Society in Japan

Japan's total population reached its peak around 2008 and has declined every year since. The number of births has fallen to record lows, and the total fertility rate has long been far below the replacement level. More than one in four people is aged 65 or over, and the working-age population has been shrinking since the 1990s.

The consequences reach every area of life: rising pension and health care costs, labour shortages in care, construction and logistics, closing schools and empty houses (akiya) in rural areas. Governments have responded with child-rearing support, measures to extend working lives, automation and wider acceptance of foreign workers. Population is increasingly concentrated in Tokyo and the other large metropolitan areas.

The extended family household of three generations under one roof, once common in the countryside, has largely given way to nuclear families, couples and people living alone. One-person households are now the most common type, reflecting both young single workers in cities and a growing number of older people living alone.

People marry later and less often than in the past, and births outside marriage remain rare. Family law still requires married couples to share one surname, which in practice is usually the husband's; whether to allow separate surnames is a long-running public debate.

The school system follows a 6-3-3-4 pattern: six years of elementary school and three years of lower secondary school are compulsory, followed by three years of upper secondary school, which almost all pupils attend, and four years of university for the majority of school leavers who continue to higher education. The school year begins in April.

Entrance examinations for upper secondary schools and universities have traditionally been decisive, supported by a large sector of private cram schools (juku). Schools also emphasise cleaning duties, club activities and school events, and pupils often wear uniforms.

Large Japanese companies traditionally hired graduates en masse each April, trained them internally and kept them until retirement, with pay rising by seniority and a strong company union. This model of lifetime employment still shapes big firms and the civil service, but a large share of workers are now on part-time, fixed-term or dispatch contracts.

Long working hours and unpaid overtime became a social issue under the name karōshi, death from overwork. Work-style reform laws in force from 2019 capped overtime and require employees to take a minimum of paid leave. Teamwork, consensus-building and careful etiquette remain central to office life.

Most Japanese do not describe themselves as religious, yet religious practice is woven into the calendar and life events. Shinto and Buddhism coexist: people visit shrines at New Year and for festivals, children's rites of passage and blessings, while Buddhist temples conduct most funerals and memorial services. A common saying holds that the Japanese are born Shinto and die Buddhist; many weddings follow Christian-style ceremonies.

Because shrines and temples each report their own adherents, the official religious statistics count more members than Japan has inhabitants. The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the separation of religion and state. Christians make up around one per cent of the population, and a variety of newer religious movements are active.

Japan is often described as ethnically homogeneous, but that image hides several minority groups. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido, were recognised as an indigenous people by a Diet resolution in 2008 and in law in 2019. The people of Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands, a kingdom until 1879, have their own languages and culture. Zainichi Koreans, many descended from people who came or were brought to Japan during the colonial period, have lived in Japan for generations, often holding special permanent residence; a smaller Chinese community has similar roots.

The Burakumin, descendants of outcaste groups of the Edo period, have faced discrimination despite legal equality. Since the 1990s, foreign residents from China, Vietnam, South Korea, the Philippines, Brazil, Nepal and other countries have grown in number, and new visa categories for skilled workers have expanded labour migration.

Women's employment has risen strongly, and legal equality in hiring has been required since the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1985. Yet Japan ranks low among developed countries in international gender-gap comparisons, mainly because women remain under-represented in politics and management, and a sizeable gender pay gap persists. Many women leave regular employment after childbirth and return in part-time jobs.

The government's Gender Equality Bureau sets targets for women in leadership positions, and companies must publish data on the pay gap and women's advancement. Paternity leave, though increasingly used, is still taken far less often than maternity leave.