Jennifer Dawson Project essay December 16, 2015 The Macroeconomics of Japan While Japan’s economy may be contracting, the unemployment rate has lowered to 3.1 percent in October which came down from the 3.4 percent that is was at in January of 2015. The lowest value since July of 1995, but as the number of unemployment has declined sharply and employment has rose. The average of unemployment was 2.7 which was set in 1953. The unemployment rate for Japan is reported by the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communication. The consumer price index has remained at 103.9 index points in October from the index points of September. The consumer price index for Japan had an average of 72.89 index points form 1957 until 2015, reaching the all time high of 104.50 index points in October of 1998 and a record low of 18 index point from February of 1957. The transportation in Japan has become efficient public transportation system, mostly within metropolitan areas and between the larger cities. The public transportation has characterized by the punctuality the superb service and the more crowds of the people use the train system. Japan has a bullet train which is the high speed train are used in the main island, which connects in Tokyo from Honshu and Kyushu. Religion in Japan is Shinto and Buddhism are the two major religions. Shinto is as old and the Japanese culture. Buddhism came from the main island in the sixth century. Since then the two religions have co-existing in harmony
The two religions that are located in Japan are Shinto and Buddhism. The two religions in japan are extraordinarily unalike, while Shintoism believes that every living thing including rocks and sounds contain some type of god in them, and Buddhism is concerned with the soul and afterlife that happens in Buddhism. The religions differ very much from each other with little similarities. Buddhism and Shintoism differ in one using shrines while the other has temples, the two both have religious ceremonies, and one believes in the afterlife while the other does not.
Economically, Japan is one of the most highly developed nations in the world. Japanese brand like Toyota, Sony, Fujifilm and Panasonic are famous across the globe. One common pattern which is followed by Japan from the very beginning is to import raw materials and processed them to make finished products which are sold domestically and exported. Agriculture and transportation are the highly developed industries in Japan. Japan’s main agricultural product is rice and most rice eaten in Japan is home grown. Shinkansen, or bullet trains ,are
Shintoism is Japan native religion. In this religion, every living thing in nature, from the wind, animals, trees and even sound contain gods which are referred to as kami (1). The religion worships nature and arose by the desire to include human life in the great harmony manifested in the universe. They have shrines to honor the gods. While Shintoism contains the spirituality of the living, Buddhism contains the spirituality of the afterlife and soul. This is why these religions compliment each other so well. Bought over from Chinese culture was Confucianism, which is a code of ethic that also influenced the way Japanese lived their lives. As you place these religions together, the health of each individual determines if they are living a purified and meaningful life or if there soul has been tainted, unclean, and impure.
This is completely different from US religious beliefs in many ways. For one, all the religions practiced in the United States worship a specific god or gods. Another thing that’s completely different in Japan than in the US is that they are more accepting of different religions. The other religion that is widely practiced in Japan is Buddhism. Brought over by missionaries in 552 AD and emphasizes simplicity to beauty, devotion to study and severe self-discipline. All the concepts of both of these religions are not concepts that American religions emphasize. Religion is huge for the Japanese and in most houses Shintoism and Buddhism are both practiced and shrines are usually done of both religions. There are many other cultural customs in Japan that are different from those in the US.
The Tokugawa Shogunate era was a period of significant growth and change in Japanese society. There were two major catalysts that led to this development in Japan. Firstly, economic growth occurred due to a transformation within the agricultural sector. Merchant driven trade and market activity saw drastic changes in the work of the peasants. They moved from their agricultural land to the major cities. Trade increase led to the the creation of an effective and reliable transportation systems that allowed for Western and Eastern parts of Japan to trade. Improvements to the road systems and shipping networks were expanded under Tokugawa's rule. The influx of the population of Japanese in the city served as a major impetus for growth and change because the old notions of a static, agrarian-based economy were substituted for a well structured
Beginning from the last years of World War II and then following Japan’s defeat to the allied forces, the Japanese had to endure arguably its most painful few years to date. The majority of Japan’s cities had all been completely destroyed during the war, especially in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the first atomic bombs were dropped. As a result, the majority of Japanese population had to not only survive the extremes of the seasons in make-shift shelters, but also endure starvation due to the lack of food and water available. However, thanks to the American occupation of Japan following the end of the war, Japan was finally able to recover. The year 1950 turned out to be the beginning of an extended period of Japanese economic and social prosperity. Starting from 1950 to 1990, Japan had experienced unrivalled miraculous economic growth and success in comparison to the majority of other developed countries. For this reason, the Japanese economic success during this period is known by many as the “economic miracle”. There are multiple reasons behind this so called “miracle”, and this essay explores some of these causes. In particular focusing on the major factors which include; the American occupation of Japan, the Korean and Vietnam War as well as social and economic reasons.
Japan’s unemployment rate of about 4% opposed to the U.S. unemployment rate of close to 10%. Even the financial debt to GDP ration is an advantage, and debt in the private sector has not increased unlike the U.S. and European countries, (Time, 2009). In addition, since Japan is a huge exporter and with the U.S. demand going downward, the international balances and growth declined especially as the dollar value dropped and the yen surged. •
There were many religions/philosophy during Medieval Japan. There were eight religions that affected Ancient Japan and their development. Christianity, Buddhism, Shintoism, are three of the eight that has shaped Japan’s history and as well as examples of religions that we have researched. Christianity didn’t really affect Japan up until the medieval era ended and wasn’t brought over until European peoples traveled to Japan. That leaves Buddhism and Shintoism.
Japanese religious tradition is made up of a few separate groups, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shinto. Christianity was only a small change in Japan. However, these religions have impacted Japanese religious life today.
The capital of Japan is Tokyo. More than 70% of Japan contains mountains, including more than 200 volcanoes. Mountain Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan is an active volcano(scientists have not reached a consensus on what defines “active”.) In Japan religion does not play a huge role, the main religions are buddhism, and shintoism. Something very different in Japan to the U.S is in
Many religions are popular within the Japanese culture. Two of the most influential religions, Shinto and Buddhism that help shaped a lot of Japanese values are Shinto and Buddhism, played a large role in shaping Japanese values. Numerous similarities and differences run between these two religions; nonetheless, the Japanese often believe in more than one religion at the same time. This is possible due to the polytheistic nature of most popular religions in Japan. It is not hard to say that religion is a big part of Japanese culture because a lot of religious beliefs can still be seen in their everyday lives.
All around the world, religion is a dominant idea for many cultures; exemplifying a certain way of life, serving as a basis for faith, and bringing charity to the world, religion is a extensive concept. For several cultures and countries religion may vary according to demographics, socio-economical class, and ethnicity. Main concepts of religion in Japan are natural and superstitious based. The leading religion in Japan remains Shinto, while other religions have come and go, interweaving themselves among the Japanese society.
Japan ranks as the third largest economy in the world as of 2010. The GDP at current prices in US dollars in Japan was reported at 5068.06 billion in 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Japan’s resurgence after World War II has however reached an inflection point in yearly 1989 after the burst of Japan’s asset price and real estate bubbles. As can be seen from the graph below, Japan’s GDP has hovered around the same level through more than 20 years of economic stagnation. The GDP’s slow growth has been exacerbated by the world financial crisis of 2008. A major landmark of Japan’s stagnation has been the BOJ’s fight against deflation.
This led to an interesting dynamic when other Asian religions and philosophies made their way into Japan. While there might have been a certain amount of abrasiveness between Shinto and the others at first, the nature of the religion allowed a unique blending that isn't to often scene between the unique (or semi-unique) religions of multiple countries. The three most prominent influences came from Chinese Confucianism and Taoism, and Indian Buddhism. Buddhism in particular had the most influence on their religion, becoming a near inseparable part of it (Religions of the World).
The dominant religions are Shinto and Buddhism both complement each other in various ways. They have harmonious cohabitation within the nation and promote peace and harmony. Moreover, religion does not necessarily play a large part in the average everyday life of a Japanese person outside of holidays and special occasions.