International Market Development

International market development | Comprehensive analysis of Japan's economy and market conditions

Author : Bozhou Marine

Update time : 2020-12-22 14:23:58

In this article, we mainly introduce the basic situation of the Japanese market. Including: geographic location, major cities, population conditions, ethnic groups, major festivals, natural resources, major industries, infrastructure construction, GDP, foreign exchange reserves, employment, prices, corporate income tax, personal tax rates, etc.

Introduction

Japan (Japanese: にほんこく; English: Japan), referred to as "Japan", is an island country in East Asia. The territory consists of four large islands in Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu and more than 6,800 small islands, with a total area of 378,000 square meters. Kilometers.

Japan is a highly developed capitalist country, the world's third largest economy, and members of G7 and G20. Its resources are scarce and extremely dependent on imports, and its developed manufacturing industry is the backbone of the national economy. Research, aerospace, manufacturing, and education rank among the top in the world. In addition, the cultural industry led by animation and game industries and the developed tourism industry are also important symbols. Japanese traditional culture such as tea ceremony, flower ceremony, and calligraphy has been preserved.

Capital

Tokyo (とうきょう, Tōkyō), the capital of Japan, is located in the middle of the Kanto Plain in Japan. It is an international metropolis facing Tokyo Bay and the central city of Tokyo Metropolitan Circle, one of the three major metropolitan areas in Japan. "Tokyo" in a narrow sense refers to Tokyo Metropolitan, Old Tokyo Prefecture, or Tokyo Metropolitan Area (Old Tokyo City), and can also refer to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.

As of October 2019, Tokyo has a population of approximately 13.92 million, of which 23 wards have a total of 8,967,665 residents. The total population of the Tokyo metropolitan area reached 37 million (2016), ranking first among all administrative regions in Japan and the most populous city in the world.

Main City

Tokyo

Tokyo is the capital of Japan and the core area of Japan. It is also a world-class super metropolis, which ranks among the best in major cities. Its city is huge and its construction is prosperous. The headquarters of many world-famous brands such as SoftBank, Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Subaru, Bridgestone, Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, Canon, Nikon, etc. are located in Tokyo, and the overall strength of the city is very strong.

Osaka

Osaka is Japan's second largest city, an important port, and the center of the Keihanshin metropolitan area. It has a very high reputation in the world. It is the headquarters of Fortune 500 companies such as Panasonic, Yamato Housing and Kansai Electric Power. At the same time, Osaka has a long history and is also a famous tourist attraction.

Yokohama

Yokohama is the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan, the international trade center, and belongs to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. It is one of the busiest ports in the world and the headquarters of Nissan Motor.

Nagoya

Nagoya is the capital of Aichi Prefecture in Japan and the central city of the Nagoya metropolitan area. This is the industrial and commercial center and transportation hub of central Japan. Toyota City in its metropolitan area is another headquarters of Toyota besides Tokyo.

Sapporo

Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido, Japan, and the industrial and commercial center of Hokkaido. Located in the north, Sapporo has beautiful scenery and unique charm, and is also a famous tourist attraction.

Fukuoka

Fukuoka is the capital of Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the northern part of Kyushu Island and is the largest city and regional center in Kyushu.

Kobe

Kobe is the capital and important port of Hyogo Prefecture in Japan, and a major city in the Keihanshin metropolitan area.

Kyoto

Kyoto belongs to the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area and is a large inland city with prosperous commerce, abundant resources, and developed light industry.

Kawasaki

Located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, Kawasaki is a part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, an important industrial center city, and the headquarters of Fujitsu.

Hiroshima

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan and has suffered devastating damage. Today, the promotion of peace is the main theme of this city and is called the Peace Memorial City. At the same time, it is also the central city in the southern part of Honshu Island in Japan. Fuchu Town in its metropolitan area is the headquarters of Mazda Motors.

  Jet Lag

Japan time and Beijing time are one hour faster. Beijing time belongs to the East 8th district time; Japan time belongs to the East 9th district time.

For example, 8 o'clock in Beijing time and 9 o'clock in Tokyo time.

  Population

As of January 1, 2019, the total population of Japan was 124,775,6364, a decrease of 433,239 from the same period in 2018, which is the 10th consecutive year of decline. The number of foreigners registered as residents in Japan increased by 169,543 from 2017, bringing the total number to 2,667,199.

  Nation

As of January 2019, the main ethnic group in Japan is Yamato, and there are approximately 16,000 Ainu in Hokkaido. In addition to the well-known "Yamato people" on the Japanese archipelago, there are also Ainu and Ryukyu people with unique ethnic characteristics.

  Language

Japanese is commonly used in Japan. The Japanese Constitution does not stipulate a legal language, so Japanese is not an official language. But in fact, Japanese is a widely used language and the actual official language.

  Main Holiday

Japanese festivals mainly include national festivals and traditional folk festivals.
There are 15 legal holidays in Japan, which are：

New Year's Day,
Coming of Age Day,
National Foundation Day,
Vernal Equinox Day,
Shaohe Memorial Day,
Constitution Memorial Day,
Green Festival,
Children's Day,
Sea Day,
Respect for the Aged Day,
Autumnal Equinox Day,
Sports Festival ,
Cultural Festival,
Thanksgiving Day for Diligence,
the Emperor’s Birthday.

Picture | Pixabay

Natural Resources

Japan is poor in natural resources. Except for a very small amount of mineral resources such as coal, natural gas, and sulfur, other major raw materials and fuels needed for industrial production must be imported from overseas.

However, Japan is rich in forest and fishery resources, with forest coverage accounting for 69% of Japan's land area, making it one of the countries with the highest forest coverage in the world. Hokkaido and the Sea of Japan are world-famous fishing grounds, rich in more than 700 species of fish.

Main Industry

Industry

The Japanese industry is highly developed, and the industrial structure is developing towards technology-intensive, energy-saving and material-saving. The main sectors include electronics, household appliances, automobiles, precision machinery, shipbuilding, steel, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Industrial products are highly competitive in the international market. Most of the major industrial areas are concentrated on the Pacific coast, and four major industrial areas, namely Keihin, Hanshin, Chukyo, and Kitakyushu have been formed.

Since the Second World War, Japan's manufacturing industry has developed rapidly, especially the electrical and electronic industries and automobile manufacturing. Japan's Mitsubishi is a super corporate consortium in the world second only to GM. Japan’s well-known electrical and electronic industry and high-tech manufacturers include Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Sharp, Toshiba, Hitachi and other companies. In terms of automobile manufacturing, Japanese companies have surpassed the United States and Germany in automobile production and are the world's largest automobile producers. Among them, manufacturers such as Toyota, Mazda, Honda and Nissan all sell their automotive products globally.

Japan has world-leading technologies and has won numerous awards in many fields such as electronics, mobile communications, low-energy-consumption environmentally friendly vehicles, machinery, industrial robots, optics, chemistry, semiconductors and metals. Japan's industrial robot production accounts for more than half of the world.

Agriculture

Only 12% of the land in Japan is arable land. In order to compensate for this shortcoming, Japan uses systematic farming of fragmented land, making Japan have the world's highest precision agricultural results, which is the world's largest yield per unit of land.

Agriculture is a highly subsidized and protected industry in Japan. Small-scale farming is encouraged instead of large-scale farming in the United States. In particular, rice is a highly protected industry, and a super-high 490% tariff is set to block foreign rice. But wheat and soybeans are still purchased from foreign countries,

Japan is also the EU's largest grain export target.

However, Japan is the world's second-largest fishing country, and Japan still has the world's largest fishing fleet and a 15% share of global catches.

Service Industry

Japan’s service industries, especially banking, finance, shipping, insurance, and business services, account for the largest proportion of GDP and are in a leading position in the world. Tokyo is the country’s largest city and economic center. One of the service centers.

Cultural Industry

Japan’s cultural industry has made considerable progress in the fields of music, film, animation, publishing, advertising, sporting goods, tourism, and education and training.

Japan is the world's second largest music market, with an annual output value of nearly US$3 billion. If other related derivative products are calculated, the animation industry has become Japan's second most profitable pillar industry.

  Infrastructure

Speaking of infrastructure, Japan should be one of the most complete countries in the world. At present, it has formed a modern transportation system that focuses on shipping and closely integrates sea, land, and air.

Sea Transport

Japan has a large marine fleet, which has routes connecting with all parts of the world. Famous seaports include Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, etc.

Air Transport

Japan’s national center airports include Tokyo Narita International Airport, Tokyo Haneda International Airport, Nagoya Chubu International Airport, Osaka Kansai International Airport and Osaka Itami International Airport. Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Hokkaido International Airlines, and Skymark Airlines are Japan’s four major airlines and are important symbols of Japanese air traffic.

Land Transport

Japan's land transportation mostly relies on subway, light rail, railway and other rail transportation. The passenger service of Japan Railway started in 1872. The total distance of railways including JR and private railways is 27929 kilometers. The Shinkansen is Japan's high-speed railway. The passenger dedicated line system is known as the "bullet train". In 2015, the number of passengers transported reached 24 billion.

  Negative GDP growth in 2019, the first time since 2014

According to data from the World Economic Information Network, Japan’s total GDP in 2019 is approximately US$5.21 trillion, which is less than half of my country’s total GDP and ranks third in the world. This represents a decrease of 0.1% from the previous year, and has shown negative growth again since 2014.

In 2019, Japan's per capita GDP was approximately US$41,314.41, ranking 24th in the world.

  Affected by the epidemic, GDP growth rate will drop sharply in 2020

Japan's total GDP trend over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

From 2010 to 2019, Japan's GDP growth rate was relatively stable between 0% and 2%. However, due to the impact of the epidemic, the GDP growth rate will drop sharply in 2020.

Overall increase in foreign exchange reserves

Japan's total foreign exchange reserves trend over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

From 2010 to 2020, Japan's foreign exchange reserves have shown an overall growth, with slight adjustments in different periods.

The latest data show that Japan’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen from USD 1,389.8 billion in September 2020 to USD 1,384.4 billion in October.

The overall growth of the employed population, the unemployment rate has been declining in recent years

Japan’s employment trends over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

From 2010 to 2019, the overall employment population in Japan has shown an increase. Affected by the epidemic and blockade, the employment population will show a significant downward trend in 2020.

Japan's unemployment rate trend graph over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

From 2010 to 2019, the unemployment rate in Japan continued to decline, and the overall improvement was positive. Affected by the epidemic, there has been a sharp increase this year.

The consumer price index is rising steadily, and the inflation rate fluctuates greatly

Japan Consumer Price Index CPI over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

After 2014, the Japanese consumer price index CPI has seen a significant increase, and it has stabilized after 2014.

Japan's inflation rate trend chart over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

From 2010 to 2020, Japan's inflation rate fluctuated greatly. In 2013 and 2016, it fell to a negative number. In recent years, it has basically fluctuated between 0% and 1%. Affected by the epidemic this year, it has dropped to negative again.

Corporate income tax is about 30%

Japan's corporate income tax trends over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

From 2010 to 2015, the Japanese corporate income tax rate was around 35%; from 2016 to 2020, the Japanese corporate income tax rate was 30%.

Personal income tax 56%

Japan's personal income tax trends over the years | TRADING ECONOMICS

From 2016 to 2020, Japan's personal income tax rate was 55.95%.

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