Mind Mapping
Starting off like any other project, I started with a few ideas in mind. I planned on doing something related to Japan, but I did keep my mind open about other topic. These included the Depth of the Ocean, The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster, The Cold War and it’s effects and the Population of Japan.
I choose to do do about the population of Japan since I had a fun idea in my head to colour each Prefecture which is basically a county in Japan, but I would colour them a darker colour corresponding to their population.
Population of Japan
Japan has a population of 125.7 million, of which 123.2 million are Japanese nationals from the 2020 estimates. A small population of foreign residents makes up the remainder. In 2019, 92% of the total Japanese population lived in cities. Japan has the second longest overall life expectancy at birth of any country in the world, at 84 years as of 2019. The Japanese population is rapidly aging as a result of a post–World War II baby boom followed by a decrease in birth rates. As of 2019 over 20 percent of the population is over 65, and this is projected to rise to one in three by 2030. The changes in demographic structure have created a number of social issues, particularly a decline in workforce population and increase in the cost of social security benefits. A growing number of younger Japanese are not marrying or remain childless. Japan’s population is expected to drop to around 100 million by 2050.
Religion
84–96 percent of the Japanese population subscribe to Shinto as its indigenous religion. However, these estimates are based on people affiliated with a temple, rather than the number of true believers. Many Japanese people practice both Shinto and Buddhism; they can either identify with both religions or describe themselves as non-religious or spiritual. The level of participation in religious ceremonies as a cultural tradition remains high, especially during festivals and occasions such as the first shrine visit of the New Year. Taoism and Confucianism from China have also influenced Japanese beliefs and customs.
Christianity was first introduced into Japan by Jesuit missions starting in 1549. Today, 1% to 1.5% of the population are Christians. Throughout the latest century, Western customs originally related to Christianity (including Western style weddings, Valentine’s Day and Christmas) have become popular as secular customs among many Japanese.
Sketching
I started sketching the general layout of my infographic, no information just the basic layout of where the islands of Japan will be set and where the information will gather around them.
The Prefectures
Japan is split up into 47 Prefectures, each has it’s own flag and city along with local traditions and other things. A lot of Prefectures have a larger population than Northern Ireland while being smaller compared to it. Majority of the main Prefectures have a majority living in cities. Hokkaido being the most sparsely populated while having a population of over 5 million, this is due to the shear size of the island and because most of the population there live mainly around the city of Sapporo.