Japan, constitutional monarchy in East Asia, comprising four large islands, as well as the Ryukyu Islands and more than 1,000 lesser adjacent islands. It is bounded on the north by the Sea of Okhotsk, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea, and on the west by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan . In Japanese the nation's name is Dai -"great" Nion or Nippon -"origin of the Sun", hence, Land of the Rising Sun. The Japanese islands extend in an irregular crescent from the island of Sakhalin (Russia) to the island of Formosa, or Taiwan. Japan proper consists of the large islands of Hokkaido, the northernmost; Honshu, the largest, called the mainland; Shikoku; and Kyushu, the southernmost. The combined area of these islands is about 362,000 sq km . The total area of Japan is 377,750 sq km .Tokyo is Japan's capital and largest city.

Population
        125,761,000
        (1996 official estimate)
Population Density
        337 people/sq km
        (873 people/sq mi)
        (1996 estimate)
Urban/Rural Breakdown
        78% Urban
        22% Rural
Largest Cities
        Tokyo7,967,614
        Yokohama3,307,136
        Osaka2,602,421
        Nagoya2,152,184
        (1995 census)
Ethnic Groups
        99% Japanese
        1%Other
        including Koreans, Chinese, and Brazilians
Languages
Official Language
        Japanese
Other Languages
        minority languages
Religions
        90% Shinto and/or Buddhism
        10% Other
        including Christianity