Japan Workbook | Research Exercises
- Exercise 1: Comparative Size of the Japanese Economy
- Exercise 2: Comparative Growth of the Japanese Economy
- Exercise 3: Japan's GDP in Comparison
- Exercise 4: Structure of Economy: Employment Sectors
- Exercise 5: Comparative Size of Japan's Population
- Exercise 6: Japan's Food Imports/American Food Exports
- Exercise 7: Japan's Energy Imports in Comparison
- Exercise 8: Japan's Imports and Exports by Region
Exercise 1: Comparative Size of the Japanese
Economy
Every economy produces a wide variety of things. Economists
usually divide economic production into goods (cars, televisions,
gasoline, food) and services (insurance, legal advice, entertainment,
education). The total amount of goods and services produced within a
country during the course of a year is called the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP). The GDP translates the value of all things produced in
an economy into money, which makes it possible to compare the size of
one country's economy with that of another.
Find statistics or a graph to illustrate the size of
Japan's economy (or Gross Domestic Product – GDP) in comparison with
the economies of other large market economies. Try to find statistics
for the United States, Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain.
(start with the
OECD statistics page)
Questions
- What does GDP measure?
- The United States' economy is the world's largest. What is Japan's ranking?
- What else would you have to know about Japan to know how the size of Japan's economy affects such things as the standard of living of the population?
Exercise 2: Comparative Growth of the
Japanese Economy
Thirty years ago, all of the goods and services produced in the
United States each year (the GDP of the economy) amounted to much
more than those produced by Germany, France, Britain or Japan.
Between 1950 and 1995, although the U.S. economy continued to grow,
the economies of these other countries grew at a faster rate. By
1995, the U.S. economy was still the largest, but other countries had
begun to catch up. Japan was the fastest growing country for almost
thirty years. However, the Japanese economy started to slow from 1990
to 1995. In fact, in 1998, the Japanese economy will probably shrink
for the first time since the early 1970s. When an economy has
negative growth, for half of a year, it is called a recession.
Find statistics or a graph to illustrate the amount of
goods and services produced in Japan, France, Germany and the United
States in the last forty years.
(start with the
OECD statistics page)
Questions
- Which of the four countries had the smallest economies in 1950? What percent of U.S. production did this represent?
- Which country's economy is the largest next to the United States in 1998?
- Which country had the largest economy in 1995 (other than the United States)? Which was the smallest?
- Which economy grew the most between 1951 and 1995?
Exercise 3: Japan's GDP in Comparison
In addition to knowing how large a country's economy is or how
fast it is growing, economists like to relate this to the size of the
country's population. Economists divide the total economic production
in one year (GNP) by the number of people in the country (the
population) to get the amount of production per person, called the
GNP per person (or per capita, meaning "per head").
Find statistics or a graph that illustrates the GDP per
person in various countries. (Canada, Mexico, The Unite States,
Japan, Korea, Australia etc.) GDP per person measures per capital
income in terms of what a person in each of the countries can buy
with his or her income. Since prices may be higher in Japan than in
other countries, this Purchasing Power Parity measure gives us a much
better idea of how well off the average Japanese person is compared
to citizens of other industrialized countries.
(start with the
OECD statistics page)
Questions
- What does "per capita" mean?
- Of the countries you found, which has the largest GDP per person?
- If you rank these countries, beginning with the one with the largest income per person and ending with the smallest, what is Japan's rank?
Exercise 4: Structure of Economy: Employment
Sectors
Economists determine how advanced an economy is by comparing how
many people work in agriculture, industry, or services (such as
stores, insurance companies, television and radio stations, railways
and airlines, or government offices.) According to economic theory,
economies become more technologically advanced in stages: All
societies begin as agricultural societies, where most people are
involved in growing food to eat (an agricultural society.)
With the introduction of fertilizers, better seeds, and farm
machinery, food production becomes more efficient. Greater numbers of
people are then able to move away from farms to work in industry (in
industrial society). At the same time, as people's incomes
rise, they spend more money on goods produced by industry.
As manufacturing becomes highly productive through the use of more
sophisticated machines (computers and robots included), more people
leave manufacturing industries to work in service industries.
This again corresponds with a greater demand for services by the
people.
An "advanced economy" is one in which the service industries
employ most of the people, due to a combination of a shift in
consumer demand and changes in the production efficiency of
agriculture and industry.
Find statistics or a graph to illustrate how many people
are employed in agriculture, industry or services in various
countries including Japan. (France, Germany, Italy, the United
Kingdom, the United States and China would provide a useful
comparison)
(start with the
OECD statistics page)
Questions
- Which section of the economy employed the fewest number of people each country?
- Which employed the most?
- How do economists measure how "advanced" a country's economy is?
- According to the definition of an "advanced" economy used by some economists, to what extent do these countries all have advanced economies? Explain.
- Rank the countries from most advanced to least advanced.
- How would you draw the profile of an economy much less advanced?
Exercise 5: Comparative Size of Japan's
Population
In comparison to the land area of the United States, the Japanese
islands account for a relatively small land area (about the size of
Montana or California), but in comparison to the many nations of
Europe, Japan is about average. Japan's population, however, is very
large: Japan is the eighth most populist country in the world.
Japan's relatively small land area, coupled with its large
population results in high population density. Also, Japan's land
area is not only small, but very mountainous. Mountains cover
four-fifths of the land. Cities and farms compete for the small
amount of land that is flat.
Find statistics illustrating the world's ten most populous
countries. Then look for population density for these countries.
(start with the
Japanese gov't Statistics Bureau page)
Questions
- What can you say about the relative sizes of the United States and Japan?
- How does Japan's population density compare with other nations?
Exercise 6: Japan's Food Imports/American
Food Exports
Traditionally, Japanese eat little meat, using fish and soybeans
as sources of protein. Tofu, soy sauce, and miso bean paste are all
made from soybeans. As a staple, Japanese now eat an increasing
amount of noodles and bread as well as rice. Noodles and bread are
both made from wheat.
Find statistics to illustrate which foods Japan imports.
Also look for the sources of these imports. Then look for information
about the markets for American Food Exports.
start with the
Japanese gov't Statistics Bureau page)
Questions
- What percent of soybeans does Japan import?
- What percent of the wheat used to make noodles and bread is imported?
- What reasons can you give to explain why Japan must import food?
- Which countries import the largest amounts of American products?
Exercise 7: Japan's Energy Imports in
Comparison
For Industry, every country must have raw materials that can be
used to build factories and machinery and make products. In addition
to oil, some important raw materials are coal, iron ore, copper,
aluminum, and wood. If a country does not have these resources, it
must import them from other countries.
Japan's domestic energy sources are small, mostly hydroelectric
power and coal. As Japan's economy has grown, it has needed to buy
(import) vast quantities of energy, particularly oil and coal, from
other countries.
Find statistics to illustrate what percentage of energy
needs are imported by the following countries: Japan, China, Germany,
Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
(start with the
Japanese gov't Statistics Bureau page)
Questions
- Rank the six countries according to the degree to which they are dependent on imports for their energy needs. (Rank them from most dependent to least dependent.)
- What rank is Japan?
- How do you think Japan's efforts at energy conservation and the development of alternative energy sources will affect Japan's dependence on imported energy in the future?
Exercise 8: Japan's Imports and Exports by
Region
While the trade between the United States and Japan is important
for both countries, Japan also trades increasing amounts of goods
with other Asian countries and other places around the world.
Find statistics that illustrates what percentage of Japan's
imports come from Asia, Europe, North American, South American and
Africa. What percentage of Japan's exports go to these regions. Also
look for the contents of these imports and exports.
Questions
- Which item accounts for the greatest portion of Japan's exports?
- Which item accounts for the greatest portion of Japan's imports?
- Which regions buy the greatest portion of Japan's exports? Explain this in terms of the type of goods Japan exports.
- From which area of the world does Japan buy the greatest portions of its imports? Explain this in terms of the type of goods Japan imports.