What is the needs of the foreign market, if Japan is a country with one of the biggest economies in the world? To better understand the answer to this question, let's look at everything behind the economy in Japan.
The Japanese economy rose to prominence after World War II. In the 1980s and 1990s, Japan became a major economic power in the world. Being the third largest in the world, behind only the United States and China.
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Historical context
In the Edo Period (1603 - 1969), Japan underwent a process of political and economic isolation and a greater rigidity concerning internal economic control. Thus, the feuds were under the imposition of law codes. During this period, economic development included urbanization, an increase in the transportation of goods, a significant expansion of domestic trade and, initially, foreign trade, and a diffusion of commerce, industries, and crafts.
With the population growth, Osaka and Kyoto already had more than 400,000 inhabitants, becoming centers of intense commerce and service production. The basis of the economy was rice. It was common even to use contracts for the sale of rice that had not yet been harvested. This period was also marked by the growing interest in studying the science and techniques of the West.
The Japanese Miracle.
In the 1980s, Japan became the second largest economy in the world until 2010. In that same decade, the rise in real estate stocks caused an overheating of the Japanese economy called Japan's financial and real estate bubble.
From 1990 to 1992, the Tokyo Stock Exchange crashed, and real estate reached its peak in 1991. However, from 2001 to 2010, the increase in per capita income sured that of Europe and the United States. Currently, a concern regarding the economy is due to the aging population. Because of this, even though Japan is a major producer of entertainment in the anime and music world, the country faces heavy competition from China and South Korea, especially in music.
Japan's economy
The Japanese currency, the yen, is the third most traded currency on the foreign exchange market after the US dollar and the euro. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019 was 5.75 trillion dollars. The most popular economic sectors are industry, technology and finance.
Industrial regions are concentrated on the electronics, machinery, chemicals, computers, processed foods, and textiles.
Japan usually exports commodities or commodities (goods or primary products of high commercial value) such as semiconductors, transportation equipment, electrical machines and vehicle engines.
The countries that contribute to Japan's foreign market are the United States, China, South Korea and Hong Kong. The ones that Japan itself buys are usually China, Australia and Saudi Arabia. ing that there are certainly more countries and each place has its interest in certain products, these are just the main ones.
Japan is among the top three importers of agricultural goods in the world and is the world's largest importer of fish and fish products. Japan has decided not to exploit its forest resources for economic purposes.
Agriculture and fishing were the best developed resources, but only with years of great investment and work. Japan built its own manufacturing and processing industries to convert raw materials from overseas markets.
This economic development strategy required the establishment of a strong economic infrastructure to provide the necessary energy, transportation, communications and technological expertise. Deposits of gold, magnesium and silver help meet industrial demands, but Japan is dependent on external market resources for many of its essential ores for the industry. Examples are iron, copper, bauxite (a natural mixture of aluminum oxides), aluminum and forest products that need to be imported.
post-pandemic japanese economy
The pandemic caused by COVID-19 was something that took many by surprise and negatively affected the world economy. In the first half of 2021, Japan's exports decreased and import costs increased.
According to Uol Economia, the iene is weaker and the increase in oil prices has raised import costs, affecting Japan's of trade (poor in natural resources) and harming Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's promise to correct inequalities. The cost of living in Japan is rising due to these factors.
Exports increased by 13% in September 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. The expectation is that with the foreign market the country will be able to recover. Because of the economic crisis because of the pandemic, the driveway had almost half fallen.
As Japan depends on the foreign market, that is, it guarantees itself through exports, crises like these are significant as countries lose interest in technological items and give more priority to more basic items. And the Japanese market is a little “poor” in natural products compared to other countries. But as the pandemic is not over completely, it is still not possible to know what traces it will leave on Japan's economy and its relations with the foreign market.
