GEOGRAPHY 110

Learning Module #10

Setting the Boundaries
 Setting the Boundaries
 East Asia
5 Countries
 China, Taiwan, North Korea,
South Korea, Japan
 Most heavily populated
region of world
 China = 1.35 billion people
 Economically…
 Tokyo, Japan
 China
 Environmental Geography: Resource
Pressures in a Crowded Land
 Severe environmental
problems driven by…
 Large Population
 Rapid Industrial Development

 Unique Physical Geography

 Environmental Protection
 Japan

 China
 Flooding, Dam Building, & Related
Issues in China
Three Gorges Controversy
 Yangtze River

 Governmental control

 Series of dams on Yangtze

built…
 Flooding, Dam Building, & Related
Issues in China
 Hydroelectric power supplier…
 Currently 80% of China’s power
from…
 Coal burning
 Flood control
 Lower & Middle Yangtze
 Periodic devastating flooding
 Flooding in Northern China
 Northern China Plain
 Huang He or Yellow River
 Upstream erosion
 Sediment Load: the amount of
sand, silt, and clay carried by a
river
 Course changes 26 times
 Mounting Pollution
 China
 Industrial base
 Airpollution
 Water pollution
 Toxic waste disposal

 Low quality coal

 Private vehicle ownership

 16 of the 20 world’s dirtiest cities in

China
 Air pollution leading to…
 Respiratory problems
 Mounting Pollution
 Japan, Taiwan, South Korean
 Japan
 1950s & 1960s
 Intensive Industrial Growth = Water &
Air Pollution
 Passage of strict environmental laws
 Location beneficial:
 Pollution exporting: process of
exporting industrial pollution & other
waste material to other countries.
Pollution exporting can be direct, as
when waste is shipped abroad for
disposal, or indirect when highly
polluting factories are constructed
abroad.
 Population and Settlement: A Realm of
Crowded Lowland Basins
 In general…
 Lowlands of…
 Japan, Korea, China
intensively used
 Home to major cities &
agriculture
 Generally…
 Since 1970s…
 Population growth rate ↓
 Japan’s concern is of population
loss
 Japanese Settlement & Agricultural
Patterns
 Japan
2of the largest metro. areas in the
world…
 Tokyo
 Osaka

 Extremely mountainous terrain…

 Japan’s Settlement Patterns
 Japanese cities
 Found in lowland basins
 Rural to urban migration
 Remote areas experiencing
population loss
3 Largest metro area
 Tokyo,Osaka, Nagoya
 Expansion into rural areas
would significantly decrease
amount of agricultural land
 Settlement & Agricultural Patterns in
China, Taiwan, & Korea
 Japan, Taiwan, South Korea
 China
 51% urbanization
 2 agricultural regions
 North of Yangtze River
 South of Yangtze River

 Northern Plain
 Anthropogenic landscapes: a
landscape heavily transformed
by human activity
 Korea & Taiwan
 Koreas
 71 million people
 23 million in North Korea
 48 million in South Korea

 Taiwan
 Mostdensely settled state of
East Asia
 The Global Dimensions of Chinese
Resource Demand
 1980s
 Economic growth implications…
 Ultimately leads to…
 China is a now a net food
importer
 Argument of agriculture
expansion
 Increase use of fertilizers
 Convert “wastelands” of grass &
scrub land into agricultural fields.
 City Systems of Japan & South
Korea
 South Korea
 Urban Primacy: concentration
of urban population in a single
city
 Seoul

 Japan
 Superconurbation: massive
urban agglomeration that results
from the coalescing of two or
more formerly separate metro.
areas
 Tokyo
 Metro area = 25-28 million
 Cultural Coherence & Diversity: A
Confucian Realm
The Chinese Writing System
Ideographic writing: A writing
system in which each symbol
represents a concept.
 Originates in China and

spreads to rest of East Asia.

 The Chinese Writing System
 Major disadvantage
 Comparatively difficult to learn
 Memorization of 1000s of characters
 Major advantage
 Written symbols spans different
languages
 Japan
 Kanji- the Chinese ideographs used in
Japanese writing
 Hiragana – main Japanese syllabrary,
used for writing indigenous worlds. Each
symbol stands for a particular vowel-
consonant combination.
 Katakana – parallel to hiragana but
devised word spellings for foreign words
 The Confucian Legacy
 Confucianism: the philosophy
developed by Confucius in the 6th
century B.C.E.
 Philosophy designed to create social
stability
 Stresses obedience to authority
 Leaders have responsibility to be
caring
 Stresses education of literature &
philosophy
 Family Unit
 Basic level of the moral order
 Patriarchal (male-dominated)
 Emperor
 Highest level of moral order
 Influence on Japan < China & Korea
 Mahayana Buddhism
 Belief in cycles of rebirth to
reach nirvana (cosmos)
 Mahayana simplifies process
to enlightenment…
 Non-exclusive
 Abilityto follow Mahayana &
other faiths
 Shinto
 Closely tied to Japanese
nationality
 Place & nature-centered
religion
 Mount Fuji
 Sacred site
 Climbed by religious pilgrims
 Taoism (Daoism)
 Rooted in China’s history
 Nature worship and spiritual
harmony
 Associated with feng shui (aka.
Geomancy)
 Geomancy: Chinese and
Korean practice of designing
buildings in accordance with
the principles of cosmic
harmony and discord that
supposedly course through
local topography
 Language & Ethnicity among the Han
Chinese
 Han Chinese
 Majorityof population
 Mandarin Chinese is the official
language of China
 Sinitic
language
 Tonal – language in which the
same set of basic sounds may have
very different meanings
depending on the pitch in which
they are uttered.
 Hong Kong
 Hong Kong
 British enclave
 Only site able to pursue international
cultural connections after 1949.
 Decades later doors are increasingly
opened to foreign influence
 Vibrant urban culture
 The Geopolitical Framework and Its Evolution:
The Imperial Legacies of China & Japan
China: The Modern Era
 Chinese Empire peaks in 1700s

 Decrease starts in 1800s

 Europeans begin to sell opium…
 Opium Wars
 Ultimately 2 opium wars occur
 European power continues to expand
 In 1858 Russia annexes Manchuria
 In 1900 China divided into…
 Spheres of Influence: European powers
have no true political authority but have
informal influence and large amounts of
economic clout.
 Post WWII Geopolitics
 East Asia
 Rivalriesbetween U.S. & Soviet
Union plays out
 Japan
 Postwar = 4 main islands +
Ryukyu archipelago
 The Division of China
 Conflict between nationalists & communists
 Nationalists favor capitalist economy
 Communists prevail in 1949

 Nationalists retreat to Taiwan

 1950s & 1960s recognized as only legitimate government of China
by U.S.
 U.S. changes alliance though U.S. does recognize Taiwan
 Economic and Social Development: An Emerging
Core of the Global Economy
 East Asia
 Rapid economic growth since
1970s
 Japan
 Set pace of world economy
from 1960s-1980s
 Origins begin with exportation
of inexpensive consumer goods.
 Economic and Social Development: An Emerging
Core of the Global Economy
Japan Cont.
 Early 1990s

 Collapse of inflated real-estate

market
 Relocate factories to Southeast
Asia & China
 Remains an global economic
participant
 Huge lender of money to
foreign firms & governments
 Living Standards and Social Conditions in Japan

 Living standards slightly < U.S.

 Benefits compared to U.S.
 Unemployment rates are lower
 Health care provided by
government
 Crime rates extremely low

 Social measures like literacy,

infant mortality, and life
expectancy are better than U.S.
 Lacks pockets of poverty seen in
U.S.
 China Under Communism

 “Great Leap Forward”

 “Cultural Revolution”
 Industrial Reform

 Special Economic Zones (SEZs):

Relatively small districts in China
that have been fully opened to
global capitalism.
 Shenzhen SEZ
 China joins WTO in 2001
 Social Conditions in China

 Population
 1.2billion in ½ of China’s land
area
 1980s
 Implement “one-child policy”
 Currently
 Birthrates lowest in largest cities
 Gender imbalance
 Gender Imbalance

 Male offspring
 Continues the family name
 Results in…
 Bearing of >1 child regardless of
penalties
 Gender selective abortion

 Abandonment of female babies

 Raises concern among

international women’s
organizations and anti-abortion
groups