Japan
JAPAN
A country in East Asia, located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, consisting of four major islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, along with numerous smaller islands stretching along the mainland coast from northeast to southwest for more than 3,000 km.
Area - 372.2 thousand km². Capital - Tokyo (11.9 million), other major cities with a population over 1 million include Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Nagoya, Kyoto, Sapporo, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Kawasaki, Kitakyushu. Administrative division - 47 prefectures. Population - 127.7 million (2005); 99.4% are Japanese, the rest are Koreans, Chinese, Americans, Ainu (descendants of the ancient population of the country), and others. Official language - Japanese.
Main religions - Shintoism and Buddhism. Currency - yen.
It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (established with the USSR on January 20, 1925, interrupted on August 9, 1945, restored on October 19, 1956).
National holiday - December 23 - Emperor Akihito's birthday (born in 1933).
Japan is a constitutional monarchy. According to the constitution in effect since 1947, the emperor (since 1989 - Akihito) is "the symbol of the state and the unity of the nation," and his status is determined by "the will of the entire people, to whom sovereign power belongs."
The highest legislative body is the parliament, consisting of two chambers - the House of Representatives (480 deputies) and the House of Councillors (242 deputies). The term of office for deputies of the House of Representatives is 4 years, and for the House of Councillors - 6 years (with re-election of half of its members every 3 years). The last elections for the House of Representatives were held on September 11, 2005, and for the House of Councillors on July 11, 2004 (with the current composition established on July 29, 2001).
The executive power is exercised by the cabinet of ministers headed by the prime minister, elected by the parliament (since April 2001 - Junichiro Koizumi, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)). After the 2003 elections, the government was formed by the LDP, which gained a majority of seats, with the participation of the New Komeito party. The opposition consists of the Democratic, Communist, and Social Democratic parties.
Private entrepreneurs' organizations play a significant role in Japan's internal life: the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Nihon Keidanren), which unites almost all major groups of the Japanese business community (it includes about 80 leading representatives of financial and industrial groups on a personal basis and about 940 companies and 120 financial and industrial associations collectively); the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nissho), which includes 1.2 million member firms - mainly small and medium-sized, united in 489 local chambers of commerce and industry; the Association of Economic Like-Minded People (Keizai Doyukai), which includes about 1,000 influential businessmen on an individual basis.
Trade unions (about 12.3 million people, or 24.5% of the economically active population) continue to have a noticeable influence on social processes in the country. The Confederation of Trade Unions - Rengo (with over 7.6 million members, or 62.1% of all organized workers), established in 1989 during the reorganization of the trade union movement, advocates for the formation of a new political force based on the social-democratic movement that could serve as an alternative to the LDP. Other trade union organizations include the National Federation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) (about 1.4 million) and the National Council of Trade Unions (Zenrokyo) (about 400 thousand).
Historically, Japan developed as an island state. Its name - "Nihon" - in kanji translates to "the rising sun." It was first applied in 670 AD. This period corresponds to the first laws on state structure. From the late 12th century to the mid-19th century (with some interruptions), state power was held by military-feudal rulers - shoguns (the emperor remained a religious head of state). From the beginning of the 18th century, with the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan was closed to the outside world. Japan's self-isolation was interrupted in 1853 when it signed a treaty with the United States, opening several ports to American ships. Similar treaties were concluded with several other countries, including Russia - the Treaty of Shimoda, signed on January 26 (February 7 in the new style), 1855, during the expedition to Japan by the authorized representative of the Russian emperor, Vice Admiral E. V. Putiatin.
The abolition of the shogunate and the restoration of the emperor's power after the Meiji Restoration (1867-68) cleared the way for Japan's capitalist development. Since the late 19th century, Japan's policy has taken on an aggressive, expansionist character. After the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, it annexed Southern Sakhalin. Having concluded an alliance with Germany and Italy, in 1941 Japan launched large-scale military operations in the Pacific, but ultimately suffered defeat from the Allied powers, including the USSR, which, by agreement with the USA and Great Britain, entered the war against Japan in August 1945. According to the Yalta (February 1945) agreement of the three powers (USSR, USA, Great Britain), after the war, the Soviet Union regained Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
As a result of its defeat in World War II, Japan lost all its colonies and a significant part of its natural wealth. The country was occupied by American troops. At the same time, it gained the opportunity for development along the path of demilitarization and democratization.
The constitution adopted under the active influence of the United States in 1947 proclaimed the sovereign power of the people, democratic rights, and freedoms. The emperor was stripped of his powers. Japan renounced the use of armed force as a means of resolving international disputes. The reforms carried out in the country contributed to its rapid economic development, transforming Japan into one of the leading industrially developed countries in the world. The ensuing "Cold War," as well as the Korean War of 1950-53, determined its foreign policy orientation for many decades. Alongside the international San Francisco Peace Treaty signed in September 1951, a Japan-U.S. security treaty was concluded, under which the USA gained the right to station its armed forces and establish military bases in Japan. In 1960, the USA and Japan signed a new treaty on mutual cooperation and security, which has been automatically extended since 1970.
In recent years, the Japanese government has pursued a course to enhance the country's role in the global political process. Significant importance is placed on activities within the framework of the UN (a member since 1956), other international organizations (Colombo Plan (since 1954), OECD (since 1964), etc.), and participation in the resolution of regional conflicts.
The alliance with the USA remains the cornerstone of Japan's foreign policy. At the same time, it maintains active ties with Western Europe; Tokyo's participation in annual meetings of leaders of major economically developed countries is becoming increasingly significant.
Japan places great importance on developing relations with neighboring countries, especially with ASEAN member states, with which it seeks to strengthen economic and political ties. In the structure of its foreign policy priorities, special attention is given to relations with the People's Republic of China. Japan actively participates in economic integration processes in the Asia-Pacific region, APEC, and multilateral contacts on security issues in the region.
Soviet-Japanese relations after World War II developed under complex conditions. The USSR did not sign the San Francisco Peace Treaty, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were restored only in October 1956 with the signing of the Joint Declaration of the USSR and Japan. Trade agreements were concluded, as well as a number of cooperation agreements in practical areas. For a long time, Tokyo adhered to the so-called principle of "the indivisibility of politics and economics," according to which the development of economic cooperation was made dependent on progress in resolving the "territorial issue" related to Japan's claims to the islands of the southern part of the Kuril chain.
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia, as the successor state, inherited unresolved issues in bilateral relations with Japan. The principle of "the indivisibility of politics and economics" was revised and transformed by Japan into a more realistic principle of "balanced, multilayered expansion of relations."
On December 27, 1991, the Japanese government recognized the Russian Federation as the successor state of the USSR. Currently, Russian-Japanese relations are characterized by adherence to democratic values, the absence of ideological and military confrontation, and an interest in cooperation on the international stage. The Moscow Declaration, signed in November 1998, set the goal of building a long-term partnership between the two countries.
Regular dialogue at the highest level is maintained. In January 2003, an official visit by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to Russia took place. As a result of the high-level negotiations, the "Russian-Japanese Action Plan" was adopted - a political document outlining the main directions for further work on developing bilateral relations. In November 2005, Russian President V. V. Putin visited Japan. During the visit, 18 bilateral documents aimed at further developing Russian-Japanese relations in various fields were signed.
Japan is the third largest trading power in the world after the USA and Germany: in 2003, its foreign trade volume amounted to 98.87 trillion yen, including exports of 54.55 trillion yen (an increase of 4.9% compared to 2002) and imports of 44.32 trillion yen (an increase of 5.1%). Japan has the largest positive trade balance in the world (in 2003 - over 12.25 trillion yen).
In the structure of exports, the largest share (72%) is accounted for by machinery and equipment, among which automobiles (16.8%), semiconductors (7.4%), office equipment (5.8%), scientific and optical instruments (3.6%), power plants (3.4%), ships (2.2%), audio and video equipment, and many others are significant. In imports, a stable and quite significant share is occupied by mineral fuels (19.4%), food products (12.5%), and raw materials (6.5%).
Japan's main trading partners are the USA, China, and the European Union. In 2004, Japan's trade turnover with Russia exceeded 8 billion dollars, with a significant predominance of supplies from Russia (non-ferrous metals, seafood, raw minerals).
The exchange rate of the Japanese yen against the US dollar currently stands at about 100 yen per 1 dollar.
Japan's energy sector is more than 80% dependent on the import of energy resources (oil, gas, coal, uranium, etc.). More than half of the energy balance comes from oil, but the importance of hydro and nuclear energy is increasing. The country has 43 nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 35 million kWh.
Recently, Tokyo has shown interest in accessing the energy resources market of Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation.
Thanks to new technologies, it is becoming economically viable for Japan to utilize ocean resources.
Agriculture plays a significant role in the country's economy, although its share in national income is about 2.2%. About 5.7 million people are employed in agriculture (6.6% of the total number of employed in the country). Small-scale peasant land use predominates. Approximately 5.3 million hectares are cultivated (14.3% of the country's area), nevertheless, Japan meets almost 70% of its food needs through domestic production. In terms of fish catch (about 12 million tons), Japan ranks first in the world.
The main mode of transport is automotive. The total length of highways is about 1.2 million km, of which about 5,000 km are expressways. The length of railways is about 30,000 km.
Japan occupies a leading position in the world in the development of information technology and robotics, and is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, having joint production and enterprises in this field in various countries, including Russia.
The largest state universities are Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hokkaido. Among private universities, the most well-known are the Tokyo universities Nihon, Waseda, Meiji, Tokai, Hosei, and Keio.
In Japan, 420 newspapers are published with a total circulation of about 70 million copies.
The largest newspapers include "Yomiuri" (over 14 million copies), "Asahi" (12.7 million), "Mainichi" (10 million), "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" (about 4 million), "Sankei Shimbun" (over 3 million), "Chunichi Shimbun" (over 3 million).
National information agencies include Kyodo Tsushin and Jiji Tsushin.
There are more than 100 telecommunications companies, including the semi-governmental NHK broadcasting corporation, as well as major commercial television companies - NTV, TBS, Fuji, TV Asahi.
