travel > Destinations > asia > Japan > Comparing Japan to the United States

Comparing Japan to the United States

TIME : 2016/2/16 14:09:32
A small wooden prayer tablet painted with Colonel Sanders holding a rooster in his arms.

A Shinto prayer tablet featuring Colonel Sanders of KFC. Photo © Chris Gladis, licensed Creative Commons Attribution No-Derivatives.

When you first come to Japan, you may observe things that look like cultural contradictions, a clash of East and West. For example, while waiting on a train platform, you might see a woman in a traditional kimono using a smart phone, two businesspeople bowing and shaking hands simultaneously, or a blonde Japanese with a mohawk. Newcomers to Japan often perceive such phenomena as contradictions, because they’ve never imagined these particular cultural elements in comfortable juxtaposition. In my experience observing two cultures, it’s no more incongruous for a woman in a kimono to use a keitai (cell phone) than for a Western man in a tuxedo to do so. Though we may regard modern accoutrements as belonging to the West, they are just as intrinsic a part of Japanese culture and daily life.

After all, Japan has been blending foreign elements into its culture for several thousand years—Buddhist thought and arts from India, China, and Korea; Christianity from the Middle East via Europe; literature and a writing system from China and Europe; medicine from Germany; parliamentary government from Europe; modern business and manufacturing practices from the United States; public school education from Europe and the United States; school uniforms from Prussia; football and rugby from Europe; and baseball and, more recently, hamburgers, Starbucks, and KFC from the United States.

Below is a table with some quick comparative facts between the Japan and the United States:

Japan United States Age Structure: 0–14 years 13.1 percent 20.1 percent Age Structure: 15–64 years 64 percent 66.8 percent Age Structure: 65+ years 22.9 percent 13.1 percent Median Age 44.8 years 36.9 years Arable Land 11.6 percent 20 percent Birth Rate 8.4 births/1,000 population 13.68 births/1,000 population Climate Cool temperate north to tropical south Mostly temperate, also tropical, arctic, and arid Coastline 29,751 kilometers 19,924 kilometers Ethnic Groups Japanese 98.5 percent

Korean 0.5 percent

Chinese 0.4 percent

Other (Ainu, Brazilian, Filipino, etc.) 0.7 percent Anglo non-Hispanic 63 percent

Hispanic or Latino 17 percent

African-American 13 percent

Asian 4.2 percent

Alaska native 1.5 percent

Hawaiian, Pacific Islander 0.3 percent

Other 4 percent Fiscal Year April 1 to March 31/td> October 1 to September 31 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) $5.855 trillion $15.06 trillion GDP per Capita $42,800 $47,600 Government Type Parliamentary government with constitutional monarch Constitution-based federal republic Gun-Related Deaths/Year 94 31,347* Infant Mortality 2.2 deaths/1,000 live births 5.98 deaths/1,000 live births Landmass 377,835 square kilometers 9.6 million square kilometers Life Expectancy 84 years 78.5 years Literacy 99 percent 97 percent Natural Resources Negligible minerals, fish Coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, etc. Obesity 3.1 percent 33.9 percent Oil Consumption 4.452 million barrels/day 19.15 million barrels/day Population 127 million 313 million Religion Shinto 84 percent

Buddhist 71 percent

Other 15 percent (1 percent Christian) Protestant 52 percent

Catholic 24 percent

Jewish 1.7 percent

Muslim 1 percent

Other 19 percent School Year April to March September to June Unemployment Rate 4.6 percent 8.3 percent Source: The World Fact Book
*CDC National Center for Health Statistics mortality report online, 2010


Excerpted from the Third Edition of Moon Living Abroad in Japan.