Editing Demographics of Japan (section)

===Urban distribution===
[[File:Population of Japan by area, 2015.png|thumb|Distribution of population<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/files?page=1&layout=datalist&toukei=00200524&tstat=000000090001&cycle=0&tclass1=000000090001&tclass2=000001095055|title=Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan Intercensal Adjustment of Current Population Estimates 2010 – 2015}}</ref> by [[List of regions of Japan|regions]] (blue shades) and [[Prefectures of Japan|prefectures]] (red: most populous; green: less).<br />[[Kantō region|KANTO]], [[Keihanshin|KEIHANSHIN]] and [[Tōkai region|TOKAI]] are three largest metropolitan areas which have about 2/3 of total population of Japan. Out of 47 prefectures, 13 are red and 34 are green.<br />The population of Japan has been decreasing since 2011. Only 8 prefectures had increased its population compared to 2010, due to internal migration to large cities. ]]
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| image1 = [http://www.viewsoftheworld.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Japan_PopulationCartogram.png Japan Gridded Population Cartogram]
| image2 = [https://worldmapper.org/maps/gridded-population-jpn/ Japan Gridded Population]
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Japan has a high population concentration in urban areas on the plains since 75% of Japan's land area is made up of mountains,<ref>{{cite web |title=地形分類 |url=http://www.gsi.go.jp/atlas/archive/j-atlas-d_j_02.pdf |publisher=Geospatial Information Authority of Japan |access-date=2015-10-14 |archive-date=2016-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305031643/http://www.gsi.go.jp/atlas/archive/j-atlas-d_j_02.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and also Japan has a forest cover rate of 68.5% (the only other developed countries with such a high forest cover percentage are Finland and Sweden).<ref name="Forest area % of land area"/>
The 2010 census shows 90.7% of the total Japanese population live in cities.<ref>{{cite web |title=平成22年国勢調査最終報告書 人口の地域分布 |url=http://www.stat.go.jp/data/kokusei/2010/final/pdf/01-02.pdf |publisher=The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Statistics Bureau |access-date=2015-10-14 |archive-date=2018-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119105951/http://www.stat.go.jp/data/kokusei/2010/final/pdf/01-02.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Japan is an urban society with about only 5% of the [[labor force]] working in [[agriculture]]. Many farmers supplement their income with [[part-time job]]s in nearby towns and cities. About 80&nbsp;million of the urban population is heavily concentrated on the Pacific shore of [[Honshu]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/today/placesinthenews/archive/2011arch/20110921_japan.html|title=Japan – Places in the News {{!}} Library of Congress|website=www.loc.gov|language=en|access-date=2017-01-30|archive-date=2017-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202062725/https://www.loc.gov/today/placesinthenews/archive/2011arch/20110921_japan.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Metropolitan [[Tokyo]]–[[Yokohama]], with its population of 35 million residents, is the world's most populous city. Japan faces the same problems that confront urban industrialized societies throughout the world: overcrowded cities and congested [[highway]]s.