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I understand that not many people live West of Tokyo because mountains but what about Northeast Chiba and South Ibaraki? You would think more people would live there.
Also why not more people in Mie in the area between Nara and Nagoya?
For that "Chibaraki" area (NE Chiba / South Ibaraki) I believe that area is a flood plain which is not exactly friendly for large urban development, but definitely makes great farmland.
As for Mie - which area? The Ise Bay coast (i.e. eastern part of Mie) is fairly populated, west of that is a giant mountain range (Suzuka Mountains), and far west (i.e. Iga region, home of the ninjas) is just kind of too far from Nagoya and Osaka to see crazy urbanization growth.
That percentage will only increase with the extreme aging problem in more rural part of Japan. Tohoku (Northeast) in particular had been losing population left and right with basically only Sendai seeing moderate growth, same for Hokkaido (Sapporo is doing decent but even cities like Hakodate or Asahikawa are heading nowhere).
Truth is flat land alone is not everything - Japanese economy (whatever left of it from the bubble collapse) is highly Tokyo-centric. The Osaka Plain is a large plain but Osaka (along with Kyoto and Kobe) had also been losing population with the industrial shift.
Japan has a general population decrease due to lower and lower birthrates and the young ones are headed towards the larger cities where there are more people their age to do things with. Osaka's luckily been a recipient and has actually been seeing population growth for the last two decades. As part of the warm weather movement, I've heard that Fukuoka is pretty popular with the kids.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Davy-040
I understand that not many people live West of Tokyo because mountains but what about Northeast Chiba and South Ibaraki? You would think more people would live there.
Also why not more people in Mie in the area between Nara and Nagoya?
ion475's response is good and reasonable. I reckon a look at topographic, and to some degree climate maps, would help. There's a topographic / terrain setting for google maps which would be helpful.
Chiba is one of the regions where the diminishing rice field terraces still exist.
Lately, they realise that they can no longer be dependent on food imports
Japan has a general population decrease due to lower and lower birthrates and the young ones are headed towards the larger cities where there are more people their age to do things with. Osaka's luckily been a recipient and has actually been seeing population growth for the last two decades. As part of the warm weather movement, I've heard that Fukuoka is pretty popular with the kids.
Fukuoka (the city) is popular as the economy there is doing well - Fukuoka is consider the "startup capital" of Japan.
Fukuoka definitely has a younger energy vibe either way - even more so than Osaka.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OyCrumbler
ion475's response is good and reasonable. I reckon a look at topographic, and to some degree climate maps, would help. There's a topographic / terrain setting for google maps which would be helpful.
I'm definitely not expert by any mean (I'm not Japanese...I just visit Japan enough to know what's where) .
Quote:
Originally Posted by orbiter
Chiba is one of the regions where the diminishing rice field terraces still exist.
Lately, they realise that they can no longer be dependent on food imports
That area of Chiba (Boso Peninsula) is almost a different world even though it's relatively close to Tokyo, but far enough (it's 1.5hr-2hr drive to the southern tip of the peninsula).
That has nothing to do with where Japanese live. Trains and trucks and ships move food from where it's grown to where it's eaten.
Also, Japan imports 62% of its caloric intake.
The coastal plain is not even where rice are grown anyway.
The most popular Japanese rice cultivar (Koshihikari) is grown mainly in Yamagata prefecture and also Uonuma area of Niigata prefecture (which is consider the "best" region of growing that cultivar and thus, rice from that area sell at a higher price). The inland areas of Fukushima prefecture (Aizu area) is also where rice are grown.
Those same area (Tohoku overall) had also been losing population the fastest and is facing major aging population problem.
Where the coastal plain (and extending further west from Osaka along the Seto Inland Sea coast to cities like Okayama and Hiroshima) is really strong is industrialization. Another factor is climate - the pacific coast of Japan up to Tokyo or so is a lot warmer due to ocean current.
That has nothing to do with where Japanese live. Trains and trucks and ships move food from where it's grown to where it's eaten.
Also, Japan imports 62% of its caloric intake.
I was not aware it was that high, but having insufficient food to feed people and having insufficient energy are two factors that have made for big trouble in the past - not just Japan, but other countries, too.
China, for instance. And nowadays, Pakistan.
But to Japan's credit they invented a way of taking care of their needs when they exported the manufacture of cars to America, where they were being sold. The profits still go to Japan so they have money to buy the things they have to have. That was smart!
As America's economy goes, so goes Japan. No bad for two people who used to shoot each other on sight.
The coastal plain is not even where rice are grown anyway.
The most popular Japanese rice cultivar (Koshihikari) is grown mainly in Yamagata prefecture and also Uonuma area of Niigata prefecture (which is consider the "best" region of growing that cultivar and thus, rice from that area sell at a higher price). The inland areas of Fukushima prefecture (Aizu area) is also where rice are grown.
Those same area (Tohoku overall) had also been losing population the fastest and is facing major aging population problem.
Where the coastal plain (and extending further west from Osaka along the Seto Inland Sea coast to cities like Okayama and Hiroshima) is really strong is industrialization. Another factor is climate - the pacific coast of Japan up to Tokyo or so is a lot warmer due to ocean current.
China too has the problem of feeding their masses.
China Plans to Feed 80 Million People With ‘Seawater Rice’
Chinese scientists have developed salt-tolerant strains of rice in a bid to ensure food security as sea levels rise from climate change.
ByBloomberg News
February 19, 2022 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-seawater-rice
China starts mass 'seawater rice' planting
May 28, 2022
Since May, China has started a nationwide large-scale seawater rice planting. Seawater rice, a saline-alkali-tolerant type of rice, was designed to grow in tidal flats or other areas with heavy salt concentrations and developed through crossbreeding and other technologies.
In 2022, China plans to turn 1 million more mu (66,667 hectares) of saline-alkali land into rice fields.
I was not aware it was that high, but having insufficient food to feed people and having insufficient energy are two factors that have made for big trouble in the past - not just Japan, but other countries, too.
China, for instance. And nowadays, Pakistan.
But to Japan's credit they invented a way of taking care of their needs when they exported the manufacture of cars to America, where they were being sold. The profits still go to Japan so they have money to buy the things they have to have. That was smart!
As America's economy goes, so goes Japan. No bad for two people who used to shoot each other on sight.
Japanese industry isn't all that rosy, though. One of their big export from 90s up to early 2000s or so (Electronics / Consumer products) is more or less gone. Brands like Sharp, Hitachi, Toshiba, NEC, etc. are nowhere near where they were with heavy competition first from South Korea (LG/Samsung) and of course mainland China. Japanese semiconductor industry is also not that big - definitely nowhere near the scale of Taiwan (TSMC etc.) or even South Korea (Samsung). For the former - just look at smartphones. It's Apple (US, but assemble in China) or Samsung (South Korea) dominating the high ends, and on the low ends, the gajillion Chinese companies (Xiaomi, Huawei, etc.). There is not even Japan-made Rice Cooker soon also:
Their automotive industry is still ok, but TBH they're also somewhat behind in EVs production overall. They will survive for awhile, but can they still dominate? In SE Asia markets (where every single car were Japanese with some South Korean) they also face competitions from mainland Chinese vehicles. Chinese vehicles are not great but they're also cheap and is prime to get customers who just want a car as automobilization increased in lower-income SE Asian countries.
Other industry like steelmaking and shipbuildings are also much reduced in scale - the latter especially (again with competition first from SK then mainland China).
There are still places where Japanese industry dominate - Precision Machine / instrument, optics, industrial robots / mechatronics just to name a few. All those are definitely more niche, though.
tl;dr: The Japanese economic outlook remain somewhat grim...and any growth are going to happen in the big metro areas with industrialization and the surrounding "service-oriented" economy. It's quite frankly no different than what's happening in USA anyway. Yes, you'll have a few smaller cities being "winner" as they have a long-time industrial base, but things are just not what they were.
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