50 Fascinating Facts You Didn’t Know About JAPAN

Did you know that Japan is known as the “Land of the Rising Sun” because it is located east of the Asian continent, thus being the first place where the sun rises?

In this article, I will present 50 interesting facts that you might not know about Japan.

1. Japan is made up of 6,852 islands, but only 430 of them are inhabited.
2. Japan has over 200 volcanoes, of which 110 are active.
3. Japan’s population has been declining for the past 12 years, and, in 2022, Japan had a population of almost 125 million people.
4. The metropolis of Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is the largest city in the world, with a population of over 37 million inhabitants.
5. Japan has an imperial system, and Emperor Naruhito is the 126th emperor of Japan.
6. The city of Hiroshima was devastated by the first atomic bomb used in war, on August 6, 1945.
7. Japan has 23 sites registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
8. Over 75% of Japan’s area is covered by mountains.
9. In Japan there are over 1,600 Buddhist temples and 90,000 Shinto shrines.
10. Cherry blossoms, or “sakura” in Japanese, is a national symbol of Japan and attracts thousands of tourists every spring.
    
    READ MORE: Best 50 Quotes from Miyamoto Musashi’s books
    
    
11. Japan has 21 national holidays, more than most other countries in the rest of the world.
12. In Japan, people bow to show their respect and gratitude.
13. Japan is known for producing green tea, with “Matcha” being one of the most popular types.
14. Japan has an extremely low crime rate.
15. “Kawaii”, which means “cute” in Japanese, is a central aspect of Japanese pop culture.
16. In 2022, Japan had over 90,000 people who have exceeded the age of 100 years.
17. Japan has a very efficient public transportation system, with trains and buses arriving on time in over 99% of cases.
18. Traditional Japanese food, called “washoku”, was included in UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage in 2013.
19. In Japan, there is a theme park dedicated to Studio Ghibli, one of the most famous animation studios in the world.
20. Japan is the home country of sumo, a traditional sport that dates back to the 8th century.
    
    READ MORE: 25 Interesting Facts About One Piece, the Japanese Manga Series
    
    
21. Japan holds the world record for the longest railway tunnel, Seikan Tunnel, which is 53.85 km long.
22. Japan has over 5,000 private residences that are over 300 years old.
23. In Japan, there is a bridge called “Eshima Ohashi”, which has such a steep slope that it seems to be a roller coaster.
24. In Japan, there is a “Suicide Forest” named Aokigahara, where a large number of suicides are registered annually.
25. Japan is the country with the highest number of hybrid and electric cars per capita.
26. There is a festival called “Kanamara Matsuri”, which celebrates fertility and is known for phallic representations.
27. “Washi”, the Japanese paper, is still traditionally produced by several hundred families in rural areas.
28. In Japan, there was a “train station” for a single person, which was kept running to facilitate a single student’s commute to school.
29. Japan has the largest number of vending machines (automats) per capita in the world, with over 5 million units.
30. Japan has a main island called “Shikoku”, which is renowned for the 88 temples you can visit on a pilgrimage route.
    
    READ MORE: 25 Interesting Facts About Hibakujumoku, the Japanese Birch Tree
    
    
31. The first Disneyland park built outside the United States is located in Tokyo.
32. In Japan, there is a restaurant that serves food only in edible containers.
33. Japan was the first country in the world to introduce a mobile phone payment system in 2004.
34. In Japan, there is an “ice hotel” that is rebuilt every year and has rooms, bars, and churches carved in ice.
35. Japan was the first country to build a nuclear fusion reactor in 1997.
36. In Japan, there is a train called the “Sagano Scenic Railway” that offers a panoramic journey through the Arashiyama area of Kyoto.
37. Japan has a temple called “Kiyomizu-dera”, which contains 1,000 statues of Kannon, the merciful goddess of Buddhism.
38. Japan holds the world record for the largest number of petals on a cherry blossom, with 307 petals recorded in 2013.
39. In Japan, there is an annual public sleeping competition, called the “Sleeping Festival”.
40. Japan is the home country of martial arts such as judo, karate, kendo, and aikido.
    
    READ MORE: 50 facts you need to know and understand about the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
    
    
41. In Japan, there is a concept called “shinrin-yoku” or “forest bathing”, which refers to spending time in nature to reduce stress and improve health.
42. Japan is the home country of sea monster stories like “kaiju”, such as Godzilla and Mothra.
43. In Japan, the literacy rate is almost 100%.
44. Japan is the third-largest coffee consumer in the world, after the United States and Brazil.
45. Japan invented the “bullet train” or the high-speed Shinkansen train, which started running in 1964.
46. In Japan, there is a tradition called “yuki-gassen”, which consists of organized snowball fights.
47. Japan has the highest number of theme parks per capita in the world.
48. In Japan, there is a “city of cats” called “Aoshima”, where cats outnumber the human population by about six times.
49. Japan has a “restaurant of silence”, where customers are encouraged to eat in silence to savor the food and relax.
50. In Japan, there is a tiny island called “Hashima”, which is also known as “Shipwreck Island” due to the numerous shipwrecks that have occurred nearby.

Watch the video presentation:

READ MORE: 25 Interesting Facts about Pokémon GO

In the comments section below, tell me: Which place in Japan would you absolutely like to visit?