Japan
Japan is located in Eastern Asia. It is a diverse island country between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula. The climate varies from tropical in the south to a cool temperature in the north. Although Japan relies on agriculture, almost three-quarter of the land is quite mountainous, which is not good for farming. 91% of the Japanese people live in urban areas. The ethnic groups in Japan are 98.5% Japanese, 0.5% Koreans, 0.4% Chinese and 0.6% others. The main (and kind of only) language that is spoken is Japanese. (CIA World Factbook)
Population
Japan has an estimated total population of 128.056.000, comprising 62.360.00 males and 65.697.000 females. With regard to distribution by age group, 13.2% of the population are aged 0-14 years, 63.7% 15-64 years and 23.1% 65 years and over. In Japan, the life expectancy is the highest in the world. According to the World Health Organization, in 2009 it was 79 years for men and 86 years for women. (World Health Organization)
Japan is located in Eastern Asia. It is a diverse island country between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula. The climate varies from tropical in the south to a cool temperature in the north. Although Japan relies on agriculture, almost three-quarter of the land is quite mountainous, which is not good for farming. 91% of the Japanese people live in urban areas. The ethnic groups in Japan are 98.5% Japanese, 0.5% Koreans, 0.4% Chinese and 0.6% others. The main (and kind of only) language that is spoken is Japanese. (CIA World Factbook)
Population
Japan has an estimated total population of 128.056.000, comprising 62.360.00 males and 65.697.000 females. With regard to distribution by age group, 13.2% of the population are aged 0-14 years, 63.7% 15-64 years and 23.1% 65 years and over. In Japan, the life expectancy is the highest in the world. According to the World Health Organization, in 2009 it was 79 years for men and 86 years for women. (World Health Organization)
Source figure: CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
While the number of elderly in Japan is rising, the number of babies that are born is shrinking. There are several reasons for this phenomenon. One reason is the cost. Japan is a very expensive country and getting a child through college will cost a lot and can wipe out an entire family’s finances. (Piper, 2012)
Another reason is that the Japanese people under 40 years appear to be losing interest in conventional relationships. Millions of people aren’t even dating and increasing numbers cannot be bothered with sex. (Haworth, 2013)
Religion
83.9% of the population belongs to the native religion ‘Shinto’, 71.4% to the Buddhism, 2% to the Christianity and 7.8% to another religion. Shintoïsm is the worship of nature and spirits, which started in the 16th century. Japan considers rituals more important than belief so they do not think of Shinto specifically as a religion. It is simply an aspect of life and that is why Shinto can coexist happily with Buddhism. (BBC)
How come the Japanese life expectancy is
the highest?
Mortality from cerebrovascular diseases has dramatically decreased since the 1960s in Japan. The control of hypertension (high blood pressure) and improvement in dietary habits have been mainly responsible for this reduction of mortality from cerebrovascular diseases. The traditional Japanese diet was high in salt and low in animal protein and fat. This appears to increase the risk of hypertension and eventually of cerebrovascular diseases. Salt intake has decreased from 14.5 grams a day in 1972 to 12.3 grams a day in 2000. Animal protein and fat intake has increased from 28.5 grams a day and 11.1 grams a day in 1965 to 41.7 grams a day and 23.0 grams a day in 2000 respectively but the Japanese diet still contains much less fat than Western diets. Appropriate animal protein intake and no excessive fat consumption might prevent cerebrovascular diseases. (Yoshinaga & Une, 2005)
Welfare
Gross national income per capita, based on ‘purchasing power parity’ (PPP), in Japan is 35.330 $ (international dollars). In comparison with the Netherlands, it has a gross national income per capita of 43.140 $. The gross national income per capita is a measure for the welfare of a country. (World Health Organization)
An average family in Japan spend approximately 317$ on food in one week. Favourite foods are sashimi, fruit, cake and potato chips. In the picture you can see the Ukita family of Kodaira City. As you can see it seems that a lot of the products are processed, but in fact much of it is fresh. This practice of wrapping relates to the Japanese value of presentation, which can be seen everywhere from the humblest home to the most upscale shop. The package is as important as the food. (Menzel, 2007)
Mortality from cerebrovascular diseases has dramatically decreased since the 1960s in Japan. The control of hypertension (high blood pressure) and improvement in dietary habits have been mainly responsible for this reduction of mortality from cerebrovascular diseases. The traditional Japanese diet was high in salt and low in animal protein and fat. This appears to increase the risk of hypertension and eventually of cerebrovascular diseases. Salt intake has decreased from 14.5 grams a day in 1972 to 12.3 grams a day in 2000. Animal protein and fat intake has increased from 28.5 grams a day and 11.1 grams a day in 1965 to 41.7 grams a day and 23.0 grams a day in 2000 respectively but the Japanese diet still contains much less fat than Western diets. Appropriate animal protein intake and no excessive fat consumption might prevent cerebrovascular diseases. (Yoshinaga & Une, 2005)
Welfare
Gross national income per capita, based on ‘purchasing power parity’ (PPP), in Japan is 35.330 $ (international dollars). In comparison with the Netherlands, it has a gross national income per capita of 43.140 $. The gross national income per capita is a measure for the welfare of a country. (World Health Organization)
An average family in Japan spend approximately 317$ on food in one week. Favourite foods are sashimi, fruit, cake and potato chips. In the picture you can see the Ukita family of Kodaira City. As you can see it seems that a lot of the products are processed, but in fact much of it is fresh. This practice of wrapping relates to the Japanese value of presentation, which can be seen everywhere from the humblest home to the most upscale shop. The package is as important as the food. (Menzel, 2007)
Source picture: Peter Menzel from the
book ‘The Hungry Planet’
A recent government survey showed that there is an increasing gap between the capital of Japan, Tokyo, and Japan’s rural areas. The average monthly salary among Japans’ capital is now 372.900 yen ($3.617). The average monthly salary in the Aomori Prefecture (a prefecture of Japan located in the Tohoku region, in the north of Japan) is 222.200 yen ($2.155). As the average monthly salary of Tokyo increases, the monthly salary of the rural areas decreases. The gap is getting bigger every year. (Salary was based on the month of June 2011) (The Tokyo Times, 2012)