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Japan Basic Manufactures
Japan's major export industries includes automobiles,
consumer
electronics, computers, semiconductors, and iron and steel
(see Major International Industries
, ch. 5). Additionally, key
industries in Japan's economy are mining, nonferrous
metals,
petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, bioindustry,
shipbuilding,
aerospace, textiles, and processed foods.
As the coal-mining industry declined, so did the
general
importance of domestic mining in the whole economy. Only
0.2
percent of the labor force was engaged in mining
operations in
1988, and the value added from mining was about 0.3
percent of the
total for all mining and manufacturing. Domestic
production
contributed most to the supply of such nonmetals as silica
sand,
pyrophyllite clay, dolomite, and limestone. Domestic mines
were
contributing declining shares of the requirements for the
metals
zinc, copper, and gold. Almost all of the ores used in the
nation's
sophisticated processing industries are imported.
The nonferrous metals industry fared very well in the
late
1980s, as domestic demand for these metals reached record
levels.
Japan's consumption of the main nonferrous metals, such as
copper,
lead, zinc, and aluminum, was the second highest in the
noncommunist world after the United States. In 1989 sales
of copper
products exceeded 1.5 million tons for the first time.
Production
of electric wire and cable, which accounted for 70 percent
of
Japan's copper demand, and brass mills, which used the
other 30
percent, experienced sharp growth, as did the demand for
aluminum.
The petrochemical industry experienced moderate growth
in the
late 1980s because of steady economic expansion. The
highest growth
came in the production of plastics, polystyrene, and
polypropylene.
Prices for petrochemicals remained high because of
increased demand
in the newly developing economies of Asia, but the
construction of
factory complexes to make ethylene-based products in the
Republic
of Korea (South Korea) and Thailand by 1990 was expected
to
increase supplies and reduce prices. In the long term, the
Japanese
petrochemical industry is likely to face intensifying
competition
as a result of the integration of domestic and
international
markets and the efforts made by other Asian countries to
catch up
with Japan.
The pharmaceutical industry and bioindustry experienced
strong
growth in the late 1980s. Pharmaceuticals production grew
an
estimated 8 percent in 1989 because of increased
expenditures by
Japan's rapidly aging population. Leading producers
actively
developed new drugs, such as those for degenerative and
geriatric
diseases, and also internationaled operations.
Pharmaceutical
companies were establishing tripolar networks connecting
Japan, the
United States, and Western Europe to coordinate product
development. They also increased merger and acquisition
activity
overseas. Biotechnology research and development was
progressing
steadily, including the launching of marine biotechnology
projects,
with full-scale commercialization expected to take place
in the
1990s. Biotechnology research covered a wide variety of
fields:
agriculture, animal husbandry, pharmaceuticals, chemicals,
food
processing, and fermentation. Human hormones and proteins
for
pharmaceutical products were sought through genetic
recombination
using bacteria.
Biotechnology also is used to enhance bacterial enzyme
properties to further improve amino-acid fermentation
technology,
a field in which Japan is the world leader. The government
cautions
Japanese producers, however, against overoptimism
regarding
biotechnology and bioindustry. The research race both in
Japan and
abroad intensified in the 1980s, leading to patent
disputes and
forcing some companies to abandon research. Also,
researchers began
to realize that such drug development continually showed
new
complexities, requiring more technical breakthroughs than
first
imagined. Yet despite these problems, research and
development,
especially in leading companies, was still expected to be
successful and to end in product commercialization in the
mid-term.
Japan dominated world shipbuilding in the late 1980s,
filling
more than half of all orders worldwide. Its closest
competitors
were South Korea and Spain, with 9 percent and 5.2 percent
of the
market, respectively. Japan's shipyards replaced their
West
European competitors as world leaders in production
through
advanced design, fast delivery, and low production costs.
The
Japanese shipbuilding industry was hit by a lengthy
recession from
the late 1970s through most of the 1980s, which resulted
in a
drastic cutback in the use of facilities and in the work
force, but
there was a sharp revival in 1989. The industry was helped
by a
sudden rise in demand from other countries that needed to
replace
their aging fleets and from a sudden decline in the South
Korean
shipping industry. In 1988 Japanese shipbuilding firms
received
orders for 4.8 million gross tons of ships, but this
figure grew to
7.1 million gross tons in 1989.
The aerospace industry received a major boost in 1969
with the
establishment of the National Space Development Agency,
which was
charged with the development of satellites and launch
vehicles
(see Telecommunications
, this ch.). Japan's aircraft industry
was only
one-twentieth the size of that of the United States and
one-twelfth
that of Western Europe, and its technological level lagged
as well.
However, in the late 1980s Japan began to participate in
new
international aircraft development projects as its
technical
capabilities developed. The Asuka fanjet-powered short
takeoff and
landing (STOL) aircraft made a successful test flight in
1985. In
1988 Japan signed an accord with the United States to
cooperate in
building Japan's next-generation fighter aircraft, the FSX
(see The Defense Industry
, ch. 8).
The textile industry showed a strong revival in the
late 1980s
because of increased domestic demand from the
construction,
automobile, housing, and civil engineering industries for
various
synthetic fibers. The clothing industry also fared well in
the late
1980s, thanks to the expansion of consumer demand,
especially in
the area of women's apparel. Production of high
value-added
fashionable clothes became the mainstay of this industry.
The production value of the food industry ranked third
among
manufacturing industries after electric and transport
machinery. It
produced a great variety of products, ranging from
traditional
Japanese items, such as soybean paste (miso) and soy
sauce, to beer
and meat. The industry as a whole experienced mild growth
in the
1980s, primarily from the development of such new products
as "dry
beer" and precooked food, which was increasingly used
because of
the tendency of family members to dine separately, the
trend toward
smaller families, and convenience. A common feature of all
sectors
of the food industry was their internationalization. As
domestic
raw materials lost their price competitiveness following
the
liberalization of imports, food makers more often produced
foodstuffs overseas, promoted tie-ups with overseas firms,
and
purchased overseas firms.
Data as of January 1994
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