Geography
- Four main islands and many smaller ones
- Area: slightly smaller than California
- Arable land: 11.6%
- Highest point: Mt. Fuji: 3,776m
- Natural hazards: active volcanoes; earthquakes (1,500 seismic occurrances every year); tsunamis; typhoons; heavy snowfalls
- The air route between Tokyo and Sapporo is the busiest in the world
- Population growth rate: -0.28%
- 126,476,000 people (July 2011 est.)
- 0-14 years: 13.1%; 15-64 years: 64%; over 65 years: 22.9%
- Japanese 98.5%; Korean 0.5%; Chinese 0.4%; other 0.6%
- Life expectancy at birth: overall 82.2 years (women 85.7 years)
- Literacy 99%
- Shintoist 83.9%
- Buddhist 71.4%
- Christianity 2% (evangelical 0.3%)
- Other 7.8% (total adherents exceeds 100% because many people belong to both Shintoism and Buddhism)
Shinto is an indigenous religion based on ancestor and nature worship, with about 200 sects. Many families have either Buddhist family altars or Shinto god shelves at which they make offerings and pray for the spirits of their ancestors. Some families have both. But many Japanese in their day-to-day life have little to do with these religions, visiting Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines for special occasions such as funerals, blessings for babies and children, weddings and New Year festivities.
Click here for an interesting video on how to get rid of sin by flushing a toilet in a Buddhist temple!
Overall View of Japan
Japan’s Economy
Christianity in Japan
Marriage in Japan
