JAPANS DEVELOPMENT

Climate

Climate refers to the atmospheric conditions at a specific place over a considerable period of time, usually up to 30 and 35 years. Most developed countries are located in the temperate climate zone, between latitudes 23.5N and 66.5N of the Equator and between 23.5S and 66.5S of the Equator. The temperate climate favours development to some extent. Eg. Japan. A mountainous, volcanic island country, most Japanese live in the large metropolitan areas on the coast. They have learnt to live in close proximity to each other and have limited personal space. The climate of Japan is temperate and is suitable for growing many important crops like wheat and rice. People are able to grow crops on a large scale, therefore exports goods in which it has a comparative advantage such as engineering-oriented and industrial products in exchange for the import of raw materials and petroleum. Japan is among the top-three importers for agricultural products in the world in total volume for covering of its own domestic agricultural consumption.

Relief
The small amount of habitable land has prompted significant human modification of the terrain over many centuries. Land was reclaimed from the sea and from river deltas by building dikes and drainage, and rice paddies were built on terraces carved into mountainsides. The process continued over the years with extension of shorelines and building of artificial islands for industrial and port development. Hills and even mountains have been razed to provide flat areas for housing.

As Japan is mostly surrounded by waters, it is one of the worlds leading fisheries. Japan has more than 2,000 fishing ports. Japan also has greatly advanced the techniques of aquaculture or sea farming. In this system, artificial insemination and hatching techniques are used to breed fish and shellfish, which are then released into rivers or seas. These fish and shellfish are caught after they grow bigger. Salmon is raised this way. Rivers are generally steep and swift, and few are suitable for navigation except in their lower reaches. Most rivers rapid flow from the mountains provides a valuable, renewable resource: hydroelectric power generation. Japan's hydroelectric power potential has been exploited almost to capacity. Seasonal variations in flow have led to extensive development of flood control measures

Hinder/Promote the development

However, they do have to contend with earthquakes and tsunamis. An earthquake occurs about every 10 years or so. For example, the 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused 28,000 people to be dead or missing, and at least 500,000 were displaced. Many of the people in the area were elderly, and cold weather and disrupted transportation routes made rescue efforts difficult. To make things worse, radiation contamination was added to their concerns. The earthquake and resultant tsunami were bad enough to cause a radioactive leak at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. It continued to leak into the Pacific Ocean, it took months to stop the leak. Radiation showed up in local milk and vegetables, and appeared in Tokyo's drinking water. This caused Japan to suffer a huge loss as Japan is among the top three importers for agriculture products in the world as well as for the covering of its own agricultural consumption. Japans nuclear industry supplied a third of the countrys electricity. As a result of the earthquake and tsunami disaster, Japan had to spent more than 10 years rebuiliding the damaged infrastructures that costs a few hundred billion dollars. As a result of the earthquake and tsunami disaster, the progression of development in Japan slowed down a lot. With the destruction of their property, these people have to constantly rebuild their lives and livelihoods. Therefore, although climatic disasters can affect the level of development in a country, as in case of Japan, it is not always so. Technology too is able to help Japan overcome potential problems of tsunamis and earthquakes, which would otherwise have hindered its development in frequent years. In the recent 2 years, Japan has tried to revive its economy and development by coming up with a LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) production. It helps to secure safe, stable and reliable energy sources in the form of LNG from overseas. LNG has attracted significant attention due to depletion of regional natural gas production and diversification of energy supplies. Recently in the Asia Pacific region, countries have started to import LNG in response to growing energy demands and global environmental concerns. Many new LNG projects are being developed in natural gas producing countries all over the world. Taking advantage of opportunities arising from the rapidly evolving business environment, Japan is expanding their business portfolio into arenas such as new LNG projects and receiving terminals and establishing an LNG global trade business model.