Japan

E

Energy

Japan is among the world’s leading countries in the annual production of electricity. About 64 per cent of the electricity is generated in thermal plants using coal or petroleum products; hydroelectric facilities account for about 10 per cent, and nuclear power plants around 23 per cent. In 1993 Japan had an installed electricity-generating capacity of 213 million kW, and the output of electricity in 2003 was some 1,017 billion kWh.

Lacking adequate domestic energy resources, Japan depends on fuel imports to meet its energy needs. Because of improvements in energy efficiency and conservation, Japan’s annual growth in energy consumption decreased from 6.1 per cent during the period from 1965 to 1980 to 1.9 per cent during the period from 1980 to 1988, while the share of annual merchandise imports represented by imported fuels dropped from 19 per cent to 14 per cent.

F

Currency and Banking

The monetary unit of Japan is the yen of 100 sen (111.21 yen equalled US$1; early 2008). The Bank of Japan, established in 1882, is the central bank, acts as general fiscal agent for the government, and is the sole issuer of currency. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is one of the world’s leading securities markets.

G

Commerce and Trade

Before World War II Japan ranked fifth in world trade. In 1939 Japanese exports amounted to about US$928 million and imports totalled some US$757 million. Most Japanese exports went to territories controlled by the Japanese empire, such as Dongbei and occupied China. The yearly trade balance with other countries, such as the United States and Great Britain, was unfavourable; annual imports from the United States, for example, exceeded exports to that country by more than US$70 million. Allied occupation authorities permitted a resumption of foreign trade by private enterprises in 1946. By 2003 yearly imports totalled about US$383 billion, and exports totalled about US$472 billion. Manufactured goods accounted for about 92.9 per cent of total exports; fuel, such as crude and refined petroleum, for about 21.2 per cent of total imports. Other imports included food and live animals, basic manufactures (such as textile fabrics and iron and steel), and raw materials such as wood and metal ores. Until 1993 rice imports were prohibited, but poor harvests in 1993-1994 forced emergency importation of some 1 million tonnes from Thailand, Australia, and the United States, and the 1993 conclusion of the Uruguay round of talks under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade compelled a gradual easing of restrictions.

Foreign trade is essential to the Japanese economy. The domestic market is unable to fully absorb the manufactured goods that are produced by Japanese industry. Furthermore, because Japan must import much of the raw material on which its industries depend, the country also must export a substantial proportion of its annual national product to effect a favourable balance of trade. Japan has used the huge trade surpluses accumulated during the 1970s and 1980s to invest heavily overseas, thus becoming the world’s leading creditor nation.

In 1995, Asian countries accounted for 36 per cent of Japan’s imports and purchased about 43 per cent of its exports. Japan’s leading Asian trade partners were South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong S. A. R., Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore. During the same period, countries of the European Union—notably Germany, France, and the United Kingdom—provided 16 per cent of Japan’s imports and purchased 17 per cent of its exports. The United States absorbs about 27 per cent of Japan’s exports and supplies about 22 per cent of its imports. Other principal trade partners include Australia, Canada, and Russia.

H

Labour

An enormous increase in the number and membership of trade unions took place in Japan after World War II. In 1946 more than 12,000 trade unions had a combined membership of about 3.7 million. By the late 1970s the number of unions had increased to more than 70,000. The combined membership in 1994 stood at 12.7 million, or about 20 per cent of the total employed population. In 1987 the nation’s leading private trade union federations agreed to merge into a single body, the National Federation of Private Sector Trade Unions, known as Rengo.

I

Transport

The major railways were nationalized in 1907; they were reorganized and transferred to the private sector in 1987. Railway track in 1994 totalled about 27,150 km (16,870 mi), of which about 55 per cent was electrified. Construction of a new high-speed rail network spanning about 7,000 km (4,350 mi) and linking principal cities, the famous Shinkansen, or 'New Trunk Line', using what is known in English as the “bullet train”, began in the early 1970s.

Japan has about 1,177,278 km (731,527 mi) of roads, of which 78 per cent are paved. Motor vehicles in 1996 included about 43 million passenger cars and 20.5 million commercial vehicles, or 1 vehicle for every 2 people.

Japan ranks among world leaders in the size of its merchant fleet, with 6,519 (2007) vessels, aggregating a total of about 13 million gross registered tons. Japan Airlines (JAL), established in 1951, provides service from Tokyo to Europe, the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Middle East, and South East Asia. All Nippon Airways, primarily a domestic service, has expanded its international operations in recent years, and a number of other small domestic carriers have begun operating under air traffic liberalization reforms. There are international airports at Tokyo, Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima.