Japan: The Most Powerful Country In The World

Kilinc - 1 Research Paper - Ali Kilinc – 900235909 Mrs. Mandi Sena ENG 191 – 3:30PM – 20424 12/1/2008

Japan The Most Powerful Nation on the Planet The world has changed more so in the past century than it ever has in the past millennium. Many countries rose to power, and many countries fell from power. Japan has taken great leaps in all forms of math, science, sports, health and many more. The list of breakthroughs is unheard of and the amount of information generated is unprecedented. Many people around the world see the United States of America as the most powerful country in the world. Just a century ago, the same image was seen of the United Kingdom. When a country receives the perception, or “title” of the most powerful country in the world, the country does not keep that title for long. The United States of America has been dethroned in many areas of technology, medicine, government infrastructure, currency value, quality of life, and many others. The list goes on and on. Japan has proven itself to be the most powerful country in the world, after the United States of America, by demonstrating its excelling efforts in national health, technology, media, education, and the overall quality of life.() Japan has proven itself to be a powerful nation through its healthcare system. The country of Japan has a national healthcare system available for all of nation’s citizens. The country offers health insurance to hundreds of

Kilinc - 2 millions people, and is in fact compulsory if one is a citizen of their nation. A multitude of healthcare services are offered free of charge which include screenings for many different types of illnesses. Aside from that, there are many other different types of government subsidized insurances for people of types of income, especially for the elderly. This allows for the citizens of Japan to live in peace and prosperity knowing that if something unfortunate were to happen to them, their country would be there to take care of them. () This would give Japan’s citizens peace of mind in many ways. The low obesity rate in Japan allows it to be a very powerful country. The obesity rate around the world is rising every year with the U.S on top. Oddly, while the U.S is the most powerful country in the world, they have the highest obesity rate at about 31%. The second most powerful country in the world, on the other hand, has the lowest obesity rate, at 3%. That’s about one tenth of America’s rate. The obesity rate is an important factor for any country because obesity leads to asthma, sleep apnea, heart disease, diabetes, and many other horrible illnesses. If a person is plagued with many illnesses, they would not live very long, and if a county is filled with people who are constantly getting sick, or have many illnesses the peoples’ maximum lifespan and quality of life would decline. Furthermore, when the people of a nation is not healthy, their health cost to the nation increases; since the people of Japan are healthier than those of the U.S., the citizens have a lower health cost. Also, the people of Japan have a healthier diet, mainly consisting of rice and fish, compared to the junk food diet of

Kilinc - 3 Americans, which generally consists of meat and bread. Also coupled with this diet is their lifestyle which requires more exercise. Even though the people of America exercise more than people living in Japan, they are more obese. The lifestyle and environment in Japan is healthier because it requires more walking. These points on general health prove Japan to be a very powerful country.() The technology sector has proved to be very important in today’s world, and as such Japan has proven itself in this field. Almost everything that happens in the twenty-first century is connected in some way to technology. Realizing this, the country of Japan has allocated fewer tax funds to defense and the military, less than 1%, in lieu of other departments of advancement.() The country uses a cabinet-level system for Science and Technology to allocate and spend funds on technological development, which leads to rapid advancement in many fields, a system that the U.S could, and should adopt, but has not as of 2008.() Many of the world’s technological headquarters are moving out of the U.S and moving into Japan because they believe that Japan will be the technological capital of the world.() Japan is leading in many areas of robotics; for example, most of the robots sold for personal use are sold out of Japan. The Japanese have acclaimed such a reputation with creating robots that their influence is even apparent in American popular media. In 2007, the big-budget, American-made movie Transformers, there is a scene where the main character’s vehicle transforms into a robot; after this happens, the main character says, “It's a robot. You

Kilinc - 4 know, like a super advanced robot. It's probably Japanese. Yeah, it's definitely Japanese.”() The country is also leading in the field of semiconductors, as in parts for computers and cell phones, as well as sales of other types of machine tools. The leading destination for Japanese machine tool exports is the U.S. while Japan is the lowest buyer of the U.S.’s machine tools when compared to countries like China, Germany, Canada, and the U.K.() This means that Japan is selling tons of its machines to the U.S. and Japan is not buying anything from the U.S. Considering all this, one would to think that Japan is a better place to have the headquarters of a technological company instead of the U.S., because Japan is one of the strongest countries in the world, especially in the fields of machine and technology. The world of video games is a media sector of the technology industry that makes billions and billions of dollars each year, and Japan has proven strong in this sector as well. The video game industry is a fairly new industry as the first games started showing up in the early nineteen seventies, but nevertheless it proves very important for influencing people around the world. The first video games were coin-operated arcade machines, but that market quickly rose and was also quickly losing interest. In a desperate attempt to generate revenue, the video game industry entered the home market in the late seventies. After only their second iteration of the home console system, the U.S. based video game industry crashed in 1983 because too many unoriginal games had flooded into the market. The

Kilinc - 5 Japanese company Nintendo revived the defunct industry with the N.E.S1, also known as the FamiCom2. () The N.E.S. sold over forty million units, and the bundled game Super Mario Brothers, in many ways defined how games were made from then on. () The Japanese continue to dominate the video game industry in the twenty-first century. As of 2008, the video game industry is in its seventh generation. The U.S.’s iteration in this generation is the Xbox 360, made by Microsoft, launched on November 22, 2005. The Japanese iteration into the seventh generation of video games is the Wii, made by Nintendo, launched on November 19, 2006. Despite being launched one year after its completion, the Wii has sold close to thirty-five million units, compared to the Xbox 360’s twenty-two million units.() () Video games can help in rehabilitating the elderly, and it can help in schools’ fitness programs. Video games are very important and highly influential in the twenty-first century, and the country of Japan has proven time and time again that they can lead this industry. Another very important point is the quality of life in Japan, which proves it to be a powerful country. There are many factors which determine quality of life and Japan has made great strides to improve the quality of life in many parts of the country. For example, technology plays a huge role in the quality of one’s life. Millions of Japanese citizens no longer carry any sort of physical money, any ID, any credit cards or any other form of

1

N.E.S.: Nintendo Entertainment System

2

FamiCom: Family Computer. The N.E.S. was known as the FamiCom in Japan.

Kilinc - 6 identification. Millions of citizens no longer have to worry about their security, or their cash being stolen. This is due to the use of eWallet. This system of information and security is accessed through the cell phone. It stores credit card information, identification as well as many and all forms of security required; when the user wants to purchase something or when the user is required to provide ID, the only thing the user has to do to is to wave their phone, and the RFID3 chip built inside the phone sends the information to the receiver. The phones also have build in GPS4 chips if stolen. This technology has been implemented, and has been in use for many, many years; thousands of retail locations all over the country have implemented systems to accommodate such devices and accept eWallet payments.() Another example of the technologies that improves the quality of life in Japan is the paperless toilet. In the early nineteen-eighties, an invention revolutionized using the restroom. In Japan, there are toilet systems that do not require toilet paper for proper hygiene. The paperless toilet utilizes an automatic water-jet that cleanses the front and rear part of the body with the push of a button. After the water-jet, an air blower, the same kind used for drying hands, is used to dry the areas. This system does away with traditional toilet paper, improves hygiene because the areas are actually cleansed

with

water,

and

adds

convenience

because

everything

is

automated, so the user’s hands do not touch those areas. Furthermore, trees

3

RFID: Radio Frequency Identification

4

GPS: Global Positioning System

Kilinc - 7 are not wasted and turned into toilet paper, just to be flushed down the drain. These types of technologies that every-day, ordinary people of Japan use greatly improve their quality of life and put the people at ease, once again proving Japan to be a very powerful country. There are many other sectors which prove Japan’s superiority as a nation though, besides its technology sector. Finally, with its fantastic education program, Japan is obviously one of the most powerful countries in the world. Having an educated population is essential to having a powerful country. The people of Japan, more importantly the younger population, view primary as well as higher education, an essential part of life and pursue it passionately. The education system of Japan is fantastic. With the post-war education reform, the country of Japan has proven itself in many areas of math and science time and time again as the top country in education. The students of Japan are not as exhausted by attending school as much as the student in the U.S., and as such, they are more enthusiastic to attend, and they are more motivated to graduate. The students are not exhausted because they spend less time being lectured in schools and spend more time studying at their own pace. “Studies have repeatedly found no correlation between time spent at school and levels of achievement.” (Baines, 2008) The students in Japan are also assigned less homework when compared to the U.S; yet the students still score higher in Japan on test scores. On the other hand, although the

Kilinc - 8 students spend fewer hours in school5, but they attend more days of school, as opposed to the U.S. average6. Quite different from the U.S education system, attendance to high school in Japan is not mandatory; despite this, the attendance rate is extraordinarily high. This system of fewer hours, more days, has proven to be highly effective in Japan because the graduation rate for high school students is also fantastically high (89%) when compared to the U.S (75%).() In addition, in some parts of the Japan the attendance rate for college out of high school is very amazing, 99% in those areas. () The education system in Japan is set up in a way that encourages students to pursue higher education. () This is done through a process where in some areas of the country, if a student graduates from high school, the student automatically enrolls into a university, such as The University of Tokyo. This type of education system makes Japan a very powerful country. The world has changed. The wars never end, and on the one hand, the United States of America has decided to give a lot of its attention to fighting wars. Japan, on the other hand, has decided to stay out of wars, and in the meantime, has been playing the catching up game to be the most powerful country in the world. So far they’ve been succeeding, and they’ve triumphed over the U.S. in education and technology. The country has even found ways to inspire its young generation to high school, graduate, and then pursue

5

The students of Japan spend a total of about 650 hours in school per year. 3 (hours) X 220 (days) = 660 6

The students of the U.S.A. spend a total of about 1100 hours in a school per year. 6 (hours) X 180 (days) = 1080

Kilinc - 9 college; more students graduate from high school in Japan then they do in the U.S. They proved that their machines and robots are better than the U.S.’s. The country has even excelling in sports for further consolation; they won the World Baseball Classic in 2006.() The highest import for machines in the U.S is from Japan. Japan is second in number of millionaires in the whole world, second only to the U.S. with a higher percentage than the U.S. as well.()Taking all of this into consideration, one can easily come to a conclusion; Japan is the close second most powerful country in the world.

Works Cited Anselmo, Joseph C. "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?" Aviation Week & Space Technology 7 July 2008: 58-58. Baines, Lawrence. "Learning More By Doing Less." The Educational Digest January 2008: 24. Berlin, Jeremy. "Millionaires' Club." National Geographic November 2008: 24-24. C.I.A. of U.S.A. CIA World Fact Book - Japan. 20 November 2008. 25 November 2008 . CHASS, MURRAY. "On Baseball; Cuba's Dance Through Classic Ends in Manager's Missteps." (2006): 5. Deasy, Richard J. "Education in Japan: Suprising Lessons." Educational Leadership (1986): 38-43. Elliott, Phil. Microsoft Q1 revenue up 9%. 24 October 2008. 25 November 2008 . HANE, Gerald. "Science, Technology, and Global Reengagement." Issues in Science and Technology 2008: 85-90. Hirakoka, Leslie S. "Japan's Educational Order." Kean College (2001): 7-10. Imai, Yutaka. Health Care Reform in Japan. Economic Report. OECD. Paris Cedex 16, France: SourceOECD, 2002. KALAFSKY, Ronald V. "Performance And Practice: Examining The Machine Tool Industries Of Japan And The United States." Royal Dutch Geographical Society (2005): 178-194.

Kilinc - 10 Microwave Journal. "E-wallet and GPS Phones on the Rise in Japan." Microwave Journal August 2007: 47. Nintendo. Consolidated Financial Highlights. Financial Report. Kyoto: Financial Accounting Standards Foundation, 2008. Novak, Jeanie. "The Video Game Slump & a New Golden Age." Novak, Jeanie. Game Development Essentials: SE. New York: Delmar Cengage Learning, 2008. 18. Records, Guiness World. "Best Selling Video Games." World Record. 1999. Senaour, Benjamin and Masahiko Gemma. "Reducing Obesity: What Americans Can Learn From the Japanese." CHOICES 21 4 2006: 1-4. Takeuchi, Yo. "Myth and reality in the Japanese educational selection system." Comparative Education 27.1 (1991). Transformers. By Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Dir. Michael Bay. Perf. Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky. Prod. Michael Bay. DreamWorks SKG, 2007.