Population~
 Growth:
  As of October 1, 1995, Japanís population stood at 125.6 million. Japan now ranks seventh in the world, after The Peopleís Republic of China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia.
 Density:
  In October 1995 the population density in Japan was 337 persons per square kilometer. As of today 49% of all Japanese are crowded into the three big metro areas of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and their surrounding cities. One fourth of Tokyoís Metropolitan area has gone through a rapid growth. This is due to the fact that more people are residing there now.
 Structure:
  In the conventional population pyramid there is a gradual alter going on. Children of the age of 14 and under are now forming the broad base. There is a declining birthrate. In 1995, 14.4% of Japanís total population was 65 years or older. The life expectancy in Japan is 83 years for women and 76 years for men.

Ethnicity~
         99% ethnic Japanese with small number are Koreans. (680,000)
  Native Ainu live mostly on Hokkaido. All non-Japanese must register annually with police and do not have full citizenship rights.

The Burakumin: A History of Prejudice~
 
 The Burakumin are descendants of outcasts.  These descendants were people who performed certain jobs, which were known as unclean.  Such jobs were butchering animals, tanning skins, making leather goods, digging graves, and handling corpses.  Another group of Burakumin was known as hinin, or ìnon-personsî.  These people performed tasks such as torturing, crucifying Christians and sawing off the heads of criminals in public.
Now the descendants of these people are experiencing prejudice.   The Burakumin were not allowed to marry outside of their group.  They also were not allowed to live outside of their slums.  There were not even allowed to dress like or even be in the presence of non-Burakumin.  The prejudice has gone on for more than a 1,000 years.  Today the prejudice has gone down.  Two-thirds of todayís Burakumin say they have never experienced any prejudice.  While reports say that high crime rates and low education levels are high in Burakumin communities, the overall situation of prejudice has improved dramatically.

Family Relationships~
  The Japanese family relationship is very simple. The main aspect is to be respectful to the elderly. It is traditional for the eldest son and his family to move in with the parents. More and more the tradition is being broken. Either by the eldest son being replaced by another son or even a daughter. Many elderly feel that they are being disrespected when the eldest son chooses not to move in with them. Others prefer to live by themselves. When they choose to live with their daughters a lot of times it is because they do not get along with their daughter-in-laws. Therefore the proportion of elderly living alone has doubled.