Verified Document

Economic Activity In Japan Classification, Categories, And Term Paper

¶ … Economic activity in Japan [...] classification, categories, and types of economic activity in Japan. Japan's economy is one of the world's strongest economies, and it can influence other economies around the world. It is an industrial economy based on high technology and manufacturing. This is primarily because of geographical factors that limit the area that can effectively be farmed. Japan's agricultural industries are not as prevalent as many others in the world, but what they do have they utilize quite effectively. The Japanese import large amounts of wheat, sorghum, and soybeans, but they grow enough rice to feed their people with a small surplus, and they also are beginning to export specialty agricultural items such as Kobe beef. Other agricultural industries in the country include fishing and poultry production. Rice is so important to the Japanese that in ancient times, it was used as money, and it still plays an important part in their culture and everyday lives. Because of this, rice is their biggest agricultural product, but fishing is also important, with significant amounts of salmon, tuna, and various other fish and shellfish harvested and used nationally or exported. They also fish many fresh-water areas throughout the island, making the most of the resources they have and can access.

Agriculture only makes up about 2% of the economy in Japan. However, the Japanese are extremely inventive when it comes to maximizing their small percentage of arable land into productive agricultural land. According to Wikipedia, only 15% of the land in Japan is actually suitable for agriculture, and they are the largest market for agricultural imports from the United States (Wikipedia). However, they utilize their land so efficiently that what they concentrate on, they produce effectively, such as rice, a main staple of their diet. Wikipedia notes, "Japan maintains an overall agricultural self-sufficiency rate of about 50% on fewer than 56,000 km cultivated (14 million acres)" (Wikipedia, 2004). Some of the biggest commercial agriculture operations include rice growing,...

There are still many small farms in the country, but they contribute far less to the overall economy than manufacturing and industry.
Japanese resources, like their land itself, are less prevalent than in many larger nations. They are dependent on other nations for many of their non-renewable resources, such as oil. However, they do produce coal, crude oil, and natural gas, and their crude oil production has risen from 509,921 kl in 1980 to 760,329 kl in 2001. However, natural gas production has remained rather static, and coal production has dropped dramatically (Yearbook, 2003). Japan has learned not to rely on non-renewable resources to produce energy. Nearly half of their energy comes from nuclear power plants, and they rely heavily on hydroelectric power, too. Their renewable resources include fish and shellfish, their agricultural production, and geothermal and solar energy resources, which they are developing to reduce their dependence on foreign oil and non-renewable energy resources.

The major manufacturing regions in Japan are mainly congregated along the coast and in the largest cities, such as Tokyo and Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, and Nagoya. This makes sense economically and geographically, as there is little room for expansion on the islands that make up Japan, and so their manufacturing is centered where there is room, and where the greatest number of people live. Some of the major industries in Japan include machinery production, automobiles, ships, and steel. After the 1980s, high technology took over, including electrical goods and electronic appliances. Technology is still one of the largest industries in Japan, which can be costly in terms of economic diversity. When a country relies so heavily on one type of industry, that is largely exported, it runs the risk of economic peaks and valleys, and Japan's history is full of economic difficulties.

The geographical factors in Japan certainly contribute to the country's economy. Japan is a small island roughly the size of the State of Montana, with nearly…

Sources used in this document:
References

Editors. (2004). Economy of Japan. Retrieved from the Wikipedia.org Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Japan14 June 2004.

Editors. (2003). Japan statistical yearbook. Retrieved from the Japan Statistics Bureau Web site: http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/nenkan/index.htm14 June 2004.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Tax System of One Country With That
Words: 4394 Length: 15 Document Type: Research Paper

tax system of one country with that of another is an exercise fraught with dificulties and ultimately doomed to failure . tax system will never be much more than a reflection of strongly national cultures and forces. discuss this statement in the light of your knowledge of comparative tax system in developing and/or developed countries i Tax Systems The following pages focus on analyzing the factors of influence on different countries'

Building a Secure Workflow Management
Words: 11534 Length: 35 Document Type: Research Proposal

Each onion router removes a layer of encryption to uncover routing instructions, and sends the message to the next router where this is repeated. This prevents these intermediary nodes from knowing the origin, destination, and contents of the message. 1.4. Lecture Survey. The predicted solution of the problems related to e-government administration depends on answering the following questions as brainstorming ideas to solve the problem and the features provided by the system

Coastal Forest and Woodlands
Words: 4073 Length: 14 Document Type: Research Paper

Trees cover nothing less than one-third of the earth's surface, and it is estimated that around 3 trillion trees exist worldwide. Forests are found in different climates and locations, and they exist in wet, dry, sweltering and bitterly climates. Each of these forests types have the natural peculiarities that allow them to develop in their respective climates (Motivans). Unfortunately, in the past few decades, there has been an enormous level

Strategic Management Practices and Bahamian
Words: 5122 Length: 13 Document Type: Literature Review

Culture is no small force; it shapes individuals and impacts tremendously on politics (McCartney, 2004). Nations are made up of people, who, from the moment of their birth, are deeply and profoundly shaped by the cultures and customs from whence they came (McCartney, 2004). Because history and culture are two such inseparable animals, it's worthwhile to take a brief look at the history of the Bahamas. Brief History Many history scholars believe

Kyoto Protocol & Poland Kyoto
Words: 1571 Length: 5 Document Type: Case Study

At present there are only two documents are present along with the program under regulatory environment in Poland and EU support initiatives that make the use of coal more environmentally sustainable. These documents are Green Paper and VII Framework Program for Research and Technological Development. While programs include EU program-Zero Emission Technology Platform that aims at promoting technological solutions for energy development based on coal. As discussed by Piebalgs (2006)

How Can We Make Profit Through Investing on Stock Market
Words: 11006 Length: 33 Document Type: Dissertation

profit through investing on Stock Market Generally, all over the world financial markets exemplify a state of intricate and inscrutable situation. These marketplaces are of immense significance in the western nations, where the constituents employ their expertise to invest and generate profit whilst formulating a pool of funds, statistics, derivatives, shares and calculation intricacy. These constituents or elements are those investment maestros who are the whole and sole performers of

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now