Asia · Eastern Asia
Japan
Himeji Castle · Photo: Nikos Kitsakis · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Capital
- Tokyo
- Currency
- JPY
- Japanese Yen
- Local time
- Japan Standard TimeUTC+09:00
- Calling code
- +81
- Driving
- On the left
- Plugs
- Type A and B
Facts
Japan in figures
- Capital
- Tokyo
- Currency
- Japanese Yen JPYToday's indicative rate: JPY 100 ≈ USD 0.633Indicative, from the day's reference rates; a bank or card will charge its own.
- Languages
- Official: JapaneseSpoken: Japanese
- Time zones
- Japan Standard TimeUTC+09:00
- Calling code
- +81
- Driving
- On the left
- Plugs
- Type A and B100 V · 50 Hz / 60 HzAs recorded in Wikidata.
- Emergency numbers
- 110police119ambulance and fire118coast guardOfficial source: Fire and Disaster Management Agency, Japan and Japan Coast Guard. Check them locally on arrival; they are not the only safety information you need.
- Population
- 123,366,734 (2025, World Bank)
- Area
- 377,835 km²
- Internet domain
- .jp
- Land borders
- None: an island or a coastal territory with no land border recorded
When to go
Climate across Japan
- Mild to warm and dry
- Mild to warm, humid or showery
- Hot
- Cool
- Wet
- Cold
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo | 9° | 10° | 13° | 18° | 23° | 26° | 29° | 31° | 27° | 22° | 17° | 11° |
| Kyoto | 6° | 7° | 11° | 17° | 22° | 25° | 29° | 29° | 26° | 20° | 14° | 8° |
| Osaka | 6° | 8° | 12° | 18° | 22° | 25° | 29° | 30° | 26° | 21° | 15° | 9° |
| Yokohama | 7° | 8° | 12° | 18° | 22° | 25° | 29° | 30° | 26° | 20° | 15° | 10° |
| Sapporo | -4° | -3° | 0° | 8° | 15° | 20° | 23° | 24° | 20° | 13° | 5° | -2° |
| Nagoya | 8° | 9° | 13° | 18° | 23° | 26° | 29° | 30° | 27° | 22° | 16° | 11° |
| Hiroshima | 6° | 8° | 12° | 17° | 22° | 25° | 28° | 30° | 26° | 20° | 14° | 8° |
| Nagasaki | 9° | 11° | 14° | 19° | 23° | 26° | 29° | 30° | 27° | 22° | 17° | 11° |
| Kobe | 9° | 10° | 13° | 18° | 22° | 25° | 28° | 30° | 27° | 22° | 17° | 11° |
| Fukuoka | 8° | 10° | 13° | 19° | 23° | 26° | 30° | 30° | 27° | 21° | 16° | 10° |
| Cities good for going, of 69 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 36 | 12 | 5 | 21 | 7 | 13 | 3 | 1 |
Mean daily highs, modelled for an area about 50 km across: NASA POWER climatology, 2001–2020. A cell's swatch says what the month is like (key above).
On the map
Where Japan is
The dashed box is the extent of the country's main landmass, from Natural Earth; outlying islands fall outside it. The dots are the cities with pages of their own.
Land borders
None: an island or a coastal territory with no land border recorded
Cities
Cities in Japan
- TokyoCapitalGuide9,733,276
- YokohamaKanagawa3,777,491
- Osaka2,753,862
- NagoyaAichi2,332,176
- SapporoHokkaido1,973,832
- Fukuoka1,612,392
- KawasakiKanagawa1,538,262
- KobeHyōgo1,525,152
- KyotoGuide1,463,723
- Saitama1,324,854
- Hiroshima1,200,754
- SendaiMiyagi1,096,704
- Chiba979,768
- KitakyushuFukuoka940,978
- SakaiOsaka826,161
- Niigata797,591
- HamamatsuShizuoka791,707
- Kumamoto738,907
- Okayama724,691
- SagamiharaKanagawa720,780
- Shizuoka693,389
- Kagoshima595,049
- HachiōjiTokyo579,355
- HimejiHyōgo530,495
- UtsunomiyaTochigi518,757
- MatsuyamaEhime511,192
- MatsudoChiba498,575
- NishinomiyaHyōgo485,587
- KurashikiOkayama483,576
- ŌitaOita477,715
More cities · 39
Smaller places with an airport · 40
Airports
Airports in Japan
Large airports
- HNDTokyo Haneda International AirportTokyo
- ITMOsaka Itami International AirportOsaka
- KIXKansai International AirportOsaka
- CTSNew Chitose AirportSapporo
- FUKFukuoka AirportFukuoka
- UKBKobe AirportKobe
- HIJHiroshima AirportHiroshima
- KKJKitakyushu AirportKitakyushu
- KIJNiigata AirportNiigata
- KMJKumamoto AirportKumamoto
- OKJOkayama Momotaro AirportOkayama
- KOJKagoshima AirportKagoshima
- MYJMatsuyama AirportMatsuyama
- KMQKomatsu Airport / JASDF Komatsu Air BaseKanazawa
- TAKTakamatsu AirportTakamatsu
- NGSNagasaki AirportNagasaki
- KMIMiyazaki AirportMiyazaki
- OKANaha International AirportNaha
- AOJAomori AirportAomori
- HKDHakodate AirportHakodate
- TKSTokushima Awaodori Airport / JMSDF Tokushima Air BaseTokushima
- HSGKyushu Saga International AirportSaga
- NRTNarita International AirportNarita
- FSZMount Fuji Shizuoka AirportShimada
- SDJSendai AirportNatori-shi
- NGOChubu Centrair International AirportTokoname
- IBRIbaraki AirportOmitama
- KCZKochi Ryoma AirportNankoku
Medium airports · 54
- NKM · Nagoya
- OKD · Sapporo
- OIT · Ōita
- TOY · Toyama
- AKJ · Asahikawa
- AXT · Akita
- ONJ · Akita
- MMJ · Matsumoto
- TTJ · Tottori-shi
- UBJ · Ube
- IZO · Izumo
- KUH · Kushiro
- OBO · Obihiro
- YGJ · Yonago
- IWK · Iwakuni
- HNA · Hanamaki
- AXJ · Amakusa
- TJH · Toyooka
- FKS · Sukagawa
- OIM · Itō
- MMY · Miyakojima
- SHI · Miyakojima
- SDS · Sado
- GAJ · Higashine
- ISG · Ishigaki
- IWJ · Masuda
- MSJ · Misawa
- ASJ · Amami
- KKX · Amami
- FUJ · Gotō
- RIS · Wakkanai
- WKJ · Wakkanai
- IKI · Iki
- TSJ · Tsushima
- NTQ · Wajima
- SHB · Nakashibetsu
- SHM · Shirahama
- MBE · Mombetsu
- MMB · Motomachi
- SYO · Shonai
- RNJ · Tsuha
- KUM · Nishinoomote
- TNE · Nishinoomote
- HAC · Hachijojima
- KTD · Kitadaitōjima
- MMD · Minamidaito
- MYE · Miyakejima
- OGN · Yonaguni
- OIR · Okushiri Island
- OKE · Wadomari
- OKI · Okinoshima
- TKN · Amagi
- TRA · Tarama
- UEO · Kumejima
Photographs
Japan in pictures
TokyoPhoto: Morio · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
KyotoPhoto: Basile Morin · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
OsakaPhoto: 663highland · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
YokohamaPhoto: Takuro1202 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
SapporoPhoto: Hideki Uchida (セラ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
NagoyaPhoto: Nryate · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Guides
Our guides in Japan
From the journal
Related reading
Destinations
When to see the cherry blossoms in Kyoto: the dates, the data and a plan
Thirty years of Japan Meteorological Agency records, six recent seasons and the city's own advice, for planning a spring trip to Kyoto from the UAE.
Updated 29 September 2026 · 8 min read
When to go
The best time to visit Japan: seasons, rainy season and typhoons
Late March to May and October to November suit most trips to Japan. The weather agency's averages, the rainy and typhoon seasons, and the holidays that fill the trains.
Updated 29 September 2026 · 11 min read
Visas and entry
Visas and entry
Entry rules depend on your passport and change often, so this page does not state them. Check the destination government's official immigration website, or ask our visa desk to check your case for you.
Plan it
Plan a trip to Japan
Tell us where in Japan, when and who is travelling, and a person puts the flights, the stays and the rest into one quote.