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Current Issues of Japan

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Japan Today: www.japantoday.com
Toyko Globe: www.tokyoglobe.com
Japan Times: www.japantimes.co.jp

Earthquakes

An earthquake measuring a magnitude of eight on the Richter scale, the most powerful worldwide earthquake in more than two years, struck Japan in September 2003. Nearly 600 people were injured, some seriously. The quake was followed by more than three dozen aftershocks -- some as powerful as magnitudes of 6 and 5.2 on the Richter scale.

This was the most devastating earthquake since the earthquake in the southern city of Kobe, in 1995.

The Japanese archipelago is located in an area where several continental and oceanic plates meet nicknamed the Pacific “Ring of Fire”. This is the cause for frequent earthquakes and the presence of many volcanoes and hot springs across Japan. If earthquakes occur below or close to the ocean, they may trigger tidal waves (tsunami), which can do more damage than the actual earthquake.

Other earthquakes

Many parts of the country have experienced devastating earthquakes and tidal waves in the past. The worst earthquake in Japanese history hit the Kanto plain around Tokyo in 1923, when over 100,000 people died in the Great Kanto Earthquake.

In January 1995 a strong earthquake hit the city of Kobe and surroundings. The Southern Hyogo Earthquake (also called Great Hanshin Earthquake) killed 6,000 and injured 415,000 people. 100,000 houses were completely destroyed while another 185,000 were partially destroyed.

Earthquake measurement

The Japanese shindo scale for measuring earthquakes is more commonly used in Japan than the Richter scale. Shindo refers to the intensity of an earthquake at a given location, i.e. what people actually feel at a given location, while the Richter scale measures the magnitude of an earthquake, i.e. the energy an earthquake releases at the epicenter.

The shindo scale ranges from shindo one, a slight earthquake felt only by people who are not moving, to shindo seven, a severe earthquake. Shindo two and three are still minor earthquakes that do not cause damage, while objects start to fall at shindo four, and heavier damage occurs at shindo five and higher.

Technology

Since the country is poor in material resources, Japan progressed socially and economically through technological advances achieved by its people. Japan currently ranks as one of the world’s major industrial countries.

In April 1992 the government approved the General Guideline for Science and Technology Policy. The three major aspects of this program call for Japan to:
(1) Strive for a solution to environmental, energy, and other global problems
(2) Pursue basic research and other advanced science and technology in a balanced manner
(3) Develop a rich and satisfying life for the people while dealing with the aging of the Japanese population and other social problems.

Japan is currently undertaking numerous large-scale technological development projects. Both private industry and the research institutes of universities and the government are involved. Listed are a few of the areas Japan is focusing on:

- Nuclear Energy
- Space Development
- Aviation
- Marine Development - marine biological resources, seawater and seabed resources, marine energy, the utilization of space in the seas, and the protection of the marine environment.
- Life sciences
- Superconductivity
- Maglev trains – Japan is continuing the work on super conductive magnetic levitation transport, Maglev trains, begun by the state-run Japanese National Railways before its privatization. A Maglev train floats on a magnetic field and is propelled by a linear induction motor.
- High-definition television
- Optical fibre communications network
- Computer sciences

Japan is also extending technological assistance to developing countries through official development assistance, such as the provision of equipment, the dispatch of experts overseas, and the acceptance of trainees from abroad.

Women in Japan

The status of women has improved over the years since World War II and by and large Japanese women today have achieved legal equality with men. This does not mean, however, that discrimination against women no longer exists. In a poll conducted by the Prime Minister's Office in 1995, more than half of the respondents felt that women had not achieved equality in the workplace or in the realm of social attitudes.

Pollution

As Japan changed from an agricultural society to an urbanized industrial power, much of its natural beauty was destroyed and defaced by overcrowding and industrial development.

As the world's leading importer of both exhaustible and renewable natural resources and the second largest consumer of fossil fuels, Japan realized it had a major international responsibility to conserve and protect the environment. Over the years, new pollution-fighting technologies and products have been developed, including biodegradable plastic and clean emission systems. Local governments and other public bodies actively promote the development of such antipollution technologies and as a result, the money spent by the private sector to curb industrial pollution has been growing each year, totalling 435 billion yen (approximately 3.8 billion American dollars) in 1996.

Garbage is also a serious problem. The Ministry of the Environment reports that the amount of waste households and offices produce is equivalent to each Japanese resident throwing out 1.1 kilograms of trash every day. Waste produced by factories and at construction sites also continues to rise, and there is a shortage of landfills. To combat this, government and civic groups are promoting recycling and the amount of newspapers, plastic bottles and beverage cans that are recycled has significantly increased in the past few years.