(CNN)Here's a look at Japan, a country of islands located off the eastern coast of mainland Asia.
Population: 126,168,156 (July 2018 est.)
Median age: 47.7 years (2018 est.)
Capital: Tokyo
Ethnic groups: Japanese 98.1%, Koreans 0.4%, Chinese 0.5%, other 1%
Religion: Shintoism 70.4%, Buddhism 69.8%, Christianity 1.5%, other 6.9% (Many practice both Shintoism and Buddhism)
GDP (purchasing power parity): $5.443 trillion (2017 est.)
GDP per capita: $42,900 (2017 est.)
Unemployment: 2.9% (2017 est.)
Photos: Inside the world's culinary capital
Photos: Inside the world's culinary capital
Signature – Tokyo's Mandarin Oriental Hotel has three Michelin-starred restaurants, including French eatery Signature, pictured. All of its Japanese chefs and staff have lived and worked in France.
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Photos: Inside the world's culinary capital
It's all about the produce – In Tokyo, fruit and vegetables are treated with huge respect and can command eye-watering prices for single specimens. Restaurateurs and shop owners alike have exacting standards and aren't shy about returning anything that doesn't meet them.
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Photos: Inside the world's culinary capital
Sushi – Sushi's definitely the star of Tokyo's dining scene but there's so much more to the city's culinary landscape -- and we're not just talking Japanese. Many of Tokyo's Michelin-starred restaurants are European, including 50 French restaurants.
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Photos: Inside the world's culinary capital
Ramen – For a lot of Tokyoites, ramen is the epitome of cheap, fast food -- a simple bowl of noodles to be slurped down in a matter of minutes during lunchtime or after a long night out.
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Photos: Inside the world's culinary capital
Takazawa – At the opposite end of the price spectrum is Takazawa, a 10-seat restaurant owned by Tokyo chef Yoshiaki Takazawa. Each dish on the set menu tells a story with both unique techniques and unexpected tastes, making Takazawa's menu one of the most coveted in the world. In this dish, "Rock on the Seashore," Takazawa disguises bass with a black bread skin and fills it with potato puree to make it look like a stone.
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Photos: Inside the world's culinary capital
Ritz-Carlton Tokyo – Ritz-Carlton Tokyo hosted the Asia-Pacific Food and Wine Festival earlier this month. World-renowned chefs in attendance included Peru's Virgilio Martinez, Paco Perez of Spain and Ryousuke Nakatani of Kitcho Tokyo.
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Photos: Inside the world's culinary capital
Chef Hidetoki Sato, Ta Vie – Chef Hidetoki Sato worked at one of Tokyo's most renowned three-star restaurants, Ryugin, before opening its Hong Kong incarnation, where he quickly won two stars. He now helms French restaurant Ta Vie. "As one of many Japanese chefs, I know that we all share the same strong artistic spirit," he says. "We focus intensely on the quality and detail of what we do, in our case the food we serve."
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