Topic Essay Question on East Asia 3 pages

Japan

Let us move to this fascinating nation that has overcome many geographical challenges and historical upheavals and has risen to become the second largest economy in the world. Japan, widely known as the “workhouse of Asia,” has three strikes in terms of its geographical limitations.

First, Japan’s territorial size is small compared to its population. More than 126 million people are crowded into a space the size of the state of Montana. So, territorially, Japan is one-twentieth of the U.S. Of that limited space, only 20 percent is optimal for human habitation. The remaining 80 percent is mountainous, therefore, challenging to farming or community building. Also, Japan’s physiography has the burden of the 70- year rule. Once every 70 years, Japan has been hit with natural calamities such as earthquakes, tsunami -- the killer waves -- and volcanic eruptions. That is because the

three earth plates, the Eurasian Plate, the Philippine Plate, and the Pacific Plate, converge on Japan. Whenever there is a disruption in the balance among these earth plates, a major disaster hits Japan. Second, Japan is famous for poor mineral deposit. Japan imports more than 90% of its

petroleum and iron ore from other countries. Coal and copper are lacking too. Third, to this list of potentially debilitating limitations, we must add Japan’s historical upheavals, namely, destruction wrought by World War II including the U.S. atomic attacks. So, if this is a baseball game, and the batter is Japan, it should have been stricken out. However, Japan's GNP per capita is $31,410 per year. Other indicators of development are impressive as well. Life expectancy for male is 79, and female, 86. (American life expectancy, on

the other hand is 75 for male and 80 for female.. Also, infant mortality -- 4 per 1,000 births -- too, is lower than that of the U.S, which is 6 per 1,000 births. And according to our textbook literacy rate is 100 percent -- everyone can read in Japan. Now, our task is to understand why? What has gone into making Japan this well developed?

What ingredients lie behind this success story? What is in the hearts of the Japanese people? We are going to rely on a developmental theory called “Rostow Model” of economic development to find out how Japan has come this far. According to the Rostow Model (after the economist Walt Rostow), people and nations go through five stages of development. First, traditional society: Japan was indeed a traditional society that relied primarily on agriculture. The social fabric was feudal in which a tiny ruling elite dominated the rest of the population. The most popular image of this time in Japan’s history is incessant warfare among warlords, who relied on the skills and loyalties of a class of military warriors known as Samurai (left). Then came the second state that set the “precondition for takeoff.” Two events lay the foundation of this stage: America’s “opening up” of Japan for trade and diplomatic

relations by threatening it with gunboats, and the Meiji Restoration which ended domination of Japanese society by samurai class. After the end of this factional warfare between warlords, or Shoguns, Japan was united under the rule of an emperor. As one geographer noted, this period is known for “flexibility, openness, and diversification” of the Japanese society. Japan’s “old ways were abandoned, workers moved from farming into manufacturing.” Also Japan’s education system was modernized to provide high quality public education to a significant part of its population. At the same time, Japan’s infrastructure -- modern road systems and communication networks -- were setup. (To the right is how the Japanese saw the westerners who came to “open” their country.) The third stage witnessed Japan’s “takeoff.” During the first four decades of the 20th century, the Chrysanthemum Empire rose to become the dominant power in Asia. Japan’s industrial development was so rapid that in it became the most advanced and westernized nation in Asia and in 1905, this island nation defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, the first time that an Asiatic nation defeated a western military power (right).

At this stage, Japan grew confident of itself and also anxious over its future. The Japanese understood their industrial and military potentials, but also had to recognize that their own resources, other than a well-educated and dedicated workforce, were limited. Japan simply had to find external source to compensate for the lack what it lacked. The solution was to conquer other Asians. Indeed, Japan began to move north, to colonize Korea, then, Manchuria, northeastern region of China,

and to heart (proper) of China. As seen in the photo here, Japanese military advances were brutal and atrocious. Finally, Japan marched down south to Indochina, one of world’s greatest reservoirs of natural resources. Japan’s expansion alarmed the Western powers, including the U.S. The western powers all had colonial possessions in the region. Just to give you a few examples, the U.S. had the Philippines, the British, Malaysia and Thailand, and France, Indochina. Japan’s expanding influence was

threatening to the Western interests in the region. Soon, the U.S. sought to check Japan’s expansion in Asia by imposing embargo on Japan’s imports of oil and iron from the U.S. That was equivalent to strangulating the Japan’s industry. To some highly nationalistic Japanese, American policy was equal to a declaration of war on Japan. In December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Thus began the Pacific War (left). The devastation of Japan’s defeat, including the first atomic attack in human history,

stopped Tokyo’s militaristic course of development. Under U.S. occupation following the war, which is known as a "benevolent occupation" because of America's nurturing influence, rather than punitive actions against its former enemy, Japan’s productive forces were channeled into economic development. The following explain what happened to the Japanese economy following World War II: “Between 1950 and 1970, the percentage of Japanese living in cities rose from 38% to 72%, swelling the industrial work force. The competitive strength of Japanese industry increased steadily, with exports growing, on average, 18.4% per year during the 1960s....The economic growth in this era, supported by strong private-sector facilities investment based on a high personal savings ratio, was accompanied by

significant changes in Japan's industrial structure. Whereas formerly the mainstays of the economy were agriculture and light manufacturing, the focus had now shifted to heavy industry. Iron and steel, shipbuilding, machine tools, motor vehicles, and electronic devices came to dominate the industrial sector.” (Here, you are looking at the three most famous products Japan eventually came to dominate the world with: consumer automobiles, electronics, and cameras.

As explained above, the Japanese economy is highly specialized and its products of high quality are well liked by consumers all over the world. In any event, Japan’s economy is identified by economists as “export driven,” meaning that Japan’s economic healthy depends on how much it could sell to other countries. In the process, Japan achieved the forth stage of the Rostow model, social and economic maturity.

The last phase is known as the high mass consumption stage. It means that the Japanese in general have achieved a high income level that allows them to enjoy a comfortable material life, which in turn fuels further economic development.

(Here is a night scene of the famous shopping district in Tokyo called Shinjuku. In Japan neon signs are much more prevalent at night than any other cities.) One of the unique features of Japanese society and its economy is the high propensity to save among the Japanese. In the U.S. people in general spend most of their income and even future incomes via credit card uses. Japanese, in general, has unusually high level of individual savings that is infused back into the domestic economy and global economy as investment capital. For example in 2004, the Japanese saved 28 percent of their national income, and invested three-fourths of this savings abroad, a significant part of it in the U.S. To a certain extent, such a high propensity to save hinders the advance of the Japanese economy into the “high mass consumption stage.” That is why throughout the 1980s and the 90s, the Japanese government tried to convince its people to spend more, especially to buy more American made goods to ease the tension caused by Japan’s huge trade surplus against the U.S. In the 1980s, Japan’s trade surplus with the U.S. was getting alarmingly high that precipitated anti-Japanese feelings in the U.S. particularly among U.S. auto workers. (Here is the Bank of Japan building which played a critical role in Japan’s economic development.) There has been a consistent force that energized Japan's rise to the status of economic

superpower: Japan’s impressively high literacy rate and group psychology. Japanese students are put through rigorous studies from early ages so that they can advance through Japan’s famously competitive education system.) Commitment to education led to creation of efficient labor force. Throughout its modern history, Japan has had a large pool of talented workers who were committed to upholding common goals of their community, company and the nation. These two characteristics have led the Japanese in general to develop a deep sense of loyalty to the organizations they belong to and uphold the

quality of goods and services produced by these organizations. This has been the power of the Japanese economy. Also, Japan, an island chain in the Pacific, is a gateway to Asia from the Western Hemisphere. Therefore, it is well situated to trade with the U.S., the largest economy in the world. Japan, of course, has problems as well. The following is an official description of what problems Japan currently faces. “[The] recession continued through the second half of the 1990s. Some

temporary improvement in the economic outlook was seen in 1995 and 1996, partly due to a fall in the value of the yen and additional demand generated by recovery efforts for the January 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (to the left). In 1997, however, a variety of factors, including a rise in the consumption tax rate, a reduction in government investment activity, and the bankruptcies of major financial institutions, quickly worsened the recession. Burdened with a huge volume of bad debt aggravated by still-falling land prices, financial

institutions tightened their lending policies, thereby forcing companies to reduce plant and

equipment investments. This, combined with falling exports caused by the Asian economic crisis, resulted in lower profits in almost all industries. Employment salaries and wages also fell, further dragging down consumer spending, and in 1998 the Japanese economy suffered negative growth.” (Above, you are looking at Japanese homeless people sleeping in subways stations.) Also, Japan’s banking system is plagued by bad loans that were not extended on rational grounds or sound business decisions. Japan’s political system suffers

from corruption born of too cozy a relationship between politicians and the business community. In addition, Japan’s population is aging fast, which means, more social security burden for the government and the future generations. Also, as seen in the picture to the left, Japanese population is not longer a monolithic group of individuals who are willing to sacrifice their individualism for the sake of larger, common goals. Certainly, Japan of today is not what it used to be. Here is how one geographer writes of Japan: “Indeed, Japan of today is an increasingly different place from the Japan of the economic miracle. Urban populations, though affluent by most standards, are growing uneasy. Long forced, in the interest of rapid economic growth, to endure extended workdays, overcrowding, pollution, high prices, and only modest buying power, Japanese people are agitating for changes that will improve their living standards. Greater participation of women in the workforce and the need for more creative and innovative employees are leading to changes in the workplace.” Japan certainly is a model case for many nations that seek to achieve socio economic development in a shortest possible time period. Indeed, Japan, through many positive national characteristics, did achieve envious socio-economic development. These qualities include a high level of education, disciplined workers, commitment to common goals and more. Yet it faces challenges as well, including a its inability to come to terms with its brutal past, which provoke anger and pain in the hearts of its neighboring countries that had once suffered from Japan aggression. Also, Japan has the problem of declining birthrate. Combined with Japan’s strict immigration policy, Japan can face serious labor shortage in the near future.

Lastly, is Japan well positioned to excel in the post-industrial world that we live in, where ultra sophisticated technology and the creative use of these technologies would determine the winner, rather than robotic

workers who are willing to die a their workstations? To put it simply; where will Japan be at the end of the century? Actually, I was in Japan, trying to figure out this fascinating country where modernity and traditionalism coexist so well, as you can see in the picture.