agriculture. The relatively small amount of arable land available prevents Japan from producing all of the foodstuffs required by its population.
Japan's population density is 822 persons per square mile. This population density, coupled with the fact that much of the country's geographical area is mountainous, has caused Japan to become a highly urbanized country, with more than four fifths of its population living in urban areas.
Japan's climate is northern temperate. The climate is favorable to agricultural pursuits; however, the country is short of arable land. The temperate climate is also suitable for industrial activities of almost all kinds.
Japan has a highly educated and a highly skilled labor force. Approximately 70 percent of the country's population is of working age (15 to 64 years of age). Labor force growth, however, is less than one percent per year. Unemployment is not a serious problem, and has traditionally not been a significant problem. One of the reasons for this state of affairs is the country's lifetime employment policy. The lifetime employment policy is not practiced by all Japanese employers, but it is practiced by most major employers.
The country's principal natural resource is its population. The population of approximately 120 million has been stabilized at this level for more than a decade. The high levels of education and training which characterize the population as a whole, together with the number of people, constitute a major natural resource for the country.
In contrast to that of Japan, the American population is more than twice as large, and is growing much faster than is that of Japan. When compared to the Japanese population, the American population is ill educated. Certainly, there are exceptions to this rule; however, all recent international comparisons have found that students in the United States rank well below those of Japan and most other industrial ...