Many local features of Japan’s island home are as important as its
geographical position. Its natural beauties have fed the highly
developed aesthetic sense of the Japanese people. No one who has
traveled the Inland Sea can forget its sparkling waters, or the lovely
islands which dot its surface. The majestic beauty of Mt. Fuji is world
famous. Hallowed associations enhance its snow-capped splendor for the
Japanese.
Not all characteristics of the group of Japanese islands are so
favorable. Many of its mountains are volcanic in origin. Several
volcanoes are still active. Earthquakes occur frequently. (The
disastrous earthquake of 1923, with over 150,000 dead and injured, is
still fresh in our memories.) Typhoons, sweeping in from the sea in
destructive assault, are also common. So nature contributes an element
of insecurity to the life of the Japanese, offsetting the protection
their isolation gives them.
Today other natural features give rise to a more serious insecurity.
Japan’s territory is small, barely the size of California, the
population is large and prolific. Four-fifths of the islands are so
mountainous that they are useless for the intensive rice cultivation
which is the principal Japanese agricultural pursuit. In recent times,
when modern industry became necessary, the Japanese islands were found
to lack most minerals. Water power is abundant, and can be harnessed to
produce electricity. There are considerable reserves of coal, though
not of good coking quality. But there is little iron, and even less of
the minor but still important metals. To these factors, which have not
prevented the Japanese from becoming an industrial nation, we shall
have to return later on.