Living and Working in Japan

Japan is located in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of East Asia. Japan is known as Nippon in Japanese which translates to “Land of Rising Sun”. (Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, 2015) Japan is ranked the 11th most populated country in the world (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014) and has an estimated population of 127 million people see in Figure 1. (Trading Economics, 2015)

Figure 1. Japan Population (1990-2015)

Source: Trading Economics

Figure 2 shows the main cities and capital of Japan.

Figure 2. Japan Map

Source: Go Japan Go

2. Living In Japan

2.1 Demographics

Demographics include factors like gender, ethnic groups, birth rate and death rate. (Business Dictionary, 2015)

Japan, last measured in 2011 and shown in Figure 3, has a female population of 51.31% and male population of 48.69%. (Trading Economics, 2015)

Figure 3. Population – Female (% of total) in Japan

Source: Trading Economics

Japanese makes up 98.5% of the whole population, Koreans 0.5%, Chinese 0.4% and other ethnic at 0.6%. (Central Intelligence Agency, 2015)

Death rate has been higher than birth rate and Japan faces the challenge of whether the working population can support the growing numbers of pensioners. (Forbes, 2015) Figure 4 shows how much births exceed (or are exceeded by) deaths adjusted for population size.

Figure 4. Japan Natural Change in Population Per 1,000 (1970-2014)

Source: Forbes

2.2 Languages Used

The main spoken and written language is Japanese. (Central Intelligence Agency, 2015) In spoken language, Japanese made up 99% and the remaining 1% is made up of Korean, Japanese Sign Language and “shifting” languages like Miyako, Yaeyema and Amami. (Studylands, 2015) Figure 5 shows basic Japanese words.

Figure 5. Commonly used Japanese Words

Source: International Market Advisor

2.3 Education

Japanese education system, 6-3-3-4, where there is 6 years of elementary school, 3 years of junior high school, 3 years of senior high school and 4 years of University as shown in Figure 6. 9 years of free compulsory elementary and junior high school education is and all classes are taught in Japanese. (Abe, 2015)

Figure 6. Japanese Education System

Source: Tokyo International Communication Committee

Generally, curriculum includes Japanese language, science, social studies, arithmetic, music, homemaking, moral education, physical education and art and crafts.

International schools in Japan teach subjects in English, and the list of international schools can be seen in Figure 7.

Figure 7. International Schools in Japan

Source: Japan Council of International Schools

2.4 Japanese Cuisine and Dining Etiquette

A typical meal in Japan consists of rice, miso soup, pickled vegetable and meat. (Japan Zone, 2015) Staples include rice, noodles, soy sauce and other soybean products. Common ingredients include side dishes like bamboo shoots, daikon, ginger, seaweed, and pickled vegetables called tsukemono, served at every meal. The national beverage of Japan is the green tea and sake.

Two uniquely Japanese foods are sushi and sashimi. Most dishes prepared in a single pot are called the nabemono. Sukiyaki is a special dish made up of thin slices of beef or chicken, vegetables and tofu in delicious broth. (Food By Country, 2015) Figure 8 shows the above mentioned food.

Figure 8: Types of Food in Japan

A typical meal in