Japan (Japanese: 日本, Nippon [ɲippoꜜɴ] (About this soundlisten) or Nihon [ɲihoꜜɴ]

(About this soundlisten)) is an island country in East Asia, located in the

northwest Pacific Ocean. It is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, and
extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea and Taiwan
in the south. Part of the Ring of Fire, Japan spans an archipelago of 6852 islands
covering 377,975 square kilometers (145,937 sq mi); the five main islands are
Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Tokyo is Japan's capital and
largest city; other major cities include Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka,
Kobe, and Kyoto.

Japan is the eleventh-most populous country in the world, as well as one of the
most densely populated and urbanized. About three-fourths of the country's terrain
is mountainous, concentrating its population of 125.36 million on narrow coastal
plains. Japan is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional
regions. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the
world, with more than 37.4 million residents.

Japan has been inhabited since the Upper Paleolithic period (30,000 BC), though the
first written mention of the archipelago appears in a Chinese chronicle finished in
the 2nd century AD. Between the 4th and 9th centuries, the kingdoms of Japan became
unified under an emperor and the imperial court based in Heian-kyō. Beginning in
the 12th century, political power was held by a series of military dictators
(shōgun) and feudal lords (daimyō), and enforced by a class of warrior nobility
(samurai). After a century-long period of civil war, the country was reunified in
1603 under the Tokugawa shogunate, which enacted an isolationist foreign policy. In
1854, a United States fleet forced Japan to open trade to the West, which led to
the end of the shogunate and the restoration of imperial power in 1868. In the
Meiji period, the Empire of Japan adopted a Western-modeled constitution and
pursued a program of industrialization and modernization. In 1937, Japan invaded
China; in 1941, it entered World War II as an Axis power. After suffering defeat in
the Pacific War and two atomic bombings, Japan surrendered in 1945 and came under a
seven-year Allied occupation, during which it adopted a new constitution. Under the
1947 constitution, Japan has maintained a unitary parliamentary constitutional
monarchy with a bicameral legislature, the National Diet.

Japan is a great power and a member of numerous international organizations,

including the United Nations (since 1956), the OECD, and the Group of Seven.
Although it has renounced its right to declare war, the country maintains Self-
Defense Forces that rank as one of the world's strongest militaries. After World
War II, Japan experienced record growth in an economic miracle, becoming the
second-largest economy in the world by 1990. As of 2021, the country's economy is
the third-largest by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by PPP. A global leader in
the automotive and electronics industries, Japan has made significant contributions
to science and technology. Ranked "very high" on the Human Development Index, Japan
has the world's highest life expectancy, though it is experiencing a decline in
population. The culture of Japan is well known around the world, including its art,
cuisine, music, and popular culture, which encompasses prominent comic, animation
and video game industries.