#JAPAN INNER DEFENSE ZONE FULL#
#JAPAN INNER DEFENSE ZONE SERIES#

The number of household members has continued to decline, dropping to 2.33 in 2015. However, due to the increase in one-person households and nuclear-family households since the 1960s, the average size of households was down significantly in 1970, to 3.41 members. Of that total, 55.9 percent were nuclear-family households, and 34.6 percent were one-person households.įrom the 1920s to the mid-1950s, the average number of household members remained about 5. The Population Census shows that Japan had 53.33 million private households (excluding 'institutional households' such as students in school dormitories) in 2015, showing a consistent increase since the initiation of the Census. (1) Household Size and Household Composition In 2020, it was 125.71 million, down by 0.46 million from the year before. This was a decrease by 962,607 people as compared to the previous Census (2010), indicating the first population decline since the initiation of the Census in 1920. Japan's total population was 127.09 million according to the Population Census in 2015. Since the 1980s, it has declined sharply. However, Japan's population growth slowed afterward, with the rate of population change about 1 percent from the 1960s through the 1970s. In 1912, it reached 50 million, and in 1967, it surpassed the 100 million mark. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, it began expanding in tandem with the drive to build a modern nation-state. Japan's population density measured 340.8 persons per square kilometer in 2015, ranking 11th among countries or areas with a population of 10 million or more.įrom the 18th century through the first half of the 19th century, Japan's population remained steady at about 30 million. This ranked 11th in the world and made up 1.6 percent of the world's total. Japan's total population in 2020 was 125.71 million. Another unique characteristic of Japan's climate is that it has two long spells of rainy seasons, one in early summer when the southeast monsoon begins to blow, and the other in autumn when the winds cease. In the summer, the southeast monsoon brings high temperatures and low rainfall on the Sea of Japan side, and high temperatures and high humidity on the Pacific Ocean side.

#JAPAN INNER DEFENSE ZONE SERIES#

Due to the topography of Honshu featuring a series of mountain ranges running from north to south, the northwest monsoon in the winter brings humid conditions with heavy precipitation (snow) to the Sea of Japan side of Honshu but comparatively dry weather with low precipitation to the Pacific Ocean side. ClimateĪlthough the Japanese archipelago has a temperate marine climate, it differs by region depending on the effects of seasonal winds and ocean currents. There are 1.95 million hectares of developed land (5.2 percent). Together, forestland, fields and farmland thus cover approximately 80 percent of the nation. There are 25.38 million hectares of forestland and fields (which equates to 67.2 percent of the nation's surface area), followed by 4.44 million hectares of farmland (11.8 percent) combined.

Hilly terrain extends between the mountainous regions and the plains.Īs of 2017, forestland and fields account for the largest portion of the nation's surface area. The mountains are generally steep and are intricately carved out by ravines.

#JAPAN INNER DEFENSE ZONE FULL#

The land is full of undulations, with mountainous regions including hilly terrain accounting for about three-quarters of its total area. Therefore, the number of earthquakes in the country is quite high, and so is the proportion of active volcanoes. Since the Japanese archipelago is located in the world's newest mobile belt, it is particularly prone to various geological phenomena. Its surface area totals 377,976 square kilometers.

It consists of the main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa, and more than 6,800 smaller islands of various sizes. The land is located between approximately 20 to 45 degrees north latitude and between approximately 123 to 154 degrees east longitude. The islands form a crescent-shaped archipelago stretching from northeast to southwest parallel to the continental coastline with the Sea of Japan in between. Japan is an island country situated off the eastern seaboard of the Eurasian continent in the northern hemisphere. Main contents start here Statistical Handbook of Japan 2021 Chapter 1 Land and Climate ( PDF:4,688KB)

Japan inner defense zone