Country name
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Japan

Data code JA

Government type constitutional monarchy

National capital Tokyo

Administrative divisions 47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka,Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma, 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

Independence 660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu)

National holiday Birthday of the Emperor, 23 December (1933)

Constitution 3 May 1947

Legal system modeled after European civil law system with English-American influence;judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsoryICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage 20 years of age; universal

Executive branch
chief of state: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989)
head of government: Prime Minister Ryutaro HASHIMOTO (since 11 January 1996); note - anacting prime minister - determined upon a rotational basis - serves when PrimeMinister HASHIMOTO is out of the country
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister
elections: none; the emperor is a constitutional monarch; the Diet designates theprime minister; the constitution requires that the prime minister must commanda parliamentary majority, therefore, following legislative elections, theleader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition in the Houseof Representatives usually becomes prime minister

Legislative branch bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in(252 seats; one-half of the members elected every three years - 76 seats ofwhich are elected from the 47 multi-seat prefectural districts and 50 of whichare elected from a single nationwide list with voters casting ballots by party;members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House ofRepresentatives or Shugi-in (500 seats - 200 of which are elected from 11regional blocks on a proportional representation basis and 300 of which areelected from 300 single-seat districts; members elected by popular vote toserve four-year terms)
elections: House of Councillors - last held 23 July 1995 (next to be held NA July1998); House of Representatives - last held 20 October 1996 (next to be heldby October 2000)
election results : House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party- LDP 110, NFP 56, SDP 38, JCP 14, Sakigake 3, others 19, independents 12;note - the distribution of seats as of March 1997 is as follows - LDP 112,NFP 61, SDP 23, JCP 14, Sakigake 3, others 39; House of Representatives -percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LDP 240, NFP 142, DPJ 52,JCP 26, SDP 15, Sun Party 10, others and independents 15; note - the distributionof seats as of March 1997 is as follows - LDP 241, NFP 141, DPJ 52, JCP 26,SDP 15, Sun Party 10, others and independents 15

Judicial branch Supreme Court, chief justice is appointed by the emperor after designationby the cabinet, all other justices are appointed by the cabinet

Political parties and leaders Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Ryutaro HASHIMOTO, president, KoichiKATO, secretary general; Social Democratic Party (SDP), Takako DOI, chairman,Shigeru ITO, secretary general; Sakigake (Harbinger), Akiko DOMOTO, actingchairman, Hiroyuki SONODA, secretary general; New Frontier Party or NFP (Shinshinto),Ichiro OZAWA, president, Takeo NISHIOKA, secretary general; Democratic Partyof Japan (DPJ), coleaders Yukio HATOYAMA and Naoto KAN; Japan Communist Party(JCP), Tetsuzo FUWA, chairman, Kazuo SHII, secretary general; Sun Party, TsutomuHATA, chairman, Eijiro HATA, secretary general
note: DPJ was formed in September 1996 by former members of SDP and Sakigake;Sun Party was formed in December 1996 by former members of NFP

International organization participation AfDB, AG (observer), APEC, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE (observer),CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G- 2, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat,Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD,OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO,UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNRWA, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Kunihiko SAITO
chancery : 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 939-6700
FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187
consulate(s) general: Agana (Guam), Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Honolulu,Houston, Kansas City (Missouri), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York,Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle
consulate(s): Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands)

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
embassy: 10-5, Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku (107), Tokyo
mailing address : Unit 45004, Box 258, APO AP 96337-0001
telephone: [81] (3) 3224-5000
FAX: [81] (3) 3505-1862
consulate(s) general: Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo
consulate(s) : Fukuoka, Nagoya

Flag description white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in thecenter

NOTE: The information regarding Japan on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Japan Government 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Japan Government 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.