Features of agriculture in Japan. Geographic location of japan
Although the national economy is primarily based on industry, agriculture occupies an important place in it, providing the country with most of the food consumed. Mainly due to limited land resources and post-war agrarian reform, the village is dominated by small landowners. The average farm size is less than 1.1 ha. The importance of agricultural production as a potential place of work declined sharply after the Second World War.
Japan is one of the largest agricultural importing countries in the world. With only 15% of the country's total area suitable for agriculture and a population of 130 million, Japan is heavily dependent on agricultural and food exports. The country imports large volumes of soybeans, wheat, corn, meat and meat products, other food products, vegetables, fruits. It fully satisfies its own needs only in seafood, some of which it exports.
On average, one farm has 1.47 hectares or 14,700 m2. Japanese farms are relatively small, but Japanese farmers work hard to make the most of their limited space, and therefore the land is cultivated very efficiently.
Japanese farmers use tractors, pickup trucks, electric cultivators, rice planters and combines to help them increase their productivity. Using intensive farming methods, fertilizers, sophisticated machinery and carefully developed technology, farmers are able to produce half of all the fruits and vegetables consumed in Japan, while still devoting some of the farmland to livestock. So Japan's agriculture provides a significant portion of the food consumed.
Modern technology has made new ways of farming possible. Part of the harvest in Japan is grown hydroponically, that is, without soil - just in water. The use of genetic engineering makes it possible to obtain richer and safer crops for human health.
Japanese farmers grow various crops, as well as livestock and poultry. These are cereals - rice and wheat; vegetables - potatoes, radish and cabbage; fruits - tangerines, oranges, melons and pears; livestock products - beef, poultry, pork, milk and eggs.
Most of the non-arable land is covered with forest - about 68%. So, forestry is an important part of the Japanese economy. Japan is an island country and must carefully use its natural resources: 41% of its forests are new forest plantations.
For centuries, logging has been an important business activity in Japan. Since the 8th century, wooden palaces and temples have been built in Kyoto and other cities. But today the demand for wood is so great, not only for construction, but also for the production of paper, furniture and other consumer goods, that Japan imports 76.4% of wood.
Rice is grown throughout Japan, with the exception of the north of Hokkaido, mainly on irrigated lands. Rice yield reaches 50 centners/hectare. The gross harvest of rice reaches 10 million tons. In addition to rice, wheat, barley, and corn are grown from grain crops, but in small quantities. Vegetable growing, especially suburban, has become widespread in Japan. Of the industrial crops, tea, tobacco, sugar beet are common, in the south - sugar cane.
Animal husbandry is poorly developed because the Japanese consume little meat and dairy products. Recently, the structure of the diet of the Japanese has changed, which leads to an increase in demand for livestock products. Animal husbandry is actively developing. Meat production is about 4 million tons, and milk - 8 million tons. A characteristic feature of Japan's animal husbandry is the lack of its own fodder base. A significant part of the feed is imported. Own production provides no more than 1/3 of the needs of animal husbandry in feed. Agriculture in Japan provides the country with food only 3/4.
Japan firmly occupies the first place in the world in the production of seafood. This became possible thanks to the balanced management of ocean, sea and coastal fisheries, intensive fish farming in fresh waters.
Ocean and marine fish catch in Japan is kept at the level of 8 million tons. Coastal fisheries produce 2 million tons of fish annually. More than 200 thousand tons. annually obtained from fish farming in inland waters.
Seafood is the main product that meets the needs of the population for proteins, although their share in the diet has decreased due to an increase in the share of meat. Japanese imports of fish and seafood in recent years range from 2.0 to 2.4 million tons. The bulk of imports are valuable, with high taste, fish species.
Coastal fishing is carried out by residents of coastal villages; distant - large monopolies with a technically advanced fishing fleet. The northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean is the main area of world fisheries; Japan, China, Russia, the Republic of Korea, and some other countries are engaged in the extraction of fish and seafood here.
How to travel 1000 km in 4 hours? What should a village look like in the 21st century? How much is beer in Japan? Where are mangoes sold for $200?
Today we are going to the Japanese village. In the morning we take a train to Kanazawa and from there we go inland to a village called Shirakawa. Agriculture in Japan, hello.
We arrive on a bullet train called Shinkansen. It moves at a speed of up to 300 km / h, which beats all world records for the speed of electric trains. Japanese life, it's like this - 500 km in 2 hours to the north to the ski resort, and then 500 km in 2 hours to the south - wallow by the ocean on the beach. For a delay of more than 1 minute, Shinkansen pilots need to write a report. This is considered a great disgrace.
Shirakawa is located in the mountains, like 2/3 of the rest of the Japanese villages. A mountain river flows through the village: neat beautiful ditches everywhere, which smoothly pass into the sewer. Part of the ditches bring water into artificial trout ponds. There are beautiful hydrants on the main streets. Traditional reeds on the roofs of houses. Each house has air conditioning, and next to it there are bamboo fountains-refrigerators for beer. Bamboo, juniper, red maple, cypress, rose bushes and irises grow along the edges of the plots. From above begins a pine forest with 30-meter pines. We're fucking excited.
Each house has a small rice field nearby, where rice is planted by special equipment. The sprouts of the rest of the plants are neatly wrapped in nets and bags. Nets that hold back broccoli seeds or, for example, a special weed film for tomatoes. Only 5% of the population of Japan provide all 100% of the country's population with rice and other products.
Almost every house has its own mini-hydroelectric power plant in the form of a water mill. Clean energy sources already generate 10% of Japan's electricity today. For 15 years, the country wants to increase their use by almost 3 times.
All the hills around the village are surrounded by special concrete grids. They were put in case of landslides, which happen all the time in Japan. Nearby is a special equipment that shows passers-by seismic activity. Part of the slopes was simply bricked up with concrete.
We return home and run to the store. The myth about expensive Japan has been debunked. In fact, Japan has long been not the most expensive country in the world. Food in grocery stores and restaurants is 10-20% cheaper than in the same Netherlands. Even alcohol, about which vicious praises are written on all sites, is quite affordable. For example, a can of good Japanese beer will cost only 1.5-2 dollars.
But not everything is so cheap. Travel around the country remains expensive and, oddly enough, fruit. Here, for example, the price for 100 grams of cherries is 20 bucks. And Japanese mangoes can cost you $200 each. We decided to forget about apples and oranges and just focus on beer and sushi. Not the worst alternative. In a restaurant, by the way, you can take a huge set of sushi for only $10, and if you don’t have fish, you can have lunch for just $5.
Since we have already touched on the sensitive topic of prices, we will also tell you about the famous Japanese toilets. They are truly significant. Toilets are absolutely everywhere, and they are absolutely free. The standard set of the simplest toilet (every one!) in the photo is a built-in electronic bidet, a built-in spray and a pressure adjustment icon. Home toilets often also include a heated seat, three forms of flushing, music, and a million more buttons whose purpose one can only guess.
We return home by taxi. Taxis here are really expensive - about 6 dollars per kilometer. Of the bonuses - the doors open and close automatically, and all cars are older than at least 2005. For you to understand Japan does not sell cars without an automatic transmission. And everywhere there are only domestic brands of cars. Because your own is cool.
In the hotel we see a nice picture. An elderly couple falls asleep on the couch. In fact, Japan is unique in that average life expectancy here is 83 years(87 in women). This is an absolute world record. And although scientists explain this with a number of factors, we are sure: it's all about delicious sushi.
Tomorrow we will visit Kyoto. There we will walk in a town filled with deer, see the world's largest sitting Buddha, look at the place where all the little ones in Japan are taken on romantic dates, dress up as a geisha and understand Japanese fast food.
Read the rest of the days of Mad Japan
Page 5
Agriculture
In terms of agricultural specialization, Japan differs markedly from other developed countries: the share of crop production exceeds the share of animal husbandry twice. But despite this, the country does not have enough grain of its own, Japan is forced to import grain crops from its closest neighbors: China, Korea.
The Japanese organization of agriculture is known all over the world as rather backward, this is due to a number of reasons: the predominance of dwarf small-scale peasant farms, limited capital investments directed to land improvement, the weakness of the agrotechnical base, and the enslaving debt of the peasants. In recent years, land productivity has declined somewhat.
Pasture lands make up only 1.6% of the total area, although the reason for such a small size of pastures is not the country's poor climate. The existing small pasture plots are gradually being phased out as imports of cheap meat and dairy products increase. In cities, abandoned arable lands are overgrown with forest. These wild forests are growing more and more, because. the timber industry loses in competition with cheap timber imports.
The structure of agriculture has changed over the past decades, and although preference is given to the cultivation of rice - "Japanese bread" to which about 50% of cultivated land is given, cattle breeding, horticulture, and horticulture have developed along with this.
Japanese agriculture also includes sea fishing and forestry.
Fishing is developed in Japan; this is the traditional occupation of the Japanese in catching fish. Japan ranks first in the world (12 million tons). The main part of it is provided by sea and ocean fishing, but aquaculture plays a very significant role - over 1 million tons. Before World War II, the Japanese practically did not eat meat, so fish served as the only source of animal proteins, and rice was the only source of carbohydrates.
Coastal fishing is carried out by residents of coastal villages; distant - large monopolies with a technically advanced fishing fleet. The northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean is the main area of world fisheries; Japan, China, Russia, the Republic of Korea, and some other countries are engaged in the extraction of fish and seafood here.
The fishing fleet of Japan has tens of thousands of vessels, and the number of fishing ports is hundreds and even thousands. Among the exotic trades, I would like to mention pearl mining on the southern coast of Honshu; more than 500 million pearl shells are mined here annually. Previously, shells extracted from the bottom were used to search for natural pearls, which, of course, were very rare. Now they are used for artificial cultivation of pearls on special plantations. Over time, there have been trends towards the impoverishment of national fish resources; therefore, the artificial breeding of marine animals has become widespread (in 1980, 32 species of fish, 15 species of crustaceans, 21 species of mollusks, etc., etc.) were grown here. Japan occupies the first place in world on aquaculture technology that originated in the VIII century. The most diverse types of aquaculture are developed here, artificial spawning grounds and fish pastures have been created.
Transport
In the post-war period, road transport quickly moved into first place in terms of freight and passenger traffic in Japan (52% and 60%, respectively). The length of highways is about 1.2 million km, of which 5 thousand km are expressways. The rest is mostly accounted for by coastal shipping, the share of which is gradually decreasing. The importance of rail transport is declining even faster, especially after its privatization in the mid-1980s. The length of the railway is about 30 thousand km. Air traffic volumes are growing, but their share is still small. Japan ranks second in the world in terms of merchant fleet tonnage (nearly 87 million reg. tons in 1996), but 73% of this tonnage goes under flags of convenience. The size of the car park is 43 million cars and 22 million trucks and buses (1995, the second largest in the world).
Since the mid-1970s, the main direction in the development of the technical base of transport has been the qualitative improvement of the transport infrastructure. Japan has created a dense network of highways, the main element of which was expressways connecting all cities with a population of more than 500,000 people. A system of railway lines has been built with an average train speed of over 200 km/h. The country has several dozen large seaports (the largest is Tiba), a number of airports capable of receiving large airliners. In the 80s, all four main Japanese islands were connected by continuous transport routes (through a system of tunnels and bridges).
The many times increased volumes and intensity of transportation in Japan, especially in the zone of the main transport axis of the country, passing through the Pacific industrial belt, required an increase in the reliability and security of the communications system. Its improvement is achieved through the widespread introduction of electronic computing and information technology both in the transport management systems and in the vehicles themselves.
Progress in transport reflects the level of "civilizational maturity" of society, it can be used to judge the efficiency of the economy and its organization. With regard to Japan, transport is a rapidly developing branch of the economy, designed to meet the growing demands of industry and the population for speed and comfort of transportation. Related to this is a significant increase in recent years in the volume of air traffic and the expansion of the network of high-speed rail transport.
In 1998, the country's transport industry was in a state of decline, the total volume of traffic, compared with 1997, decreased by 3.9%. The crisis affected the sphere of domestic cargo transportation to the greatest extent, where the volume of the fall was 5.4%. Passenger traffic within the country decreased by 2.4%. In general, the volume of domestic traffic fell by 4.1% over the year.
To a lesser extent, the crisis trends have affected the sphere of international transportation. The overall drop in this area was 1.1%, although the volume of international cargo transportation decreased by 4.5%.
The share of motor transport accounts for more than 58.2% of the volume of passenger traffic and more than 50.1% of the volume of freight traffic. The basis for the development of this industry is the constant attention of state and local authorities to the problems of expanding and improving the quality of the road network, as well as increasing and better using the existing car and bus fleet. Japan ranks first in the world in terms of the density of the paved road network (more than 3 km / sq. km.).
Railway transport. In April 1987, the state-owned Japan National Railways was privatized and split into seven regional companies JR (Japanese Railways), which led to increased management efficiency and an increase in the quality of the service offered.
Japan is in many ways a unique country, and in almost all areas of human activity, the Japanese path of development is different from any other. Japan is no exception. Despite the fact that in Japan they do not contribute to the development of this type of activity, agriculture and cattle breeding have always been quite developed here. At the moment, the share of agriculture in the country is 2%, which looks more than good against the general background of an industrialized power, especially considering that neighboring Asian countries are quite capable of providing Japan with cheap agricultural products. However, this amount is clearly not enough, and Japan is one of the largest food importers in the world.
The way Japan's agriculture develops depends primarily on geographical conditions and historical features. on islands of volcanic origin, and the proportion of arable and pasture land is very small. The area of land used for agricultural purposes is not more than 15 percent of the total area of the state. The main type of farms are small farms, where everything is privately owned. Traditional components of Japanese cuisine are rice and seafood, so the main part of agricultural producers is engaged in the cultivation of rice - over 80% of production is allocated to its share. Animal husbandry is poorly developed due to the fact that the Japanese get most of their protein food from seafood, so pasture land occupies an insignificant part of the total area. Despite the fact that recently the growth in consumption of livestock products has been growing, the number of farms engaged in this type of activity is declining, since it is much more profitable to buy these products from neighbors, for example, in China. In addition, livestock feed has to be imported from abroad, and this also affects its profitability.
So, agriculture in Japan is basically here it has its own characteristics: for example, rice farmers often cost much more than they sell later - this is due to the fact that they actively and often unreasonably use ultra-modern equipment and information technology in agriculture (Japan ranks first in the use of high technologies in this industry), which inevitably affects the cost of the final product. Nevertheless, such farms do not go bankrupt and get the opportunity to develop further based on the experience gained, because since the post-war period, Japanese agriculture, especially rice cultivation, has received comprehensive support from the state, and thanks to this, the demand for this product is completely covered by domestic production. .
It is also worth noting that Japan's agriculture is not only the traditional cultivation of grain and vegetable crops and animal husbandry: a rather significant area is the production of silk, for which a large part of the farmland is devoted to the cultivation of mulberries. This direction is very profitable, because Japanese silk is highly valued all over the world.
Another unusual direction in the agriculture of this country is the cultivation of pearls. Traditionally, a lot of naturally grown pearls have been mined off the coast of Japan, and recently farms specializing in their cultivation have been increasingly opened. This one brings considerable profit, and therefore it is becoming more and more popular.
Thus, the main distinguishing features that Japanese agriculture has are the small size of land, the high degree of introduction of high technologies, due to which almost all professions in agriculture require a high degree of training, comprehensive support for farming from the state, traditional activities and often small efficiency of small farms.
Japan's agriculture is part of a joint department - the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan and plays an important role in the development of the country's economy. Despite the fact that in 2007 the share of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the country's gross domestic product was only 1.5%; this industry creates the necessary raw material base for the enterprises of the food and processing industry of the country. It is economically necessary for those who supply machinery and equipment, fertilizers and pesticides, hormones and vaccines, fuel and electricity, for those who transport, process and sell agricultural products. Therefore, the state has drawn and is drawing a great influence on the development of the industry.
The beginning of the rapid development of Japan's agriculture falls on the second half of the 20th century. The impetus for this was the defeat of Japan in World War II. So, before the start of World War II, Japan occupied a dominant position in the Pacific coast zone of Southeast Asia and had colonies there, which gave it the opportunity to import a large amount of raw materials, resources, including food. However, after the defeat in the war, the country found itself in a difficult economic situation. In this regard, it became necessary to reform the economy in general and agriculture in particular. A land reform was carried out (1946-1949), the essence of which was the creation of a "state land fund" by buying out agricultural land from large landowners and transferring these lands for long-term use to all comers for the purpose of farming. Such a land reform contributed to the maximum provision of the country's population with food of its own production, primarily rice. On the part of new land users, there was an interest in developing production and increasing investment in agriculture.
The technical equipment of the industry began, the arrangement of the production infrastructure, the use of mineral fertilizers and chemicals to combat plant diseases and pests expanded. Also, an important factor in the development of agricultural production was the improvement of the variety of cultivated crops, the improvement of agrotechnical methods. Cars appeared in the fields. Thus, over the course of 2-3 decades, Japanese agriculture has turned from a backward industry based on manual labor into a modern area of the economy that uses progressive technologies and advanced production methods. All this has led to an increase in crop yields and livestock productivity. Thanks to such a rapid development of agriculture, the level of food self-sufficiency in Japan in 1960 was 93%. However, in the post-war period, not only Japan's agriculture, but the entire economy as a whole developed intensively. In this regard, the economic situation of the country's population improved from year to year, incomes and population grew, and the nutrition of the Japanese improved.
The need for food products increased, and there was also a demand for all kinds of delicacies not produced in the country. As a result, food production has not kept pace with the growth of the population and the increase in its needs. External support was required in the form of food-exporting countries. Japan is starting to import again. Such a policy significantly reduced the level of self-sufficiency in food, due to the high costs of own production and, as a result, the high cost relative to similar products of exporting countries, and therefore price non-competitiveness. Thus, the level of food self-sufficiency in Japan has been constantly declining and, according to the results for 2007, was only 39%.
Rice. 1. Japan's level of self-sufficiency in certain types of agricultural products in 2007
The problem of food security became urgent for Japan in 1973. Due to a sharp increase in prices for agricultural products due to crop failure, exporting countries imposed a ban on the export of certain types of agricultural products. Thus, the countries of the European Community and Thailand have stopped the export of rice, Canada and Argentina - rapeseed, the USA - soybeans and products from them. At the same time, it was from the USA that Japan imported then more than 90% of the consumed soybeans.
The concept of food security was formulated in 1980 in the general context of the country's comprehensive security. She assumed:
Availability of necessary food reserves;
In a critical situation, increase the production of basic foodstuffs in a short time;
Availability of reliable long-term agreements with food exporters.
Thus, at present, Japan is in a twofold situation, in which, on the one hand, it seeks to protect domestic agricultural production, increase the level of food self-sufficiency to 45-50% in order to reduce dependence on exporters, avoid a repetition of the situation of 1973, avoiding other possible adverse situations in conditions of external dependence. On the other hand, Japan is obliged, in accordance with the terms of membership in the WTO (GATT), to remove quantitative restrictions on food imports, reduce import duties, and so on.
The current situation is exacerbated by a number of difficulties and problems that Japan's agriculture is experiencing today. The most significant of them:
Reduction of workers in agriculture, which is explained by the low level of agricultural income. According to the results for 2005, the incomes of people employed in agriculture were approximately 2 times lower than those of small non-agricultural enterprises. So, for the period from 1960 to 2007. the number of people employed in the industry decreased by 4.7 times, amounting to 2550 thousand people. In this regard, dual employment is highly popular in Japanese agriculture, in which people have the opportunity to combine employment in agriculture with activities in non-agricultural sectors.
Growth of the elderly (65 years and older) among those employed in agriculture. This is explained by the fact that only a small percentage of young people who have graduated from certain educational institutions go to permanent work in agriculture. In 2007, the proportion of older people employed in agriculture was 60%.
Reducing cultivated and sown areas. The main reasons for this were the lack of workers, the seizure of land for the construction of roads, industrial facilities, etc. From 6.1 million hectares in 1960, the area of cultivated land has decreased to 4.7 million by the beginning. 21st century
What is Japan doing, what steps is it taking, finding itself in such a difficult situation?
Serious reform of agriculture has begun only recently. To get out of this situation, special attention, first of all, is paid to improving the quality of products manufactured in Japan in order to increase non-price competitiveness. Now "organic" agriculture is being widely developed, i.e. the creation of so-called eco-farms, whose activities are primarily aimed at reducing the chemicalization of agricultural production, obtaining an environmentally friendly agricultural product. So, for the period 2002-2007. the number of such farms has grown from 26,000 to 155,000.
In order to increase food self-sufficiency, Japan is conducting campaigns based on the promotion of "Japanese food style" in order to increase the consumption of domestic products. Japan is actively engaged in the promotion of its agricultural products to the world market. Japan can rightfully be proud of the high quality of its exported products, because, despite the high prices compared to similar offers from other countries, the level of exports to such countries as the USA, Taiwan, and China is constantly increasing.
Regarding the import of agricultural products, Japan continues to defend the interests of its producer. High import duties are set on the most important products for the Japanese economy. So, for rice, legumes, oil, import duties range from 300-500% (for rice - 490%), for wheat, milk powder and starch - from 200-300%, for peanuts - above 500%, for edible konjac root - 990%.
Japan takes serious measures to prevent damage from low-quality foreign products. Sanitary standards are being tightened. Thus, according to the amendments to the Law on Sanitary Standards for Food (2000), it became possible to ban the import of products, if they repeatedly detect a residual amount of chemicals in it that exceeds the norm.
To ensure stable imports of agricultural products, Japan is diversifying its sources by reducing dependence on imports from the United States and attracting such food partners as the EU countries and China. There are prerequisites for the import of Russian wheat. It is assumed that Russia will be able to export 1.5 million tons of wheat to Japan. Also, to ensure stable imports, Japan is investing in agriculture abroad. In 2005, 43.3% of the products of Japanese foreign agricultural enterprises were imported to Japan. Such enterprises are a reliable source of imported products for their country.
So, in the current situation, the weakest point of Japanese agriculture today is the low efficiency of production, because. Japan's agricultural products are not competitive in terms of prices in the foreign market due to high production costs and high prices relative to similar products of exporting countries. It is precisely because of low price competitiveness that Japan is forced to protect the domestic market for agricultural products. And reducing costs, increasing production volumes and the quality of agricultural products are among the main tasks of the Japanese government's agricultural policy today, primarily in order to eliminate dependence on external suppliers of agricultural products and ensure the country's food security.
