Japan Government

What is the capital of Japan?

Country Name	Japan
Full Country Name	None
Local - Long	Nihon-koku/Nippon-koku
Local - Short	Nihon/Nippon
Etymology- history of name	the English word for Japan comes via the Chinese name for the country "Cipangu"; both Nihon and Nippon mean "where the sun originates" and are frequently translated as "Land of the Rising Sun"
Government Type	parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Capital Name	Tokyo
Capital - geographic coordinate	35 41 N, 139 45 E
Capital Time Difference	UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Independence	3 May 1947 (current constitution adopted as amendment to Meiji Constitution); notable earlier dates: 11 February 660 B.C. (mythological date of the founding of the nation by Emperor JIMMU); 29 November 1890 (Meiji Constitution provides for constitutional monarchy)
National Holiday	Birthday of Emperor NARUHITO, 23 February (1960); note - celebrates the birthday of the current emperor
Constitution	history: previous 1890; latest approved 6 October 1946, adopted 3 November 1946, effective 3 May 1947 amendments: proposed by the Diet; passage requires approval by at least two-thirds majority of both houses of the Diet and approval by majority in a referendum; note - the constitution has not been amended since its enactment in 1947

Japan Capital City Map

Source: Google Maps

Japan Government and Politics

Who is the president of Japan?

Executive Branch:	chief of state: Emperor NARUHITO (since 1 May 2019); note - succeeded his father who abdicated on 30 April 2019 head of government: Prime Minister Fumio KISHIDA (since 4 October 2021) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister elections/appointments: the monarchy is hereditary; the leader of the majority party or majority coalition in the House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister election results: 2021: Fumio KISHIDA reelected prime minister on 10 November 2021; upper house vote - Fumio KISHIDA (LDP) 141, Yukio EDANO (CDP) 60; lower house vote - Fumio KISHIDA 297, Yukio EDANO 108
Citizenship Criteria:	citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Japan dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
Legal System:	civil law system based on German model; system also reflects Anglo-American influence and Japanese traditions; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court
Suffrage:	18 years of age; universal
Legislative Branch:	description: bicameral National Diet or Kokkai consists of: House of Councillors or Sangi-in (248 seats; 148 members directly elected in multi-seat districts by simple majority vote and 100 directly elected in a single national constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 6-year terms with half the membership renewed every 3 years) House of Representatives or Shuugi-in (465 seats; 289 members directly elected in single-seat districts by simple majority vote and 176 directly elected in multi-seat districts by party-list proportional representation vote; members serve up to 4-year terms) elections: House of Councillors - last held on 10 July 2022 (next to be held in July 2025) House of Representatives - last held on 31 October 2021 (next to be held by October 2025) election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party/grouping as of January 2024 - LDP 116, CDP-SDP 40, Komeito 27, JCP 11, Ishin-FEFA 21, DPFP 11, Reiwa 5, OW 2, NHK 2, independent 12; composition - 182 men, 66 women; percent of women 26.6% House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party/grouping as of January 2024 - LDP 260, CDP 96, Ishin 41, Komeito 32, JCP 10, DPFP 7, Yushi no Kai 4, FEFA 4, Reiwa 3, independents 7; composition - 416 men, 48 women; percent women 10.3%; note - total National Diet percent of women 16% note: the Diet in June 2017 redrew Japan's electoral district boundaries and reduced from 475 to 465 seats in the House of Representatives; the amended electoral law, which cuts 6 seats in single-seat districts and 4 in multi-seat districts, was reportedly intended to reduce voting disparities between densely and sparsely populated voting districts
Judicial Branch:	highest court(s): Supreme Court or Saiko saibansho (consists of the chief justice and 14 associate justices); note - the Supreme Court has jurisdiction in constitutional issues judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice designated by the Cabinet and appointed by the monarch; associate justices appointed by the Cabinet and confirmed by the monarch; all justices are reviewed in a popular referendum at the first general election of the House of Representatives following each judge's appointment and every 10 years afterward subordinate courts: 8 High Courts (Koto-saiban-sho), each with a Family Court (Katei-saiban-sho); 50 District Courts (Chiho saibansho), with 203 additional branches; 438 Summary Courts (Kani saibansho)
Regions or States:	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
Political Parties and Leaders:	Collaborative Party or The Party to Protect People from NHK or NHK Party [Ayaka OTSU (de jure) Takashi TACHIBANA (de facto)] Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan or CDP [Kenta IZUMI] Democratic Party for the People or DPFP or DPP [Yuichiro TAMAKI] Free Education for All or FEFA [Seiji MAEHARA] Japan Communist Party or JCP [Tomoko TAMURA] Japan Innovation Party or Nippon Ishin no kai or Ishin [Nobuyuki BABA] Komeito [Natsuo YAMAGUCHI] Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Fumio KISHIDA] Okinawa Whirlwind or OW [N/A] Reiwa Shinsengumi [Taro YAMAMOTO] Social Democratic Party or SDP [Mizuho FUKUSHIMA] Yūshi no Kai [Shuji KIRA]
International Law Organization Participation:	accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
International Organization Participation:	ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), APEC, Arctic Council (observer), ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CD, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CICA (observer), CP, CPLP (associate), EAS, EBRD, EITI (implementing country), FAO, FATF, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), Quad, SAARC (observer), SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic Representation in the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador YAMADA Shigeo (since 27 February 2024) chancery: 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 238-6700 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187 email address and website: https://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/itprtop_en/index.html consulate(s) general: Anchorage (AK), Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver (CO), Detroit (MI), Hagatna (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville (TN), New York, Portland (OR), San Francisco, Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands), Seattle (WA)
Diplomatic Representation from US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Rahm EMANUEL (since 25 March 2022) embassy: 1-10-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420 mailing address: 9800 Tokyo Place, Washington DC 20521-9800 telephone: [81] (03) 3224-5000 FAX: [81] (03) 3224-5856 email address and website: TokyoACS@state.gov https://jp.usembassy.gov/ consulate(s) general: Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo consulate(s): Fukuoka, Nagoya

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