ABSTRACT
The Japanese economy has depended and will continue to depend on the import of huge amounts of resources from abroad. Japan processes these resources, turns them into manufactured products, and earns foreign exchange through the export of part of the resulting output. There remains no other choice for Japan to raise the incomes and welfare of her people than to expand this processing trade. The oil crisis in October 1973, followed by the commodity boom and the American embargo on soya bean exports, together with the changes likely in connection with the Law of the Sea, and the strong claims of developing countries for a new international economic order, securing access to resource goods at reasonable prices (or at the same price as other industrialised countries) are all of very serious concern for Japan, creating something of a crisis mentality. A serious concern for resource security is also evident in the US, Australia and Canada. Although all are resource-rich countries, each has certain specific shortages.
