Map found on redditAs the map above shows, when Japan announced its surrender on August 15, 1945, it still held a surprisingly large amount of territory,  far more than many people today realize.

However, its strategic situation and ability to continue the war were collapsing, which made surrender inevitable despite the apparent size of its empire.

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Map created by Maps.InterludeThe map above shows the estimated number of foreign nationalities living in Japan as of 31 December 2024.

Here’s a full list.

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Map created by reddit user gabsdebritoThe map above shows the flags (well really Mon [emblem] or crests) of the major Japanese clans in 1603 at the start of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

More about that period below:

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The video above shows the rise and now fall of Japan’s population by prefecture between 1920 and 2020. Japan’s population today is still 125% higher than it was a century ago, but as is well known has started to decline in recent years.

The maps and video are all the work of Wikimedia users Monaneko and Pekachu.

Here are the numbers:

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The map above shows which perfecters are losing people the fastest in Japan.

46 of 47 Japanese Prefectures experienced population decline in 2023, of which 15 experienced a grater than 1% drop.

Tokyo was the sole prefecture to see population increase, due in part to increasing immigration numbers.

Here are the numbers by prefecture:

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