p Japan is the most advanced capitalist country in the East. Routed in the Second World War the Japanese economy was thrown back for many years, and her share in world capitalist production declined by almost 75 per cent. But since then the Japanese economy has made a tremendous leap forward and for rates of growth of industrial production Japan has surpassed other capitalist countries. In 1969 she moved into second place in the capitalist world for the value of the gross national product overtaking not only the FRG, but also Sweden, Britain, France and Italy.

p An advanced industrial state Japan today ranks second after the USA in the capitalist world in such fields as the production of steel, nitrogen fertiliser, synthetic fibre, electricity, cement, paper, motor vehicles, TV sets, refrigerators, washing machines, cine- and photo-cameras. She leads the world in shipbuilding and the production of radio sets. Japanese goods are sold in many countries into which Japanese capital is penetrating at an increasing rate.

p Unlike some other major capitalist countries Japan has scant mineral resources and depends greatly on imported industrial raw materials and fuel. How then did she manage not only to restore her economy but to bring it to such a high level of development?

p Immediately after the war Japan sharply reduced her military expenditures. This had a favourable impact on her economy: she re-equipped her industrial enterprises and introduced the latest technology. All this was a factor of the scientific and technological progress and rapid economic growth characteristic of post-war Japan.

p Another factor which has to be borne in mind is the avalanche of American industrial orders, of which the war orders alone for the aggressive war in Korea gave Japanese monopolies $ 2,400 million in profits.

p Japan has great manpower resources. Her population of over 100 million is a major source of qualified personnel for all branches of the economy. The agrarian reform, which put an end to the survivals of feudal relations in the country, sharply accelerated Japan’s industrial development.

p In this respect an important role is also being played by the refined methods of social manoeuvring practised by the Japanese ruling circles. The bourgeoisie grants certain economic concessions to the working class and draws it into various forms of “participation” in profits and at the same time intensifies the exploitation of the working people. A Japanese worker still receives a sixth of the wage of an American worker. Wages differ sharply depending on the sex and age of the workers. Women get 50 per cent of the men’s wages. Yet women make up a third of the hired workers in the country. Young workers get from 50 to 60 per cent less than the older ones for the same jobs.

p Finally, a vast number of small and medium enterprises, employing about 60 per cent of the total number of workers who are subjected to particularly onerous exploitation, work on orders from the monopolies. Taken together all these factors enable the Japanese monopolies to rake in huge profits and expand production.

p In view of the relatively low production costs and the high quality of the manufactured goods Japan is in a position to compete with increasing effectivity on world markets.

p Japan’s large-scale modern industry is the basis of her economy. The value of industrial output is five times that of agriculture. Industry yields about 50 per cent of the gross national product.

p The monopolies have restored and consolidated their dominating positions in the Japanese industry. Of the hundred greatest monopolies of the capitalist world ten are Japanese, the biggest being the financial-monopoly groups of Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Sumitomo, each with a turnover of over $ 1,000 million.

p The concentration of production and centralisation of capital are accompanied by structural changes in the Japanese industry. The share of the manufacturing branches, especially heavy engineering, has risen markedly. Mechanical engineering has also made considerable progress, though its share in Japan’s industrial production is still smaller than in other advanced capitalist countries.

p Among the many branches of the Japanese machinebuilding industry the most important is shipbuilding. In terms of tonnage of launched ships (over 9 million gross registered tons a year) Japan builds twice as much as all other capitalist countries taken together.

p In recent years the Japanese shipbuilding industry has been specialising in the construction of the world’s biggest supertankers and other highly efficient vessels. About a third of the capacities of the shipbuilding industry is controlled by Mitsubishi. The biggest shipyards are situated in the port areas of Osaka-Kobe, Nagasaki and TokyoYokohama.

p The Japanese automobile industry has moved to second place in the capitalist world after the United States. The products of the electrical engineering, electronic, and precision instrument-making industries are in great demand on world markets.

p In view of the militarisation of the country which has been on the increase in recent years Japan is technically reequipping her aircraft industry and starting rocket production. The production of plutonium, which may be used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons, has been organised in the country.

p Iron and steel production has become a key branch of the heavy industry. Using mainly imported raw materials Japan 133 is now smelting over 93 million tons of steel annually. This is almost three times as much as is produced in Britain. Japan’s copper industry, her oldest, and aluminium industry, her newest, are also developing. There is a steady increase in the production of lead, zinc, nickel and other non-ferrous metals.

p Oil refining, petrochemistry and to a considerable degree the power industry use imported oil. The refineries are capable of processing more than 185 million tons of crude oil imported from the USA, the Middle East and other parts of the world. Using the products of oil refining, Japan manufactures plastics, chemical fibre, synthetic rubber and mineral fertiliser.

p As the fuel balance continues to improve the share of coal in it is diminishing and that of oil and gas is mounting. Japan annually produces about 290,000 million kwh of electricity, two-thirds of which is generated by thermal power stations and the rest by hydropower stations.

p The volume of production of the light and food industries is increasing at a slower rate than that of the heavy industry. Fishing, Japan’s traditional industry, annually supplies the country with 9 million tons of fish and sea animal products which together with rice constitute the basic food of the population.

p Converted to the rails of capitalist development as a result of an agrarian reform, agriculture is beginning to employ modern farm machinery and fertiliser. Crop- raising, the key branch of agriculture, specialises in the cultivation of rice (annual harvest over 14 million tons) and vegetables. Fruit-growing is conducted on a large scale on the southern islands. The lack of pastures and fodder retards the development of stock-breeding. Part of the animal and other products are imported.

p Characteristic of the geography of Japan’s economy is its extremely uneven distribution of production which is mainly concentrated in a limited number of towns and regions.

p The most important is the industrial belt in the central part of Honshu. The largest industrial centres are situated along the southwestern coast of the island from Tokyo to Osaka. The capital Tokyo (population over 11 million) is Japan’s cultural, scientific and industrial centre. Linked by a canal with Yokohama, it is a great port which handles 134 33 per cent of Japan’s imports and 50 per cent of her exports.

p A large industrial region embracing Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto has emerged in southwest Honshu. The region also includes Hiroshima and Nagasaki (the latter is on Kyushu island). Both cities had been destroyed by atom bombs during the war and have now been rehabilitated. There is a coal and metallurgical base in the north of Kyushu island.

p In the northeastern part of Japan industry is developing in the north of Honshu island and on Hokkaido. The latter has substantial resources of useful minerals and hydroelectric power and holds out good prospects for industrial growth.

Japan figures prominently in the news not only because of her rapidly developing economy, but also because of the acute social problems that are facing her today. The increasing class polarisation, concentration of immense wealth in the hands of the monopolies which exploit tens of millions of working people, aggravates class contradictions and stimulates the growth of the strike movement. Holding second place in the capitalist world for the volume of the gross national product, Japan is in sixteenth place for the size of the national income per head of population.