Facts and Figures? Japan editie #1

Now that we have arrived in Japan, the search begins... What does Japan actually look like? How does the language work? What is normal here? What is not?

Here are some things we have figured out! In edition #1, some practical information about Japan:

1. Japan has had a population of 123.1 million since mid-2025, and that number has been declining for several years due to falling birth rates and an aging population (124 million in 2024).

   
   

2. The local population is declining while the number of migrants settling in Japan is increasing (3.67 million) and now accounts for 3% of the total population.

   
   

3. The first non-Asian country from which most emigrants come is Brazil. This is not surprising given the Japanese migration to Brazil during the Meiji period.

   
   

4. Tokyo itself has a population of approximately 10 million within the city limits, but the metropolitan area, or Greater Tokyo Prefecture, has a population of over 38 to 41 million.

   
   

5. Hiroshima has a population of approximately 1.2 million and is just outside the top 10 largest cities in Japan.

   
   

6. From the most northern tip of Japan, you can wave to the Russians in good weather. And if you like more of a challenge, you can also try swimming.

   
   

7. If you were to place Japan on top of Europe, the northernmost tip of Japan would be located at Hamburg, while the southernmost tip of Japan would be located at Madrid. And if you include Okinawa (islands near Taiwan, which belong to Japan), the southernmost tip is located far beyond the Canary Islands.

   
   

8. Japan has 47 prefectures, which are comparable to provinces. These are further subdivided into regions based on geographical and historical characteristics, such as Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kansai/Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu. The 47 prefectures consist of four different types: the Tokyo metropolis (to), the island prefecture of Hokkaido (dō), the city prefectures of Kyoto and Osaka (fu), and 43 ordinary prefectures (ken).

   
   

9. To write in Japanese, you use a combination of three writing systems: hiragana (for native Japanese words and grammatical structures), katakana (for foreign words and names), and kanji (Chinese characters with their own meaning) - to make it easy.

   
   

10. They have a few ways of counting and numbers up to 10. Fun fact: Japanese doesn't have the number zero, so they borrowed it from English, and 0 is zero here too!

    1. Basic numbers: Ichi, Ni, San, Yon, Go, Roku, Nana, Hachi, Ku, Juu

    2. Counting objects: Hitotsu, Futatsu, Mittsu, Yottsu, Itsutsu, Muttsu, Nanatsu, Yattsu, Kokonutsu, Tou

    3. Numbers for people: Hitori, Futari, San-nin, Yon-nin, Go-nin, Roku-nin, Nana-nin, Hachi-nin, Ku-nin, Juu-nun