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CAUTION: The following links and
accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation
in Japan in the early years of the 21st
Century. Some of these links may lead to websites that present
allegations that are unsubstantiated, misleading or even false.
No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their
content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of poverty are of particular
interest to you. You might be
interested in exploring the relationship between distribution of labor and
per-capita GDP, for example. Perhaps
your paper could focus on life expectancy or infant mortality. Other factors of interest might be
unemployment, literacy, access to basic services, etc. On the other hand, you might choose to
include some of the possible outgrowths of poverty such as Human Trafficking,
Street Children,
or even Prostitution. There is a lot to the subject of
Poverty. Scan other countries as well
as this one. Draw comparisons between
activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. *** Extreme Weather *** In
June, Tokyo faced a scorching heatwave, with temperatures soaring above 35°C
(95°F) for five consecutive days. This marked the worst documented streak of
hot weather in June since records began in 1875. The city of Isesaki, northwest of Tokyo, even recorded a staggering
40.2°C (104.4°F), the highest June temperature ever in Japan. Heatwaves have
become more frequent, intense, and prolonged. In
southwest Japan, record-breaking rainfall led to severe flooding. Kurume
experienced an astounding 402.5 mm of rain in a single day, the highest ever
recorded in the city. Tragically, three people lost their lives, and three
others remain missing. The
rainy season ended 22 days earlier than usual in Tokyo, as declared by the
Japan Meteorological Agency. This marked the earliest end to the rainy season
since 1951. Cases of heatstroke surged amidst the sweltering heat, with at
least 76 people hospitalized. – adapted
from Microsoft BING Copilot *** ARCHIVES *** The World Factbook - Japan U.S. Central Intelligence Agency CIA www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html [accessed 31
December 2020] World Factbook
website has moved to ---> www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/japan/ [accessed 5 January 2021] Over
the past 70 years, government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic,
mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation
(slightly less than 1% of GDP) have helped Japan develop an advanced economy.
Two notable characteristics of the post-World War II economy were the close
interlocking structures of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors, known
as keiretsu, and the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial
portion of the urban labor force. Both features have significantly eroded
under the dual pressures of global competition and domestic demographic
change. GDP -
per capita (PPP): $42,900 (2017
est.) Labor
force - by occupation: agriculture:
2.9% industry:
26.2% services: 70.9% (February 2015 est.) Unemployment
rate: 2.9% (2017
est.) Population
below poverty line: 16.1% (2013
est.) Maternal
mortality rate: 5 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.) Infant
mortality rate: total: 1.9 deaths/1,000 live births Life
expectancy at birth: total population: 86 years Drinking
water source: improved: total: 100% of population Physicians
density: 2.41 physicians/1,000 population (2016) Sanitation
facility access: improved: total: 100% of population Electricity
access: electrification - total population: 100% (2016) The
Borgen Project - Japan borgenproject.org/tag/poverty-in-japan/ [accessed 8 February
2021] The Borgen Project works with U.S. leaders to utilize the
United States’ platform behind efforts toward improving living conditions for
the world’s poor. It is an innovative,
national campaign that is working to make poverty a focus of U.S. foreign
policy. It believes that leaders of
the most powerful nation on earth should be doing more to address global
poverty. From ending segregation to providing women with the right to vote,
nearly every wrong ever righted in history was achieved through advocacy. The
Borgen Project addresses the big picture, operating
at the political level advancing policies and programs that improve living
conditions for those living on less than $1 per day. ~
10 Facts About Poverty In Tokyo borgenproject.org/10-facts-about-poverty-in-tokyo/ ~
The Hidden Reality Of Poverty In Japan borgenproject.org/hidden-poverty-in-japan/ ~
Poverty In Nagoya, Japan borgenproject.org/poverty-nagoya-japan/ ~
The Truth Behind Poverty In Japan borgenproject.org/the-truth-behind-poverty-in-japan/ Non-regular
worker's sudden plunge into poverty exposes Japan's toxic labor environment The Mainichi, 28 January 2021 mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210128/p2a/00m/0na/043000c [accessed 6 March 2021] The
woman graduated from junior college during Japan's "employment ice
age," the period between around 1993 and 2004 after the
"bubble" economy burst and secure employment opportunities became
scarce for new workers. She, too, couldn't find a permanent company employee
position. When she
was looking for a job, she was confronted with questions from interviewers
and senior company members such as, "If you get married will you quit
your job?" and, "I'll give you the job offer, so let's go to a
hotel." She was stunned to find out that in reality there really are
people who say these things. "I
lost the desire to work in a serious manner during those interviews,"
she said. Through registering at a dispatch worker service, she got jobs
setting up event spaces and working at call centers, among other positions,
and supported herself that way. There were also jobs available that could
lead to full-time employee registration, but competition for them was fierce.
She said, "One day I realized I'd always been in non-permanent
work." Women,
families, foreigners in Tokyo food line as pandemic-induced poverty tightens
grip The Mainichi, 5 January 2021 mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210104/p2a/00m/0na/019000c [accessed 6 March 2021] "If
things go on as they are, more and more people will be pushed out onto the
streets with no way to support themselves," said Tsuyoshi Inaba, of the Emergency action for covid-19 disaster and
the Tsukuroi Tokyo Fund organizations, which backed
the food giveaway. When a
state of emergency was declared last spring, internet cafes shut their doors,
forcing day laborers who spent their nights at such establishments onto the
street. And since October, people who have run through their savings after
losing their jobs to the pandemic have apparently been joining them on the
curbside in increasing numbers. More people in their teens and 20s are
joining the ranks of Japan's impoverished. The
World Bank in Japan www.worldbank.org/en/country/japan/overview [accessed 22 April
2021] Japan
joined the World Bank in August 1952, the year after the signing of the San
Francisco Peace Treaty. Starting in 1953, a number of projects were
implemented in Japan with World Bank loans for the development of the
nation’s economic foundation. Looking
back a few years … Advameg, Inc., Encyclopedia of the Nations www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Japan-ECONOMY.html [accessed 8 February
2021] Japan's
economy is the most advanced in Asia and the second most technologically advanced
in the world, behind the United States. Total GDP in nominal terms in 2001,
at $4.147 trillion, was also second only to the United States Domestic
raw materials are far too limited to provide for the nation's needs, and
imports must be relied on for such basics as many raw cotton, raw wool,
bauxite, and crude rubber, with fuels and foodstuffs heading the list
materials. The primary engine of Japan's modern growth has been the need to
pay for these basic imports with manufactured exports. The exchange of high
value-added finished products for low value-added commodities and raw
materials has been the basis for both its high level of industrialization and
its persistently high trade surpluses. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT
COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Prof. Martin
Patt, "Poverty - Japan", http://gvnet.com/poverty/Japan.htm,
[accessed <date>] |
