As a result of their tradition, tourism development, industrialisation, waste management, agricultural practices and a multitude of other activities, Japanese have made themselves different.

Kyoto, Tradition and Tourism

Kyoto, Japan’s former capital is a veritable haven for tradition which has hitherto served as an important tool for tourism. Situated about 500 kilometres from the present capital, Tokyo, this city with very few interwoven streets and tall buildings is surrounded by hills and mountains. It is considered one of the best municipalities of the country’s 47 prefectures.

The shrines and temples of Kyoto offer a rare link between modern life in the city and its very ancient past. The city admits about 45 million tourists annually. Apart from the temples and shrines, Lake Biwa Canal constitutes a major attraction in Kyoto. The idea of building a canal from Lake Biwa was hatched by Kitagaki Kunimichi, the third governor of Kyoto Prefecture after witnessing the decline of the city after the capital was transferred to Tokyo in 1868. His strategy was to make the Biwa canal a transport artery, bring new wealth into the city, and use the water power to stimulate new industries. The first canal measuring 2,436 metres was constructed between 1885 and 1890 and the second commenced 20 years after.

A visit to Kyoto will certainly be incomplete without an exhaustive call at its temples and shrines. In effect, there are thousands of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Kyoto.  The five great Zen Buddhism temples include Nanzen-ji Temple, Shokoku-ji Temple, Tenryu-ji Temple and the Golden and Silver Pavilions (Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji).

Worthy of note is the fact that about 90 million Japanese are Buddhists while 110 million are of the Shinto religion. Less than one per cent of Japanese are Christians.

Mount Fuji, Symbol of a People

Spirituality, calmness, solemnity and unparalleled beauty is what Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan represents to the people. The mountain is known to have tacitly taught Japanese to strive to be beautiful, pure and broad-minded. In effect, Mt. Fuji is a Japanese ideal image having the tremendous divine power of heaven and earth within itself. Early poets, notably the Manyo poets regarded Mt. Fuji as a god. Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taishi Shrine, candidate of the World Cultural Heritage site is one of the attractions around the Fuji Mountain.

The Shrine, constructed in 806 AD is located in the city of Fujinomiya where the population lives thanks to the clear water from Mt. Fuji. In fact, the Hongu Sengen Taishi Shrine is part of the Mt. Fuji Shrine Complex. It is the leading shrine of the more than 1,300 related Sengen shrines throughout Japan.

Power of Industrial Prowess

Industrial development constitutes the solid base on which Japan’s growth has hinged. A sharp visitor needs just hours on arrival in one of the cities in Japan to observe the industrial-oriented nature of the country. This was the case with the journalists from about 20 African countries who visited some of the industrial sites of Emperor Akihito’s country. One of such discoveries was the Nissan Oppama car manufacturing plant. The peculiarity of the Oppama plant is the production of electric cars which started in December, 2010.

So far, the industry has produced 62,000 electric cars which have been exported to Europe and North America. Established in Yokohama, Kanagawa in 1933, the Nissan Motor Company Limited, currently manufactures vehicles in 20 countries around the World including Japan. The Oppama plant produces about 450 cars a day and 10,000 a month, 10 per cent of which are electric cars. The shipments are done on weekly bases, most of the time twice a week with some ships transporting about 5,000 vehicles at once. It takes 15 hours to assemble one vehicle and each car requires between 25 and 30,000 different parts to be complete. Electronic cars use 10,000 parts less than the conventional car.

Sake: Companion of Japanese Diet

Whereas the car industry is classed under large scale producing sector, Japan continues to promote teething industries of small scale magnitude. One of such industries that have incidentally made a name in the country is the Sake Brewery industry. Even though it remains classified as small scale, it has grown exponentially throughout the years.

The country today counts about 2,000 Sake brewery factories nationwide including the Fuji Takasago Sake Brewery. Made primarily from rice, Sake is a fermented beverage brewed using a microorganism called Koji and yeast. It has an alcohol content of from 13 to 16 percent. Many varieties of Sake do exist and it can be enjoyed either warm or chilled depending on the season.

Metal-Spinning: From Frying Pan to Aircraft Equipment

Hard to believe but the pride of the inhabitants of Tokyo is in the presence of the Kitajima Shibori Seisakusyo Co. Limited. Established in November, 1947, this company has since specialised in metal spinning; spinning parts of lamps and lighting equipment, space carrier and nuclear power. Parts of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, architectural decoration and other spinning parts for medical beaker, vase, teapot, and pepper grinder among others.

The company initially processed household appliances including pans, frying pans and kettles as well as lamp shades, mirrors for automobile and medical equipment. It uses as inputs: aluminium, copper, brass, iron, titanium, bronze, nickel, gold and silver among others.

The Culture of Waste Management

The Setagaya Incineration Plant and the Tokyo Metropolitan Landfill site are two of the several structures set up to handle the thousands of tons of refuse produced daily in the city of Tokyo. The Setagaya Incineration Plant is the newest of the 19 plants of the umbrella association code name, “Clean Association of Tokyo 23.”

The incinerator treats 300 tons of waste a day hygienically and stably having as aim to preserve a clean and hygienic environment and reduce the volume of landfill waste by about one-twentieth. The plant is equipped with the latest pollution-prevention equipment, preventing the generation of dioxins and other pollutants.

Waste management is well organised in Tokyo with the Municipality playing a key coordination role. The duty of collecting, transporting and recovering of refuse is performed by the 23 districts of Tokyo equally known as cities while intermediate treatment such as incineration and pulverisation is performed by the Clean Association of Tokyo 23. Final disposal is consigned to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Currently, the waste disposal of the 23 districts is being handled in the outer Central Breakwater Landfill Site and the New Sea Disposal Site located around the Tokyo port zone.