Oil in Japan

Japan has very few natural resources, and that includes oil. They produce only about six percent of our requirements. They are dependent on imports for ninety-four percent of the oil they need. Three-quarters of it comes from the Middle East. They also get some oil from Indonesia, and some from China. They are looking for new sources of oil all the time.

It means they're especially vulnerable during an oil crisis. Sharp increases in the price of imported oil can have serious effects in Japan. And so can the cutting off of some of the supply. The international oil situation is of great concern to Japanese.

They are looking for alternate energy sources. We have been exploring every possibility, both to get new sources of oil, and also to develop new sources of energy. This includes everything from the use of coal again to the development of nuclear energy.

The Status of the Emperor in Japan

It's very similar to the status of the king or queen of England. The emperor is the symbolic head of state, with no real governmental power. His duties, like convening the Diet, for example. are ceremonial. Since the end of World War Two, Japan has been a constitutional monarchy. And the function and duties of the emperor are defined by the constitution that was adopted at that time.

It was not the same in the past. Before the war, the emperor of Japan was considered a god. That's all changed now. But the emperor still has a very special status to millions of Japanese, who respect him as a symbol of the nation.

The present emperor is Emperor Akihito (born on 23 December 1933) and the 125th Emperor according to Japan's traditional order of succession. He became emperor in 1989 after his father, Emperor Showa died and is the 17th most senior monarch or lifelong leader. Emperor Akhihito is married to a commoner, Empress Michiko. They have two sons, Crown Prince Naruhito and Prince Fumihito, and a daughter, Princess Sayako.

Political Parties in Japan

The major political parties in Japan are the Liberal Democratic party, the New Frontier Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Komei, the New Party Sakigake and the Japan Communist Party. Among them, the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Frontier Party are conservative, the Komei and the Sakigake Party are middle-of-the-road, and the Social Democratic and the Japan Communist Party are liberal. And there are other, smaller parties as well.

The Liberal Democratic Party used to be the most powerful. Since 1955 when it was formed, it dominated the legislature, which they call the Diet. But in the early '90s, with the issue of domestic political corruption and the end of the Cold War, certain political reforms took place. The Liberal Democratic Party, while still powerful, hasn't been able to resume its former role. The New Frontier Party is the dominant reformist party. Because no one party is strong enough to form a government, a series of coalition governments has been the recent trend.

The political reforms aren't finished yet. But so far, they are working. For example, they now have new election systems to make the voting fairer and new election laws to restrict political contributions.

Second Language in Japan..

English is the second language in Japan. Almost all Japanese school children study English, beginning in junior high. Some even begin in elementary school. One major reason is that most students have to take English tests as part of the high school and university entrance exams. Another is that a knowledge of English is considered an advantage. Therefore, many Japanese now have at least some knowledge of English.

On the whole, Japanese can't really say they speak English well. They work very hard at learning English, but their knowledge is mostly passive. They can read and understand English much better than they can speak it.

Perhaps it's because few Japanese students ever get a chance to practice outside of the classroom. There are millions of Japanese studying English in Japan. But there are relatively few English-speakers for them to talk with.

Japanese Writing

Traditionally, Japanese has been written vertically. But now horizontal writing is used too. When they write vertically, they begin at the top of the right side of the page and go down. Each new line follows to the left. When they write horizontally, they start at the top left-hand side of the page and go from left to right, as in English. It's just as easy to write one way as the other.

Most books, magazines, and newspapers are printed in the vertical style. This is because it is somewhat easier to read Japanese this way. But it's easier to use the horizontal style if passages from foreign languages are included.

The front of a Japanese book is where the back of an English book would be. Almost all Japanese books open from left to right-like a Hebrew or an Arabic book. It's the same with newspapers too.

Chinese Characters

There are about 2,000 basic characters that every Japanese should know. Japanese learn 996 of these - the most essential ones - during the six years of elementary school. They call the Chinese characters KANJI. Japanese have to learn to read them and write them. This is one of the main tasks for every Japanese student. But with the 2,000 basic KANJI , they can read almost anything in the daily press.

It is impossible to say how many chinese characters are there. Even the experts disagree. Some say there are about 60,000, others say 80,000 or more.

All Japanese should know at least the 2,000 basic kanji. But most of them, especially university graduates, know thousands more as well.

Is it difficult to learn Japanese?

It's difficult to answer this question. Japanese people usually think that Japanese is very difficult for foreigners to learn. But, in fact, it's no more difficult than many other languages. Each language has its own special problems for learners. And Japanese has some features that take time to master. But many foreigners have learned Japanese very well.


It's probably hardest to master the different levels of speech. The kind of language Japanese use differs according to the relationship between the speakers. It's not very easy to get a feel for this.

Reading and writing is the other difficult part of Japanese. In order to read and write, you have to learn quite a few characters. There are about a hundred phonetic characters, called kana, and at least 2,000 different Chinese characters, or kanji, to learn.