27 replies to this topic

[Spencer Roger Lopez]

Just wondering what's going to happen to Japan. It has had an interesting economic history, and it intrigues me to find out what will happen next. Take into consideration: it's current status and location, neighboring countries and government. What do you think? There's probably going to be a conflict between Japan and China. I mean, there's already border disputes. Not necessarily warfare, but maybe a sort of "economical" war. China recently surpassed Japan in the statistics of GDP. Japan has a huge electronic industry, which is where I'm wondering...will Japan's economy help it survive through what's to come in the future recession? Will China do something that will put Japan out of business? Will Japan become insignificant in international business? What're your thoughts?

[Caiman]

Japan has certainly become stagnant in recent years, I don’t think anyone even thinks of them as ahead of the curve anymore, whereas I feel that was definitely the perception in the 90s and even the early part of the last decade. China look set to (and are already well on the way to) eclipse them, I guess, indeed. As for conflict, I don’t know... I’d say that could rest on the economic situation in the west, which China now relies on and has a massive interest in, economically. If things start to go south for us then China might find new motivations.

[GNR Rvolution]

I think that in certain areas they are still ahead of the game, notably robotics and some areas of the automotive industry, but overall their standing as the Electronic giants has diminished somewhat. This year has been particularly bad for them, but by all accounts they are bouncing back somewhat. The threat from China however is immense and I would expect to see trade wars escalating in the next couple of decades.

[wjfox]

Japan will continue to see decades of stagnation, unfortunately. It has massive levels of debt, and a declining workforce.

Also, I think people underestimate the true impact of Fukushima. There will be major health issues in the coming years.

[Spencer Roger Lopez]

Interesting to see your opinions.

[Time_Traveller]

Japan will continue to see decades of stagnation, unfortunately. It has massive levels of debt, and a declining workforce.

Also, I think people underestimate the true impact of Fukushima. There will be major health issues in the coming years.

I agree they will continue just like after WW2 with the future of technology like the Cd player etc in the 80's but in the 21st century onwards.

[Nick1984]

Technological advancement always moves Westwards.

Up until the turn of the century Britain was the most technologically advanced country.

After world war 1 that shifted to America.

After world war 2 Japan ripped off American technology and made them cheaper, eventually the likes of Sony (walkman) and Toshiba (videotape) began to innovate to become number one.

Right now the innovation is shifting to South Korea (Samsung, LG) with new technology such as OLED TV.

China has become the new rip-off merchants like America, Japan and Korea before it, but eventually they too will innovate and you'll see companies like Huawei overtaking Sony, Samsung and Panasonic.

[jjf3]

What about AI? I foresee that Japan will dominate that market, whenever it becomes available. They may be working on top secret projects now...

When Japan sells us assistant robots to use. Well, that will become as popular as smartphones are today. Japan will thus bounce back.

[Craven]

They're not a real player on AI market. They're clearly into robotics, and loosing lead there as well, since Boston Dynamics out did them.

[SG-1]

Your right, technology does seem to move westward. I've never thought of that before.

Edited by SG-1, 14 April 2012 - 01:19 AM.

[stevo]

Technological advancement always moves Westwards.

Up until the turn of the century Britain was the most technologically advanced country.

After world war 1 that shifted to America.

After world war 2 Japan ripped off American technology and made them cheaper, eventually the likes of Sony (walkman) and Toshiba (videotape) began to innovate to become number one.

Right now the innovation is shifting to South Korea (Samsung, LG) with new technology such as OLED TV.

China has become the new rip-off merchants like America, Japan and Korea before it, but eventually they too will innovate and you'll see companies like Huawei overtaking Sony, Samsung and Panasonic.

then it's gonna come right back to america again lol. or maybe mexio

[Alric]

If we move away from industry for a moment, Japan is one of the most well connected countries in terms of things like the internet. They have a very high percentage of people who use the internet, like the US. I think this is why if you surf the web enough you will find lots of Japanese stuff. If you are looking for games you find a good bit of stuff from Korea too. Other than a few others things in maybe German I don't see a whole lot from other countries on the internet unless you are specifically looking for it.

I am curious if people experience things like that from other countries though. I couldn't say for sure but I suspect if you were in another country you would come across a ton of American stuff on the internet even if English wasn't the language you were using. I am not sure how this will effect our future, but some countries seem to really have larger impacts on this area than others.

China has more internet users than anyone, twice the number the US has, 5 times as many as Japan, yet I don't see much from them. Maybe that is just from my perspective though, I wonder if anyone sees it differently?

[eacao]

If you are looking for games you find a good bit of stuff from Korea too. Other than a few others things in maybe German I don't see a whole lot from other countries on the internet unless you are specifically looking for it.

bbc.co.uk
That's where I get the majority of solid information from on world events (I do get a lot of other, less trustworthy information from other sites and blogs).

[Guyverman1990]

Because of what happened last year with the Tsunami, Japan is going to resort to Geothermal power instead of Nuclear Power. This makes sense because the country is located on a geologically active volcanic zone and it could very well end up becoming like Iceland is today in terms of power usage.

http://www.bloomberg...s-by-2020s.html

We all know that any country can't just rely on Geothermal alone, so the money they make off of Geothermal could also be used to fund projects involving geothermal and wind power. With Geothermal, Wind and Solar Power combined as the state's primary power sources, It would dramatically cut down its need for fossil fuels and become one of the world's first oil free countries along with Sweden, according to the timeline.

As a result, I envision Japan transforming itself into a resource-based economy that could also eventually use Fusion power as a far safer alternative to Fission which caused the Nuclear Disaster of 2011.

Edited by Guyverman1990, 17 April 2012 - 07:32 PM.

[Nick1984]

If they actually do manage to power their entire country on renewables then fair play to them. If anyone can do it it's the Japanese.

[MarcZ]

@Alric: There are plenty, and I do mean plenty of Chinese sites. You might fight them harder to come across as you've got to remember their internet is very disconnected and disassociated with the rest of the world.

[Alric]

My point wasn't the actual number of sites, but how connected they are with everyone else. In other words, how much influence they got over the increasing globalization of the internet. China has a ton of people, and I believe has the largest number of people on the internet. However given the sheer amount of people with the internet they don't seem to be connecting or influencing other countries with it.

[Guyverman1990]

If Geothermal power can produce 2 Gigawatts for the country a year by 2020, then have it combined with both Wind and Solar power could potentially rise it to around 10 Gigawatts. If Sweden becomes Oil free by 2018, what year could Japan be Oil free by?

[MarcZ]

My point wasn't the actual number of sites, but how connected they are with everyone else. In other words, how much influence they got over the increasing globalization of the internet. China has a ton of people, and I believe has the largest number of people on the internet. However given the sheer amount of people with the internet they don't seem to be connecting or influencing other countries with it.

This basically sums it up, secondly outside of China, Chinese is not really an extremely potent international language of business or science. They tend to use English, which is why English websites are so powerful, and how the internet is making English the defacto language. The only other languages that really have comparable spread and global power are Spanish and Arabic. Chinese could easily grow though if the economy continues to strengthen. Japanese is kind of big, but it's not really popular in the same way as English, Spanish and Arabic.

[stevo]

As a result, I envision Japan transforming itself into a resource-based economy that could also eventually use Fusion power as a far safer alternative to Fission which caused the Nuclear Disaster of 2011.

why do we NEED fusion?
We have other power sources like hydro electric and wind and tidal power!