How many people have a Ph.D. in Japan? I still remember that, when I was a student, there was a column that required the applicant to fill his or her title as Dr., Prof., or Prof. Dr. in the application form for "Miles & More", which is said to be Europe's largest mileage provided by Lufthansa German Airlines. “Dr.” is intended for those who have obtained a Ph.D. or doctoral degree, while “Prof.” is intended for professors in the teaching profession and “Prof. Dr.” is a combination of both; you can still find these options on the registration site of Miles & More.

The number of Ph.D. holders in Germany is three times the number of Japan. The table below shows the number of degrees earned per 1 million people (2012) published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and you can have an idea of the circumstances related to the acquisition of degrees in each country. However, it can be observed that Ph.D. holders are about 1 to 3 people out of 10,000 people, which is a very rare category.