How Energy Industry affect Japan’s Economy
Introduction
The topic for my competitiveness report is how the energy industry affects Japan’s economy. I chose Japan as my target country because I have studied Japanese for almost nine years already, and I am seeking job opportunities in Japan. In addition, understanding the advantages and disadvantages of the Japanese business environment can help eliminate unnecessary cultural conflicts, and increase the possibilities of adapting into the environment.
Moreover, Japan is known for its energy industry, and the potential competitive advantage of Japan can help increasing its GDP. First, I will give some background about Japan as a country, along with statistics, cultural facts and a brief description about Japan’s economy. In addition, I will talk about how the incident of Fukushima Radiation affected Japan’s economy when it happened two years ago. Conclusively, the changes of certain industries can strongly affect a country’s performance.
Country Analysis
Japan is a country located in the Pacific Ocean, and it is adjacent to China, Korea and Taiwan . Japan’s government system is parliamentary with a constitutional monarchy, and it gives Japan a chief Emperor, and a prime Minister . In addition, Japan has an industrialized, free-market economy and the prices and the service are determined under a free price system . Japan is considered the third-largest economy in the world due to its superior leadership and its foreign trade development . Moreover, Japan has a few natural resources within its energy industry which not only helps Japan keep its economy in its mature stage, but also increase its GDP .
It is extremely important to understand the cultural environment of a country becaus...
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Japan was a country of contradictions in the early 1900's. Her growth in industry was a major factor for influencing her growth of power; whilst at the same time their structure was a very traditional political one. The Japanese Emperor Hirohito was right in the centre of the Japanese government. The emperor made Japan very militaristic and the military had a very strong influence in Japan. Japan's growth in industry had risen greatly since in the preceding 50 years and still it continued to grow.
After World War 1 Japan had a hard time adjusting to the new world. “While its economy was still primarily agricultural, rapid population growth (to over 80 million) had diminished the amount of land suitable for farming. Many people lived in small houses, lacking running water. In a nation about the size of California, only one of every six acres was farmland. This put great pressure on Japanese government to find more space and land for its people.” (America Enters World War II page 12). Japan attempted to change its agricultural-based economic system to an industrial based system. “But the international system of trade barriers and tariffs, established by the United States and other industrial powers to protect domestic manufacturing, hindered Japan’s industrial expansion.” (America Enters World War II page 13). Many of the materials Japan needed were found in neighboring countries that were controlled by European powers. Japan began to question it’s right to Asian markets and raw materials. “J...
Shane, Scott. Technology Strategy for Managers and Entrepreneurs. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
Next, aspects of the evolving Japanese labor market, such as the types of industries in the economy, the demographics of the Japanese population, and the adapted work-related policies, contributed to Japan’s economic revival. One of the most influential changes that occurred in postwar Japan was the introduction of the keiretsu. The keiretsu had many similarities with the prewar zaibatsu, although they did not have the same oligopolistic (a few large firms in an industry) powers that the zaibatsu had. Because they had a lot of power, they were able to invest in the latest technology and, as a result, involve themselves in various manufacturing industries (Allinson 104). Because the keiretsu could afford new technologies, their production
In conclusion, I tried to explain what experienced in Japan during the first years of rapid economic growth in terms of its social consequences. According to my argument, I tried to show imbalances which occurred with economic development in post- war Japan. In other words, economic development cannot appear as linear social development. Post- war Japan has witnessed positive and negative social consequences after implementing economic recovery. Therefore, we can say that society cannot always embrace economic development positively. Economic transformation brings its own waves and thus society fluctuates regarding its embracement. Japanese society received its share with this economic recovery during post- war period.
Export trends have been an important factor during Japan's present economic adjustment period, and the structures of Japanese exports, together with the imports, have been changing substantially in recent years. The changes in the country's export and import structures during the 1990s can be characterized by the following three key developments: (1) the weight of IT-related goods has been rising in both real exports and imports; (2) real imports of consumer goods from East Asia has been increasing; and (3) the US remains Japan's largest trading partner as a single country. Due to these factors, maintaining its comparative advantage became the priority in the current global economy.
So, if Japan does not “belong” to Asia, does it belong to some other amorphous collection of nations, namely Europe or the West? Certainly in the modern post-WWII era Japan has seen phenomenal economic growth, even to the point of threatening the US as the primary global economic power during the height of the “bubble economy.” Some credit this success to the changes implemented during the US occupation. Undoubtedly without US assistan...
Stockwin, J. A. Chapter 7: Who Runs Japan? In Governing Japan: Divided Politics in a Resurgent Economy (4th ed., pp. 46-72). London, The United Kingdom: Blackwell.
...high power status, Japan had to have a self-reliant industrial common ground and be able to move all human and material resources (S,195). Through the Shogun Revolution of 1868, the abolition of Feudalism in 1871, the activation of the national army in 1873, and the assembly of parliament in 1889, the political system of Japan became westernized (Q,3). Local Labor and commercial assistance from the United States and Europe allowed Japan’s industry to bloom into a developed, modern, industrial nation (Q,3). As a consequence production surplus, and food shortage followed (Q,3). Because of how much it relied on aid of western powers, Japan’s strategic position became especially weak. In an attempt to break off slightly from the aid of the west Japanese leaders believed that it would be essential for Japan to expand beyond its borders to obtain necessary raw materials.
of a firm to attain new forms of competitive advantage (Müller, 2011). It is due to these
In the following essay I will try to compare two highly developed economies, Japan and The United Kingdom. I will emphasize the success of their economies and how human capital, advancing technology (innovation), and FDI have contributed to their current success or failure. I will briefly discuss the contemporary history of each country, thoroughly cover their current conditions, and end with expectations for their future.
Kelley,T. (2005, Oct.). The 10 faces of innovation. Fast Company, 74-77. Retrieved 6th March’ 2014 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=9&sid=1d6a17b7-c5f7-4f00-bea4 db1d84cbef55%40sessionmgr10&hid=28&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=18386009
Japan has very significant characteristics in terms of their economic power either in the Asia- Pacific region or around the world. After World War II the Japanese economy was deeply affected by shortages, inflation, and currency devaluation means that Japanese economy was bankrupt position. Therefore, Japan passed under the control of US in the post- Second World War period. From this point, economic transformation or recovery or development has started in Japan with the impacts of US and Japanese governments. Besides this economic aid, US also guided Japan in democratization and demilitarization whereas Japanese government had direct role dealing with those developments different from what happened in Germany at that time. What it means that is Japanese government had played interventionist role into economy. On the other hand, one of the significant reasons of why US needed to help former enemy is the fact that after the WWII was the beginning of the Cold War and Russian presence was in the region. That’s why US made their contribution in order to revive Japan.
...based energy system at the expenses of energy resources. The complex geopolitics required Indonesia maintaining a relative stable international relationships with its allies by long-term energy supply. Through multilateral cooperation, Indonesia can easily upgrading its energy industry by setting up hydro plants and thermal plants instead of its coal plants. Importing equipment and hiring skillful experts from advanced country contributes to Indonesia auto research and management innovation in energy sector. An improvement in energy producing efficiency can great alleviate energy poverty and cut carbon dioxide emissions and to some extent better management in energy consumption.
Japan is one of the greatest countries in the world and it has offered many things as well. The Japanese have given the world a better understanding of their culture and history along with a good look at the future from a technological standpoint. They have developed and created the future for their country that has allowed them to be prosperous and powerful. They once isolated themselves from the rest of the world, but now they share their knowledge with other countries in order to create a better understanding of the world. Through their trade and creative thinking they have become one of the world’s largest and powerful countries and have allowed their economy to flourish and prosper.