Japan at a Glance

• Population: Approx. 127 million


• Capital city: Tokyo, approx. 12 million inhabitants


• Language: Japanese


• Religions: 80% of the Japanese profess several religions: Shintoism (107 million), Buddhism (91 million), Christianity (1.4 million)


• Form of government:: Parliamentary democracy with bicameral system (upper house: 242 seats, lower house: 480 seats)

Economy

Bilateral trade between Germany and Japan saw considerable growth in 2004. In comparison to the previous year, imports from Japan increased by 7.2 per cent to 21.1 billion Euros, while German exports to Japan increased to 12.6 billion Euros. In 2004, Japan remained Germany's second-most important trade partner in Asia after China, both for exports and for imports. However, in regard to the German foreign trade total, the export share of 1.8 percent and the import share of 3.6 percent are both modest, and this falls short of fulfilling the potential for trade between the second-largest and third-largest national economies in the world. However, in parallel to the development of bilateral trade, direct investment has increased. In 2003, German investment in Japan was five times that of the previous year, and with 638 million Euros, Japanese companies also invested considerably more in Germany than in 2002.

Culture and Science

In recent years, cooperation in the fields of science and research has been continuously expanded and intensified. Today, in the natural sciences, and especially in medicine, fields in which Germany and Japan have a rich common tradition, high-level cooperation projects are in place, involving renowned research institutions and universities in both countries. There are more than 200 cooperation agreements between German and Japanese universities alone, and a veritable torrent of scientific exchange.

Despite the considerable distance between the two countries, cultural exchange between Japan and Germany is intensive and wide-ranging. In both countries, there are numerous friendship societies, twin towns and music societies. On December 9, 2004, the official kick-off for the "Deutsches Haus” (German House) in Tokyo took place. The building is home to four German state-sponsored institutions (Goethe-Institut, German Academic Exchange Service, German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ), and the Fraunhofer Society) as well as several unsponsored cultural, scientific, and business institutions of relevance to Germany (German East Asiatic Society (OAG), Chamber of Commerce, etc.). The "German House" is intended as a place in central Tokyo for meetings and exchanges between the two countries. Of particular significance is the Japanese-German Center Berlin (JDZB), the most important, and very diversely set-up, bilateral institution which focuses on economy, science, culture and politics. The JDZB operates simultaneously as the German secretariat of the German-Japanese Forum.

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