial power. By the 1970s it had become the most industrialized country in Asia and the second-greatest economic power in the world after the U.S. Japanese industry is concentrated mainly in S Honshu and N Kyushu, with centers at Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, and Nagoya. In the 1950s and 1960s, textiles became less important in Japanese industry while the production of heavy machinery expanded.
Japanese industry depends heavily on imported raw materials, which make up a large share of the country’s imports. Japan receives all it needs of bauxite, phosphate, steel scrap, and iron ore from imports, as well as virtually all of its crude oil and copper ore. Japan became one of the world’s leading producers of motor vehicles and steel, and by the 1980s had become a leading exporter of high-technology goods, including electrical and electronic appliances. It has increasingly shifted some of its industries overseas through outsourcing, and has made massive capital investments abroad, especially in the U.S. and the Pacific Rim. Trade unions, organized by enterprise rather than by occupation, represent about one-third of all employed workers. The two largest unions are the General Council of Trade Unions and the Japan Confederation of Labor.
Since the late 1960s, its economy has been marked by a large trade surplus, with the U.S. and Europe accounting for more than half its exports. Japan has also become a global leader in financial services; as of 1990 it had seven of the world’s ten largest banks.
History to 9th Century
Japan’s early history is lost in legend. The divine design of the empire—supposedly founded in 660 B.C. by the emperor Jimmu, a lineal descendant of the sun goddess and ancestor of the present emperor—was held as official dogma until 1945. Actually, reliable records date back only to about A.D. 400. In the 1st century A.D. the country was inhabited by numerous clans or tribal kingdoms ruled by priest-chiefs. Contacts with Korea were close, and bronze and iron implements were probably introduced by invaders from Korea around the 1st century. By the 5th century the Yamato clan, whose original home was apparently in Kyushu, had settled in the vicinity of modern Kyoto and had established a loose control over the other clans of central and W Japan, laying the foundation of the Japanese state. From the 6th to the 8th centuries the rapidly developing society gained much in the arts of civilization under the strong cultural influence of China, then flourishing in the splendor of the Tang dynasty. Buddhism was introduced, and the Japanese upper classes assiduously studied Chinese language, literature, philosophy, art, science, and government, creating their own forms adapted from Chinese models. A partially successful attempt was made to set up a centralized, bureaucratic government like that of imperial China. The Yamato priest-chief assumed the dignity of an emperor, and an imposing capital city, modeled on the Tang capital, was erected at Nara, to be succeeded by an equally imposing capital at Kyoto.
History - 9th Century to 1274
By the 9th century, however, the powerful Fujiwara family had established a firm control over the imperial court. The Fujiwara influence and the power of the Buddhist priesthood undermined the authority of the imperial government Provincial gentry—particularly the great clans that opposed the Fujiwara—evaded imperial taxes and grew strong. A feudal system developed. Civil warfare was almost continuous in the 12th century The Minamoto family defeated its rivals, the Taira, and became masters of Japan. Its great leader, Yoritomo, took the title of shogun, established his capital at Kamakura, and set up a military dictatorship. For the next 700 years Japan was ruled by warriors. The old civil administration was not abolished, but gradually decayed, and the imperial court at Kyoto fell into obscurity. The Minamoto soon gave way to the Hojo, who managed the Kamakura administration as regents for puppet shoguns, much as the Fujiwara had controlled the imperial court.
History - 1274 to 1542
In 1274 and again in 1281 the Mongols under Kublai Khan tried unsuccessfully to invade the country. In 1331 the emperor Daigo II attempted to restore imperial rule. He failed, but the revolt brought about the downfall of the Kamakura regime. The Ashikaga family took over the shogunate in 1338 and settled at Kyoto, but was unable to consolidate its power. The next 250 years were marked by civil wars, during which the feudal barons (the daimyo) and the Buddhist monasteries built up local domains and private armies. Nevertheless, in the midst of incessant wars there was a brisk development of manufacture and trade, typified by the rise of Sakai (later Osaka) as a free city not subject to feudal control. This period saw the birth of a middle class. Extensive maritime commerce was carried on with the continent and with SE Asia; Japanese traders and pirates dominated East Asian waters until the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th century.
History - 1542 to Early 19th Century
The 1st European contact with Japan was made by Portugese sailors in 1542. A small trade with the West developed. Christianity was introduced by St. Francis Xavier, who reached Japan in 1549. In the late 16th century three warriors, Oda Nobunaga, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, established military control over the whole country and succeeded one another in the dictatorship. Hideyoshi unsuccessfully invaded Korea in 1592 and 1596 in an effort to conquer China. After Hideyoshi’s death, Ieyasu took the title of shogun, and his family ruled Japan for over 250 years. They set up at Yedo (later Tokyo) a centralized, efficient, but repressive system of feudal government. Stability and internal peace were secured, but social progress was stifled. Christianity was suppressed, and all intercourse with foreign countries was prohibited except for a Dutch trading post at Nagasaki. Tokugawa society was rigidly divided into the daimyo, samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants, in that order. The system was imbued with Confucian ideas of loyalty to superiors, and military virtues were cultivated by the ruling aristocracy. Oppression of the peasants led to many sporadic uprisings. Yet despite feudal restrictions, production and trade expanded, the use of money and credit increased, flourishing cities grew up, and the rising merchant class acquired great wealth and economic power. Japan was, in fact, moving toward a capitalist system.
History - Early 19th Century to 1871
By the middle of the 19th century the country was ripe for change. Most daimyo were in debt to the merchants, and discontent was rife among impoverished but ambitious samurai. The great clans of W Japan, notably Choshu and Satsuma, had long been impatient of Tokugawa control. In 1854 an American naval officer, Matthew C. Perry, forced the opening of trade with the West. Japan was compelled to admit foreign merchants and to sign unequal treaties. Attacks on foreigners were answered by the bombardment of Kagoshima and Shimonoseki. Threatened from within and without, the shogunate collapsed. In 1867 a conspiracy engineered by the W clans and imperial court nobles forced the shogun’s resignation. After brief fighting, the boy emperor Meiji was “restored” to power in 1868, and the imperial capital was transferred from Kyoto to Tokyo. This was the Meiji Restoration. Although the Meiji Restoration was originally inspired by antiforeign sentiment, Japan’s new rulers quickly realized the impossibility of expelling the foreigners. Instead, they strove to strengthen Japan by adopting the techniques of Western civilization. Under the leadership of an exceptionally able group of statesmen (who were chiefly samurai of the W clans) Japan was rapidly transformed into a modern industrial state and a great military power. Feudalism was abolished in 1871.
History - 1877 to 1899
The defeat of the Satsuma rebellion in 1877 marked the end of opposition to the new regime. Emissaries were sent abroad to study Western military science, industrial technology, and political institutions. The administration was reorganized on Western lines. An efficient modern army and navy were created, and military conscription was introduced. Industrial development was actively fostered by the state, working in close cooperation with the great merchant houses. A new currency and banking system were established. New law codes were enacted. Primary education was made compulsory. In 1889 the emperor granted a constitution, modeled in part on that of Prussia. Supreme authority was vested in the emperor, who in practice was largely a figurehead controlled by the clan oligarchy. Subordinate organs of government included a privy council, a cabinet, and a diet consisting of a partially elected house of peers and a fully elected house of representatives. Universal manhood suffrage was not granted until 1925. After the Meiji Restoration, nationalistic feeling ran high. The old myths of imperial and racial divinity, were revived, and the sentiment of loyalty to the emperor was actively propagated by the new government. Feudal glorification of the warrior and belief in the unique virtues of Japan’s “Imperial Way” combined with the expansive drives of modern industrialism to produce a vigorous imperialism. At first concerned with defending Japanese independence against the Western powers, Japan soon joined them in the competition for an empire in the Orient.
History - 1899 to 1915
By 1899, Japan cast off the shackles of extraterritoriality, which allowed foreign powers to exempt themselves from Japanese law, thus avoiding taxes and tariffs. It was not until 1911 that full tariff autonomy was gained. The first Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) marked the real emergence of imperial Japan, with acquisition of Taiwan (then Formosa) and the Pescadores islands. and also of the Liao-dong Peninsula in Manchuria, which the great powers forced it to relinquish. An alliance with Great Britain in 1902 increased Japanese prestige, which reached a peak as a result of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904–1905. Unexpectedly, the Japanese smashed the might of Russia with speed and efficiency. The treaty of Portsmouth, ending the war, recognized Japan as a world power. A territorial foothold had been gained in Manchuria. In 1910, Japan was able to officially annex Korea, which it had controlled de facto since 1905. During World War I the Japanese secured the German interests in Shandong (later restored to China) and received the German-owned islands in the Pacific as mandates.
History - 1915 to 1929
In 1915, Japan presented the Twenty-One Demands, designed to reduce China to a protectorate. The other world powers opposed the demands giving Japan policy control in Chinese affairs and prevented their execution, but China accepted the rest of the demands. In 1918, Japan took the lead in Allied military intervention in Siberia, and Japanese troops remained there until 1922. These moves, together with an intensive program of naval armament, led to some friction with the U.S., which was temporarily adjusted by the Washington Conference of 1921–1922. During the next decade, the expansionist drive abated in Japan, and liberal and democratic forces gained ground. The power of the diet increased, party cabinets were formed, and despite police repression, labor and peasant unions attained some strength. Liberal and radical ideas became popular among students and intellectuals. Politics was dominated by zaibatsu (big business conglomerates), and businessmen were more interested in economic than in military expansion. Trade and industry, stimulated by World War I, continued to expand, though interrupted by the earthquake of 1923, which destroyed much of Tokyo and Yokohama. Agriculture, in contrast, remained depressed. Japan pursued a moderate policy toward China, relying chiefly on economic penetration and diplomacy to advance Japanese interests. This and other foreign policies pursued by the government displeased more extreme militarist and nationalist elements developing in Japan, some of whom disliked capitalism and advocated state socialism. Chief among these groups were the Kwantung army in Manchuria, young army and navy officers, and various organizations such as the Amur River Society, which included many prominent men.
History - 1929 to 1940
Militarist propaganda was aided by the depression of 1929, which ruined Japan’s silk trade. In 1931 the Kwantung army precipitated an incident at Mukden (now Shenyang) and promptly overran all of Manchuria, which was detached from China and set up as the puppet state of Manchukuo. When the League of Nations condemned Japan’s action, Japan withdrew from the organization. During the 1930s, the military party gradually extended its control over the government, brought about an increase in armaments, and reached a working agreement with the zaibatsu. Military extremists instigated the assassination of Prime Minister Inukai in 1932 and an attempted coup d’etat in 1936. At the same time, Japan was experiencing a great export boom, due largely to currency depreciation. From 1932 to 1937, Japan engaged in gradual economic and political penetration of N China. In July 1937, after an incident at Peking (now Beijing), Japanese troops invaded the N provinces. Chinese resistance led to a full-scale though undeclared war. A puppet Chinese government was installed at Nanking (now Nanjing) in 1940. Meanwhile, relations with the Soviet Union were tense and worsened after Japan and Germany joined together against the Soviet Union in the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936. In 1938 and 1939, armed clashes took place on the Manchurian border. Japan then stepped up an armament program, extended state control over industry through the National Mobilization Act (1938), and intensified police repression of dissident elements.
History - 1940 to 1945
In 1940, all political parties were dissolved and replaced by the state-sponsored Imperial Rule Assistance Association. After World War II erupted (1939) in Europe, Japan signed a military alliance with Germany and Italy, sent troops to Indochina (1940), and announced the intention of creating a “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” under Japan’s leadership. In April 1941, a neutrality treaty with the Soviet Union was triumphantly concluded. In October 1941, the militarists achieved complete control in Japan, when General Hideki Tojo succeeded a civilian, Prince Fumimaro Konoye, as prime minister. Unable to neutralize U.S. opposition to its actions in SE Asia, Japan opened hostilities against the United States and Great Britain on December 7, 1941, by striking at Pearl Harbor, Singapore, and other Pacific possessions. The fortunes of war at first ran in favor of Japan, and by the end of 1942 the spread of Japanese military might over the Pacific to the doors of India and of Alaska was prodigious. Then the tide turned; territory was lost to the Allies island by island; warfare reached Japan itself with intensive bombing; and finally in 1945, following the explosion of atomic bombs by the U.S. over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered on August 14, the formal surrender being on the U.S. battleship Missouri in Tokyo Harbor on Sept.ember 2, 1945.
History - 1945 to 1946
The surrender was unconditional, but the terms for Allied treatment of the conquered power had been laid down at the Potsdam Conference. The empire was dissolved, and Japan was deprived of all territories it had seized by force. The Japanese Empire at its height had included the S half of Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, the Pescadores, Korea, the Bonin Islands, the Kwantung protectorate in Manchuria, and the island groups held as mandates from the League of Nations (the Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands, and Mariana Islands). In the early years of the war, Japan had conquered vast new territories, including a large part of China, SE Asia, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. With defeat, Japan was reduced to its size before the imperialist adventure began. The country was demilitarized, and steps were taken to bring forth “a peacefully inclined and responsible government” Industry was to be adequate for peacetime needs, but war-potential industries were forbidden. Until these conditions were fulfilled, Japan was to be under Allied military occupation. The occupation began immediately under the command of Douglas MacArthur. A Far Eastern Commission, representing eleven Allied nations and an Allied council in Tokyo, was to supervise general policy. The commission, however, suffered from the general rising tension between the USSR and the Western nations and did not function effectively, leaving the U.S. occupation forces in virtual control. The occupation force controlled Japan through the existing machinery of the Japanese government.
History - 1946 to 1954
A new constitution was adopted in 1946 and went into effect in 1947; the emperor publicly disclaimed his divinity. The general conservative trend in politics was tempered by the elections of 1947, which made the Social Democratic party headed by Tetsu Katayama the dominant force in a two-party coalition government. In 1948, the Social Democrats slipped to a secondary position in the coalition, and in 1949 they lost power completely when the conservatives took full charge under Shigeru Yoshida. An attempt was made to break up the zaibatsu. Many of the militarist leaders and generals were tried as war criminals, and in 1948 many were convicted and executed. Economic revival proceeded slowly with much unemployment and a low level of production, which improved only gradually. In 1949, however, MacArthur loosened the bonds of military government, and many responsibilities were restored to local authorities. At San Francisco in September 1951, a peace treaty was signed between Japan and most of its opponents in World War II. India and Burma refused to attend the conference, and the USSR, Czechoslovakia, and Poland refused to sign the treaty. It nevertheless went into effect on April 28, 1952, and Japan again assumed full sovereignty. The elections in 1952 kept the conservative Liberal party and Premier Shigeru Yoshida in power.
History - 1945 to 1960
In November 1954, the Japan Democratic party was founded. This new group attacked governmental corruption and advocated stable relations with the USSR and Communist China. In December 1954, Yoshida resigned, and Ichiro Hatoyama, leader of the opposition, succeeded him. The Liberal and Japan Democratic parties merged in November 1955, to become the Liberal Democratic party (LDP). Hatoyama resigned because of illness in December 1956, and was succeeded by Tanzan Ishibashi of the LDP. Ishibashi was also forced to resign because of illness and was followed by his fellow party member Nobusuke Kishi in February 1957. In the 1950s Japan signed peace treaties with Taiwan, India, Burma, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Reparations agreements were concluded with Burma, the Philippines, Indonesia, and South Vietnam, with reparations to be paid in the form of goods and services to stimulate Asian economic development. In 1951, Japan signed a security treaty with the U.S., providing for U.S. defense of Japan against external attack and allowing the U.S. to station troops in the country. New security treaties with the U.S. were negotiated in 1960 and 1970. Many Japanese felt that military ties with the U.S. would draw them into another war. Student groups and labor unions, often led by Communists, demonstrated during the 1950s and 1960s against military alliances and nuclear testing. One such demonstration (June 1960) forced U.S. President Eisenhower to cancel a scheduled trip to Japan.
History - 1960 to 1974
Prime Minister Kishi was forced to resign in 1960 following the diet’s acceptance, under pressure, of the U.S.-Japanese security treaty. He was succeeded by Hayato Ikeda, also of the LDP. Ikeda led his party to two resounding victories in 1960 and 1963. He resigned in 1964 because of illness and was replaced by Eisaku Sato, also of the LDP. Sato overcame strong opposition to his policies and managed to keep himself and his party in firm control of the government. The LDP maintained its sizable strength in the diet in the 1967 and 1969 elections. Opposition to the government because of its U.S. ties abated somewhat in the early 1970s when the U.S. agreed to relinquish its control of the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa, which had come under U.S. administration after World War II. All of the Ryukyus formally reverted to Japanese control in 1972. In that same year, Sato resigned and was succeeded by Kakuei Tanaka, also a Liberal Democrat. For his efforts in opposing the development of nuclear weapons in Japan, Sato was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974.
History - 1974 to 1980s
Later that year, Tanaka resigned and was replaced as prime minister by Takeo Miki, another Liberal Democrat. Miki, who became embroiled in a scandal over his personal finances, was replaced by Takeo Fukuda. Though Fukuda was considered to be an expert in economic policy, he had difficulty in combatting the economic downturn of the late 1970s. He was replaced by Masayoshi Ohira, who died in office in 1980 and was replaced by Zenko Suzuki. In 1982, the more outspoken Yasuhiro Nakasone took office. He argued for an increase in Japan’s defensive capability, extended his second term by an extra year, and appointed his own successor, Noboru Takeshita. The terms of both Takeshita and his replacement, Sousuke Uno, were cut short by influence-peddling scandals that shook up the LDP and caused a public outcry for governmental reform. In the general election of 1989, the LDP lost in the upper house of the parliament for the first time in thirty-five years. However, party president Toshiki Kaifu was still elected later that year. He stressed the need for honesty in government, and drew much criticism for pledging $9 million to the U.S. for military operations in the Persian Gulf. As the world’s second-largest economy, Japan has struggled to define its role as a superpower. Its postwar foreign policy was aimed at the maintenance and expansion of foreign markets. The U.S. is its chief ally and trade partner. In the early 1970s, however, U.S.-Japanese relations became strained after the U.S. pressured Japan to revalue the yen and again when it opened communications with Communist China without prior consultation with Japan. Partly in response, the Tanaka government established (1972) diplomatic relations with Communist China and announced plans for negotiation of a peace treaty. Relations also became strained with South Korea and Taiwan. Japan did not sign a peace treaty with the USSR because of a dispute over control of four islands off its N coast, including the two southernmost Kuril Islands that had formerly been held by Japan but occupied by the USSR after the war. The twocountries did, however, sign (1956) a peace declaration and established fishing and trading agreements. In 1997 a Russo-Japanese accord was signed to settle the dispute over the islands and to sign a permanent peace agreement.
History - 1980s to Present
Beginning in late 1973, when the Arab nations began a cutback in oil exports, Japan faced a grave economic situation that threatened to reduce power and industrial production. In addition, a high annual inflation rate (19% in 1973), a price freeze, and the instability of the yen on the international money markets slowed Japan’s economy as it entered the mid-1970s. Although Article Nine of the constitution forbids the maintenance of armed forces, Japan has a sizable military capability for defensive warfare. The U.S. has put increasing pressure on Japan to assume a larger share of responsibility for the defense of its region, although with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the threat has decreased somewhat. (However, Japanese troops are part of the coalition forces currently fighting in Iraq.) In the late 1970s, the continued growth of foreign markets brought Japan out of its slump. In the 1980s it continued its strategy of investing heavily in other countries, and had a surplus with virtually every nation with which it traded. The high level of government involvement in banking and industry led many other countries to accuse Japan of protectionism. The U.S. in particular sought to reduce its huge trade deficit with Japan, which was mostly a result of the growing success of Japan’s auto industry. Japan has also had to deal with growing economic competition within its own region from such countries as Korea and Taiwan. In addition to economic pressures, great political pressure was put on Japan to assume a larger role in world affairs. The Persian Gulf War caused great dissension in Japan. The government, which felt tremendous pressure to contribute to the UN effort in accordance with its economic power, also had to address the decidedly antimilitaristic bias of the Japanese people. This situation exemplifies Japan’s growing need to take a larger role in world politics in order to promote the kind of stable, open markets that its economy requires. In 1997, Japan again suffered a major economic crisis resulting from the failure of stock brokerage firms and banks.
Government
Government in Japan is based on the constitution drafted by the Allied occupation authorities and approved by the Japanese diet. It declares that the emperor is the symbolic head of state, but that sovereignty rests with the people. The national diet has sole legislative power. Article Nine disavows war as an instrument of national policy and forbids the maintenance of armed forces for offensive purposes. The constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote in the diet followed by a majority vote in a national referendum. The diet is composed of the house of representatives, a body of 512 members elected for terms of four years, and the house of councillors, having 252 members elected for terms of six years. Executive power is vested in an eighteen-member cabinet, appointed and headed by the prime minister, who is elected by the diet and is usually the leader of the majority party in that body. The diet may force the resignation of the prime minister through a vote of no confidence, and the cabinet may dissolve the house of representatives and call for new elections. The latter is often done, and house members rarely serve their full terms. A supreme court heads an independent judiciary. The LDP has had control of the diet since 1955, when the party was formed. Relatively conservative, the LDP has supported the alliance with the U.S. and the mutual security pacts between the two countries. Most political parties in Japan are small and do not have broad, mass memberships. Their members are mainly professional politicians. Japan currently has more than 10,000 parties, most of them local and regional. Among the lager parties are the Socialist party, which opposes the security treaties with the U.S., the Komeito, or Clean Government party, which first ran candidates for the house of representatives in 1967, and supports humanitarian programs and opposes Japanese military armament, the Communist party, which steered independently of the Soviet and Chinese communist parties, and the Democratic Socialist party, originally a splinter group from the Socialist party, which favors the gradual phasing out of Japanese military dependence on U.S. defenses. Labor generally supports the Socialist or Democratic Socialist party.
A popularly elected governor and a single-house legislature govern each of the country's forty-seven prefectures: Akita, Aichi, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Pukui, Pukuoka, Pukushima, Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Nakano, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushime, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi. Cities, towns, and villages elect their own mayors and assemblies.
The chief of state is Emperor Akihito. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been head of government since 2001.
