With approximately **** million inhabitants, Tokyo was Japan's most populous city as of 2023, followed by Yokohama, which, in the same year, counted about **** million inhabitants. In total, there were twelve cities with a population of over one million people in Japan.

Hamamatsu was the largest major city in Japan based on city area in 2024, with a size of close to **** thousand square kilometers. It was followed by Shizuoka, with a size of more than **** square kilometers. Overconcentration in Tokyo Economic, political, and financial activity in Japan is heavily concentrated in Tokyo. With around **** million inhabitants, the metropolitan area of Tokyo is the largest urban conglomeration in the world. Most of Japan’s largest companies have their headquarters in Tokyo, and the region attracts many young people who move there to study or work. A breakdown of the net migration flow in Japan showed that the prefectures of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba, all part of the Tokyo metropolitan area, attract the largest number of people. In contrast, the majority of prefectures, especially those located in rural parts of the country, lose a substantial part of their population every year. Demographic trend in rural regions The overconcentration of economic activity in Tokyo has an impact on the demographic situation in rural parts of the country. Japan’s population is shrinking and aging, and rural regions are particularly affected by this. Many young people leave their rural hometowns to seek better opportunities in urban parts of Japan, leaving behind an aging population. As a result, many rural communities in Japan struggle with depopulation and a notable share of municipalities are even threatened with disappearance in the coming decades.

Japan’s largest city, greater Tokyo, had a staggering ***** million inhabitants in 2023, making it the most populous city across the Asia-Pacific region. India had the second largest city after Japan with a population consisting of approximately ** million inhabitants. Contrastingly, approximately *** thousand inhabitants populated Papua New Guinea's largest city in 2023. A megacity regionNot only did Japan and India have the largest cities throughout the Asia-Pacific region but they were among the three most populated cities worldwide in 2023. Interestingly, over half on the world’s megacities were situated in the Asia-Pacific region. However, being home to more than half of the world’s population, it does not seem surprising that by 2025 it is expected that more than two thirds of the megacities across the globe will be located in the Asia Pacific region. Other megacities are also expected to emerge within the Asia-Pacific region throughout the next decade. There have even been suggestions that Indonesia’s Jakarta and its conurbation will overtake Greater Tokyo in terms of population size by 2030. Increasing populationsIncreased populations in megacities can be down to increased economic activity. As more countries across the Asia-Pacific region have made the transition from agriculture to industry, the population has adjusted accordingly. Thus, more regions have experienced higher shares of urban populations. However, as many cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Seoul have an aging population, this may have an impact on their future population sizes, with these Asian regions estimated to have significant shares of the population being over 65 years old by 2035.

PERIOD: 1920-1939. NOTE: (As of October 1st but as of September 1st in 1923)The population estimates were obtained as follows: (1) For 1921 to 1923, the population estimate is the sum of county- and city-level population estimates obtained by multiplying the de facto population in the Population Census conducted on October 1, 1920, with the average annual population growth rate by gender from 1908 to 1918. (2) For 1924, the difference between the population of Japan overall calculated using the population growth rate by sex in each city and summing up the results and the population overall calculated using the population growth rate by sex for Japan overall was proportionally subtracted from the population of each prefecture; moreover, the population decrease due to the Great Kanto Earthquake on September 1, 1923 was also taken into account. (3) For Taisho 1926 to 1929, the de facto population in the 1920 and 1925 Population Censuses is used to obtain the annual average geometric growth rate of Japan's population overall, which is then used to estimate the population. (4) For 1931 to 1934, the same procedure is employed using the de facto population in the 1920 and 1930 Population Censuses. (5) From 1926 onward, the population estimates are obtained by adding the increase in the difference between births and deaths up to each estimation year in the 1935 Population Census using the results of the Vital Statistics survey. SOURCE: [Survey by the Statistics Bureau, Imperial Cabinet].

Takatsuki City(Takatsuki Shi)'s No. of mother-children households (3 children or more) is 209[households] which is the 69th highest in Japan (by City). It also ranks 8th in Osaka Prefecture, with 3.1% share of the entire Osaka. Transition Graphs and Comparison chart between Takatsuki City and Kawagoe City(Saitama) and TokyYO kita ku(Tokyo)(Closest City in Population) are available. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.

Komaki City(Komaki Shi)'s No. of mother-children households (3 children or more) is 95[households] which is the 192nd highest in Japan (by City). It also ranks 8th in Aichi Prefecture, with 2.17% share of the entire Aichi. Transition Graphs and Comparison chart between Komaki City and Kuki City(Saitama) and Kariya City(Aichi)(Closest City in Population) are available. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.

As of 2025, Tokyo-Yokohama in Japan was the largest world urban agglomeration, with 37 million people living there. Delhi ranked second with more than 34 million, with Shanghai in third with more than 30 million inhabitants.

Rikuzentakata City(Rikuzentakata Shi)'s No. of mother-children households (3 children or more) is 12[households] which is the 980th highest in Japan (by City). It also ranks 15th in Iwate Prefecture, with 1.63% share of the entire Iwate. Transition Graphs and Comparison chart between Rikuzentakata City and Shinkamigoto Town(Nagasaki) and Hiki gun yoshimi Town(Saitama)(Closest City in Population) are available. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.

Chigasaki City(Chigasaki Shi)'s No. of mother-children households (3 children or more) is 113[households] which is the 161st highest in Japan (by City). It also ranks 9th in Kanagawa Prefecture, with 2.8% share of the entire Kanagawa. Transition Graphs and Comparison chart between Chigasaki City and Yamagataken yamagata City(Yamagata) and Matsumoto City(Nagano)(Closest City in Population) are available. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.

Abstract

This study is an experiment designed to compare the performance of three methodologies for sampling households with migrants:

• a stratified sample using the census to sample census tracts randomly, in which each household is then listed and screened to determine whether or not it has a migrant, with the full length questionnaire then being applied in a second phase only to the households of interest;
• a snowball survey in which households are asked to provide referrals to other households with migrant members;
• an intercept point survey (or time-and-space sampling survey), in which individuals are sampled during set time periods at a prespecified set of locations where households in the target group are likely to congregate.

Researchers from the World Bank applied these methods in the context of a survey of Brazilians of Japanese descent (Nikkei), requested by the World Bank. There are approximately 1.2-1.9 million Nikkei among Brazil’s 170 million population.

The survey was designed to provide detail on the characteristics of households with and without migrants, to estimate the proportion of households receiving remittances and with migrants in Japan, and to examine the consequences of migration and remittances on the sending households.

The same questionnaire was used for the stratified random sample and snowball surveys, and a shorter version of the questionnaire was used for the intercept surveys. Researchers can directly compare answers to the same questions across survey methodologies and determine the extent to which the intercept and snowball surveys can give similar results to the more expensive census-based survey, and test for the presence of biases.

Geographic coverage

Sao Paulo and Parana states

Analysis unit

Japanese-Brazilian (Nikkei) households and individuals

The 2000 Brazilian Census was used to classify households as Nikkei or non-Nikkei. The Brazilian Census does not ask ethnicity but instead asks questions on race, country of birth and whether an individual has lived elsewhere in the last 10 years. On the basis of these questions, a household is classified as (potentially) Nikkei if it has any of the following: 1) a member born in Japan; 2) a member who is of yellow race and who has lived in Japan in the last 10 years; 3) a member who is of yellow race, who was not born in a country other than Japan (predominantly Korea, Taiwan or China) and who did not live in a foreign country other than Japan in the last 10 years.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

1) Stratified random sample survey

Two states with the largest Nikkei population - Sao Paulo and Parana - were chosen for the study.

The sampling process consisted of three stages. First, a stratified random sample of 75 census tracts was selected based on 2000 Brazilian census. Second, interviewers carried out a door-to-door listing within each census tract to determine which households had a Nikkei member. Third, the survey questionnaire was then administered to households that were identified as Nikkei. A door-to-door listing exercise of the 75 census tracts was then carried out between October 13th, 2006, and October 29th, 2006. The fieldwork began on November 19, 2006, and all dwellings were visited at least once by December 22, 2006. The second wave of surveying took place from January 18th, 2007, to February 2nd, 2007, which was intended to increase the number of households responding.

2) Intercept survey

The intercept survey was designed to carry out interviews at a range of locations that were frequented by the Nikkei population. It was originally designed to be done in Sao Paulo city only, but a second intercept point survey was later carried out in Curitiba, Parana. Intercept survey took place between December 9th, 2006, and December 20th, 2006, whereas the Curitiba intercept survey took place between March 3rd and March 12th, 2007.

Consultations with Nikkei community organizations, local researchers and officers of the bank Sudameris, which provides remittance services to this community, were used to select a broad range of locations. Interviewers were assigned to visit each location during prespecified blocks of time. Two fieldworkers were assigned to each location. One fieldworker carried out the interviews, while the other carried out a count of the number of people with Nikkei appearance who appeared to be 18 years old or older who passed by each location. For the fixed places, this count was made throughout the prespecified time block. For example, between 2.30 p.m. and 3.30 p.m. at the sports club, the interviewer counted 57 adult Nikkeis. Refusal rates were carefully recorded, along with the sex and approximate age of the person refusing.

In all, 516 intercept interviews were collected.

3) Snowball sampling survey

The questionnaire that was used was the same as used for the stratified random sample. The plan was to begin with a seed list of 75 households, and to aim to reach a total sample of 300 households through referrals from the initial seed households. Each household surveyed was asked to supply the names of three contacts: (a) a Nikkei household with a member currently in Japan; (b) a Nikkei household with a member who has returned from Japan; (c) a Nikkei household without members in Japan and where individuals had not returned from Japan.

The snowball survey took place from December 5th to 20th, 2006. The second phase of the snowballing survey ran from January 22nd, 2007, to March 23rd, 2007. More associations were contacted to provide additional seed names (69 more names were obtained) and, as with the stratified sample, an adaptation of the intercept survey was used when individuals refused to answer the longer questionnaire. A decision was made to continue the snowball process until a target sample size of 100 had been achieved.

The final sample consists of 60 households who came as seed households from Japanese associations, and 40 households who were chain referrals. The longest chain achieved was three links.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

1) Stratified sampling and snowball survey questionnaire

This questionnaire has 36 pages with over 1,000 variables, taking over an hour to complete.

If subjects refused to answer the questionnaire, interviewers would leave a much shorter version of the questionnaire to be completed by the household by themselves, and later picked up. This shorter questionnaire was the same as used in the intercept point survey, taking seven minutes on average. The intention with the shorter survey was to provide some data on households that would not answer the full survey because of time constraints, or because respondents were reluctant to have an interviewer in their house.

2) Intercept questionnaire

The questionnaire is four pages in length, consisting of 62 questions and taking a mean time of seven minutes to answer. Respondents had to be 18 years old or older to be interviewed.

Response rate

1) Stratified random sampling 403 out of the 710 Nikkei households were surveyed, an interview rate of 57%. The refusal rate was 25%, whereas the remaining households were either absent on three attempts or were not surveyed because building managers refused permission to enter the apartment buildings. Refusal rates were higher in Sao Paulo than in Parana, reflecting greater concerns about crime and a busier urban environment.

2) Intercept Interviews 516 intercept interviews were collected, along with 325 refusals. The average refusal rate is 39%, with location-specific refusal rates ranging from only 3% at the food festival to almost 66% at one of the two grocery stores.

Tsukuba City(Tsukuba Shi)'s No. of mother-children households (3 children or more) is 86[households] which is the 217th highest in Japan (by City). It also ranks 6th in Ibaraki Prefecture, with 4.88% share of the entire Ibaraki. Transition Graphs and Comparison chart between Tsukuba City and Takarazuka City(Hyogo) and Neyagawa City(Osaka)(Closest City in Population) are available. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.

In 1800, the population of Japan was just over 30 million, a figure which would grow by just two million in the first half of the 19th century. However, with the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the restoration of the emperor in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan would begin transforming from an isolated feudal island, to a modernized empire built on Western models. The Meiji period would see a rapid rise in the population of Japan, as industrialization and advancements in healthcare lead to a significant reduction in child mortality rates, while the creation overseas colonies would lead to a strong economic boom. However, this growth would slow beginning in 1937, as Japan entered a prolonged war with the Republic of China, which later grew into a major theater of the Second World War. The war was eventually brought to Japan's home front, with the escalation of Allied air raids on Japanese urban centers from 1944 onwards (Tokyo was the most-bombed city of the Second World War). By the war's end in 1945 and the subsequent occupation of the island by the Allied military, Japan had suffered over two and a half million military fatalities, and over one million civilian deaths.

The population figures of Japan were quick to recover, as the post-war “economic miracle” would see an unprecedented expansion of the Japanese economy, and would lead to the country becoming one of the first fully industrialized nations in East Asia. As living standards rose, the population of Japan would increase from 77 million in 1945, to over 127 million by the end of the century. However, growth would begin to slow in the late 1980s, as birth rates and migration rates fell, and Japan eventually grew to have one of the oldest populations in the world. The population would peak in 2008 at just over 128 million, but has consistently fallen each year since then, as the fertility rate of the country remains below replacement level (despite government initiatives to counter this) and the country's immigrant population remains relatively stable. The population of Japan is expected to continue its decline in the coming years, and in 2020, it is estimated that approximately 126 million people inhabit the island country.

Tokorozawa City(Tokorozawa Shi)'s No. of father-children households (3 children or more) is 20[households] which is the 57th highest in Japan (by City). It also ranks 3rd in Saitama Prefecture, with 5.36% share of the entire Saitama. Transition Graphs and Comparison chart between Tokorozawa City and ShinNJuku ku(Tokyo) and Otsu City(Shiga)(Closest City in Population) are available. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.

The highest city in the world with a population of more than one million is La Paz. The Capital of Bolivia sits ***** meters above sea level, and is more than 1,000 meters higher than the second-ranked city, Quito. La Paz is also higher than Mt. Fuji in Japan, which has a height of 3,776 meters. Many of the world's largest cities are located in South America. The only city in North America that makes the top 20 list is Denver, Colorado, which has an altitude of ***** meters.

Until 2007, the share of the global population living in urban areas was always smaller than the rural population, but in 2021, the world's level of urbanization has risen to around 56 percent, and by 2050, it is estimated that two thirds of the world will live in urban areas. Urbanization on such a large scale is a relatively new phenomenon, and has a strong correlation with the industrial maturity of a society. For most of pre-industrial times, fewer than five percent of the total population lived in urban centers, which were generally trading and administrative centers. The main reason for this was the agricultural demands of the time, where subsistence farming was the primary method of food production for the general population. Compared to Japan and China, a larger share of Western Europe lived in urban centers in the 16th century, due to higher levels of trade along the Mediterranean and between northern states, but around 94 percent of the population still lived in a rural setting. Effect of industrialization With the onset of the first industrial revolution in the 19th century, the mechanization of agriculture and development of manufacturing industries saw a shift in labor demands in Western Europe. People began migrating to cities on a large scale, and migration to the U.S. also increased due to industrialization in the northeastern states. Urban populations then became more prosperous, although mortality rates were initially higher due to the more rapid spread of disease and poor sanitation infrastructure. This mortality also disproportionately affected children and more recent arrivals. Global trends Waves of industrialization in Europe saw further urbanization throughout the 1800s, and roughly a third of the population had urbanized by the end of the 19th century. Globally, it would take until the 1960s before one third of the population had urbanized, and it was not until the late 1990s where China's urbanization rate had reached this level. However, China's urbanization rate has grown rapidly since the 1980s, and is now around 80 percent of the EU's level, whereas it was closer to 50 percent just two decades previously. Japan's urbanization rate was comparable to Europe's for most of the 20th century, but increased further throughout the 2010s; today it has one of the highest rates among more developed nations, although this has presented some challenges for Japanese society.

In 2025, the degree of urbanization worldwide was at 58 percent. North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean were the regions with the highest level of urbanization, with over four-fifths of the population residing in urban areas. The degree of urbanization defines the share of the population living in areas defined as "cities". On the other hand, less than half of Africa's population lives in urban settlements. Globally, China accounts for over one-quarter of the built-up areas of more than 500,000 inhabitants. The definition of a city differs across various world regions - some countries count settlements with 100 houses or more as urban, while others only include the capital of a country or provincial capitals in their count. Largest agglomerations worldwideThough North America is the most urbanized continent, no U.S. city was among the top ten urban agglomerations worldwide in 2023. Tokyo-Yokohama in Japan was the largest urban area in the world that year, with 37.7 million inhabitants. New York ranked 13th, with 21.4 million inhabitants. Eight of the 10 most populous cities are located in Asia. ConnectivityIt may be hard to imagine how the reality will look in 2050, with 70 percent of the global population living in cities, but some statistics illustrate the ways urban living differs from suburban and rural living. American urbanites may lead more “connected” (i.e., internet-connected) lives than their rural and/or suburban counterparts. As of 2021, around 89 percent of people living in urban areas owned a smartphone. Internet usage was also higher in cities than in rural areas. On the other hand, rural areas always have, and always will, attract those who want to escape the rush of the city.

Tokyo Prefecture ranked first among Japanese prefectures in 2024 in terms of visiting rates by international tourists, with a visiting rate of **** percent. The second most visited prefecture was Osaka, followed by Chiba, which is neighboring Tokyo Prefecture. Tourism in Japan Inbound tourism strongly increased in the past decade, as the Japanese government actively engaged in projects to boost inbound tourism, setting high goals for the near future. However, the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted everything. Nevertheless, the newest inbound annual figures indicate that inbound tourism fully recovered from the pandemic, continuing its upward trend. Sightseeing in TokyoThe Japanese capital, Tokyo, is the largest city in Japan in terms of population. It consists of ** wards, of which many have a unique appeal for tourists. The most popular destinations in Tokyo for foreign visitors include districts such as Shinjuku, where the headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government are located, the shopping-district Ginza, and the electronic town Akihabara, which attracts overseas fans of Japanese popular culture. One-day trips to places outside of Tokyo, such as Kamakura, Nikko, or Yokohama, are also a possibility and add to the appeal the city has as a destination for inbound tourists.

Higashiosaka City(Higashiosaka Shi)'s Japanese population (Both sexes) is 434,587person which is the 43rd highest in Japan (by City). It also ranks 3rd in Osaka Prefecture, with 5.17% share of the entire Osaka. Transition Graphs and Comparison chart between Higashiosaka City and Matsudo City(Chiba) and Ichikawa City(Chiba)(Closest City in Population) are available. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.

Saiki City(Saiki Shi)'s No. of father-children households (3 children or more) is 2[households] which is the 672nd highest in Japan (by City). It also ranks 9th in Oita Prefecture, with 2.6% share of the entire Oita. Transition Graphs and Comparison chart between Saiki City and Minamiarupusu City(Yamanashi) and Dazaifu City(Fukuoka)(Closest City in Population) are available. Various data can be downloaded and output in csv format for use in EXCEL free of charge.

As of February 2025, India had a total of 413.85 million Instagram users, the largest Instagram audience in the world. The United States had 171.7 million users, and Brazil had 140.7 million. Indonesia, Turkey, and Japan ranked in fourth, fifth and sixth position, respectively. Kazakhstan is the leading country for Instagram audience reach, with 86.2 percent of the population using the social media service. Turkey came in second, with a penetration rate of 85.5 percent and Uruguay ranked third, with 87.1 percent, followed closely by the UAE, Brazil, and Bahrain. It took Instagram 11.2 years to reach the milestone of 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, took 11 years, whilst Facebook took 13.3 years and YouTube took just over 14 years. Instagram’s demographics in the United States As of March 2025, Instagram was the fourth most visited social media service in the United States, after Facebook, Pinterest and X. Out of TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, TikTok was the most used of all three platforms by Generation Z. Overall, 57 percent of Gen Z social media users used Instagram in 2021, down from 61 percent in 2020 and 64 percent in 2019. Instagram finds most popularity with those in the 25 to 34 year age group, and as of January 2025, roughly 28.3 of all users in the United States belonged to this age group. The social media app was also more likely to be used by women. Most followed accounts on Instagram Instagram’s official account had the most followers as of April 2024 with over 672 million followers. Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) had over 628 million followers on the platform, while the Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi (@leomessi) had over 502 million followers. The Instagram accounts of the American singer and actress Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) and the media personality and makeup mogul Kylie Jenner (@kyliejenner) had over 400 million followers each.