Sunday, January 18, 2009

Japanese Demographics



Japanese Demographics








A view of Shibuya crossing, an example of Tokyo's often crowded streets.


Japan's population is estimated at around 127.3 million.[86] For the most part, Japanese society is linguistically and culturally homogeneous with small populations of foreign workers, Zainichi Koreans, Zainichi Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese Brazilians and others. The most dominant native ethnic group is the Yamato people; the primary minority groups include the indigenous Ainu and Ryukyuan, as well as social minority groups like the burakumin.


Japan has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world, at 81.25 years of age as of 2006.[87] The Japanese population is rapidly aging, the effect of a post-war baby boom followed by a decrease in births in the latter part of the twentieth century. In 2004, about 19.5% of the population was over the age of 65.[88]


The changes in the demographic structure have created a number of social issues, particularly a potential decline in the workforce population and increases in the cost of social security benefits such as the public pension plan. Many Japanese youth are increasingly preferring not to marry or have families as adults.[89] Japan's population is expected to drop to 100 million by 2050 and to 64 million by 2100.[88] Demographers and government planners are currently in a heated debate over how to cope with this problem.[89] Immigration and birth incentives are sometimes suggested as a solution to provide younger workers to support the nation's aging population.[90][91]


The highest estimates for the amount of Buddhists and Shintoists in Japan is 84-96%, representing a large number of believers in a syncretism of both religions.[4][92] However, these estimates are based on people with an association with a temple, rather than the number of people truly following the religion.[93] Professor Robert Kisala (Nanzan University) suggests that only 30 percent of the population identify themselves as belonging to a religion.[93]


Taoism and Confucianism from China have also influenced Japanese beliefs and customs. Religion in Japan tends to be syncretic in nature, and this results in a variety of practices, such as parents and children celebrating Shinto rituals, students praying before exams, couples holding a wedding at a Christian church and funerals being held at Buddhist temples. A minority (2,595,397, or 2.04%) profess to Christianity.[94] In addition, since the mid-19th century, numerous religious sects (Shinshūkyō) have emerged in Japan, such as Tenrikyo and Aum Shinrikyo (or Aleph).


More than 99% of the population speaks Japanese as their first language.[86] It is an agglutinative language distinguished by a system of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary which indicate the relative status of speaker and listener. According to a Japanese dictionary Shinsen-kokugojiten, Chinese-based words comprise 49.1% of the total vocabulary, indigenous words are 33.8% and other loanwords are 8.8%.[95] The writing system uses kanji (Chinese characters) and two sets of kana (syllabaries based on simplified Chinese characters), as well as the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals. The Ryukyuan languages, also part of the Japonic language family to which Japanese belongs, are spoken in Okinawa, but few children learn these languages.[96] The Ainu language is moribund, with only a few elderly native speakers remaining in Hokkaidō.[97] Most public and private schools require students to take courses in both Japanese and English.[98]











































































Largest cities of Japan

 Core CityPrefecturePopulation  Core CityPrefecturePopulation
1TokyoTokyo8,483,050Tokyo
Tokyo
Yokohama
Yokohama
7KyotoKyoto1,474,764
2YokohamaKanagawa3,579,1338FukuokaFukuoka1,400,621
3OsakaOsaka2,628,7769KawasakiKanagawa1,327,009
4NagoyaAichi2,215,03110SaitamaSaitama1,176,269
5SapporoHokkaidō1,880,87511HiroshimaHiroshima1,159,391
6KobeHyōgo1,525,38912SendaiMiyagi1,028,214
Source: 2005 Census



Education and health








The Yasuda Auditorium of University of Tokyo, one of Japan's most prestigious universities.

Primary, secondary schools and universities were introduced into Japan in 1872 as a result of the Meiji Restoration.[99] Since 1947, compulsory education in Japan consists of elementary school and middle school, which lasts for nine years (from age 6 to age 15). Almost all children continue their education at a three-year senior high school, and, according to the MEXT, about 75.9% of high school graduates attend a university, junior college, trade school, or other post-secondary institution in 2005.[100] Japan's education is very competitive,[101] especially for entrance to institutions of higher education. The two top-ranking universities in Japan are the University of Tokyo and Keio University.[102] The Programme for International Student Assessment coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks Japanese knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds as the 6th best in the world.[103]


In Japan, healthcare services are provided by national and local governments. Payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal health care insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee. People without insurance through employers can participate in a national health insurance program administered by local governments. Since 1973, all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance.[104] Patients are free to select physicians or facilities of their choice.[105]




Culture and recreation




Main articles: Culture of Japan and Music of Japan





Geisha performing in traditional kimono

Japanese culture has evolved greatly over the years, from the country's original Jōmon culture to its contemporary culture, which combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America. Traditional Japanese arts include crafts (ikebana, origami, ukiyo-e, dolls, lacquerware, pottery), performances (bunraku, dance, kabuki, noh, rakugo), traditions (games, tea ceremony, Budō, architecture, gardens, swords) and cuisine. The fusion of traditional woodblock printing and Western art led to the creation of manga, a typically Japanese comic book format that is now popular within and outside Japan.[106] Manga-influenced animation for television and film is called anime. Japanese-made video game consoles have prospered since the 1980s.[107]


Japanese music is eclectic, having borrowed instruments, scales and styles from neighboring cultures. Many instruments, such as the koto, were introduced in the ninth and tenth centuries. The accompanied recitative of the Noh drama dates from the fourteenth century and the popular folk music, with the guitar-like shamisen, from the sixteenth.[108] Western music, introduced in the late nineteenth century, now forms an integral part of the culture. Post-war Japan has been heavily influenced by American and European modern music, which has led to the evolution of popular band music called J-pop.[109]


Karaoke is the most widely practiced cultural activity. A November 1993 survey by the Cultural Affairs Agency found that more Japanese had sung karaoke that year than had participated in traditional cultural pursuits such as flower arranging or tea ceremony.[110]



The earliest works of Japanese literature include two history books the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki and the eighth century poetry book Man'yōshū, all written in Chinese characters.[111] In the early days of the Heian period, the system of transcription known as kana (Hiragana and Katakana) was created as phonograms. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest Japanese narrative.[112] An account of Heian court life is given by The Pillow Book written by Sei Shōnagon, while The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki is often described as the world's first novel. During the Edo period, literature became not so much the field of the samurai aristocracy as that of the chōnin, the ordinary people. Yomihon, for example, became popular and reveals this profound change in the readership and authorship.[112] The Meiji era saw the decline of traditional literary forms, during which Japanese literature integrated Western influences. Natsume Sōseki and Mori Ōgai were the first "modern" novelists of Japan, followed by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Yasunari Kawabata, Yukio Mishima and, more recently, Haruki Murakami. Japan has two Nobel Prize-winning authors — Yasunari Kawabata (1968) and Kenzaburo Oe (1994).[112]



Sports




Main article: Sport in Japan




A sumo tournament at the Grand Tournament in Osaka.

Traditionally, sumo is considered Japan's national sport[113] and it is a popular spectator sport in Japan. Martial arts such as judo, karate and kendō are also widely practiced and enjoyed by spectators in the country. After the Meiji Restoration, many Western sports were introduced in Japan and began to spread through the education system.[114]


The professional baseball league in Japan was established in 1936.[115] Today baseball is the most popular spectator sport in the country. One of the most famous Japanese baseball players is Ichiro Suzuki, who, having won Japan's Most Valuable Player award in 1994, 1995 and 1996, now plays in North American Major League Baseball. Prior to that, Sadaharu Oh was well-known outside Japan, having hit more home runs during his career in Japan than his contemporary, Hank Aaron, did in America.


Since the establishment of the Japan Professional Football League in 1992, association football (soccer) has also gained a wide following.[116] Japan was a venue of the Intercontinental Cup from 1981 to 2004 and co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South Korea. Japan is one of the most successful soccer teams in Asia, winning the Asian Cup three times.


Golf is also popular in Japan,[117] as are forms of auto racing, such as the Super GT sports car series and Formula Nippon formula racing.[118] Twin Ring Motegi was completed in 1997 by Honda in order to bring IndyCar racing to Japan.






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Further reading



  • Christopher, Robert C., The Japanese Mind: the Goliath Explained, Linden Press/Simon and Schuster, 1983 (ISBN 0330284193)
  • De Mente, The Japanese Have a Word For It, McGraw-Hill, 1997 (ISBN 0-8442-8316-9)
  • Flath, The Japanese Economy, Oxford University Press, 2000 (ISBN 0198775032)
  • Free, Early Japanese Railways 1853–1914: Engineering Triumphs That Transformed Meiji-era Japan, Tuttle Publishing, 2008 (ISBN 4805310065)
  • Henshall, A History of Japan, Palgrave Macmillan, 2001 (ISBN 0-312-23370-1)
  • Hood, Shinkansen: From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan, Routledge, 2006, (ISBN 0415320526)
  • Ikegami, Bonds Of Civility: Aesthetic Networks And The Political Origins Of Japanese Culture, Cambridge University Press, 2005 (ISBN 0521601150)
  • Ito et al., Reviving Japan's Economy: Problems and Prescriptions, MIT Press, 2005 (ISBN 0-262-09040-6)
  • Iwabuchi, Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism, Duke University Press, 2002 (ISBN 0822328917)
  • Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan, Belknap, 2000 (ISBN 0-674-00334-9)
  • Johnson, Japan: Who Governs?, W.W. Norton, 1996 (ISBN 0-393-31450-2)
  • Kato et al., A History of Japanese Literature: From the Man'Yoshu to Modern Times, Japan Library, 1997 (ISBN 1873410484)
  • Macwilliams, Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime, M.E. Sharpe, 2007 (ISBN 0765616025)
  • McDonald, Reading a Japanese Film: Cinema in Context, University of Hawaii Press, 2005 (ISBN 082482993X)
  • Ono et al., Shinto: The Kami Way, Tuttle Publishing, 2004 (ISBN 0804835578)
  • Pyle, Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose, Public Affairs, 2007 (ISBN 1586485679)
  • Reischauer, Japan: The Story of a Nation, McGraw-Hill, 1989 (ISBN 0-07-557074-2)
  • Samuels, Securing Japan: Tokyo's Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia, Cornell University Press, 2008 (ISBN 0801474906)
  • Silverberg, Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: The Mass Culture of Japanese Modern Times, University of California Press, 2007 (ISBN 0520222733)
  • Shinoda, Koizumi Diplomacy: Japan’s Kantei Approach to Foreign and Defense Affairs, University of Washington Press, 2007 (ISBN 0295986999)
  • Stevens, Japanese Popular Music: Culture, Authenticity and Power, Routledge, 2007 (ISBN 041538057X)
  • Sugimoto et al., An Introduction to Japanese Society, Cambridge University Press, 2003 (ISBN 0-521-52925-5)
  • Van Wolferen, The Enigma of Japanese Power, Vintage, 1990 (ISBN 0-679-72802-3)
  • Varley, Japanese Culture, University of Hawaii Press, 2000 (ISBN 0824821521)


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