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Policy profile on 12 axes

How Japan Is Governed

Japan is a unitary state that scores 0.73 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 37% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is in use and same-sex couples have no legal recognition. Below: the laws, institutions and public spending of Japan, scored on the same 12 axes as the test, with every indicator and source.

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Policy profile

The 12 axes, indicator by indicator

This profile describes the country's policy regime (laws, institutions and public spending) from published indices, not the views of its people or its current leaders. Data as of October 2026; each value shows its own year.

Ownership+0.50PublicPrivate4 indicators and sources
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): Typical of OECD economies: state utilities, rail, post, some energy (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Property Rights (0-100): 94.2 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Investment Freedom (0-100): 60 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Financial Freedom (0-100): 60 (2026). Source
Markets+0.45PlannedFree5 indicators and sources
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Business Freedom (0-100): 77.8 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Labor Freedom (0-100): 65.9 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Monetary Freedom (0-100): 74.3 (2026). Source
  • Regulatory Quality, estimate (-2.5 to 2.5): 1.22 (2025). Source
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): Typical of OECD economies: state utilities, rail, post, some energy (2026). Source
Welfare-0.40SharedSelf-reliant4 indicators and sources
  • General government total expenditure (% of GDP): 36.96 (2025). Source
  • Public social spending (% of GDP): 24.74 (2022). Source
  • Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP): 9.11 (2023). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Tax Burden (0-100): 63 (2026). Source
Authority-0.75DemocraticStrong leader2 indicators and sources
  • Liberal Democracy Index (0-1): 0.73 (2025). Source
  • Judicial constraints on the executive (0-1): 0.88 (2025). Source
Security-0.30LibertyOrder4 indicators and sources
  • Freedom in the World civil liberties score (0-60): 56 (2025). Source
  • World Press Freedom Index score (0-100): 62.9 (2026). Source
  • Death penalty status: Retentionist, executions in the last 5 years (2025). Execution carried out in June 2025. Source
  • Prison population per 100,000 people: 33 (2024). Source
Structure0.00LocalCentral2 indicators and sources
  • Territorial form of the state: Unitary state (2025). Source
  • Strong elected regional governments index (0-1): 0.99 (2025). Source
Morality-0.15ProgressiveTraditional3 indicators and sources
  • Same-sex marriage law (0 marriage, 1 civil union or partnership, 2 no recognition, 3 constitutional or statutory ban): No legal recognition (2026). Source
  • Abortion law: Broad social or economic grounds, or no single national standard (2025). Source
  • Women, Business and the Law: Legal Framework Index (0-100): 80.83 (2025). Source
Religion-0.75SecularReligious2 indicators and sources
  • Religion and the state: Separation: no official or funded religion (2025). Source
  • Blasphemy or religious-insult law in force: None (2025). Source
Technology-0.60EmbraceCaution3 indicators and sources
  • Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 3.44 (2023). Source
  • Nuclear power policy: Building or officially planning new reactors (2025). Source
  • Genetically modified crop cultivation: None grown, no ban (2025). Source
Culture+0.40MulticulturalNational identity4 indicators and sources
  • International migrant stock (% of population): 2.76 (2024). Source
  • Citizenship by birth in the territory: None: citizenship by descent only (2025). Source
  • Residence required for ordinary naturalization (years; 0 = no ordinary route): 5 years (2025). Source
  • Dual citizenship for naturalizing adults: Not allowed: must renounce (2025). Source
Trade-0.50GlobalProtected4 indicators and sources
  • Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, all products (%): 1.64 (2022). Source
  • Tariff rate, applied, simple mean, all products (%): 1.99 (2022). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Trade Freedom (0-100): 76.2 (2026). Source
  • Trade (exports + imports) (% of GDP): 44.85 (2024). Source
Foreign policy-0.85CooperationStrength5 indicators and sources
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 1.41 (2025). Source
  • Military conscription: None: volunteer forces or no military (2025). Source
  • Nuclear weapons status (0 none, 1 considers, 2 pursues, 3 possesses): No nuclear weapons program (2023). Source
  • Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: State party (2026). Source
  • Collective defense commitments: Integrated military alliance (NATO, a US mutual defense treaty, ANZUS, CSTO) (2026). Source

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Policy neighbours

Governed most like Japan

Every other country with a profile, tinted by how close its laws, institutions and public spending are to those of Japan on the same 12 axes. The percentage uses the 12 Axes match formula.

  1. 1Czechia88%
  2. 2Slovakia88%
  3. 3South Korea87%
  4. 4Romania84%
  5. 5Croatia83%
Least similarIran40%
World map of countries by how similar their policy regime is to JapanClosest: 1. Czechia 88%, 2. Slovakia 88%, 3. South Korea 87%, 4. Romania 84%, 5. Croatia 83%, 6. Sweden 82%, 7. Netherlands 81%, 8. Poland 81%, 9. Bulgaria 79%, 10. France 79%. Least similar: Iran 40%. Every country is in the list after the map.Japan
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Figures from Japan

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FAQ

Japan: questions

How is Japan governed, on the 12 axes?

Japan is a unitary state that scores 0.73 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 37% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is in use and same-sex couples have no legal recognition. Its policy regime leans furthest toward Cooperation on Foreign policy (-0.85), Democratic on Authority (-0.75) and Secular on Religion (-0.75), on a scale from -1 to +1.

Which countries are governed most like Japan?

On the same 12 axes, the closest policy regimes are Czechia (88%), Slovakia (88%) and South Korea (87%). The furthest is Iran (40%). Matches use the same formula as the 12 Axes test.

Where does the data on Japan come from?

From 42 indicators dated 2022 to 2026, published by V-Dem, Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation, the IMF, the OECD, the World Bank, SIPRI, Reporters Without Borders, the World Prison Brief, UN DESA and others. Among them: a press freedom score of 62.9 out of 100 (RSF, 2026), 33 prisoners per 100,000 people (2024), military spending of 1.4% of GDP (SIPRI, 2025) and 2.8% of residents born abroad (UN DESA, 2024). Every value, year and source is listed in the profile above.

Does the profile describe what people in Japan think?

No. It describes the policy regime: laws, institutions and public spending. It does not measure public opinion or the speeches of the current government. To see which country is governed closest to your own views, take the 12 Axes test and open the country match on your result.

Which political figures from Japan are on PoliticalTests?

So far Shinzo Abe, each placed on the 12 axes of the 12 Axes Political Test from their own speeches, writings and record, with sources on the profile page. More figures are added over time.

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