What products are produced in Japan. Japanese industrial production. Prospects for the development of Japanese industry

Japan (Nihon, or Nippon) is one of the leading economic powers. It is one of the leaders along with the United States and China. It accounts for 70% of the total product of East Asia.

Japan's industry has reached a high level of development, especially in the areas of science and education. Among the leaders of the world economy are Toyota Motors, Sony Corporation, Fujitsu, Honda Motors, Toshiba and others.

Current state

Japan is poor in minerals - only reserves of coal, copper and lead-zinc ores matter. Recently, the processing of the resources of the World Ocean has also become relevant - the extraction of uranium from sea water, the extraction of manganese nodules.

In terms of the global economy, the Land of the Rising Sun accounts for approximately 12% of total production. Leading Japan - black and engineering (especially automotive, robotics and electronics), chemical and food industries.

Industrial zoning

There are three major regions within the state:

• Tokyo-Yokohama, which includes Keihin, Eastern Japan, the prefectures of Tokyo, Kanagawa, the Kanto region.
• Nagoisky, Tyuke belongs to him.
• Osaka-Kobsky (Han-sin).

In addition to the above, there are also smaller areas:

• Northern Kyushu (Kita-Kyushu).
• Kanto.
• Eastern Marine Industrial Region (Tokai).
• Tokyo-Tibe (it includes Kei-yo, Eastern Japan, the Kanto region and Chiba Prefecture).
• Inland Japanese Sea Area (Seto Naikai).
• Industrial area of ​​northern lands (Hokuriku).
• Kashima region (this includes the same Eastern Japan, Kashima, the Kanto region and Ibaraki prefecture).

More than 50% of manufacturing income comes from Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe and Nagoya, as well as Kitakyushu in northern Kyushu.

The most active and stable element of the market in this country is small and medium-sized businesses. 99% of all Japanese companies belong to this area. However, this is not true for the textile industry. The light industry of Japan (of which the above-mentioned industry is the leading element) is based on large, well-equipped enterprises.

Agroindustry

Agricultural lands of the country occupy approximately 13% of its territory. Moreover, half of these lands are flood fields used for growing rice. At its core, agriculture here is diversified, and it is based on agriculture, and more precisely, the cultivation of rice, technical and tea.

However, this is not all that Japan can boast of. Industry and agriculture in this country are actively developed and supported by the government, which pays a lot of attention to them and invests a lot of money in their development. A significant role is also played by horticulture and vegetable growing, sericulture, animal husbandry, forestry and sea crafts.

Rice plays an important role in the agricultural sector. Vegetable growing is developed mainly in the suburbs, about a quarter of agricultural land is allocated for it. The rest of the area is occupied by industrial crops, fodder grasses and mulberry trees.

About 25 million hectares are covered by forests, in most cases the owners are peasants. Small owners own plots of about 1 ha. Among the major owners are members of the imperial family, monasteries and temples.

livestock breeding

Animal husbandry in the Land of the Rising Sun began to develop actively only after the Second World War. It has one feature - it is based on imported, imported feed (corn). Own Japanese economy is able to provide no more than a third of the total demand.

The center of animal husbandry is Fr. Hokkaido. Pig breeding is developed in the northern regions. In general, the livestock reaches 5 million individuals, and about half of them are dairy cows.

fishing industry

The sea is one of those advantages that Japan can enjoy. Industry and agriculture receive multiple benefits from the country's island location: it is an additional route for the delivery of goods, and a help to the tourism sector, and a variety of food products.

However, despite the sea, the country has to import a certain amount of products (according to international law, the extraction of marine life is allowed only within the boundaries of territorial waters).

The main objects of fishing are herring, flounder, cod, salmon, halibut, saury, etc. Approximately a third of the catch comes from the waters in the area. Japan has not bypassed the achievements of modern scientific thought: aquaculture is actively developing here (pearl mussels, fish are grown in lagoons and on

Transport

In 1924, the fleet of passenger cars in the country totaled only about 17.9 thousand units. At the same time, there were an impressive number of rickshaws, cyclists and wagons that were propelled by oxen or horses.

20 years later, the demand for trucks increased, mainly due to the growing needs of the army. In 1941, 46,706 cars were produced in the country, of which only 1,065 were cars.

The automotive industry in Japan began to develop only after the Second World War, which was the impetus for the war in Korea. More favorable conditions were provided by the Americans to those companies that undertook to fulfill military orders.

In the second half of the 1950s, the demand for passenger cars also grew rapidly. By 1980, Japan overtook the US to become the world's top exporter. In 2008, this country was recognized as the largest automaker in the world.

Shipbuilding

This is one of the leading industries, which employs more than 400 thousand people, including those working directly at factories and at auxiliary enterprises.

The available facilities allow building ships of all types and purposes, while as many as 8 docks are designed for the production of supertankers with a displacement of 400 thousand tons. The industry is coordinated by the ASSY, which includes 75 national shipbuilding companies, producing about 80% of the total volume of ships produced in Japan.

The development of Japan's industry in this area began after World War II, when in 1947 a planned shipbuilding program began to operate. In accordance with it, companies received very favorable concessional loans from the government, which grew every year as the budget increased.

By 1972, the 28th program provided (with government assistance) for the construction of ships with a total displacement of 3,304,000 gross tons. The oil crisis greatly reduced the scale, but the foundation laid by this program in the post-war years served as a stable and successful growth of the industry.

By the end of 2011, the order book for the Japanese was 61 million dwt. (36 million brt.). The market share remained stable at 17% dwt, with the bulk of the orders being for bulk carriers (specialized ships, a type of bulk carrier for transporting goods like grain, cement, coal in bulk) and a smaller portion for tankers.

At the moment, Japan is still number one in the construction of ships in the world, despite serious competition from South Korean companies. Industry specialization and support from the government have created a foundation that keeps serious companies afloat even in the current situation.

Metallurgy

The country has few resources, in connection with which a strategy for the development of the metallurgical complex was developed, aimed at energy and resource saving. Innovative solutions and technologies have allowed enterprises to reduce electricity consumption by more than a third, and innovations have been applied both at the level of individual companies and in the entire industry.

Metallurgy, like other branches of Japanese industry specialization, received active development after the war. However, if other states sought to modernize and update the technologies that already existed with them, the government of this country took a different path. The main efforts (and money) were aimed at equipping enterprises with the most advanced technologies at that time.

The rapid development of the industry lasted for about two decades and peaked in 1973, when 17.27% of the world's steel production came from Japan alone. Moreover, in terms of quality, it claims to be the leader. This was stimulated, among other things, by the import of metallurgical raw materials. After all, more than 600 million tons of coke and 110 million tons of iron ore products are imported annually.

By the mid-90s, Chinese and Korean metallurgical enterprises competed with the Japanese, and the country began to lose its leadership position. In 2011, the situation worsened due to a natural disaster and the disaster at Fukushima-1, but according to approximate estimates, the overall decrease in production rates did not exceed 2%.

Chemical and petrochemical industry

The chemical industry in Japan in 2012 produced products worth 40.14 trillion yen. The country is one of the three world leaders together with the USA and China, having about 5.5 thousand enterprises of the corresponding direction and providing jobs for 880 thousand people.

Inside the country itself, the industry ranks second (its share is 14% of the total), second only to mechanical engineering. The government is developing it as one of the key areas, paying great attention to the development of environmentally friendly, energy and

Manufactured products are sold inside Japan and exported: 75% - to Asian countries, about 10.2% - to the EU, 9.8% - to North America, etc. The basis of exports is rubber, photo products and aromatic hydrocarbons, organic and inorganic compounds, etc.

The Land of the Rising Sun also imports products (the volume imported in 2012 was about 6.1 trillion yen), mainly from the EU, Asia and the USA.

Japan's chemical industry leads in the production of materials for the electronics industry, in particular, about 70% of the world market for semiconductor products and 65% for liquid crystal displays belongs to companies in this island country.

In modern conditions, much attention is paid to the development of the production of carbon fibers and composite materials for the nuclear and aviation industries.

Electronics

Much attention is paid to the development of information and telecommunication sphere. 3D image transmission technologies, robotics, next-generation fiber optic and wireless networks, intelligent networks, and "cloud computing" act as the "main locomotive of the industry".

In terms of the scale of infrastructure, Japan is catching up with China and the United States and is among the top three. In 2012, the total number of Internet users in the country reached 80% of the total population. Forces and funds are directed to the creation of supercomputers, the development of efficient energy management systems and energy-saving technologies.

Energy

Approximately 80% of Japan's energy needs had to be met through imports. Initially, this role was played by fuel, especially oil, from the countries of the Middle East. In order to reduce dependence on supplies in the Land of the Rising Sun, a number of measures were taken, in particular, in relation to the “peaceful atom”.

Japan began research programs in the field of nuclear energy in 1954. Several laws have been enacted and organizations established to carry out the government's goals in this area. The first commercial nuclear reactor was imported from the UK, starting operation in 1966.

A few years later, countries purchased the blueprints from the Americans and, together with local companies, built facilities based on them. Japanese companies Toshiba Co., Ltd., Hitachi Co., Ltd. and others began to design and build light water reactors themselves.

In 1975, due to problems with existing stations, an improvement program was launched. In accordance with it, the Japanese nuclear industry had to go through three stages by 1985: the first two involved changing existing structures in order to improve their operation and maintenance, while the third required increasing power to 1300-1400 MW and fundamental changes in reactors.

Such a policy led to the fact that in 2011 Japan had 53 operating reactors, which provided more than 30% of the country's electricity needs.

After Fukushima

In 2011, Japan's energy industry was hit hard. As a result of the strongest earthquake in the history of the country and the subsequent tsunami, an accident occurred at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. After a major leak of radioactive elements that followed, 3% of the country's territory was contaminated, and the population of the area around the station (about 80,000 people) became migrants.

This event forced many countries to think about how acceptable and safe the operation of the atom is.

There was a wave of protest inside Japan demanding to abandon nuclear energy. By 2012, most of the country's stations were switched off. The characteristic of Japan's industry in recent years fits into one sentence: "This country is striving to become" green "".

Now it actually no longer uses the atom, the main alternative is natural gas. Much attention is also paid to renewable energy: the sun, water and wind.

Japan is an archipelago country located in the center of the Asia-Pacific region, spread over the four large islands of Honshu, Hokaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. In addition to them, the territory of the state also includes about 4 thousand small islands, which stretch for three and a half thousand kilometers from the northeast to the southwest. The shores form bays and a large number of bays. All the seas and oceans that wash the archipelago play a huge role for Japan, as they are the main sources of its resources.

Population

In terms of population, the Land of the Rising Sun is in the top ten of the world. The Japanese can boast of the longest life expectancy in the world (76 years for men and 82 for women).

The national composition is characterized by relative homogeneity. The Japanese form almost ninety-nine percent of all the inhabitants of the country. Among other peoples living in Japan, there are quite a lot of Koreans, as well as Chinese. The vast majority practice Shinto or Buddhism. The most densely populated are the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Nearly eighty percent of Japanese live in large cities, eleven of which are cities with a population of one million.

Japanese industry

(On the assembly line, robots have practically replaced humans)

Japanese industry is almost entirely dependent on imported resources. Recently, the country has been forced to reduce the growth of energy-intensive and metal-intensive production, which depends on imported raw materials, focusing on the science-intensive industry. However, Japan has a well-developed ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering, automobile and shipbuilding, construction industry, energy, chemical and petrochemical, food and pulp and paper industries.

And, of course, Japan is one of the few countries where people are trying to replace people with industrial robots almost everywhere on the assembly line.

(Industrial plant in Japan)

The largest metallurgical centers, almost completely working on imported raw materials, are plants located in Osaka, Tokyo and Fujiyama. The scale of the primary smelting of non-ferrous metals in Japan is gradually decreasing, but most of the plants located in the largest industrial centers are still functioning today.

The light and food industries play an important role. The electric power industry mainly uses imported raw materials. Oil and natural gas are the predominant components in the Japanese raw material base, while the share of coal is declining, the role of hydro and nuclear energy is increasing. In the field of energy, sixty percent of its capacity comes from thermal power plants, and twenty-eight percent comes from nuclear energy. Hydroelectric power plants are cascaded on mountain rivers.

(Robots assemble in a car factory)

Mechanical engineering is well developed in Japan. The leading sub-sectors are electrical engineering and electronics, the radio industry is very well developed, and transport engineering is growing intensively. The country leads in terms of construction of tankers and bulk carriers. The main shipyards are located in the ports - Yokohama, Nagasaki, Kobe. Japan is also a stable leader in the field of automotive construction. Thirteen million cars roll off the assembly lines of Japanese factories every year.

(The city of Tokyo is partially powered by solar panels.)

In recent years, the country has begun to actively implement the so-called "Sunshine" program, which consists in the development of non-traditional energy sources. Among economically developed countries, Japan also ranks first in terms of the share of expenditures on the development of science and biotechnology.

Agriculture in Japan

(Unusual drawings in rice fields in Japan)

Agriculture provides approximately two percent of the country's gross national product and continues to be one of the most important sectors of its economy. This area employs six and a half percent of the population. Basically, Japanese agricultural production is concentrated on food products. Japan provides seventy percent of its own food needs. Thirteen percent of the territory is allocated for agriculture. The leading role belongs to crop production, in particular the cultivation of rice and vegetables, and horticulture is widespread. Animal husbandry is also developing intensively. So, in Japan, cattle, poultry are bred, and pig breeding is developed.

(Fishing boat at the port of the Sea of ​​Japan)

An exceptionally good location determines the abundance of fish and seafood dishes in the diet of every Japanese. Fishing is carried out in almost all areas of the oceans. Japan has an extensive fishing fleet of over 400,000 vessels. In addition, the country owns over three thousand fishing ports.

Japanese industry has come a thorny path. Light industry has been the basis of the country's production potential since the pre-war years. In the late 50s - early 60s of the 20th century, it was reoriented to heavy industry. In addition, a course was taken for the predominant development of science-intensive industries with some containment of energy-intensive and metal-intensive industries. In the 70s of the 20th century, electronics, precise and complex instrumentation, optics, the production of cameras, medicines, scientific and laboratory equipment began to develop at a faster pace. Currently, 12% of world industrial production falls on the share of this country. The development of the following industries is in full swing.

1. Ferrous metallurgy.

Ferrous metallurgy is one of the priority industries in Japan. It is mainly focused on imports. Currently, Japan provides 14-15% of the world's steel production. The corporation "Nippon Seitetsu", uniting more than 500 companies, is the leader in metallurgy. Most of the factories are located on the islands of Shikoku and Honshu. Polymetallic ores, sulfur and copper pyrites are found on almost all major islands - Shikoku, Honshu, Koshu and Hokkaido. But lead and aluminum have to be imported from Australia, Mexico and Canada. Ferrous metallurgy focuses on imported raw materials. Iron ore comes from India, Australia, South Africa, Chile. Coking coal - USA, Australia, Canada.

In recent decades, in connection with the development of new industries in Japan, the demand for non-ferrous and rare metals has increased. Such far from common elements as cadmium, selenium, tellurium, rhenium, indium, thallium, germanium, necessary in electronics and precision instrumentation, are obtained by recycling waste from the production of copper and polymetals, as well as coke production.

In general, mining production in Japan tends to decrease. Moreover, the extraction of oil, iron, lead ore is finally curtailed. The coal industry is going through hard times. It is no coincidence that in terms of energy self-sufficiency, Japan occupies one of the last places among developed countries. The country successfully ensures its industrial development and sustainable provision of the population with electricity and heat at the expense of energy carriers and industrial raw materials imported from abroad. The level of Japan's self-sufficiency in primary energy was 22%, coal - 3.2%, oil - 0.2 and natural gas - 3.7%. Thus, in terms of energy self-sufficiency, Japan is almost completely dependent on other countries.

2. Nuclear power.

At the moment, there are 39 power units in the country, and about 12 more are under completion. An important role in nuclear energy is played by monopolies such as Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Sumitomo. Japan consumes 5% of the world's electricity production. Japan was one of the first to start using non-traditional energy sources. It is known that this country is famous for active extinct volcanoes, fumaroles and geysers located on the island of Honshu. Already in the 1970s, the first geothermal power plant was built here. By the early 1990s, there were millions of "solar houses" in the country, in which solar radiation was used to heat residential complexes and heat water.

Japan's energy base is imported oil, which accounts for 75% of the fuel and energy balance. There are over 1,000 power plants in Japan. The government program provides for a significant increase in their number. Large thermal power plants located near large cities form the basis of the electric power industry. But about 600 HPPs also play a certain role. Nuclear power is playing an increasingly important role. Uranium raw materials for the needs of this industry are supplied mainly from Africa.

3. Mechanical engineering.

In the world production of machinery and equipment, the share of Japan is over 10%. Engineering firms have mastered the entire range of industry products. Leading engineering concerns are the backbone of Japan's export base, exporting 25% of engineering products. The main branches of mechanical engineering are: electrical engineering (33.3% of the industry's products), where 50% of the products are radio electronics, transport engineering, in which the automotive industry occupies the main place (12 million cars per year), shipbuilding, general engineering (production of equipment and machine tools ).

Mechanical engineering in Japan is one of the most developed in the world. The main mechanical engineering centers are located in Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka, Nagasaki, as well as in the northwest of Kyushu. The 1970s were the beginning of a boom in Japanese cars. Due to the "Oil Shock" (a sharp jump in gasoline prices) that happened in 1973, buyers began to prefer small cars with economical use of fuel. Just on such cars, Japanese scientists are working on the domestic market of the country. Then they started talking about the "Japanese" stage in the global automotive industry. In 1980, Japan passed the 10-million mark in car production, and in the late 1990s, the country took first place in the world in car production and held it for 15 years. Now the production of cars in Japan itself has declined due to the appreciation of the yen. However, Japanese car factories operate all over the world.

The main secret of Japanese companies lies in their conviction that the domestic market should be filled with local production, providing employment, and the fundamental technological secrets should be kept inside the country. Transferring production abroad, they reserve the manufacture of the most important components - engines, gearboxes.

Shipbuilding in Japan at the present level began to develop after the Second World War. By 1965, the country ranked first in the world in terms of the number of ships produced. The sharp increase in world demand for large ships was to some extent due to the growing need of industrialized countries for energy carriers such as coal and oil, and the need to transport them by sea. Japan was able to comprehend this situation better than others and began to intensively develop shipbuilding. Today, Japan has about 30% of the world's production of ships. According to this indicator, it ranks second in the world, after Korea. In the modern world, competition between these leading countries determines the situation in the global shipbuilding industry.

4. Light industry.

The light industry of the country before the Second World War played a very important role. However, after it, with the rapid development of the industry, interest in this industry began to gradually decline. With the rapid development of chemistry, instead of natural fibers, more synthetic fibers began to be produced from oil, wood and other types of raw materials. The decrease in the share of fabrics made from natural yarn is to some extent associated with the curtailment of agriculture. The light industry works both on local chemical fiber and on cotton and wool from the USA, Australia and South Africa.

The Japanese are a nation that honors its centuries-old traditions, so do not be surprised that ceramic production occupies an important place, both a tribute to traditions and a very profitable enterprise. There are over 170 kaolin deposits in Japan, about 35 thousand enterprises for the production of ceramics. Also, woodworking is developing rapidly, which, in terms of the number of enterprises, is second only to the textile and food and flavor industries. There are about 30,000 plywood and sawmills in Japan.

5. Chemical industry.

The country has almost no natural raw materials, in this regard, it is forced to develop this knowledge-intensive industry. For example, the petrochemical industry refining oil and natural gas produces synthetic rubber and plastics. It provides more than 50% of all products of the chemical industry in Japan. Japan has good performance in the production of sulfuric acid, which is an essential component for the production of fertilizers. It is also widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. Japan ranks third in the world in terms of production of many types of chemical products.

Much of the world community is surprised at the way Japan's industry is organized. Many cannot understand how a medium-sized state, occupying an archipelago without any mineral deposits, has been among the leaders of the world economy for many decades.

Japan accounts for 12% of world industrial production.

But literally 70-80 years ago, Japanese goods were not in demand, as the quality of their manufacture left much to be desired.

Industry

Since the second half of the twentieth century, the economic doctrine of Japanese industry has been radically revised by the state. In addition to supporting the flagship of the economy, which was light industry, priority was given to heavy industry. A special niche was allocated for science-intensive developments.

Already by the 70s, the Land of the Rising Sun surprised the whole world with the outstripping pace of development in such industries as electronics, instrumentation, mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, medicine and science.

Japan is a country with a very highly developed industry.

Automotive

For more than 45 years, the automotive industry in Japan has been one of the most developed in the world. The largest centers have been formed in such industrial areas as Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, and Kobe. Today, this industry rightfully defines the face of Japan.

Despite the automation of processes, the industry employs about six million people worldwide and about 700 thousand in the country itself. The automotive industry provides 1/10 of the state's GDP.

The active development of the production of machines began in the mid-1920s. The trigger for the automotive industry was the 1923 earthquake. The natural disaster destroyed the railway and tram lines.

The country needed trucks, buses and cars. Initially, American companies Ford and General Motors built their factories near Tokyo. During the Second World War, production facilities were destroyed by bombing.

By the 1950s, most of the enterprises were restored, and the first production of machines amounted to 30,000 units per year. The war in Korea (between North and South) globally affected the Japanese automotive industry. The US Army ordered huge batches of Toyota, Nissan, and Isuzu trucks and cars for its needs.

This video tells about the origin, development and formation of mechanical engineering in the Japanese automotive industry.

As the volume increased, so did the quality of the products. At the end of hostilities, the "Japanese machine" could not be stopped. By 1980, Nihon Koku overtook America in terms of the number of cars produced, ranking first in the world.

Number of cars produced in the USA and Japan (thousand units, 1960–2005)

A country	1960	1970	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000	2005
Japan	760	5290	11 045	12 300	13 490	10 195	9480	11 500
USA	7870	7830	8010	11 430	9780	12 065	12 775	11 300

After the fuel crisis of 1973–1974 economical Japanese cars took over the American market and continue to dominate it to this day. Flagship automakers Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda have a network of production facilities in the United States and other parts of the world. Cars are of high quality and enjoy well-deserved respect from car owners of any state.

Electronics

The general development of heavy industry and science since the 1950s directly influenced the rapid development of electronics in Japan. Together with cars, the country began to export technically sophisticated goods. In the late 60s, Japanese radios and televisions became better than American ones.

By the mid-1980s, Western markets were full of VCRs and camcorders from the Land of the Rising Sun. Japan has made an incredible technological breakthrough in this industry. Began the development and manufacture of more complex equipment - computers.

Companies from Japan have been holding leading positions in the world market of electronic devices for quite a long time.

The electronics industry now employs about 1.6 million Japanese. More than half of them are working on new types of communication.

The aircraft industry in Japan began to really develop only in the 1970s, thanks to agreements with Western countries.

To date, 146 enterprises engaged in the development and production of aviation equipment have been registered in the country. Existing capacities are able to meet 96% of domestic needs.

The largest aircraft manufacturers:

• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
• Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
• Fuji Heavy Industries.
• IHI is the leader in the Japanese aircraft engine industry.

*For the Boeing 787 Dreamliner ("Dream Plane"), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries manufactures a center section with wing panels and some fuselage modules.

Shipbuilding

The oldest industry in Japan, shipbuilding, has remained the leading one for many centuries. Modern production capacities of the shipbuilding industry allow building ships of all types and purposes.

The center of the industrial and industrial region of Kanto is spread between Kawasaki, Tokyo and Yokohama. In total, 75 shipbuilding companies are registered in Japan. The leading enterprises are Universal Shipbuilding (USA), Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Sasebo.

SHIPBUILDING is one of the leading branches of Japanese industry.

During this period, the demand for civilian ships is falling due to a decrease in ship traffic. Increasing competition also contributes to the decrease in sales. But the industry is doing well, as orders from the military have increased significantly.

Many companies equipped shipyards for the construction of aircraft, helicopter carriers and other ships for the Japanese and US Navy.

Robotics

Along with the development of electronics, the robotics industry began to develop rapidly. The first robot in the world was created in Japan in the mid-60s. Now this industry is one of the leading in the country and practically has no competitors in the world.

The government takes an active part in the development of the industry, providing inventors with preferential working conditions.

At the moment, Japan produces about 45% of industrial robots from the total number in the world. The leading organizations for the development of robotics are the national universities of Aizu, Iwasaki, Tohoku, Tsukuba, Hokkaido, Ritsumeikan, Kagawa, as well as the Polytechnic Institute in the city of Shibaura. The military of Japan and the USA are showing particular interest in remotely controlled robotics.

Find out what abilities robots have in the video below.

Robots are no less in demand in everyday life. Care for the disabled and the elderly is already practiced automatically. Human-like robots are being created that are capable of performing the functions of social workers.

Innovations have been very useful in the medical industry as well. The main developers and manufacturers of robots are Sony, Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic, Kawasaki and Yamaha.

*Mitsubishi Research Institute reported in 2019 that robots will take over 7.4 million human jobs in the country by 2030.

Chemical industry

The chemical industry felt its main impetus in the 1960s. with an increased demand for energy, which was generated by gas products. It was the waste of petroleum products that became an excellent raw material for the chemical industry.

During this period, the Japanese chemical industry is a favorite in the Asian market and ranks second in the world. The main producers of goods in this segment are the following corporations:

• Asahi Chemical;
• Asahi Voice;
• Fuji Photo Film;
• Sekisui Chemical;
• Mitsubishi Kemikl.

Almost all companies are engaged in petrochemistry. Depending on the specialization, enterprises produce synthetic rubber, polymers, chemical fibers and more. In addition to petrochemicals, corporations are engaged in the manufacture of biochemicals, which include drugs and fertilizers.

The largest diversified areas of the chemical industry

It is also worth mentioning the ecology of the country. Learn more about ecology.

Japan is one of the most unique countries in the world. After the failure in the Second World War, she literally rose from the ashes, like a Phoenix bird.

First, consider the geographical location of the country. Japan is located on four islands: Shikoku, Honshu, Koshu, Hokkaido and numerous small islands. The population is approximately 122.2 million, which is the most interesting 99% of the population are native Japanese. The revolution of 1866-1896, also known as the Meiji Restoration, played an important role in the development of the country's economy and industry. The bourgeois reforms carried out became the basis for the development of capitalism.

According to the constitution of 1889, Japan was proclaimed a monarchy headed by an emperor. However, legislative power was divided between the emperor and parliament. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Japan entered the stage of monopoly capitalism - the militarization of Japan under the leadership of Emperor Hirohito. In 1940, Japan entered into military alliances directed against the USSR, Great Britain and the USA, with Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, and in 1941 entered the Second World War, which ended in defeat for her in September 1945.

Postwar Japan

After the end of the war, Japan faced a dilemma - to focus entirely on overcoming the then hyperinflation, or to direct all efforts to restore production, which had been badly damaged during the war. The government urgently needed to look for ways out of their crisis. The second path was chosen.

Japan adhered to the reform model, the main points of which were the following: providing cheap and targeted loans, state control over foreign economic and foreign exchange activities, pursuing a policy of protecting national capital in the banking and manufacturing sectors, protecting the agricultural sector (providing subsidies to agricultural workers) and, most importantly, was created its own model of state regulation of the economy, which was based on the interaction of the economic system of private business and the administrative apparatus. The results were not long in coming.

In less than ten years, Japanese industrial production has been restored by 80%. Japan moved away from the policy of strict financial regulation (the competitiveness of the national currency and industry in the world spoke for itself). After the war, the country was forbidden to have armed forces, which allowed the government to concentrate on the agrarian issue (most of the land was given for ransom to peasants) and to focus on the development of science and new technologies. Such a sharp economic jump was called the "Japanese economic miracle."

Japan's modern economy

By the 1970s, Japan had become the second economic power in the capitalist world in terms of gross national product and industrial production. Today it is in second place after the United States in terms of economic development. Its GDP is about 4.5 trillion dollars. Moreover, the country ranks third in the world, after the United States and China, in terms of purchasing power parity. This is a country of private enterprise with low taxes: the total amount of taxes is lower than in other large Western countries, in 2007 it was 26.4% of GDP.

The largest Japanese companies are Toyota Motor, NTTC DoKoMo, Canon, Honda, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Sony, Nippon Steel, Tepko, Mitsubishi Estate, and Seven & Eye Holding. There are also the largest bank assets in terms of size, such as Japan Post Bank (assets of 3.2 trillion US dollars), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (assets - 1.2 trillion US dollars), Mizuho Financial Group ( assets - 1.4 trillion dollars) and Financial Group "Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group" (assets - 1.3 trillion dollars). The Tokyo Stock Exchange (as of December 2006), with a market capitalization of over 549.7 trillion yen, is the second largest in the world.

However, economic growth stalled slightly in 1990 due to overinvestment and domestic policies aimed at eradicating excess speculative capital from the stock market as well as from the real estate market. And already in 2005, it began to recover: GDP growth for this year amounted to 2.8%, which exceeded the growth rates of the countries of the European Union and the United States this year.

Japanese industries

Now about the Japanese industry. It, like the economy, has gone through a thorny path. Until 1950, the industrial potential of the country was heavy industry, which was typical of the period of the country's militarization. With the ban on maintaining the armed forces, a course was taken for the development of high-tech industries with some containment of energy-intensive and metal-intensive industries. 12% of world industrial production today falls on the share of this country. The development of the following industries is in full swing.

1) Ferrous metallurgy. It is mainly focused on imports. Currently, Japan provides 14-15% of the world's steel production. Nippon Seitetsu is the leader in metallurgy. Most of the factories are located on the islands of Shikoku and Honshu. Polymetallic ores, sulfur and copper pyrites are found on almost all major islands - Shikoku, Honshu, Koshu and Hokkaido. But lead and aluminum have to be imported from Australia, Mexico and Canada. As well as iron ore (exported from India, Australia, Chile and South Africa) and coking coal (coming from Canada, USA and Australia). And such rare elements as thallium, cadmium, selenium, indium, germanium, tellurium and rhenium are obtained by recycling waste from coke production or polymetals and copper.

2) Nuclear power. At the moment, there are 39 power units in the country. In nuclear energy, monopolies such as Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Sumitomo play an important role. Japan consumes 5% of the world's electricity production. In 2000, the country ranked third in electricity production (1012 billion kW) after the United States and China. Japan was one of the first to start using non-traditional energy sources. It is known that this country is famous for active and extinct volcanoes, fumaroles and geysers (they are located on the island of Honshu). Already in the 1970s, the first geothermal power plant was built here. By the early 1990s, millions of "solar houses" appeared in the country - they used solar radiation to heat residential complexes and heat water.

3) Mechanical engineering. Mechanical engineering in Japan is one of the most developed in the world. The main centers of mechanical engineering are located in Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka, Nagasaki and in the northwest of Kyushu). The 1970s were the beginning of a boom in Japanese cars. Due to the "Oil Shock" (1973 gas price spike), buyers began to prefer small, fuel-efficient cars. Just on such cars, Japanese scientists are working on the domestic market of the country. Then they started talking about the "Japanese" stage in the global automotive industry. In 1980, Japan passed the 10 million milestone in car production, and in the late 1990s, the country took first place (and held it for 15 years) in the world in car production. Now the production of cars in Japan itself has declined due to the appreciation of the yen. However, Japanese car factories operate all over the world (in the USA and in Southeast Asia).

4) Light industry. It works on local chemical fiber, cotton and wool from Australia, South Africa and the USA. The Japanese are a nation that honors its centuries-old traditions, so do not be surprised that ceramic production occupies an important place, both a tribute to traditions and a very profitable enterprise (there are over 170 kaolin deposits in the country). The country is also rapidly developing woodworking, which, in terms of the number of enterprises, is second only to the textile and food and flavor industries. There are about 30,000 plywood and sawmills in Japan. Demand both in the domestic and foreign markets is enjoyed by products manufactured at specialized enterprises for the production of containers, national Japanese shoes - geta, umbrellas, dishes, fans, bamboo pipes, etc. Woodworking centers are located in Tokyo, Kobe, Nagoya, Yokohama, Osaka, Okayama, Hiroshima and on the islands of Kyushu and Hokkaido.

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