Population of Japan: size, density, forecasts

Japan is located in the Pacific Ocean, or more precisely, on the Japanese archipelago, which consists of 6852 islands. This is an economically developed state with a high standard of living and unique culture. Although the economic and social sphere is at its best, Japan's population is not experiencing the best period in terms of growth.

However, this figure is decreasing every year: in 2021 alone it became less by 149,000 people. Forecasts for 2019 are also not reassuring: the countrymeters portal reports that natural growth will remain negative, the loss will be another 149,000. We need to figure out why such a developed state is experiencing difficulties with population growth.

Demographic situation

Demography studies the population, the patterns of its reproduction, distribution and composition. The fact is that Japan has low birth and death rates. CNN reports that the number of newborns fell to 921,000 in 2021, the lowest since 1899. Each woman gives birth to an average of 1.4 children, when with an increase in the population this figure is 2.1. The government intends to increase this number to 1.8. On the other hand, the mortality rate in Japan is also low. Since the country has developed healthcare and education for citizens, the Japanese can boast of almost the highest standard of living among the most developed countries. The standard of living also affects the average life expectancy , here the Japanese are ahead of countries such as Switzerland, Spain and Singapore (the world average is 71 years):

According to the census results at the beginning of 2019 , 126,048,221 people live in Japan (current as of April 2019). This allowed the country to take 10th place among other countries in terms of the number of citizens.

At the beginning 2020 , Japan's population dropped below 125 million and is 125,876,292 people (current as of June 2021).

Like throughout the world, 2021 turned out to be a very difficult year for Japan. Although it did not affect the country much, the population has decreased and at the beginning of 2021 : 125,620,000 people.

average life expectancy

men – 79 years old
women – 85.7 years

This means that Japan is an aging nation. The percentage of residents of retirement age is increasing (22.9%), and fewer and fewer are children and adolescents (only 13.1%). The remaining 64% of residents are of working age.

social burden is created in Japanese society . To provide for disabled people, it is necessary that able-bodied residents produce one and a half times more services and goods than they need themselves.

The ratio of men to women is:

0-24 – 105 men per 100 women
25-69 – 101 to 100 respectively
70+ – 69 to 100

Nikkei Diaspora

The number of Japanese living outside their home country is relatively small, amounting to approximately 2.5 million people. The largest diasporas have historically developed in Brazil, the United States and the Philippines.

Due to the decline in the working population in Japan, the country's government passed a law in 1989 allowing the employment of any foreigner whose ancestors were Japanese. Many Japanese from Brazil and Peru took advantage of this opportunity to return to the homeland of their parents and grandparents.

A small number of Japanese at the beginning of the last century emigrated to Russia, mainly to the Far East. In 1904, representatives of this nationality made up up to 10% of the population of Vladivostok. However, after the Russo-Japanese War, most of them returned to their homeland.

In the early Soviet period, there was labor migration as part of a program to attract Japanese to work in the Far Eastern fisheries. However, it cannot be compared in scale with the migration of Japanese to other countries of the world. Currently, a little more than two thousand Japanese live in Russia .

Emigration policy of the Japanese government

Developed countries like the USA, Germany and Canada have found a solution to the problem of the aging population by revising their emigration policy. Unfortunately, the Japanese do not consider this option - 99% are indigenous people. These people care about preserving ancient traditions and culture, keeping the crime rate low, and preventing crimes by citizens. Most foreigners are not familiar with the culture and customs, so they do not take root here.

The majority of Japanese immigrants are Korean (0.5%) and Chinese (0.4%).

Religion

Surveys on the religious affiliation of the Japanese invariably yield results exceeding 100%. The majority declare their adherence to both Shintoism and Buddhism. One of the main characteristics of Japanese religiosity is a tendency towards syncretism. Most Japanese prefer Shinto initiation rites (analogous to baptism), pseudo-Christian weddings (usually held in a hotel “chapel” by a non-ordained foreigner in clerical robes) and Buddhist funerals.

Inari Shrine in Kyoto

Shinto is Japan's own religion, influencing almost every aspect of Japanese culture and society. It is not easy to define Shintoism concisely because it is not a codified set of beliefs. There are no dogmatic sets of rules, there is not even a Holy Scripture. And the term itself was introduced only after the appearance of Buddhism on the islands; traditionally called 552 and then only to distinguish between original and introduced beliefs. Shintoism is an animistic system that involves the worship of spirits, or kami. Kami are present in everything living and inanimate - in plants, animals, rocks, mountains, the sun.

Buddhism came to Japan through China and Korea in the 6th century, but gained popularity only in the 9th century. Over time, under the influence of Shinto, Buddhist ideas were partially transformed, and kami began to be perceived as temporary incarnations of Buddhist deities. Often Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines are adjacent to each other; a small temple may stand on the hallowed grounds of a larger shrine, and vice versa.

Japan population, density

Density determines how many people live in one square kilometer of territory. According to the UN Department of Statistics, the country has an average population of 333 people per square kilometer. Despite the fact that the country is considered densely populated, some areas are not densely populated - only 70 people. The number of urban residents and those who inhabit coastal areas is about 500 people, and some regions number even 5.5 thousand.

Every year, thousands of young Japanese decide to move to cities, increasing the level of urbanization. There are 11 million-plus cities in the country, the most populated are:

Tokyo - 13.7 million
Osaka – 2.6 million
Nagoya – 2.2 million

Features of the ethnic composition

Unlike many other states, Japan has an almost entirely mononational population. The racial composition has remained unchanged for many hundreds of years - indigenous people make up more than 98% of the country's inhabitants. In addition, there are surprisingly few migrant workers on the islands ; Koreans, Chinese, Peruvians and Brazilians are the most likely to come to work in Japan.

The indigenous nationality is divided into several ethnic groups. The ancient Japanese state arose in the 3rd-4th century on the territory of the Yamato tribal union. Along with representatives of this tribe, the basis of the Japanese nation were the Ainu and Ryukyu peoples, who also lived on the islands from ancient times.

Japanese

State policy, however, from the very beginning avoided emphasizing ethnic differences, and therefore the Japanese perceive themselves as a single people, with a single culture, speaking the same language. The Japanese language has dozens of dialects , quite different from each other, especially on the northern and southern islands of the archipelago.

Literary Japanese was created in the nineteenth century based on the Tokyo dialect, is used in all educational institutions and allows speakers of different dialects to easily communicate with each other.

Religious Beliefs

Most Japanese people identify with a particular religion, but this cannot be said to play any significant role in their daily lives. The dominant religions are Buddhism and Shinto, often a mixture of these two religions and practices. The All Japan Buddhist Association is the largest religious organization. Christians make up no more than 3%, representatives of Islam and other religions in total no more than 7% of the population.

Caste survivals in modern times

Despite the generally successful strengthening of the unity of the Japanese nation, the country still has not eliminated the tradition of caste discrimination. It’s not customary for the Japanese to talk about it, but at least a million people are considered in society to be a caste of outcasts - the Burakumin.

This caste developed many centuries ago on the basis of religious ideas about purity and included, on the one hand, people who had committed criminal offenses, and on the other hand, representatives of “unclean” professions associated with blood, death and other dirty work (butchers, tanners, scavengers, executioners, even surgeons, undertakers)

Although the caste system was officially abolished almost 150 years ago in 1871, the areas and towns specifically designated for these people have not gone away and still exist. Descendants of Burakumin experience problems with admission to prestigious educational institutions, with employment in successful companies, they have practically no chance of marrying a representative of another class, so they often leave the country and start families with foreigners who are not subject to local prejudices.

Demographic Projections for the Japanese

According to the National Institute of Research's Japan Population Projections: 2021 to 2065, the country will have 88.1 million people living in 2065—nearly two-thirds the number today. Japan's population will continue to age rapidly, with more than 25.5 percent of the population being 75 years of age or older. It is estimated that 547,000 will reach the age of 100 - ten times more than in 2015.

Optimists argue that the situation in the land of the rising sun will return to the same number of inhabitants as 65 years ago. But the situation with the aging population is significantly different. Japan is already becoming a shrinking society. The main reason is the natural decrease, that is, the difference between birth rates and deaths. Also, Japanese women began to get married only at the age of 30, which affects the birth of children. Although the government is trying to support young families, this is not easy, because a significant part of the budget is allocated to older people.

Dynamics by year

The United Nations began publishing the first population data in 1950. At that time, Japan had 82,802,084 inhabitants. Every year their number increased, and at an active pace. Therefore, in 1967 the population exceeded 100 million, and in 2014 there were already more than 128 million inhabitants. Then negative dynamics began, the number of Japanese decreased, which is why at the moment the population is almost equal to Mexico.

Attitude to food and cuisine

The cheapest food in Japan is seafood. It is a common joke here that as long as there are fish in the ocean, no one in Japan will die of hunger.
And the most expensive products are fruits and melons. For some varieties of peaches you will have to pay $5 per piece, and “elite” varieties of square watermelons or melons can reach $1000 per kilogram.
The Japanese's favorite breakfast is steamed rice with natto soybeans.
Unlike the Chinese, the Japanese do not overuse spices, as they consider them harmful to the stomach. Instead, several dozen soy sauces are used.
The word “sushi,” which is popular in Russia, is rarely used by the Japanese. Each type of rice and fish roll has its own name - uramaki, futomaki, nigirizushi, etc.
Animal meat has long been banned in Japan due to religious beliefs. Now in most restaurants you can safely order pork or beef prepared in a way that is not prepared anywhere else in the world.
Very often the Japanese resort to food coloring. For example, pink ginger is obtained only after coloring - its natural color is pale yellow. And flying fish caviar, which is so popularly used for various types of sushi, is generally colorless.
On the shelves of Japanese grocery stores there are some very strange products - horseradish-flavored chocolate, blueberry-flavored potato chips and even carbonated tomato juice.
The attitude towards drinks in Japan is very specific. Here you can try cucumber-flavored Pepsi or coffee-flavored Coca-Cola.
Sake rice vodka is actually not vodka at all. It is prepared using a unique method from wort and malt, pasteurizing and fermenting. In terms of production technology, sake is closest to beer.
Well, beer itself in Japan is sold only in glass bottles of the same shape, which the buyer must return to the store for reuse.

Pepsi with cucumber flavor

GDP per capita

The peak of economic development of the Land of the Rising Sun occurred between 1960 and 1980 of the 20th century. But the 90s are considered a lost decade in Japan. Due to the strong rise in prices, economic development has slowed down quite seriously. The government took a number of decisive measures, thanks to which by the mid-2000s the dynamics of development were better than in Western countries. At the moment, Japan is one of the ten countries with the largest gross domestic product.

The reason for its increase is the high volume of exports of goods produced in Japan. These include electrical products, automobiles, and a large number of electronics. For this reason, even during the global financial crisis of 2008, the size of GDP continued to grow. But over the past couple of years its value has fallen by more than 15%. The reason lies in changes in the dollar exchange rate, due to which consumer demand for cars from Japanese manufacturers has dropped quite seriously.

Currently, the gross domestic product per capita is $39,305. This value differs slightly from that of the United Arab Emirates ($40,711). Since last year the value has increased by 2.5%. The low growth is a consequence of the fact that Japanese industry has reached the peak of its development. Therefore, in the near future, the value of gross domestic product will grow slightly.

Interesting facts about the Japanese

Not everyone knows, but residents of the Land of the Rising Sun:

They don't like to walk. Even if a Japanese needs to get to the next block, he will drive, order a taxi or use public transport.
They don't know English. Despite the locals' growing love for Western culture, it is not easy to meet someone in Japan who can speak clearly in English, especially outside of Tokyo. The thing is that this language is very different from Japanese, and most people are simply not ready to spend several years mastering it.
Very shy. It gets to the point where many can't even talk to strangers. Perhaps for this reason, not many Japanese work abroad or even just travel to other countries.
They always pay equally for lunch. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about a romantic date or a meeting with a business partner. Everyone will pay their half of the bill.
Extremely honest. Japan has a fairly low level of corruption. Lost items are always returned to their rightful owners.

As you can see, this is a rather unusual nation.