Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form:
Japan
local long form:
Nihon-koku/Nippon-koku
local short form:
Nihon/Nippon
Government type:
a parliamentary government with a constitutional monarchy
Capital:
name: Tokyo
geographic coordinates:
35 41 N, 139 45 E
time difference:
UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gunma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi
Independence:
660 B.C. (traditional date of the founding of the nation by Emperor JIMMU; first recognized by Emperor Meiji in 1873)
National holiday:
Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933)
Constitution:
3 May 1947
Legal system:
modeled after European civil law systems with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Suffrage:
20 years of age; universal
Executive branch: Legislative branch: Judicial branch: Political parties and leaders: Political pressure groups and leaders: International organization participation: Diplomatic representation in the US: Diplomatic representation from the US: Flag description:
NOTE: The information regarding Japan on this page is re-published from the 2010 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Japan Government 2010 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Japan Government 2010 should be addressed to the CIA.
chief of state: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989)
head of government:
Prime Minister Yukio HATOYAMA (since 16 September 2009); Deputy Prime Minister Naoto KAN (since 16 September 2009)
cabinet:
Cabinet appointed by the prime minister
(For more information visit the 
)
elections:
Diet designates prime minister; constitution requires that prime minister commands parliamentary majority; following legislative elections, leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition in House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister; monarch is hereditary
bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (242 seats - members elected for fixed six-year terms; half reelected every three years; 146 members in multi-seat constituencies and 96 by proportional representation) and the House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - members elected for maximum four-year terms; 300 in single-seat constituencies; 180 members by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs); the prime minister has the right to dissolve the House of Representatives at any time with the concurrence of the cabinet.
elections:
House of Councillors - last held 29 July 2007 (next to be held in July 2010); House of Representatives - last held 30 August 2009 (next to be held by August 2013)
election results:
House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - DPJ 109, LDP 83, Komeito 20, JCP 7, SDP 5, others 18
Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by the cabinet)
Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII]; Komeito [Natsuo YAMAGUCHI]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Sadakazu TANIGAKI]; People's New Party or PNP [Shizuka KAMEI]; Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Yukio HATOYAMA]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Mizuho FUKUSHIMA]
other: business groups; trade unions
ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), APEC, APT, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CICA (observer), CP, EAS, EBRD, FAO, G-20, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA, MIGA, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SECI (observer), UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
chief of mission: Ambassador Ichiro FUJISAKI
chancery:
2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
[1] (202) 238-6700
FAX:
[1] (202) 328-2187
consulate(s) general:
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Agana (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, Seattle
consulate(s):
Anchorage, Nashville
chief of mission: Ambassador James V. ROOS
embassy:
1-10-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420
mailing address:
Unit 9800, Box 300, APO AP 96303-0300
telephone:
[81] (03) 3224-5000
FAX:
[81] (03) 3505-1862
consulate(s) general:
Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo
consulate(s):
Fukuoka, Nagoya
white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in the center
This page was last modified 09-Feb-10