JAPAN Chapter 31
Section 1 — Introduction
Swimming pool in Tokyo Bettmann/Corbis
Imagine standing on a subway platform in Tokyo, Japan,
during rush hour. The station is so crammed with people
that you can barely move. Your train thunders into the
station and lurches to a stop. As the car doors open, the
crowd on the platform surges forward. In the crush, the
person behind you steps on your heel and your shoe comes
off. You reach down to pick it up, but there are too many
people even to bend over. You are swept into the train
without your shoe. Luckily, a station attendant will pick up
your shoe and hold it for you to claim on your return trip.
This is hardly the first time people have lost shoes during the Tokyo rush hour. And it
will not be the last.
Tokyo is one of the world’s most crowded urban centers. It is also the capital of the
densely populated country of Japan. A country’s population density[population
density: the average number of people who live in a unit of area, such as a square
mile. Population density measures how crowded an area is.] is the average number of
persons in a unit of area, such as a square mile or square kilometer. Population density is
calculated by dividing the total number of people in a country by its total land area. The
higher the result of that calculation, the more crowded the country.
In 2009, the population density of Japan was 878 persons per square mile. In comparison,
the United States had a population density of 87 persons per square mile. This means that
Japan is more than 10 times as densely populated as the United States. In this chapter,
you will learn how Japan’s high population density affects how people live and die in.
Section 2 — The Geographic Setting
Mount Fuji over Tokyo Bay Japan’s mountains limit the
amount of land that is suitable for living. Many of these
mountains, like Mount Fuji, are volcanoes. Mount Fuji was
once thought to be a sacred place. Today this beautiful
volcano attracts weekend hikers eager to escape crowded
cities. Bloomberg/Getty Images
Japan occupies an archipelago[archipelago: a group or chain of islands], or chain of
islands, that lies off the East Asian mainland. On a map, the Japanese archipelago forms
the shape of a thin crescent moon. The land area of Japan consists of four large islands
and about 3,900 smaller ones. Taken together, these islands form a country about the size
of the state of Montana. To the west, the Sea of Japan (East Sea) separates Japan from its
nearest neighbors, Korea and China. To the east lies the vast Pacific Ocean.
Japan enjoys a temperate climate[temperate climate: a climate that is moderate or
mild, without extremes of hot or cold], with warm, humid summers and relatively mild
winters. Heavy snowfall is limited to high elevations and the most northern of Japan’s
islands. Abundant summer rainfall makes Japan an ideal place for growing rice and other
crops.
When Two Plates Collide Earth’s crust below the Pacific
Ocean is called the Pacific Plate. It slides under the Eurasian
Plate, which is Earth’s crust below the continents of Europe
and Asia. When these two tectonic plates rub against each
other, Japan is hit with an earthquake.
A Mountainous Landscape The Japanese archipelago was formed millions of years ago
by mountains welling up from the sea. The mountains arose when tectonic
plates[tectonic plate: a large piece of Earth’s crust that floats on the liquid mantle]
collided deep beneath the Pacific Ocean. Volcanoes welled up in the cracks between the
plates. Over millions of years, liquid rock flowing from the volcanoes built up into
mountains that eventually emerged from the sea.
Today a chain of volcanic mountains forms the backbone of Japan. Many volcanoes are
still active, although no one knows just when they might erupt again. The highest and
most famous Japanese volcano is Mount Fuji, whose snowcapped cone towers above the
city of Tokyo.
The tectonic plates that gave birth to Japan are still grinding against each other beneath
the sea. Occasionally one of them slips, causing an earthquake to rattle the islands. Small
tremors occur on an almost daily basis in Japan. Major earthquakes are less frequent but
can cause extensive damage and loss of life. Undersea earthquakes can also trigger huge
sea waves known as tsunamis[tsunami: a huge, destructive wave caused by an
earthquake or a volcanic eruption]. When one of these destructive waves hits the
Japanese coast, entire villages can be washed out to sea.
A Mountainous Landscape About 70 percent of Japan is
covered with mountains. The rivers flowing out of these
mountains are too short and steep for boat travel. But they
do provide hydro electric power to Japan.
Limited Land for Living Only about an eighth of Japan is
arable land[arable land: land suitable for growing
crops], or land suitable for agriculture. The remaining land
is too steep to plow and plant. Much is also too
mountainous to support large towns and cities.
The amount of arable land affects population
distribution[population distribution: where people live
in a country, whether crowded together in cities or spread out across], or where
people live. A large majority of Japan’s nearly 128 million people live on the four main
islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. But they are not evenly distributed
across these islands. About 80 percent live on limited flat land near the coast or in narrow
river valleys.
Because people tend to clump on arable land, geographers have developed two ways of
measuring how crowded a country is. The first is by looking at a country’s arithmetic
population density[arithmetic population density: the population of a country
divided by its total land area]. This measure is calculated by dividing the number of
people in a country by its total land area. As you read in the introduction, Japan’s
arithmetic population density is about 878 persons per square mile.
The second way of measuring crowding is by looking at a country’s physiologic
population density[physiologic population density: the population of a country
divided by its arable land area]. This measure is calculated by dividing the number of
people in a country by the amount of arable land. With such limited land for living,
Japan’s physiologic population density is 7,545 persons per square mile. The United
States, in comparison, has a physiologic population density of 482 persons per square
mile. Both population density measures tell us that Japan is a crowded country.
Section 3 — How Population Density
Affects Transportation
Subway Pusher in Tokyo
Tokyo’s high density means
that rush hours are crowded.
Workers wearing white gloves
push people into subway cars
so that the doors will close.
Some people spend two to three
hours traveling to and from
work each day. Figaro
Magahn/Photo Researchers Inc.
What happens when millions of
people, living together in a
densely populated
megalopolis[megalopolis: a
very large city], all head out
for work at about the same time
in the morning? It takes most of
them a very long time to get there! The average commute time[commute time: the
amount of time spent traveling to and from work] in Tokyo is an hour and a half each
day. This adds up to a whopping 400 hours or more a year, which is enough time to
watch 160 movies or take 40 flights from Tokyo to San Francisco.
Public Transportation The Japanese have adapted to busy rush hours by creating an
extensive and efficient public transit system[public transit system: a network of
buses, trains, and other vehicles used for moving passengers]. Underground subways
whisk commuters from one part of a city to another, while passenger trains rush travelers
from town to town. Japanese subways and trains run often and are almost always on
time—to the minute. You can set your watch by them.
Rush hour in a Tokyo subway station is an amazing sight. Mobs of commuters bound for
work mix with large groups of uniformed students heading for school. White-gloved
subway workers called pushers stand on subway platforms waiting for the trains to roll
in. Their job is to shove as many passengers as possible into the cars before the doors
close.
The Japanese have developed some of the fastest passenger trains in the world. Bullet
trains—so named for their shape and speed—called Shinkansen travel between many
cities. The Shinkansen race across the Japanese countryside at speeds of up to 180 miles
per hour. That’s more than three times as fast as cars, which travel about 60 miles per
hour on highways in those rare moments when there is no traffic congestion.
Private Cars and Parking ProblemsDespite their excellent public transit system,
many Japanese own their own cars and love to drive them. As car ownership has
increased, traffic congestion has become part of daily life in Japan.
Cars create problems even when they are not moving. Finding a place to park in Tokyo is
such a headache that the city has instituted strict regulations about car ownership.
Residents of the city cannot own a car unless they can prove they have a place off the
street to park it. With parking space so limited, Tokyo has pioneered the use of high-rise
parking lots that look something like giant shoe cabinets. These garages use computercontrolled elevators to stack cars on top of one another in narrow parking slots.
Section 4 — How Population Density Affects Housing
Homes in the U.S. and Japan Japanese homes are smaller
than those in the United States. A typical person in Tokyo
has about 170 square feet of living space. A typical person
in Washington, D.C., has about 740 square feet of living
space.
Because flat land for building is scarce in Japan, housing is
expensive. Most homes in Japan are smaller than those in
the United States. Many Japanese families live in
apartments that are no larger than the typical family room in
an American home.
From the Country to the City The Japanese did not always live crowded into small
homes. Fifty years ago, when Japan was largely rural[rural: found in or living in areas
that are not close to cities], most people lived in spacious one-story homes. They also
lived in extended families[extended families: a family made up of parents, children,
grandparents, and sometimes more distant relatives], with grandparents, parents, and
children together under one roof.
In the 1950s, this pattern began to change. Many Japanese left the countryside to pursue
educational or job opportunities in Japan’s growing cities. The houses and apartments
available in urban areas were cramped compared to rural homes. With space so tight, the
number of people living in extended families began to shrink. Today a majority of
Japanese live in nuclear families[nuclear families: a family made up of parents and
their children], or families with just parents and their children.
Capsule Hotel in Japan Hotels
that rent sleeping capsules make
good use of space in crowded
Japanese cities. Each capsule
has a mattress, a television with
headphones, and a clock. Guests
can spend time in the hotel’s
restaurants and public areas
until they are ready for bed.
Making the Most of Limited Space The Japanese have developed a number of clever
ways to make the most of their limited living space. One is to use rooms for more than
one purpose. Many homes in Japan do not have separate bedrooms. At bedtime,
mattresses called futons are taken from closets and spread on the floor of living rooms. In
the morning, the futons are put away again.
The Japanese also make good use of limited space by shrinking almost everything that
goes into a home. Japanese appliance makers produce small stoves and refrigerators to fit
in tiny apartment kitchens. Gardeners who lack garden plots grow tiny trees called bonsai
in shallow pots on windowsills. A 10-year-old bonsai tree might be only a few inches tall.
Japan’s population density even affects where people rest after death. Most cemeteries in
Japan are a jumble of family graves filling every inch of available space. “Unless we try
something new,” warns a Buddhist temple leader, “all of Japan will turn into a
graveyard.” To prevent this, many people are choosing to have their bodies cremated
after death. A box of ashes requires much less space than a coffin.
Section 5 — How
Population Density
Affects Land Use
Land Use in a Japanese City By
building both up and down, the Japanese
make efficient use of limited city land.
While land use may seem like a dull
topic to most people, it’s a vital issue for
the neighbors of Tokyo’s bustling Narita
Airport. For years, plans to expand
Narita were blocked by local
homeowners. When the government
offered to relocate the homeowners to
another area, neighbors threatened to
burn down the new home of anybody
who agreed to move.
Conflicts over land use are common in Japan because there is simply not enough land to
meet everyone’s needs. This has forced the Japanese to find better ways to use the land
they have and to create new land.
Building Up and Down One way to make more efficient use of land is to construct
taller buildings. But building skyward creates severe construction challenges in an active
earthquake zone[earthquake zone: an area where earthquakes are likely, often
where tectonic plates meet]. Until 1965, building heights were limited in Japan for
safety reasons.
The development of earthquake-resistant construction techniques[earthquakeresistant construction techniques: building methods used to make structures safer
during earthquakes] has allowed the Japanese to raise that height limit. Using these
techniques, the Japanese are able to erect lofty towers that can withstand severe shaking.
So many skyscrapers have gone up in recent years that some people call the construction
crane Japan’s national bird.
Another way to make more efficient use of land is to build underground. Under many
Japanese cities lie subterranean[subterranean: found or existing under the ground]
shopping centers filled with shops and restaurants. A large
underground center in the city of Osaka includes a park, an
art museum, a Buddhist temple, and even a zoo.
Terraced Rice Fields in Japan The Japanese have claimed new land for farming by
building terraces into hillsides. Working these rice fields on steep slopes is hard work.
Corbis
Creating New Land The Japanese have created new land by filling in shallow
wetlands[wetland: an area where the soil is usually wet or covered with water] with
dirt and rubble. Much of Tokyo, for example, is built on filled-in bays and marshes.
Filling wetlands saves precious farmland from urban development. At the same time, it
destroys valuable fish and wildlife habitat[habitat: the natural environment in which
a plant or animal lives].
Filled land is also unstable in earthquakes. In 1995, a massive earthquake hit the port city
of Kobe, killing some 6,400 people and damaging $100 billion worth of property. Much
of that property was on filled land.Like the Incas of South America, the Japanese have
created new land for farming by cutting terraces into hillsides. Terracing[Terracing: the
creation of flat areas on mountain slopes for the purpose of farming] has made it
possible to grow rice—Japan’s most important crop—on the islands’ mountain slopes.|
Section 6 — How Population Density Affects Health
Japanese cookies may be the best-packaged treats in the world. Each cookie is wrapped
in an individual cellophane packet. The packets are placed in a box, which is then
wrapped in paper. When sold, the box may be wrapped once more before being sent
home in a paper bag. All of this packaging adds up. The average Tokyo resident creates 2
to 3 pounds of trash a day. Multiply this by 12 million people, and you get a mountain of
garbage that can turn into breeding grounds for rats, flies, and disease.
Long Life Spans The Japanese
enjoy one of the world’s longest
life expectancies. A person born
in Japan can expect to live to be
more than 80 years old.
Kenneth Hamm/Photo Japan
Pollution Problems Garbage is
not the only waste product that
builds up as population density
increases. Whenever people
crowd into cities,
pollution[pollution: damage
to the natural environment
caused by harmful
substances; also refers to
harmful substances] problems follow. Emissions from factories and cars pollute the air
and cause breathing problems for many people. Sewage[Sewage: solid and liquid waste
from homes and other buildings that is carried away by sewers or drains] and
wastewater[wastewater: water that has been used; for example, for washing or
producing goods] poison rivers and streams, killing fish and threatening drinking water
supplies.No country seems cleaner than Japan with its daily-swept streets. However, like
most other industrial countries, Japan has faced severe pollution problems. One growing
problem is acid rain[acid rain: rain that can damage the environment because it
contains acid created from chemicals in factory smoke and car exhaust. Acid rain
can damage plants, fish, animals, and even buildings.], which can poison lakes, kill
trees, and corrode human structures.
The Japanese have also had serious water pollution problems. In the past, toxic
chemicals[toxic chemical: a chemical that is poisonous to humans or other living
things], such as cadmium and mercury, were dumped into oceans, lakes, and streams.
Such chemicals can poison fish and the people and other animals that consume
contaminated fish.
One of the most severe pollution problems came to light in
the 1950s when people living on Minamata Bay began
coming down with a “strange disease.” The disease was
caused by mercury dumped into the bay by local factories.
People who ate fish contaminated with mercury suffered
slurred speech, seizures, and blurred vision. Mothers gave
birth to babies with twisted limbs. Cats who ate the fish turned from placid pets into
screeching monsters. More than a thousand people eventually died from mercury
poisoning before Minamata Bay was finally cleaned up.
Long Lives High population density can impact people’s health in still other ways.
Automobile accidents are more likely to occur on city streets than rural roads. Disease
spreads more quickly in crowded cities than in the countryside. Even so, the Japanese
enjoy a life expectancy[life expectancy: the average age to which a person in a given
population can expect to live] that is among the highest in the world. A person born in
Japan in 2004 can expect to live 82 years.The Japanese have clearly found ways to
overcome the health hazards of crowding. Stand on any street corner in Tokyo and you’ll
see one of them. People who are sick wear face masks to avoid spreading disease. More
important, the Japanese have passed some of the world’s strictest environmental laws to
clean up the air and water. As a result, the air is safer to breathe, and fish from the sea no
longer poison people and their pets.Garbage, however, remains a problem. In 1972,
Tokyo opened a huge trash dump on an island in Tokyo Bay. It filled up in just eight
years. Another nearby dump is filling up just as fast. “We are full up,” reports a city
official. “We can only survive by reducing.” In an effort to reduce the daily avalanche of
trash, Tokyo has turned to recycling[recycling: the process of collecting used materials
that would otherwise be thrown away and turning them into raw materials for new
uses]. Tokyo residents today recycle everything from cans and bottles to cookie
wrappers.