Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0199/01990.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 23KB | 404 lines

$Unique_ID{COW01990}
$Pretitle{230}
$Title{Japan
Chapter 2A.   Society and Its Environment}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Emma Louise Young}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{japan
region
islands
area
areas
honshu
industrial
part
sea
kilometers}
$Date{1981}
$Log{Plum Blossom*0199001.scf
Figure 3.*0199002.scf
Snowfall*0199003.scf
}
Country:     Japan
Book:        Japan, A Country Study
Author:      Emma Louise Young
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1981

Chapter 2A.   Society and Its Environment

[See Plum Blossom: Shown here is the heraldic symbol (mon) of one noble
family, inspired by the plum blossom.]

     Notwithstanding the Importance of Chinese and Korean influences, Japan
has developed a unique culture and way of life that is strikingly different
from that of its Asian neighbors. These have been blended with the development
and modernization of the past century to create an urban, industrial, and
democratic society that was influenced by West European and American models
yet was quite unlike them.

     Although the total area of the islands that comprise Japan is relatively
small, it reveals a rich variety of habitats, ranging from subarctic in the
northernmost areas of Hokkaido to subtropical in Kyushu and the southern
island chains. This climatic diversity results in a variety of regions and
areas having differing histories of development and degrees of urbanization.
The national population, a large and stable one with a low growth rate, tends
to be concentrated in the urban areas.

     The country has experienced great social changes since 1945. Families
have become smaller, individual opportunities have increased, and urban life
has replaced rural life as the common environment in which children are raised
and human interaction is conducted. The changes have brought new problems and
challenges to which Japan has responded for the most part with great
effectiveness. To many observers Japanese society seems to be free of the
confusion and disintegration that characterize other industrial societies.
Cities, though crowded, are convenient and safe. In many locations in the
countryside traditional rituals and festivals continue to be enjoyed.
Traditional values of hierarchy and paternalism also remain. The large
corporation-the epitome of the rationality and efficiency of industrialized
society-is identified as the primary locale where these values flourish. Not
only do they flourish, but in 1981 they were being researched as a model for
Western industrial enterprises.

     The Japanese continue to prefer the satisfactions of working in groups to
working alone. They deliberately seek ways of minimizing conflict and ensuring
harmony. While sharing in group interests and goals, each individual feels
responsible for developing his or her talents to the fullest extent and
striving hard, even when engaged in leisure activities.

     Having the seventh largest population in the world, Japan in the early
1980s was an economic giant whose success had brought new prominence in world
affairs. This new prominence caused many Japanese to engage in considerable
soul-searching about what might be unique in their heritage and about the
country's future world role.

Physical Setting

     The mountainous islands of the Japanese archipelago form a convex
crescent off the eastern coast of Asia. They are separated from the Asian
mainland by the Sea of Japan, which historically served the country as a
protective barrier. Japan's insular nature, together with the compactness of
its main territory and the cultural homogeneity of its people, enabled the
nation to remain free of outside domination until its defeat in World War II.

     The country consists of four principal islands-Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku,
and Kyushu; over 3,000 small adjacent islands and islets including Oshima in
the Nanpo chain; and more than 200 other smaller islands including those of
the Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima chains of the Ryukyu island archipelago.
(The Ryukyus reverted to Japan in 1972-see Relations with the United States,
ch. 7). The national territory also includes the small Bonin (Ogasawara)
Islands, Iwo Jima, and the Volcano Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean some
1,100 kilometers south of central Honshu. A territorial dispute with the
Soviet Union, dating from the end of World War II, continued in 1981 over the
two southernmost of the Kuril Islands, Etorofu and Kunashiri, and the smaller
Shikotan and Habomai island group, northeast of Hokkaido (see Relations with
the Soviet Union, ch. 7). One of the latter is just off the coast, easily
visible from Hokkaido. Excluding the claimed islands, the archipelago covers
approximately 377,000 square kilometers and measures nearly 3,800 kilometers
from north to south. No point in Japan is more than 150 kilometers from the
sea.

     The four major islands are separated only by narrow straits and form a
natural entity. They extend along a northeast-southwest axis. The Ryukyu
Islands stretch 970 kilometers in a generally southwesterly direction from
Kyushu.

     The distance between Japan and the Asian continent, of which the nearest
point is the Korean peninsula, is about 200 kilometers. Japan has always been
linked with the Asian continent through trade routes, stretching in the north
toward Siberia, in the west through the Tsushima Islands to the Korean
peninsula, and in the south to the ports on the South China coast.

     The Japanese islands are essentially the summits of mountain ridges that
have been uplifted near the outer edge of the Asian continental shelf.
Consequently the country is extremely mountainous, and the plains and
intermontane basins scattered throughout the country make up only about 25
percent of the national land area. A long chain of mountains runs down the
middle of the archipelago, dividing it into two halves-the "face," fronting on
the Pacific Ocean and the "back" facing the Sea of Japan. Although the
mountains are precipitous, most of them are only a few hundred meters high.
Central Japan, however, is marked by the convergence of the three mountain
chains that form the Japanese Alps, and several of the peaks there are over
3,000 meters high. The highest point in the country is Mount Fuji, a dormant
volcano that rises to 3,776 meters.

     Most of the population is concentrated in the plains and mountain basins,
none of which are extensive in area. The largest, the Kanto plain, where Tokyo
is situated, covers an area of only 13,000 square kilometers. Other important
plains are the Nobi plain surrounding Nagoya, the Kinki plain in the
Osaka-Kyoto area, the Sendai plain around Sendai in northeastern Honshu, and
the Ishikari plain on Hokkaido. Many of these plains are located along the
coast, and the land areas have been increased by reclamation efforts
throughout recorded history.

     Limited habitable land has resulted in significant man-made modification
of the terrain over many centuries. Land was reclaimed from the sea and from
river deltas by diking and draining, and rice paddies were constructed on
terraces carved into mountainsides. The process continues in the modern period
with the extension of the shoreline and the creation of new islands for
industrial and port development, such as the one recently completed outside
Kobe. Hills and even mountains have been razed to provide flat areas for
housing construction.

     Rivers tend to be steep and swift and hence unsuitable for navigation.
Their hydroelectric power potential has been exploited almost to capacity.
Seasonal variations in flow have led to extensive development of flood control
measures. Most of the rivers are very short. The longest, the Shinano River,
which winds through Nagano and Niigata prefectures and exits to the Sea of
Japan, is only 367 kilometers long. The largest freshwater lake is Lake Biwa,
northwest of Kyoto.

     Lack of riverine transportation is compensated for by extensive coastal
shipping, especially around the Inland Sea.