ABSTRACT
Japan has emerged as an influential factor in world mineral enterprise, even though it has relatively few indigenous raw materials. Japan is one of the world’s top three producers of cement and limestone. Japan’s real economic growth rate has fallen from about 10 percent during 1960–1972 to 6 percent in 1973 and nearly to zero in 1974. The astute Japanese businessman is highly skilled in negotiating for raw materials and in marketing industrial products and consumer goods throughout the world. In 1974 Japan’s rapid economic growth was slowed virtually to a standstill by the world oil crisis, but the situation improved in 1975 and 1976. Japan’s minerals, metals, and fuels industries are overwhelmingly the most important single factor in both overall trade and the country’s economy. The Metal Mining Agency of Japan has been established to encourage mineral exploration at home and abroad.
