Hokkaidō

The bureaucratic administration of Japan is divided into three basic levels; national, prefectural, and municipal. Below the national government there are 47 prefectures, six of which are further subdivided into subprefectures to better service large geographical areas or remote islands.

Japan has 47 prefectures. On the basis of geographical and historical background, these prefectures can be divided into eight regions: Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu-Okinawa. Each region has its own dialect, customs, and unique traditional culture.

A ward (区, ku) is a subdivision of the cities of Japan that are large enough to have been designated by government ordinance. Wards are used to subdivide each city designated by government ordinance (“designated city”). Wards are local entities directly controlled by the municipal government.

In everyday English, Tokyo as a whole is also referred to as a city even though it contains 62 cities, towns, villages and special wards.

There are no “states” or “provinces” in Japan, because Japan is not a federal system but a unitary state with a two-tier local government system. There are 47 prefectures in Japan: 1 “to” (Tokyo-to), 1 “do” (Hokkai-do), 2 “fu” (Osaka-fu and Kyoto-fu), and 43 “ken.” “Do,” “Fu,” and “Ken” have the same functions.

The Tokyo Megalopolis Region, or Greater Tokyo Area, is made up of Tokyo and the three neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa. This area is home to around 30% of Japan’s total population.

Eastern Capital

Tokyo is much larger than New York and it also is the most populated city in the world. But because it’s so large, its population density is only 15,604 people per square mile, whereas NYC’s is 27,578. It’s population density is a whopping 43,294 people per square mile.

In fact Japan on the whole is a whole lot cleaner than the USA. NYC is pretty filthy, even by American standards, and Tokyo looks sparkling clean in comparison.

Nyc. Seattle looks more like Tokyo.

Average Salary in Japan 2019 This comes out to be about 256,416 yen per month. In terms of US dollars (using the average exchange rate for 2019) that’s $28,227 per year, or $2,352 a month. The average age of a Japanese worker was 43.1 years old, and they had worked for an average of 12.4 years.

Top 10 Highest-Paying Jobs in Japan

• Operations director.
• Sales director (tie)
• Senior marketing manager (tie)
• Chief financial officer (tie)
• HR vice president.
• Executive director.
• Neurosurgeon. Average annual salary: ¥20,350,000 ($186,735 / £134,570)
• Chief executive officer. Average annual salary: ¥21,600,000 ($198,220 / £142,850)

Here’s an overview of the most popular highest paying jobs in Japan for English speakers:

1. IT Professional.
2. Investment Banking.
3. Business Analyst.
4. Marketing & Sales.
5. Engineer.
6. Recruitment Consultant.
7. English teacher.
8. Service Staff.

According to a survey conducted in 2019, medical doctors employed at hospitals belonging to medical corporations in Japan earned the highest average amount of approximately 16.4 million Japanese yen in fiscal year 2018, of which around 15.74 million yen was from an annual regular salary.

The 8 Most Popular Jobs for Foreigners in Japan

• English teacher. Teaching English at cram schools is the most common job for foreign workers.
• IT professional.
• Translator/interpreter.
• Sales staff.
• Military personnel.
• Banker.
• Service staff.
• Engineer.

You might have heard that it’s inappropriate to show your shoulders in Japan so you should avoid wearing tank tops and spaghetti strap shirts. While it’s true that you often won’t see Japanese women wearing these types of tops without a sleeved shirt underneath, it’s really not that big of a deal.

Since Japanese people started to wear western clothes for daily purposes, kimono have become uncommon, that cost a lot, and are supposed to be worn only on special occasions. But this shouldn’t be so. As a result, most Japanese today do not have the opportunity to learn how to put on a kimono properly.

Major examples of restricted items include: Plants, plant products including many foods, animals, meat, eggs and other animal products must be presented to the plant or animal quarantine officer for inspection prior to customs examination. Imported medications and cosmetics are restricted by quantity.