Japan

Japan (Nippon/Nihon) is an archipelago of some 6,800 islands in East Asia, with four principal landmasses — Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku — and a population of roughly 124 million in 2026. Its political system is defined by the post-war Constitution promulgated 3 November 1946 and effective 3 May 1947, drafted under the Allied Occupation led by General Douglas MacArthur. The Constitution makes the Emperor (currently Naruhito, who acceded in 2019, inaugurating the Reiwa era) the "symbol of the State and of the unity of the people" with no governing power, vesting sovereignty in the people. The famous Article 9 renounces war and the maintenance of armed forces, the legal basis for Japan's "pacifist" posture, though the Self-Defense Forces operate under a reinterpretation permitting collective self-defence since the 2015 security legislation under Prime Minister Shinzō Abe.

Power is exercised through the bicameral National Diet (Kokkai), comprising the House of Representatives (lower house) and the House of Councillors (upper house). The Prime Minister, head of government, is designated by the Diet and heads the Cabinet; the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has dominated governance almost continuously since 1955. Japan industrialised early through the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which abolished the Tokugawa shogunate and the feudal order, and after defeat in 1945 it achieved the "economic miracle," joining the OECD in 1964 and becoming a G7 founding member in 1975. The Bank of Japan and the keiretsu corporate structure shaped its export-led growth, though the asset-bubble collapse of 1991 produced the "Lost Decades" of stagnation and deflation.

In foreign policy, Japan anchors its security to the United States through the 1951 (revised 1960) Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, hosting major US bases including in Okinawa. It maintains the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) with the US, India and Australia, and pursues "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" diplomacy. Sino-Japanese relations, normalised by the 1972 Joint Communiqué and the 1978 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, remain strained over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands and wartime history. Japan and Bangladesh share strong ties: Japan is a leading bilateral development partner financing the Matarbari deep-sea port and the Dhaka Metro Rail, and the two elevated relations to a "Strategic Partnership" in 2023. Territorial disputes persist with Russia over the Northern Territories (Kuril Islands) and with South Korea over Takeshima/Dokdo.

For the exam, Japan recurs across multiple papers. In the BCS Bangladesh and International Affairs component, candidates must know Japan's role as a development financier, ODA donor and Indo-Pacific partner. In China foreign-policy syllabi, Sino-Japanese rivalry, the history question, and the Senkaku dispute are standard. UPSC and FSOT international-relations sections test Article 9 pacifism, the US-Japan alliance, the Quad, and Japan's bid for permanent UN Security Council membership through the G4. Typical question angles ask candidates to assess Japan's post-war constitutional remilitarisation debate, evaluate its economic diplomacy in South Asia, or compare its Indo-Pacific strategy with China's Belt and Road Initiative.