This is by far not an exhaustive listing of statistics about Japan and the Japanese people. These are stats I find interesting. Most information taken from NationMaster.com and CIA World Factbook.
Population:
Japan is ranked #10 in population with 126,475,664. (China is #1 with 1,336,718,015)
Japan has a negative growth rate. It is growing at a rate of -.077% (2012 est.) – ranked #175. (U.S., 0.96%; East Timor, 5.36% – #1)
Japan is ranked #27 (second to last among reporting countries) with 4.6 teen births per 1,000 women. (U.S. is #1 with 52.1)
65% of Japanese live in an urban setting. (U.S. is 80%)
Japan has an average household population of 2.8 people per home – ranked #2. (U.S., 2.6; Ireland – #1 with 3.1)
Japanese couples with children make up 35% of the population – ranked 18%. (U.S. is 25% – #22)
Japan has the world’s largest city (Tokyo) with a population of 35,196,900. (Mexico City is 2nd with 19,411,410)
Projected population growth of Japan by 2050 is predicted to be -20.95% – ranked #135. (Chad +282.1%; U.S. +45.31%)
65% of the elderly live with their children in Japan – ranked #1 (U.S is 15% – ranked #6)
6% of the elderly live in institutions in Japan – (U.S. is also 6%)
People:
Japan is ranked #1 in not being proud of their nationality at 36%. (That’s 17 times more than the U.S. which is 2%)
Japan is ranked #15 in being proud of their nationality at 27%. (U.S. is ranked #1 at 77%. That’s 185% more than Japan.)
Japan’s feelings toward their “undesirable” neighbors:
- Drug addicts – 91% (Ranked 1st among countries reporting. U.S. #2 at 80%)
- Political extremists – 82% (Ranked 1st among countries reporting. U.S. #12 at 36%)
- People with AIDS – 77% (Ranked 2nd – Two times more than the U.S. which is #6 at 26%)
- Homosexuals – 69% (Ranked 1st among countries reporting. U.S. #4 at 34%)
- Emotionally unstable people – 62% (Ranked 1st among countries reporting. U.S. #2 at 47%)
- Heavy Drinkers – 58% (Ranked 5th among countries reporting. U.S. #1 at 61%)
- Criminal record holder – 50% (Ranked 50% among countries reporting. U.S. #1 at 54)
- Immigrants – 17% (Ranked 3rd – 70% more than the U.S. which is #9 at 10%)
- Different race – 11% (Ranked #4 among countries reporting. U.S. #7 at 8%)
40% of Japanese people believe that people can be trusted – ranked #9. (U.S. 44% – #8; Noway 65% – #1)
23% of Japanese people said that they would be willing to fight for their country – last of countries reporting. (U.S. 78% – #5)
Food Stats:
Japan is ranked #25 for alcohol consumption at 7.3 litres per capita. (U.S. is ranked #20 at 8.3 litres per capita.)
Japan is ranked #15 for coffee consumption at 1.4 kgs per person per year. (U.S. is ranked #12 at 3 kgs. 114% more than Japan.)
Japan has 3,598 McDonald’s restaurants. That is #2 in the world. (U.S. is of course #1 at 12,804. Three times more than Japan!)
Japan has 103 Subway restaurants. That’s #9 in the world. (U.S. has 19,467 as of 2006! 188 times more than Japan!)
Japan is ranked #4 of tea consumption. (UK is #1).
Crime:
Japan is ranked #12 at 1,582 in 2009. (France was #1 at 10,277).
Japan is ranked #28 with 47 murders by firearms in one year. (South Africa is #1 with 31,918. U.S. is #4 3,969.)
Japan reports 39% of crimes to police. (Lowest among reporting countries. New Zealand is #1 with 60%. U.S. is 52%)
Japan is ranked #22 among manslaughters within a year with 193. (Mexico is #1 with 15,996.)
Suicide:
Suicide rate among Japanese is 20.3 per 100,000 people (both men and women) – ranked #2 (Hungary is 22.6 per 100,000).
Suicide rate among Japanese females is 13.7 for every 100,000 people – ranked #1. (U.S. 4.5 per 100,000 – ranked #17)
Suicide rate among Japanese males is 35.8 for every 100,000 people – ranked #2 (U.S. is 17.7 per 100,000 – ranked #17)
Suicide rate among young Japanese males is 10.1 for every 100,000 people – ranked #31. (U.S. is 21.9 per 100,000 – ranked #15)
Suicide rate among young Japanese females is 4.4 for every 100,000 people – ranked #22. (U.S. is 3.8 per 100,000 – ranked #25; Mauritius is 17.7 per 100,000 – #1)
- Age 15-24 = 8.6 per 100,000 (Ranked #13. New Zealand is #1 with 26.7 per 100,000)
- Age 25-34 = 14.1 per 100,000 (Ranked #11. Finland is #1 with 33 per 100,000)
- Age 35-44 = 16.2 per 100,000 (Ranked #9. Finland is #1 with 44 per 100,000)
- Age 45-54 = 23.7 per 100,000 (Ranked #8. Finland is #1 with 43.4 per 100,000)
- Age 55-64 = 26.7 per 100,000 (Ranked #7. Finland is #1 with 43.8 per 100,000)
- Age 65-74 = 23.7 per 100,000 (Ranked #8. Denmark is #1 with 43.9 per 100,000)
- Age 75+ = 42.3 per 100,000 (Ranked #6. Austria is #1 with 57.1 per 100,000)
Marriage:
The average Japanese man’s first marriage happens at the age of 30 years – ranked #12. (Sweden #1 – 32.9 years – U.S. – 26 years)
The average Japanese woman’s first marriage happens at the age of 27.3 years – ranked #15. (Sweden #1 – 30.4 years; U.S. – 25 years)
Japan has a marriage rate of 5.8 marriages per 1,000 people per year – ranked #19. (U.S. is #1 at 9.8 per 1,000)
Japan has 31.9 divorces for every 100 marriages – ranked #14. (Belgium is #1 with 59.8 divorces per 100 marriages)
Population Distribution:
- 0-14 years = 14.3% – Ranked #224 (Uganda #1 – 40.1%)
- 15-64 years = 66.2% – Ranked #90 (Northern Mariana Islands #1 – 78.5%)
- 65+ = 21.6% – Ranked #2 (Monaco #1 – 22.8%)
Women:
21% of Japanese women believe women should have equal rights as men. (Netherlands is #1 at 80%)
82% of Japanese women believe that they are happier now than their Grandmothers were in their time – ranked #1. (U.S. is 28%)
98% of Japanese women believe they are better off than their Grandmothers were in their time – ranked #1. (U.S. – 93%, ranked #4)
59% of Japanese women use contraception – ranked #63. (U.S. – 76% – ranked 18%; Ukraine – 89% – ranked #1)
Immigrants:
Japan is ranked #135 among countries with percentage of immigrants with a percentage of 1.05%. (U.S. is #40 with 12.81%)
Japan is ranked #20 with the total number of immigrants with 2,048,000. (U.S. has 38,355,000)
Japan is #80 among countries with immigrants and has 2,020 immigrants. (Iran is #1 with 1,931,300)
Money:
GDP for Japan is $4,218,000,000,000 – ranked #4. (U.S. – #2 at $13.06 trillion)
Gross National Income for Japan is $4,520,000,000,000 – ranked #2. (U.S. – #1 – $9.78 trillion)
Import of goods and services as a percentage of GDP – Japan is ranked #155 of 156 at 8%. (Singapore #1 – 161%)
Japan has committed $499,000,000 to their emergency Tsunami fund (from their $601 million committed)
The “Big Mac” index; The cost of the Big Mac in Japan ranks #37 amongst countries, with a cost of $2.19. (U.S. – #8 at $3.15; Iceland #1 at $6.67)
11.8% of the Japanese live at least 50% below the poverty line – ranked #11. (U.S. – #3 at 17%)
Spending per person in Japan is $2,243 – ranked #9. (U.S. is ranked #1 at $4271)
0.8% of Japan’s GDP is given to the military – ranked #137. (U.S. is 4.06% – ranked 26; Oman is #1 at 11.4%)
Japan is ranked #5 for the most expensive gasoline per gallon. (U.S. is ranked #102)
Health:
Overall life expectancy is 82.08 years in Japan – ranked #1. (Men = 78.69 – ranked #4; Iceland at 79.2 is ranked #1)
Number of legal abortions in one year – Japan is ranked #4 with 343,024. (U.S. – #2 with 1,210,880; Russia – #1 with 2,766,360)
30.6% of the Japanese are daily smokers – ranked #8. (The U.S. has 17.5% daily smokers – #29; Austria – 36.3% – #1)
3.2% of the Japanese are clinically obese – ranked 29th. (U.S. has 30.6% of the population that are obese – ranked #1)
There are 8.8 automobile deaths for every 100,000 people – #12. (U.S. has 15.5 per 100,000 – ranked #1)
Japan has 2 doctors for every 1000 people – ranked #64. (U.S. has 2.3 per 1000 – ranked #52. San Marino has 47.35 per 1000 – ranked #1)
Japan has 7.8 nurses for every 1000 people – ranked #15 (U.S. has 8.1 per 1000 – ranked #14; Finland has 14.7 – #14.7)
Misc:
19% of Japan has access to broadband internet – ranked #12. (Denmark has 29.3% access – ranked #1)
On a scale from 1-10 (ten being best) asking about how satisfied they are in life, the Japanese have an average of 6.2 – ranked #34. (U.S. is 7.4 – ranked #11)
There are approximately 95 million cell phone subscribers in Japan – ranked #4. (China has approx. 395 million subscribers)
Religion:
3% of Japanese attend church (religious service at least once a week) (U.S. attendance is 44%; Nigeria is 89%)
- Christians: (Broadly defined) 2%
- Catholic: 509,000
- Protestant: 509,668
- Eastern orthodox: 30,000
- Mormon: 123,000
- Buddhists: 71.4%
- Shinto: 83.9%
- Other: 7.8%
- Jehovah Witness’s: 218,262
Stepping Back 