ABSTRACT
Japan - Basic facts: l Total area: 378,000 sq km Population: 125 mio (17% under 15 and 14% over 65 years old) Religions: Shintoist 87%, Buddhist 73% (most Japanese pro-
Literacy: Tele-density:
Traffic:
GDP:
Economy:
fess fess both), Christian 1 % 99% 610 TVs and 448 phones per 1,000 inhabitants (1989) 290 cars per 1,000 inhabitants (1990), 566,000 km paved roads (1993); 400 bio railway passenger-km (1993) 4,600 bio, GDP per head $ 37,000 origins of GDP: agriculture 3%, industry 41 %, services 56% about stagnant since 1992 (even shrinking 0.2% in 1993) because of appreciation of yen and weak domestic demand since asset-inflated "bubble economy" until 1991; interest rate with 0.5% at lowest ever in the world; unemployment rate at Japanese record high of more than 3% (i.e. about 5% by international definitions) in 1995
Trade-surplus:
at record high of $ 121 bio in 1994 (export destinations: USA 28%, EU 20%, S.Korea 5%, Taiwan 6%, China 4%; origins of imports: USA 22%, EU 14%, China 7%, Australia 5%, Indonesia 5%
"Japan's socia-economic system, which was predicated on 'catching up with and surpassing the West' through economic expansion since the Meiji Era began in 1868, ~ finally come to a dead end." (Keidanren, "Rebuilding Japan" , December 1995)
While many observers regard the "bubble" of speculation until 1992 as the peak of the Japanese developmental model, its bursting leveled off the high growth rates, and the majority of Japan's 'think tanks' expect the economy to expand at annual rates of only around 3% during the second half of the decade (e.g. Nomura Research Institute, Japan Centre for Economic Research, EPA).
