General information and documentation on Japan

To summarize:

  • East Asia archipelago located in the Pacific Ocean ;
  • In Japanese: Nippon 日本, the Land of the Rising Sun;
  • 7,000 islands, whose 4 principals are north to south: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu + Okinawa archipelago in the south-west;
  • 9 regions, 47 prefectures;
  • Official language: Japanese (99% literacy rate);
  • 127 million inhabitants, 37 million living in the “Great Tokyo”;
  • Constitutional monarchy: an emperor, a parliament and a governing Prime Minister;
  • Third economic power in the world, the longest life expectancy;
  • Use of the metric system, left-hand traffic;
  • Two main religions: Buddhism and Shintoism;
  • National sports: baseball and sumo

Useful addresses

  • U.S. Embassy in Tokyo : Ambassade de France au Japon : 1-10-5 Akasaka
  • Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420 Japan - Phone: (03) 3224-5000
  • Saint Luke's International Hospital (emergencies 24h/24) : 9-1 Adashi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Documentation

The Japan National Tourism Organization provides online documentation and downloadable PDF on this page to help planning travels in Japan.