Japan is one of the main superpowers of the world. How has it managed to do it against all the odds? Japan is situated in the centre of three tectonic plates (see maps). This results in Japan experiencing thirty storms/typhoons in an average year. Japan has also has eighty active volcanoes. The people in Japan have to cope with this problem but still it hasn’t stopped them from become the world’s best in economics, science and business.
The country wasn’t always like this. Fifty years ago the country was in ruins after the Second World War. The whole country was a terrible wreck. Everything was destroyed.
There is a big contrast between now and fifty years ago. It is a modern picture now. In the cities is a view of economic success. The population in Japan is approximately 125 million. Japan is also top of the league in science, industry and education.
All of this is taking place although Japan has no raw materials. 99.7% of Oil in Japan is shipped from overseas. 99.8% of Coal in Japan is shipped from overseas. 98.7% of the iron in Japan is shipped from overseas. 99.8% of Copper in Japan is shipped from overseas.
Another main cause for the success of Japan is their attitude towards work. 90% of the companies in Japan are small companies. 60% of Japanese goods come from small companies (see labeled diagrams).
Japan as a fact has hardly any flat land. 75% of Japan is mountainous. Despite this, they have been able to builds many industrial buildings. To increase the about of roads in Japan, they have built roads on top of each other. What Japan was lacking the most was space to build more residential estates. 10000 people have to live on 1 square meter of land. 63% of Japanese live on 3% of the land. Land is very scarce and expensive. The size of an average flat is 4 ½ meters. This is 1/8 of the average flat size in London. Japan has currently built a new island called ‘Rocko Island’. This is the home for Japan’s 2nd international airport. This is also home for many new housing estates. This is what a young family of three had to say about their new home in ‘Rocky Island’.
“It is more spacious with beautiful surroundings. There are very few cars. There are good points and bad points to add to this. The good points are that there is a local school, hospital, shopping centre and railway station. The bad point is that everything is new. There aren’t any traditional temples or shrines. The women also added that she cries on Sundays when she knows that she will have to go to work the next day.
Children in Japan are finding life very hard. There is a lot of pressure on them. Their parents want them to study 24 hours a day so that they could go to college, university and then get a good job. The children don’t go out with their friends because they will fell guilty so they study.
Despite all the odds, Japan has had a lot of successes in its time. One of the main problems they faced was the fact that Japan lies in the boundaries of three tectonic plates, which caused 30 typhoons in an average year and 80 active volcanoes. Japan also experienced a lot of damage after world war two. How have they managed to do it? One of the reasons is their attitude towards work. They all work together as a team to fulfill their job. They also communicate with robots as if they were humans. To solve space problems the Japanese have even made new land. I have learned a lot my doing this essay. Before doing this essay if anybody would have asked me to move to Japan I would have refused but now I might reconsider it!
