Geography of Korea and Japan

Geography of Korea and Japan
Unit 1 - Comparative Asian Societies: Korea & Japan
Key Questions

How does the geography of Japan and Korea help influence national
identity?

How susceptible are Japan and the Koreas to natural disasters?

How does geography affect the foreign relations between China, Japan, the
Koreas?

How does the geography of Japan and Korea affect their national security?
Japan
•
The Japanese archipelago (island
chain) consists of 3,900 islands. The
FOUR most important are -Honshû,
Shikoku, Kyûshû and Hokkaidô.
•
At the closest point, the main Japanese
islands are 120 miles away from the
mainland.
•
Unlike China and Korea, the borders of
Japan have stayed relatively stable
throughout most of its history due to
its geographic status as a group of
islands.
In comparison, Great Britain, which is, at the narrowest point of
the English Channel, only 21 miles from Europe.
Great Britain
Japan
Japan
•
Cultural differences between the east
(Kanto region) and the west (Kansai
region) of Honshu date to the earliest
times.
•
The Kanto region centers on the Kanto
plain, the site of the present capital
and Japan’s largest city, Tokyo.
•
The early capitals Nara and Kyoto,
however, were located in the Kansai
region, another area of relatively flat
land in the west.
Japan and the Korean Peninsula
•
The total land space of the Japanese islands is
about 142,000 square miles (377,915 sq. km).
The population and areas of agriculture are
therefore concentrated together.
•
By comparison, the whole Korean peninsula is
about 220,258 sq. km and China is 9,596,961
sq. km = 4th largest in the world.
Tokyo
•
Formerly known as Edo. Tokyo means “eastern capital. ” (to –
east / kyo – capital)
•
Became capital of Japan during Meiji Restoration in 1868.
Prior to that it became an important city under the Tokugawa
Shogunate in 1603.
•
One of 47 Prefectures in Japan. City population = 8.7 million
•
Largest metropolitan area in the world – 35 million people /
New York is third with 22 million.
•
Ranked MOST EXPENSIVE CITY in the WORLD by
Marketwatch.com (Osaka is 3rd)
•
Tokyo experienced 2 major catastrophes in the 20th century:
1. 1923 Great Kanto earthquake – 144,000 dead
missing
2. U.S. bombing of Tokyo in 1944 killed between 75144,000 dead & missing.
&
How Geography Saved the
Japanese from the Mongols!
•
The Japanese attribute their victory over the Mongols to
storms that wrecked the Mongol fleets during both
attempted invasions in 1274 and 1281.
•
They concluded that Japan was protected from invasion
by a divine wind, or Kamikaze, which was invoked in
World War II to inspire pilots to launch suicide attacks on
allied ships.
•
As Central Asian nomads, the Mongols had little
experience of the sea and used subjugated Chinese and
Koreans to build their fleets.
•
The Mongols that did manage to land are reputed to
have had some success against the Japanese, who
struggled to match their skilled use of mounted archers.
•
But on both occasions, the Mongols and the Chinese and
Korean troops under their command, headed back out
to sea to try to ride out approaching typhoons - and that
proved to be their downfall.
The Korean Peninsula
•
The whole Korean peninsula is about 220,258 sq. km:
- South Korea is 99,720 sq. km.
- North Korea is 120,538 sq. km
•
Mountains & hills are THE significant geographical feature on
the Korean peninsula. There are very few lowlands and those
that exist tend to be the sites of major cities today.
•
About 3,579 islands are found off of the Korean coastline
•
Over the last 2,000 years the Korean peninsula has been
wracked by eight major invasions and countless smaller wars
and incursions. Strategically situated on a partial land bridge
in the Yellow Sea interaction sphere, the peninsula has been a
natural access route for invasions to and from the Asian
mainland.
Seoul
•
Originated from the Korean word for “capital city.”
•
Became capital city of Korea during the Choson Dynasty in 1392.
•
Early 20th century - Seoul was the first city in East Asia to have
electricity, trolley cars, water, telephone and telegraph systems
all at the same time. Much of this was due to trade with the
United States, and the Seoul Electric Company, Seoul Electric
Trolley Company, and Seoul Fresh Spring Water Company were all
U.S.-owned.
•
During the Korean War, Seoul was completely destroyed.
•
Located approx. 30 miles south of the DMZ
•
City population 10.4 million / metropolitan population – almost
25 million – 2nd in the world after Tokyo / 25% of entire
population lives in Seoul / 50% of entire population lives in Seoul
Metropolitan area
Natural Resources
Japan

Negligible mineral resources, fish

With virtually no energy natural
resources, Japan is the world's largest
importer of coal and liquefied natural
gas, as well as the second largest
importer of oil

3/11 – the nuclear disaster at
Fukushima as a result of the
earthquake & tsunami makes Japan
even more dependent on foreign oil &
gas
South Korea

Coal, tungsten, graphite,
molybdenum, lead, hydropower
potential
North Korea
•
Coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite,
magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold,
pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower
Natural Hazards
Japan



Many dormant and some active
volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic
occurrences (mostly tremors but
occasional severe earthquakes)
every year
Tsunamis
Typhoons
South Korea

Occasional typhoons bring high winds and
floods.

Low-level seismic activity common in
southwest. Overall, the Korean peninsula is
geologically more stable than either northeast
China or Japan, regions that both have a
history of serious earthquake activity.
North Korea
•
Late spring droughts often followed by severe
flooding; occasional typhoons during the early
fall
Japan – Terrain & Arable Land
•
The Japanese islands are covered
by mountains, most of them
heavily forested, and
crisscrossed by short, swift rivers.
Only a few of the rivers are
navigable.
•
Only about 11.64 % of Japan's
land mass is suitable for
agriculture, the same land that is
also most suitable for living.
North & South Korea – Terrain & Arable Land
The peninsula is very mountainous –
divided by eight major mountain ranges.
Only about 16.58% of South Korea's land mass is suitable
for agriculture compared to North Korea’s 22.4%.
Current Conflicts: Japan vs. China
>> Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands
Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands
China’s Claim
Japan’s Claim

China says that the Diaoyu islands have been part of its
territory since ancient times, serving as important
fishing grounds administered by the province of Taiwan.

On 14 January 1895 Japan formally incorporated the
islands into its territory. The islands became part of
modern-day Okinawa prefecture.

Taiwan was ceded to Japan in the Treaty of
Shimonoseki in 1895, after the Sino-Japanese war.

After World War II Japan renounced claims to a
number of territories and islands including Taiwan in
the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco.

When Taiwan was returned in the Treaty of San
Francisco, China says the islands - as part of it - should
also have been returned.

But under the treaty the Nansei Shoto islands came
under US trusteeship and were then returned to Japan
in 1971, under the Okinawa reversion deal.

Japan says that China raised no objections to the San
Francisco deal. And it says that it is only since the
1970s, when the issue of oil resources in the area
emerged, that Chinese and Taiwanese authorities
began pressing their claims.

But Beijing says Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek did
not raise the issue, even when the Diaoyu islands were
named in the later Okinawa reversion deal, because he
depended on the US for support.
Why do these islands even
matter???????
They matter because…..
•they are
close to strategically important shipping lanes
• offer rich fishing grounds
•thought to
contain oil deposits.
Commercial Fishing
•
China, the Koreas, and Japan are major
consumers of fish and seafood.
•
China is the 2nd largest exporter of fish.
•
Japan’s seafood industry was
devastated after 3/11. Slow to recover.
Oil Dependency of China, Japan, and South Korea…..
Chinese Offshore Oil Production
and Disputed Territories
•
About 15 % of overall Chinese oil production is
from shallow offshore reserves, a large
contributor of China's incremental oil
production growth.
•
Territorial disputes in the East China Sea have
so far limited large-scale development of fields
in the region, where China and Japan's
Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).
•
The two countries have held negotiations to
resolve the disputes:
•
In June 2008, the two countries reached an
agreement to develop jointly the
Chunxiao/Shirakaba and Longjing/Asurao fields.
However, in early 2009, the agreement
unraveled when China asserted sovereignty
over the fields. Tensions in the second half of
2010 have resurfaced between the two
countries over the gas fields.
•
Anti-Japanese Protests in China over the
status of the islands……
Japan-South Korea Territorial
Dispute: Dokdo/Takeshima
islands
•
Known as Dokdo (Solitary islands) in Korea,
Takeshima (Bamboo islands) in Japan
•
Both Japan and South Korea claim the islands, so
too does North Korea.
•
The islands themselves consist of two main islands
and about 30 smaller rocks. A South Korean
coastguard detachment has been stationed there
since 1954.
•
The islands are in good fishing grounds and it is
thought that gas reserves may also lie nearby,
although their amount is not clear.
Dokdo/Takeshima Islands Dispute
Japanese Claim
South Korean Claim

Japan established sovereignty over the islands by the
mid 17th Century, its sailors using it as a "navigational
port, docking point for ships and a rich fishing ground".

South Korea says Dokdo was recognized by Japan as
Korean territory in 1696, after a run-in between Korean
and Japanese fishermen.

It then incorporated the islands into modern-day
Shimane prefecture in 1905.


South Korea acted illegally by declaring them its
territory in 1952, it says, because they were not
included in territory to be returned under the San
Francisco Peace Treaty.
The island grouping was formally placed under the
jurisdiction of Uldo county in 1900, but annexed by
Japan in 1905 ahead of its colonization of the Korean
peninsula.

Dokdo was rightly restored to Korea after World War II,
according to the South Korean govt. "Dokdo is an
integral part of Korean territory historically,
geographically and under international law."

"The occupation of Takeshima by the ROK (South Korea)
is an illegal occupation undertaken on no basis of
international law," the ministry of foreign affairs says.
Korean Protests in Support of Disputed Islands….

South Korean singer Kim Jang-Hoon (R) swims in the sea off
Uljin, 225 kms southeast of Seoul, on August 13, 2012. He's
among more than 40 swimmers who are part of a politicallycharged relay team swimming from South Korea to the
contested islands of Dokdo, or Takeshima as they're known
in Japan.

South Korean soccer player Park Jong-woo did not get a
bronze Sunday when the Olympic medals were handed out
in a ceremony to the rest of his team because he held aloft
a sign that read “Dokdo is our territory.” The same day ROK
defeated Japan for the bronze medal, South Korean
President Lee Myung-bak visited the islands calling them
"worthy of sacrificing our lives."
Gyeongju Gyeongsangbuk-do
South Korea
South Korea
The View from Hotel Kanyo
Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture - JAPAN
Conclusion
•
Japan, South Korea, and China are heavily dependent on foreign
energy sources:
- major factor contributing to the
territorial disputes currently
happening
•
Japanese population = 127,368,088 but only 11.64% of the land is
arable. / South Korean population = 48,860,500 and 16.58% of the
land is arable.
•
Chinese influences like Buddhism & Confucianism came to Japan via
Korea. Japanese access to mainland Asia THROUGH Korea.
•
Korea has been greatly influenced in its political, cultural, and
intellectual history by China as a result of their close proximity.
•
Korea has either been colonized by its western neighbor (Japan) or
heavily influenced politically by its northern neighbor (Russia/USSR
& North Korea).