Asia Pacific Rim

Japanese Influence
 Ties Within Pacific Rim
 Despite diversity, there are interconnections within
the Pacific Rim countries
 Talks of unification between North & South Korea
 Tremendous improvement in the economic
capacities of Pacific Rim countries
 Gross National Product (GNP) per capita for most
Pacific Rim areas were high
 Economic Factors
 Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the rate of
economic growth in the Pacific Rim ws very high
 For example, GDP for United States in 1987 was
3.5 % and for Hong Kong in contrast was 13.5 %
 This success is because of hard work and savings
ethics of Pacific Rim people their external, market-
oriented development strategies
Pacific Rim

Interconnections
 Influence In the Past
 1895-1942 Japanese were a dominant force in
Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria populated China, and
Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos, Pacific Islands etc
 Many countries welcomed Japanese intrusion in
comparison to Western influence
 They believed Asia should be for Asians
 Japanese Influence Today
 Today many Asians and Pacific Islanders are
concerned about Japanese financial and industrial
influences in their countries
 But they welcome Japanese investment—cheapest
way to improve their economic infrastructure
 However, now Taiwan, Hong Kong & South
Korea have also become strong competitors for
Japan’s position
 Why Japan needs to influence
neighbouring economies
 Japan does not have enough agricultural land
 It is the size of California, but has 5 times its
population
 Much of Japan is mountainous with active
volcanoes
 Japan’s need for influencing Asia
 Japan has 2,000 years of continuous habitation
 Not much natural forests or natural resources
either
 So Japan needs to extract resources from the rest
of Asia and Pacific
 Japan needs food, minerals, lumber (wood), paper,
oil etc to feed its population
 Japanese Money Flow
 Japan’ssearch for resources makes it flood its
money in neighbouring countries and make it
continue its influential relations with Asia Pacific
Rim countries
 Japan’s Asia Influence
 Japan decides to get natural resources from its
neighbours in Asian continent
 Many Asian neighbours are rich in almost all the
materials Japan needs
 Example: a) For lumber (wood)---forests of
Malaysia b) For food, farms and ranches of New
Zealand & Australia c) For Oil, Indonesia, Brunei
Asia Pacific Rim

Japanese Influence
 Influence In the Past
 1895-1942 Japanese were a dominant force in
Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria populated China, and
Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos, Pacific Islands etc
 Many countries welcomed Japanese intrusion in
comparison to Western influence
 They believed Asia should be for Asians
 Japanese Influence Today
 Today many Asians and Pacific Islanders are
concerned about Japanese financial and industrial
influences in their countries
 But they welcome Japanese investment—cheapest
way to improve their economic infrastructure
 However, now Taiwan, Hong Kong & South
Korea have also become strong competitors for
Japan’s position
 Why Japan needs to influence
neighbouring economies
 Japan does not have enough agricultural land
 It is the size of California, but has 5 times its
population
 Much of Japan is mountainous with active
volcanoes
 Japan’s need for influencing Asia
 Japan has 2,000 years of continuous habitation
 Not much natural forests or natural resources
either
 So Japan needs to extract resources from the rest
of Asia and Pacific
 Japan needs food, minerals, lumber (wood), paper,
oil etc to feed its population
 Japanese Money Flow
 Japan’ssearch for resources makes it flood its
money in neighbouring countries and make it
continue its influential relations with Asia Pacific
Rim countries
 Japan’s Asia Influence
 Japan decides to get natural resources from its
neighbours in Asian continent
 Many Asian neighbours are rich in almost all the
materials Japan needs
 Example: a) For lumber (wood)---forests of
Malaysia b) For food, farms and ranches of New
Zealand & Australia c) For Oil, Indonesia, Brunei
 Japan’s History
 Origin of Japan as a nation is believed to be 250
BC
 Beginning of Shinto religion
 Arrival of Asiatic migrants from China and Korea
on Japanese soil between 250 BC to 400 AD
 AD 300-710 military aristocrats from powerful
Japanese clans establish their rule
 New Clans
 Yamato clans establishes its rule.
 Under Yamato rule, Japanese accept ideas,
technology, religion ( Buddhism) from China
 They adopt Chinese method of writing, its
bureaucratic structures and architecture
 The Decline
 Chinese influence declined over Japan from 794 –
1185 AD
 Japanese “ Shogun” warriors held power between
1185-1333 AD
 Buddhism and Shintoism became of the religion of
the masses
 Feudal Power
A rigid feudal system developed in Japanese
society
 In 1543, the Portugese came to Japan
 There was active trade with Portugal
 Feudal lords were converted to Christianity
 Portugese introduced firearms to the Japanese
society
 The Tokugawa Era ( 1600-1868)
 The social, political and economic foundations of
modern Japan was established at this time
 The Capital was moved to Tokyo from Kyoto
 There were 4 social classes ( Samurai, farmer,
craftsman, merchant)
 There was strict rules of dress and behaviour for
each class
 Tokugawa Era
 Christianitywas banned
 Foreigners were expelled,foreign trade was banned
 Japan went into extreme isolation for 250 years
 Cultural Renaissance
 In Tokugawa era, Japanese culture expanded rapidly---
Kabuki drama, haiku-poetry, bushido—Samurai code
 Concept of Gini, that is obligation to one’s superiors
 Japan grew culturally strong but militarily weak
 In 1853, a US naval squadron appeared in Tokyo and
pressurized Japan to open up to the outside world.
Modernization Era

The Meiji Restoration

 MEIJI RESTORATION
 As part of the opening up, Japan signed treated
with the USA & other Western nations
 This brought discredit to the ruling class
 In 1868, the Power Centre of Japan ( capital city)
was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo
 This was the beginning of the MEIJI
RESTORATION
 MEIJI RESTORATION Details
 Beginning 1868, Japanese leaders launched an extensive
plan to modernize Japan
 Feudal system was abolished
 The Government in Tokyo directly controlled all states
 A legal system was established
 Social classes were abolished
 Western style of dress, music and education was adopted.
 The MEIJI results
 Factoriesand railway networks were constructed
 Public education expanded
 By 1900, Japan’s literacy rate was 90 %
 This was the highest literacy rate in Asia
 Parliamentary rule was established
 EMPIRE BUILDING
 WithJapan’s rapid modernization, its ambitions
grew and it wanted to build an EMPIRE
 Results of Japan’s EMPIRE
 Japan went to war with China
 Acquired Taiwan in 1895
 In 1904, Japan attacked Russia and also
successfully acquired Korea and Manchuria
 Western nations were not able to stop Japan
 World War II
 During the battles of World War II in Europe, Japan in
1941 captured Indo-China ( Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia)
 Japan bombed Pearl Harbour in Hawaii
 Japan captured oil-rich Indonesia
 It captured Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, New
Guinea and islands in the South Pacific
 Japan soon dominated a vast EMPIRE—covering most of
what we call “ Pacific Rim” today
 Retaliation by USA
 In 1941, the US launched a counter offensive
against Japan
 By 1944, the US and its supporters had succeeded
in driving out the Japanese from its conquered
lands
 Thousands of lives were lost on both sides
 Nuclear War
 2 Atomic bombs, for the first time in the world, were
dropped on Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
 On August 14, 1945 Emperor Hirohito announced on
Radio that Japan has been defeated and 2 million Japanese
were killed
 However, Emperor Hirohito encouraged his people to
keep peace and look towards the future and rebuild what
they had lost
 Rebuilding Japan-1
 There was American occupation of Japan led by
General Douglas MacArthur
 The Japanese Constitution was rewritten on the
lines of the Constitution of the US
 Industry was restructured
 Labor unions were encouraged
 Rebuilding Japan-2
 Land reforms were initiated by the Colonial
administration
 American aid and inherent prosperity of Japan
helped the nation recover quickly
 In 1951, US returned the government to Japan
 By late 1960s, Japan was prosperous once again &
the economy had fully revived.
 Rebuilding Japan-3
 The United States became Japan’s prime trading
partner
 Japanese exports were purchased by Americans
 Japan imported food items from America
 However, Japan’s relations with Pacific Rim
countries was not friendly
 Rebuilding Japan-4
 Between 1960s & 1990s, Japan became extremely
prosperous
 In the mid-1980s the private industry in Japan
began to diversify its markets and resources
 One of the major reasons for this was because the
US and Europe started protecting their own vested
interests and used protectionist policies
 Rebuilding Japan-5
 Within Japan there were a lot changes due ot
changing internal social and economic conditions
 Japan started showing a resurgence of interest in
its neighbouring countries once again ( that is,
Pacific Rim countries)
 Domestic Changes-1
 Question:What internal conditions caused Japan’s
renewed interest in Asia and Pacific?

Answer: 1) Wage Structure: For several

decades Japanese workers were paid very low
wages. This was revised and now the average
wage of a Japanese worker was higher than those
given by the US industry to its workers
 Domestic Changes-2
 2) Restricted Families:
a) Japan had adapted the Nuclear Family system in a
big way
b) So the population growth reduced. This resulted in
reduced supply of cheap labor. So higher wages
c) Companies were forced to hire labor at higher
wages. For example, McDonalds in Japan hires
employees at $ 7/hr compared to $ 5.15 in the US
 Domestic Changes-3
 Cost of living in Japan became higher ---land, food
and homes came at higher cost
 Therefore, employees also demanded higher wages
 Domestic Changes-4
 Shifting of Japanese Businesses to Other
Markets
a) If the Japanese needed to do business in world
markets, they needed to keep their prices down
b) The could not do this staying in Japan. So many
Japanese businesses shifted to Pacific Rim
countries like Philippines and Singapore
 Domestic Changes-5
c) In Pacific Rim countries, there was also
abundance of labor and wages were lower by 75 to
95 % than in Japan
d) Japanese companies also shifted their businesses
to the American mid-West and South ( Latin
America)
 Domestic Changes-6
 Public Concern Over Environmental
Destruction
a) Japanese courts came down hard on Japanese
companies dumping industrial wastes
b) So many of the polluting industries were moved
out of Japan into the Rim countries
 Myth & Reality of the Japanese Miracle
 For many decades Japan’s own economic
prosperity created prosperity for the economies of
all the countries of the Asia-Pacific Rim
 These areas were called the “YEN BLOCK””
because of the dominance of Japanese currency in
the 1980s
 The sluggishness in Japanese economy had a
direct effect on the decline of these economies
Myth & Reality of the Japanese Economic
Miracle
 Japanese economic success was a result of hard
work, advance planning, persistence etc
 However, even with all this sometimes Japanese
workers are less efficient than workers in other
countries , eg. Japan’s national railway system
had 2,77,000 more employees than it needed
 The 10 Commandements of Japan’s
Economic Success
 Roads, factories were destroyed during World War
II. It helped in introduction of newer equipment
and technologies in Japan
 The US provided substantial financial aid to
rebuild Japan. This was done to offset the spread
of communist ideology in China, by making Japan
a strong rival
 The 10 Commandements of Japan’s
Economic Success
 Japanese industry took the help of the government in the
form of economic advice and political and financial
assistance from government planners
 Japanese businesses selected an export oriented strategy
that stressed building market share over immediate profit
 In Japan trade unions were not as powerful as in Europe
and there were only moderate demands for improved
wages and benefits
 The 10 Commandements of Japan’s
Economic Success
 Company managers contributed to group morale—
by stressing teamwork, group spirit, policies like
“lifetime employment” and quality control circles
 Japanese worked on the ethics of working hard and
saving everything
 The government invested all its tax revenues in
public funds instead of military defense or welfare
programmes
 The 10 Commandments of Japan’s
Economic Success
 Japan had a stable family structure. Parents
supported the youth in every manner producing
reliable and psychologically stable workers
 The government and people gave highest priority
to education
CULTURAL CHARACETERISTICS
 The economic success of Japan lies in its people
possessing certain social and psychological
characteristics. It is based on the various
religions/philosophies like Buddhism,
Confucianism, Christianity etc. Japanese people
are imitative, preventive, pragmatic, obligative and
inquisitive
 Imitative
 For the Japanese copying other success was a
norm. But this was based on the understanding that
it is respectful to copy the superior qualities of
some one and once they have mastered those
qualities they are free to produce a style of their
own
 Preventive
 TheJapanese individuals, families and companies
and the government prefer long range planning.
They to go great lengths to prevent any mistakes,
accidents or defects from happening
 Pragmatic
 TheJapanese try to be pragmatic (practical) in
most aspects of daily life. They have a tendency to
work for the common good rather than individucal
good
 Obligative
 The Japanese have a great “sense of duty” toward
those around them. For e.g., Good deeds done in
one generation are remembered and repaid by the
next, and lifelong friendships are maintained by
exchanging appropriate gifts and letters
 Duty to the group is closely linked to respect for
superior authority
 Inquisitive ( Curious)
 The Japanese are intensely curious people. They
love foreign styles of dress, foreign cooking,
foreign languages. Many students study Chinese,
Greek, Latin, Russian, Arabic etc., French and
English are most popular
 Thus the Japanese are very forward looking people
and love new modes of thinking showing their
national personality characteristics: inquisitiveness
or curiosity.