Japan Abbreviations

JP is the abbreviation for Japan, the 61st largest country in the world. Japan is a country located in East Asia. Tokyo is the capital city of Japan. Top 10 biggest cities are Tokyo (population: 8,336,577), Yokohama (population: 3,574,421), Osaka (population: 2,592,391), Nagoya (population: 2,191,257), Sapporo (population: 1,883,016), Kobe (population: 1,528,467), Kyoto (population: 1,459,629), Fukuoka (population: 1,392,278), Kawasaki (population: 1,306,774), and Saitama (population: 1,193,339).

Country Profile

• Capital: Tokyo
• Language: Japanese
• Area: 377,973 km²
• Population: 126,317,011
• Currency: Yen (¥)  (JPY)
• Time zone: UTC+9
• Calling code: 81
• ISO 2-Letter Abbreviation: JP
• UN 3-Letter Abbreviation: JPN
• Internet TLD: .jp
• State Government Website: http://japan.kantei.go.jp

List of Japan Acronyms

The most commonly used abbreviations about Japan are JP which stands for Japan and JPY which means Yen (Japan currency). In the following table, you can see all acronyms related to Japan, including abbreviations for airport, city, school, port, government, and etc.

Geography

Japan is slightly larger than Norway in area, and consists of several thousand islands. Most of them are uninhabited. Most of the population lives on the four largest islands. More than 50% of the land is covered by forest, and only a small part is habitable due to rugged mountain terrain.

Below the islands several crustaceans meet, and there are over 80 active volcanoes in the country. Every year, thousands of small and slightly larger earthquakes and eruptions are recorded. In March 2011, Japan experienced the strongest earthquake in the country’s history, followed by a violent tsunami that led to major devastation along the northeast coast.

Japan has a temperate monsoon climate, with clear differences in precipitation and temperature between seasons. In the north of the country there are cold, windy winters, while in the southern parts there is almost tropical climate. Air and fresh water pollution are among Japan’s biggest environmental problems.

History

Around the year 300 BCE, immigrants from the Chinese and Korean mainland came to what is today Japan. Initially, the society consisted of many small clans, but eventually it emerged from the empire, ruled by rival shoguns (overgenerals). Japan was united into one kingdom around the year 1600, following a series of wars. For the next 250 years, the country was more or less closed to the outside world during the Tokugawi dynasty.

In the mid-1800s, American pressure led to the country opening up again to the outside world. Power was once again gathered around the emperor, who initiated major modernization reforms throughout society. Japan soon became one of the most powerful countries in East Asia. During World War II, the country joined Germany, and in 1945 the Allied nuclear bombs dropped over the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This set the stage for World War II, and is the only time nuclear bombs have been used as weapons in war. Japan was under American occupation for seven years after the war.

A new, pacifist constitution and a parliamentary system were introduced according to the American model. Japan lost all its conquests and lands that have always been seen as Japanese. In 1951, Japan made peace with the United States and other allies, and entered into a defense pact that gave the United States the right to have forces on Japanese soil. The country became an East Asian bastion in the United States’ fight against communism. In 1952, Japan regained its sovereignty.

Society and politics

Japan is important today in international and regional politics. The country is still governed by the pacifist constitution written by the victors of World War II in 1947. With a pacifist constitution, the country will always renounce war as a means of resolving conflicts. In 2015, however, Parliament approved legislative amendments that allow Japan to contribute to military operations abroad under certain circumstances. The emperor is the formal head of state, but the real power is exercised by the prime minister. He/she forms a government based on regular elections.

In post-war politics has been dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party. In recent years, the Democratic Party has also had power. Energy access and the use of nuclear power, together with a slow economy and an aging population, are among the biggest challenges Japan faces. In addition, relations with China are at times tense, especially around a disagreement over who owns the Senkaku archipelago (Diaoyu in Chinese). At the same time, trade and investment continue to flourish between the two countries. Living standards in Japan are high, and the improvements that have come as a result of economic growth are fairly evenly distributed.

Economics and Commerce

Japan is one of the world’s largest and most important economies. The country is a world leader in a number of areas in electronics and IT. Less than 15% of Japan’s land is used for agriculture. The most important product is rice. After rebuilding its industry very shortly after the devastation of World War II, Japan experienced tremendous economic growth from the 1960s. A very highly educated population, political stability and existing industrial structures from before the war made the explosive growth possible.

Japan does not have a market economy in the traditional sense, as the ties between business and the state are particularly close. The authorities often formulate regulations and measures in close cooperation with the most important companies to ensure stable development. The country was hit hard by the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s, but recovered further in the 2000s. The financial crisis in 2008 and the tsunami disaster in 2011 also had a negative impact on the economy.

A declining working population and a severe aging wave require a new pension system, and the authorities have set a target of accepting 500,000 workers from abroad by 2025, as a result of the growing older population. In the summer of 2018, a free trade agreement was also signed between the EU and Japan, which together account for one third of the world economy.

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