Water is essential for life. After a few days without water, your body grows severely dehydrated, and death may soon follow. Water is arguably the most important of all the natural resources. Fortunately, water is extremely abundant in Japan. The Pacific Ocean surrounds the entire country, lakes are common, and also large amounts of rivers and streams wind around the country. The vast economy and people of Japan heavily rely on water for drinking, transportation, trade, and fishing.
Many bodies of water are located in or around Japan. Some large and powerful rivers in Japan are the Sinano River, Tone River, and the Isikari River, which averages a discharge of 520 m^3/second.8 These rivers are used for fishing and transportation. Japan also houses multiple lakes. The largest Japanese lake is Lake Biwa, with an area around 370 square kilometers.9 Lake Biwa is also one of the oldest lakes in the world, originating around 4 million years ago.9 Japan is also surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the largest ocean in the world. Due to this location, Japan can easily trade with the “West”. It also gives them the chance to fish, and even mine rare-earth minerals. Japan holds many different bodies of water, varying from small streams to vast, ancient lakes.
People in Japan use water very efficiently and in many different ways.Japan also pulls a lot of their food from out of the water.Sushi, or raw fish, is one of the most common foods in Japan, second to only rice.3 Because of this, Japanese people greatly rely on fishing for food. According to countries quest.com, the Japanese fishing industry is the second largest in the world. In 1997, Japanese fishermen hauled in a stunning 6.7 million metric tons of fish.3 Enormous amounts
of money are gained through the fishing industry. Among this enormous amount of money earned through the fishing industry, is a recently caught 480 pound bluefin tuna, which sold for a record $1.76 million.2 If Japan didn't have such a large fishing industry, millions of dollars more would be spent importing fish, weakening the economy of Japan. Big Japanese companies such as Nintendo rely on the Pacific to ship their products to the rest of the world. Obviously, average citizens of Japan must use water as well. The average person in Japan uses 374 liters of water per day.1 Compared to the United States, were the average person uses around 575 liters a day, Japanese people are very efficient in conserving water.1 People in Japan have come to rely on the water that surrounds them, and are very good at conserving it.
$1.76 Million Tuna
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Lake Biwa
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