why is japan a country with limited resources and plagued with natural disasters,more developed?

Answer 1

Good trading partners, good adapting skills, good geographical location, they are for the most part-driven and intelligent people-but WHY are they SO focused on ENGINEERING in that country when it HAS so many natural disasters is beyond me-(even with, bad economic sense) I think they could adjust their interst rates a little better too-but they are a little arrogant like Germany-last to say "we need an adjustment"-intelligence is good-superiority complex leads to downfall-History 101-remember when Japans economy and housing was SO BAD their passbook savings rate was ZERO percent? and for how long? whew! knock-knock-knock-if you want people to spend, LOWER YOUR PRICES!!! LOL noones impressed with higher prices for tourists, or status, that starve the homeland people. Wait a minute, who are they more developed than? Since this is a question that is asked which is relative, and therefore unfinished, I will say that including all of my input above, sorry, I will have to say they are more fortunate than developed, albeit developed. I am mostly German by the way, so don't start screaming racist, look at the facts.

Answer 2

We can easily dispense with half of your question. Most regions on earth suffer from one sort of natural disaster or another, so earthquakes are not a particularly decisive factor, i think. The US has earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. but that has no impeded development there.

Lack of natural resources, however is a factor. But since japan was largely closed off to the world and did not undergo its industrial revolution until the late 19th century, i think that the significance of this factor is also less important.

By the time Japan really needed lots of natural resources,advances in shipping and global trade made them relatively easy to obtain. The U.S., for example, does not possess nearly enough oil to meet its energy needs yet it gets along somehow.

I suppose you could say that being dependent upon trade in order to obtain the necessary natural resources was a positive in the long run.

Had Japan been rich in natural resources the danger of colonization would have been much higher. Even if Japan were not colonized by the west it would have been relatively easy to survive off of these natural resources.

The lack of natural resources, however, could be seen as having acted as a stimulus to the development of industry. Since Japan could not survive on the development and exportation of resources, it had to development industry and add value in that manner.

However this is merely speculation on my part. While I am pretty well acquianted with Japanese history as a whole, this is not a question I have studied in great detail.

On the other hand the dependence on external resources also caused japan significant problems in the past. the attack on the United States in WWII was largely the result of an attempt by the US to stop japan from expanding the conflict in China by imposing an embargo on Japan. They feared that their lifeline--primarily oil--would be cut off. so they tried to destroy the american fleet and gain footholds in south pacific territories that were relatively rich in natural resources.

yet we all know how that turned out in the end.

as others have mentioned, there is a lot more to japans development than simple geography. The US was anxious to position Japan as a bulwark against the spread of communism after world war 2 and that did a great deal to get the Japanese economy going after a devastating war. this boom was further fueled by the korean and vietnam wars--japanese industry supplied a great deal of necessary materials to the US in both conflicts.

While it is easy to say that it is because they are hard-working, loyal and devoted, I do not believe that is necessarily accurate. Certainly a lot of Japanese people are hard-working loyal and devoted, but so are many people in other non-developed countries. while cultural traits might be a factor in achieving success, i suspect that historical and political considerations play a larger role in making success possible in the first place.

Answer 3

They basically had to cut ties with many of their traditions. They actually fought against the samurai in order to adopt a more westernized way of life. They saw white people taking over and they adjusted so they could stay competitive. They are also very family oriented and they are extremely loyal, this I attribute to their history, including the samurai.

Answer 4

the united states gave them money to restart their economy after WW2, they bought better equipment than the US had at the time and invested that money in US stocks and bonds, making themselves richer