Japan Travel Guide

Country Facts

Location

Far East.

Language

Japanese is the official language. Some English is spoken in Tokyo and other large cities but is less usual in rural areas.

Area

377,864 sq km (145,894 sq miles).

Time Zone

GMT + 9.

Electricity

100 volts AC, 60Hz in the west (Osaka); 100 volts AC, 50Hz in eastern Japan and Tokyo. Plugs are flat two-pin plugs.

Population

127.7 million (2008).

Population Density

338 per sq km (20,420 per sq km in Tokyo).

Capital City

Tokyo. Population: 12.8 million (2008).

Government

Constitutional monarchy.

Head of Government

Prime Minister Naoto Kan since June 2010.

Head of State

Emperor Akihito since 1989.

Religion

Shintoism and Buddhism (most Japanese follow both religions, although religion does not play a major everyday role in most Japanese lives, with frequent temple visits being more usually attributed to tourism). There is a Christian minority.

Recent History

Influence from the outside world followed by long periods of isolation have characterized Japan's history.

In the feudal era (12th-19th century), a new ruling class of warriors emerged: the samurai. One of the most famous and successful samurai, Oda Nobunaga, conquered numerous other warlords and had almost unified Japan when he was assassinated in 1582. Toyotomi Hideyoshi succeeded him and united the land in 1590 but open war broke out following his death.

Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated all rival clans in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and was appointed shogun (ruler of Japan). The Tokugawa shogunate began the isolationist sakoku (locked country) policy that spanned the two and a half centuries of tenuous political unity known as the Edo period.

In 1854, the US Navy forced the opening of Japan to the outside world. Ensuing economic and political crises led to the Boshin War and the establishment of a centralized state unified under the name of the Emperor (Meiji Restoration).

The Meiji Restoration transformed Japan into an industrialized world power that embarked on a number of military conflicts to expand the nation's sphere of influence, including two Sino-Japanese Wars (1894-1895 and 1937-1945) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).

On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked the US naval base in Pearl Harbor. This act brought the USA into WWII and, on 8 December, the USA, UK and Netherlands declared war on Japan. After the devastating atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan surrendered on 15 August. The war cost Japan millions of lives and left much of the country's industry and infrastructure destroyed.

Japan later achieved exceptional growth to become one of the world's most powerful economies.

In 2009, Yukio Hatoyama led the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the main opposition party, to victory and became Prime Minister, defeating the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had been in power almost continually since 1955. However, Mr Hatoyama resigned less than a year later after failing to implement an election pledge to move the US base off Okinawa. Fellow DPJ member Naoto Kan was elected Prime Minister in June 2010 and promised he would continue the program of reform set out by his predecessor.

Communications

Telephone

Country Code: +81. Four companies provide international communications services: KDDI (001), Cable & Wireless IDC (0061) Japan Telecom (0041) and NTT (0033). To call the UK, for example, you would use 001-44. Credit cards can also be used directly in some phone boxes. Phone boxes are found virtually everywhere in Japan. They are green and grey, and accept coins and magnetic prepaid cards. IC phone boxes accept IC cards only.

Mobile Telephone

The Japanese mobile network uses PDC (Personal Digital Cellular System) technology, which is not compatible with GSM or other mobile services. Visitors can hire handsets from companies such as DoCoMo (www.nttdocomo.com), Softbank (www.softbank-rental.jp) or Go Mobile (www.gomobile.co.jp). In the UK, phones can be rented in advance of travel from Adam Phones (www.adamphones.com). Coverage is good.

Internet

Internet is available; there are many internet cafés in Tokyo and in the main cities in Japan. Most hotels have Wi-Fi internet access. The new grey telephones have modular sockets for computer network access.

Media

Japan's national public broadcaster NHK (www.nhk.or.jp) operates several TV and radio channels, including Radio Japan and the global English language news channel NHK World. The press in Japan is free to criticize the government, although freelance journalists find access to information difficult. The English-language daily newspapers in Tokyo include Daily Yomiuri (www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy), the Japan Times (www.japantimes.co.jp) and the International Herald Tribune (www.asahi.com/english/index.html).

Post

Letters can be taken to the International Post Office, near exit A-2 Otemachi subway station, which provide English-speaking personnel. Airmail to Europe takes four to six days. (www.japanpost.jp).Mon-Fri 0900-1700 (1900 at bigger branches). Some main post offices are 0900-1500 on Saturdays; 0900-1230 on Sundays.

Public Holidays

Below are listed Public Holidays for the January 2011-December 2012 period.
2010
23 Dec Birthday of the Emperor

2011
1 Jan New Year’s Day
10 Jan Coming of Age Day
11 Feb National Foundation Day
20 Mar Vernal Equinox
29 Apr Showa Day
3 May Constitution Memorial Day
4 May Greenery Day
5 May Children’s Day
18 Jul Marine Day
19 Sep Respect for the Aged Day
23 Sep Autumnal Equinox
10 Oct Sports Day
3 Nov Culture Day
23 Nov Labor Thanksgiving Day
23 Dec Birthday of the Emperor

2012
1 Jan New Year’s Day
9 Jan Coming of Age Day
11 Feb National Foundation Day
20 Mar Vernal Equinox
29 Apr Showa Day
3 May Constitution Memorial Day
4 May Greenery Day
5 May Children’s Day
16 Jul Marine Day
20 Sep Respect for the Aged Day
23 Sep Autumnal Equinox
8 Oct Sports Day
3 Nov Culture Day
23 Nov Labor Thanksgiving Day
23 Dec Birthday of the Emperor
(a) With the exception of New Year Bank Holidays, if a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following day is treated as a holiday instead. (b) When there is a single day between two national holidays, it is also taken as a holiday. (c) Between 29 December and 3 January government offices and many shops and offices are closed.

Contact Information

British Embassy in Japan

1 Ichiban-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8381, Japan
Tel: (03) 5211 1100.
Website: http://ukinjapan.fco.gov.uk/en
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1230 and 1400-1730.

Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) in Japan

10th Floor, Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan Building, 2-10-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0006, Japan
Tel: (03) 3201 3331.
Website: www.jnto.go.jp
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1700.

Embassy of Japan in the UK

101-104 Piccadilly, London W1J 7JT, UK
Tel: (020) 7465 6500 or 6565 (visa section).
Website: www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0930-1730 (until 1630 for the visa section).

Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) in the UK

5th Floor, 12 Nicholas Lane, London, EC4N 7BN, UK
Tel: (020) 7398 5678.
Website: www.seejapan.co.uk
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0930-1730.

Embassy of Japan in the USA

2520 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA
Tel: (202) 238 6700 or 6800 (visa section).
Website: www.us.emb-japan.go.jp
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1230 and 1400-1730 (0930-1230 and 1330-1600 for the visa section).

Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) in the USA

19th Floor, 11 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036, USA
Tel: (212) 757 5640.
Website: www.japantravelinfo.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1700.