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Japan Looks Ahead

Japan Looks Ahead 

In your tour of Japan you have learned about Japan’s land, history, and people. You have seen how people in the Land of the Rising Sun have overcome countless hardships and obstacles to become a leading world economic power. Less than 150 years ago, they emerged from a shell in which they had taken refuge for over 300 years. In under a halfcentury, having undergone the many changes introduced during the Meiji Restoration, the small country became a major world power. During your reading, you have come to know the Japanese as a resilient, educated, hard-working, and honest people. They offer a great deal to admire and to respect. Japan has a literacy rate near 100 percent and the world’s longest life expectancy.Indeed,a majority of Japanese believe that their lives are good. As the world’s most hazard-prone country, Japan will certainly continue to suffer the ravages of nature. Earthquakes will continue to cause massive destruction, accompanied by loss of both property and human lives.Seismic events will continue to create tsunamis that can wash entire communities off the map. Typhoons will continue to strike the islands, bringing howling winds, drenching rain, and accompanying disastrous flooding and landslides. Over the centuries, however, the Japanese have become accustomed to these hazards. Through wise planning, zoning, and building the potential for devastating losses is minimized. Japan,with its 127 million people,is among the world’s most densely crowded countries. The Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area alone has more people than the combined population of all states west of the Mississippi River except California and Texas. Rather than being a liability, however, Japan’s people are its primary resource. A number of school reforms have been implemented that are designed to further improve the education of Japanese youngsters. This will surely make the country’s human resources even more valuable in the future. So, too, will the continued rapid integration of women into a previously male-dominated society and workplace. With a rate of natural population increase approaching zero percent, Japan’s population is rapidly aging. Providing medical care, retirement pensions, and other needs of the elderly will place a huge strain on the country’s already stressed economy. Who will fill the many jobs vacated by retirees? This is a matter of great concern to many Japanese. Currently, more than 99 percent of the people share a common race, culture, heritage,and values.Almost certainly,Japan will have to turn to foreign lands—China, South Korea, the Philippines, and elsewhere—to fill the labor gap. Many Japanese feel threatened by these changes. They worry about what will become of the way of life they have enjoyed and protected for so many centuries. One gigantic question looming over Japan’s future is its government.For nearly all of the past half century,the country has been ruled by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Its future remains in doubt. Certainly, if Japan is to once again prosper, major changes need to be made in the way the country is governed. There is desperate need for new names and faces, new ideas and strategies. The LDP led the country through 40 years of booming economic growth and rapid social change. Today,however,many Japanese believe that their government is a bloated and corrupt bureaucracy.They attribute much of their country’s woes to the very close (and often dishonest) relationship between government, banking, and business. They feel that their government is either unable or unwilling to make those hard decisions that are essential to improve the country’s future. Japan’s economy, despite its present plunge, has many strengths on which to base recovery. It is a world leader in manufacturing a huge variety of products. Japanese products have a worldwide reputation for high quality and reasonable cost.The Japanese sales force may be the world’s most effective. In many respects the country’s current economic difficulties represent a relative, rather than absolute, hardship. According to the United Nations, there are 191 independent countries— 189 of which rank below Japan economically! Most Japanese remain optimistic about their country’s future. It would be premature to suggest that the sun is finally setting on the “Miracle of Japan.” A country so accustomed to overcoming past obstacles certainly will survive its present crisis. The Land of the Rising Sun shall continue to shine brightly on the stage of modern world nations well into the future.

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