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 from 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: 660 B.C. (traditional date of the founding of the nation by Emperor JIMMU); 29 November 1890 (Meiji Constitution provides for constitutional monarchy)
National Holiday	Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933)
Constitution	Previous 1890; latest approved 6 October 1946, adopted 3 November 1946, effective 3 May 1947; note - the constitution has not been amended since its enactment in 1947

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Japan Government and Politics

Who is the president of Japan?

Executive Branch:	Chief of state: Emperor NARUHITO (since 1 May 2019); note - succeeds 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 the prime minister Election results: Fumio KISHIDA relected prime minister on 10 November 2021 by the lower house with 297 votes against 108 for Yukio EDANO and in the upper houese 141 for KISHIDA and 60 for EDANO
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 the German model; the 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 Diet or Kokkai consists of: House of Councillors or Sangi-in (242 seats; 146 members directly elected in multi-seat districts by simple majority vote and 96 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 Shugi-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 4-year terms) Elections: House of Councillors - last held on 10 July 2016 (next to be held in July 2019) House of Representatives - last held on 22 October 2017 (next to be held by 21 October 2021) Election Results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LDP 55, DP 32, Komeito 14, JCP 6, Osaka Ishin no Kai (Initiatives from Osaka) 7, PLPTYF 1, SDP 1, independent 5 House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LDP 284, CDP 55, Party of Hope 50, Komeito 29, JCP 12, JIP 11, SDP 2, independent 22 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:	Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Renho MURATA] Group of Reformists [Sakihito OZAWA] Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII] Japan Innovation Party or JIP [Yorihisa MATSUNO] Komeito [Natsuo YAMAGUCHI] Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Shinzo ABE] New Renaissance Party [Hiroyuki ARAI] Osaka Ishin no Kai [Ichiro MATSUI] Party for Future Generations or PFG [Kyoko NAKAYAMA] People's Life Party & Taro Yamamoto and Friends or PLPTYF [Ichiro OZAWA] Social Democratic Party or SDP [Tadatomo YOSHIDA] The Assembly to Energize Japan and the Independents [Kota MATSUDA]
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), SAARC (observer), SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMISS, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic Representation in the US:	Chief of Mission: Ambassador Kenichiro SASAE (since 19 November 2012) Chancery: 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 Telephone: [1] (202) 238-6700 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187 Consulate(s) General: Anchorage (AK), Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver (CO), Detroit (MI), Honolulu (HI), Houston, Las Vegas (NV), Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville (TN), New Orleans, New York, Oklahoma City (OK), Orlando (FL), Philadelphia (PA), Phoenix (AZ), Portland (OR), San Francisco, Seattle, Saipan (Puerto Rico), Tamuning (Guam)
Diplomatic Representation from US:	Chief of Mission: Ambassador Caroline Bouvier KENNEDY (since 19 November 2013) 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

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