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India vs Japan

India

vs

Japan

Green highlights the higher value (or higher GDP per capita). Figures are approximate.

Opposite demographics

India and Japan sit at opposite ends of Asia's demographic story. India is the world's most populous country, with more than ten times Japan's population and a young median age. Japan's population is shrinking and is one of the oldest in the world. India is almost nine times larger by area and spans the Himalayas, the Gangetic plain, deserts and a long tropical coastline; Japan is a mountainous, earthquake-prone archipelago.

An old cultural connection

Buddhism, which originated in northern India, reached Japan in the 6th century by way of China and Korea, and many Japanese Buddhist deities and temple traditions trace back to Indian sources. In modern times the link has been warmer than many Asian relationships: there is no history of war between the two, and the Indian judge Radhabinod Pal's dissent at the Tokyo war crimes tribunal is still remembered in Japan.

Money, trains and strategy

Japan is one of India's largest sources of development finance and foreign investment. Japanese loans have helped build the Delhi Metro and other urban rail systems, and the Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail line under construction uses Japan's Shinkansen technology. Japanese carmakers, above all Suzuki through Maruti Suzuki, have been a big part of India's car industry since the 1980s. Strategically, the two are partners in the Quad grouping with the United States and Australia.

Economic contrast

Japan's income per person is many times India's, but India's economy is growing much faster and in total output has caught up with Japan's in recent IMF rankings. Hindi and English are the main languages of government in India, which has hundreds of languages overall; Japan is nearly monolingual.