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clay dubeHi Folks,
We'll distribute this by email as well, but thought that some might appreciate an early look at several magazine and newspaper articles about East Asian population matters, historical geography disputes, and resource challenges. Please click on the icon below to download these readings.
You'll need Adobe Acrobat (which is probably already on your computer) to open it. If not, you may download it for free at:
http://get.adobe.com/reader/
Please comment on these articles in this thread. To comment on a specific article, please hit reply and put something descriptive in the subject line (e.g., China water crisis).
AnonymousJust read the articles what hit me right away was the economy aspect...probably because I've been hit the reality of the recession being world wide and impacting Asia brings Asia closer to home. The two articles about Japan and the economic factor is what I see happening here. The downward spiral... loss of jobs, little money for purchasing products, companies profits down, start of closing businesses, loss of jobs, little money, etc. Does not paint a rosey picture.
As for Japan and immigrant workers, I wonder if Japan is paying a price for its homogenous society. One aspect that hit me was this idea of a 3 year training program...it sounds like nothing more than a legalized slave labor situation. They definitely need to re evaluate this program.
Interesting both Japan and S. Korea have a decline in population...the more educated the women, the fewer children, not unexpected in developed society's. Yet, the consequences for the future will result in a decreased labor force for the future. How will the two countries handle this situation? It is very perplexing and one I look forward to watching as it progresses.
AnonymousI am still reading the articles, but felt the need to comment before I finished. I am totally out of my knowledge base after reading the first two articles alone. It seems that while Asia has become increasingly a part of the world economically, it has many issues due to geography, culture, politics, that as part of a western-oriented society I have no clue about.
Sure I took classes in college and watch the news at night, but to know that many of these countries are not as "exotic" as the Travel Channel and Dateline News Specials make them out to be is interesting. My new laptop came from China in 4 days last week, to know that many of the things I purchase are made in Asian countries, makes the recession a global issue, something that I don't hear about to often.
The other comment I wanted to make was how important a subject like geography really is. I know I have throw it to the wayside at times because of time, testing, and standards, but just reading the articles so far has shown that geography plays a huge part in how the world works. Japan being an island with earthquakes, Korea being on a peninsula that has been struggling politically, socially, etc since the 1950s and China being so large, with different geographical attributes and many different cultural groups can not be easy for any government. Yet, learning the geography helps understand the reasons behind the evolution places go through, and therefore, a reminder to me to make sure I teach it and not think it is unimportant.
AnonymousYesterday after reading all of the articles about different Asian countries, I feel I want to say something, particularly about gender issue. When I read a Korean young man with a college graduate working for a crab labor without letting his family know about it, it seems that the economy downturn hits hard globally, and it says a lot about the Confucius' value strongly imprinted in people's minds. On the contrary, the higher education a woman receives, the less likely she will follow her mother's footstep, to become a conventional housewife. Just look at the media and advertisements in Asia, no wonder Asian women feel they are entitled to enjoy as much as freedom as their counterpart, men do for years.
Second, I want to comment on the issue of over populated city Shijiazhuang of China and under populated town in Japan. Japan is surrounded by seas, as opposed to, many economically growing cities like Shijiazhuang is clouded by air pollution and lack of water. As an old Chinese saying that a big sea can cover all sorts of things, you name it, on the contrary, a small pond can only look at the sky about it. A homogeneous society like Japan does actualy not look as rosy as outsiders think it is. Ironically, China might becme a superpower somedays, yet her struggle with overpopulation and environmental issues will exponentially increase throughout the next few years.
Many articles are quite fascinating and interesting to read, yet behind each article also reveals how we humans have to constantly fight with nature and uncertainty. julie
AnonymousWe have so much in common!
Like the United States and the rest of the world, the economy of Japan, Korea and China's is directly impacting their population and geography. We all are grappling with the same issues; a growing older population, balancing women's rights and family, reconciling immigration with shifting labor demands, incorporating environmental issues into economic growth and resolving long standing conflicts with our neighbors.
I was especially interested in the Tokyo earthquake and China's water articles. After Hurricane Katrina I thought Angelenos couldn't evacuate the city is less than 2 weeks given the conditions of our freeways and public transit. Seems like they are in an even more precarious position. Access to freshwater is another big one for us SoCal residents. I can't believe they too are "stealing" water from the North, even with a reference to the Hoover Dam.
I also enjoyed reading about the gap between the Koreas. Wow! Reunification sounds daunting and yet it might solve their population shortage problem. I wonder if environmentalists would be able to protect the DMZ as a National Park/Monument.
I agree that we are woefully ignorant about Asia today. Can't wait to incorporate this info into my classes. Thanks for doing the foot work!
LIbby
AnonymousI found this article interesting for the following reasons: 1. an aging population, 2. an immigration population, 3. economic issues tied to #1 and #2 issues. I had prior knowledge about some of the issues raised, however Japan's immigration issues were something new to my understanding of problems that Japan grapples with. I suppose since Japan is very competitive in the automotive and technological markets, it is easy to assume they are strong and will remain so. I hadn't tied the aging population with their immigration issues as problematic since I haven't stayed up to date on my readings. I have to admit I tend to not focus on Japan much.
During a world economic class in college I do recall researching the (1990s) Asian Economic Flu that was due to several factors such as, over inflated real estate values, lack of market oversight, and the world wide effects that further deepened an already bad economic climate in Japan. Wow, history continues to repeat, but rarely do we hear much about this in the media except through sound bites at best. What I don't remember is learning about an immigration issue. Surely it hasn't just begun since the understanding of Japan's aging population has been understood for some time.
What surprised me is that I hadn't realized that there were Koreans who identify with being Japanese due to their cultural practices. Plus, the ideological battles regarding immigrant influx and who is really Japanese. Those Japanese who had immigrated to South American countries and return to Japan for work are viewed as not being Japanese and suffer being viewed as foreigners. The abuse they endure as a foreigner surprised me. It reminds me of the historical peasant classes who lacked basic human rights.
Further, the immigration issue is tied to the contentious economy. Without cheap labor or laborers for that matter how can Japan continue a vibrant and commanding economy? This article brings a lot of information to the reader and I am now aware of Japan's many similar issues that we deal with in America as well. Such as the love-hate relationship of foreign legal and illegal workers in America. Do they help or hurt the economy? Does crime rate increase due to immigrants? The fear that foreigners suppress wages and that natives lose a job taken by a foreigner. Industrial economies share more challenges than I thought even though we have very different cultures. An interesting artice that has brought more awareness to my lack of knowledge. [Edit by="jbaybo on Jul 25, 10:29:27 AM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="jbaybo on Jul 25, 10:34:03 AM"]foreigner mispelled once and a change or two due to better wording[/Edit]
AnonymousMuch of the information in the articles run parallel to what is happening here, has happened in our recent past, or what Europe is currently facing. I was continually reading sections of the passages out loud to my husband for discussion, and I have already decided that my advanced world history students are going to read, ". . . China's Future is Drying Up." It hits home to those of us in Southern California who live in areas with imposed water rationing. Regarding the low birth rates in Japan and Korea, this is something that most of Europe is facing right now. Most of the EU countries have very low birth rates despite government subsidized child care and health care. Women do not see their only role as maternal and families have seen the ability to have more material things with smaller families. Russia is trying to pay families to have more children. The EU countries' economists have looked seriously at how they can sustain an aging population and thriving economy if there isn't a growing population. These are the same problems that South Korea and Japan are trying to resolve.
AnonymousI am struck by the similarities between so many industrialized countries with Korea and Japan. All across Europe we are seeing the same problems. In well developed and industrialized countries we see women marrying later and wanting to concentrate on career. This is partly a result of the feminist equality movement that happened in the 1970's. America, Canada and a few other countries have partially adapted with work policies for new parents and family leave. It sounds like South Korea really needs to catch up and allow for new parents to adapt their work schedules accordingly. That would help a great deal when a career woman is deciding whether it is worth it to have a child in South Korea. If you want to increase your population then give real incentives (including financial) for people to be able to stay on their career tracks.
It also occurs to me that we are not hearing about population decline in third world countries and/or muslim countries. Is this culturally based? Is it religious? Is it because there is lack of population control options? Is it because these countries are still male workforce centered societies? It is an interesting juxtaposition that I would like to explore.
AnonymousIn a couple of the articles they discuss what will happen when the two Koreas unify. specifically they write about South Korea absorbing the welfare of the North Korean population. Daunting!
I am perplexed by this. I had no idea it was even an option at this point. N Korean leaders seem to have a very strong hold on the 23 million people who live there. I hope I am wrong, but I do not see Hillary Clinton or any other negotiator having the skills to crack the tyrannical dictatorship that is in place.
If they did unify I would think it would not just become South Korea's responsibility to "fix' North Korea. I am imagining a multi-national strategy somewhat like the Europe after World War II.
AnonymousIn the article "Beneath Booming Cities..." an engineer explained that the source of the water crisis is China's determination to remain focused on the economy (in contrast to Israel, whose inhabitants believe that water is more important than life). This emphasis on economic prosperity seems a common theme throughout many of the articles. For example, the last article discusses China's hunger for natural resources, at the risk of providing countries like Angola and Sudan with alternatives to cooperating with international organizations.
Similarly, a number of articles cited South Korea's focus on economic prosperity, and the ways in which this focus also seems to come at a great cost. South Korea's hesitation in uniting with North Korea results largely from its inability to absorb North Korea's poverty. And Korea's initial one-child policy was a result of its focus on economic development; interestingly, their current aim to increase fertility is also a response to economic concerns.
Yet China and South Korea's economic motivations remind me of how universal these concerns are, since much of our country's current difficulties have evolved from a similarly narrow focus on economic expansion. But the "Beneath Booming Cities" article sounds a warning bell for us all, as we examine the long-terms expenses of short-term gratifications, symbolized by the gradual draining of the Noth China Plain.
AnonymousI looked through the articles and then came up to LA. As I was driving up today. They discussed the recession and the fact that China announced that it holds $2 trillion from the US. The professor they interviewed pointed out that he thought East Asia and the US would continue to work together because the US was the innovator and creator.
I'm not sure how I feel about that and I'll post the link here as soon as it is on the NPR website.
AnonymousThe thing that I found most shocking about the readings, was the issue of Immigration and diversity in Japan. Throughout history, Japan was always a closed nation that was forced to open their doors by way of American Gun boats, which makes sense in terms of the homogenous population of old Japan. I assumed that immagration had opened up and was encouraged since the past 100 years or so. I guess I was wrong! The statistics note that immagration to Japna is actually quite low! Infact, the numbers estimating groth in the coming years looks quite tremendous.
Taking a look at this "trickle" of diversity, it's interesting to see people of Peruvian and Brazilian ancestry migrating in addition to Korean, Chinese, and Filipino. I never expected to see people from South America living in large numbers in Japan.
PS Is it true that a lot of Ramen shops in Tokyo are owned by Chinese? (a) [Edit by="djones on Jul 27, 1:00:45 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousI was intrigued by the notion that Koreans are changing their long standing preference for male children. I'm wondering if/how other Asian countries are experiencing a similar attitudinal shift.
AnonymousI have also heard some studies and seen some numbers in regards to Japan's shrinking population. From their immigration and citizenship restrictions, this is a real problem they will be facing in regards to maintaining their position as a world power. Also, I have spoken to some "armchair theorists" who also believe the United States should "open" more for immigration to prevent circumstances like these. Not seeing any numbers, I will say there can be a parallel here for the United States in the future; we always hear our baby boomers are going to retire soon, and the social security system is in trouble as well.............
AnonymousAlthough we talk about East Asia as being the economic driver of the world, these articles expose all the challenges Asia faces. I was definitely surprised by the extent of disparity in wealth and health between North and South Korea. Unification seems to be riddled with problems. I did not expect to read about labor shortages in Japan and Korea, hopefully these countries will be more fair towards migrant workers (especially Japan). I would like to read more about the parks and wildlife in these regions. The fact that the DZM zone between north and south Korea is now flooded with wildlife shows that every cloud has a silver lining.