Japan

Culture, Production, and Consumption

Located at the eastern fringes of the Eurasian land-mass, part of the “Ring of Fire” that circles the Pacific Ocean, Japan consists of four major and thousands of smaller islands, with an interior dominated by volcanic mountain ranges. Japan's development has been strongly influenced by its natural environment and location. Traditional culture even sees the world as animated. Especially in Japan's native religion, Shinto, every object is seen to be imbued with spirits. These do not reside only in nature but are also to be found in man-made objects.

Nature is prized most highly when it is cultivated, and human behavior is seen as the most highly cultivated when mastering learning to such an extent that it becomes the seemingly natural way of doing things. This blurring of the natural and artificial is often used to explain why there is a deep appreciation for nature and its beauty and power in Japan. However, a desire to intermingle these two aspects of the world—in ways that seem mutually exclusive in Western cultural terms—creates an attitude very open to novelty, not least in technological innovation. Such an inclusive view of human activities as a part of nature also influences the consumption of natural resources, for example, when it is argued that whaling should be allowed as a normal part of human activities, especially as whales’ supposed overconsumption of other fish needs human intervention (to create harmony in nature).

Both traditional and modern culture have been shaped by the scarcity of resources that accompanies Japan's geography. The islands that make up [Page 448]Japan offer forested, mountainous interiors and proximity to the resources of the Pacific Ocean surrounding them but few industrial resources and comparatively little land suited for agricultural cultivation and human habitation. These geographic factors help explain why Japan's population is especially concentrated in rather few areas. The human domination of these areas is also particularly great. Green areas in these conurbations are often times left only in the environs of Shinto temples because their association with these religious buildings gives them spiritual meaning and thus protection. The Greater Tokyo Area, also known as the “Tokyo-Yokohama urban corridor,” is particularly noteworthy. It contains over 35 million people—28 percent of the country's total population. This makes it the world's largest metropolitan area, and it is increasingly merging with other coastal cities.

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