The latest news reports claim that falling birth rates show that Japan will not have any kids under 15 by 3011. The results of the stunning study also reveal that the population of Japan could disappear in no less than 1,000 years. In the present the number of children under 14 is 16.6 million but it is decreasing rapidly. Hiroshi Yoshida, an economics professor at Tohoku University,’ told AFP that, “If the rate of decline continues, we will be able to celebrate the Children’s Day public holiday on May 5, 3011 as there will be one child,”. He also added that, “But 100 seconds later there will be no children left,[...]The overall trend is towards extinction, which started in 1975 when Japan’s fertility rate fell below two.”.

According to scientific reports the number of older people increases constantly. Japan struggles with the problem of pensioners and the decreasing number of workers who could support these sums. According to DailyMail.co.uk “Life expectancy – already the highest in the world – is expected to rise from 86.39 years in 2010 to 90.93 years in 2060 for women and from 79.64 years to 84.19 years for men.”.

Image courtesy of DailyMail.co.uk

Analysis of the disaster that stuck Japan on March 11 reveals and that caused multiple worries concerning radiation from nuclear plants reveals a positive conclusion that can prove to be a source of relief for most of the parties involved.

It appears that the levels of radiations have not reached high levels that could greatly impact the health of the population. A study that was conducted between March and June led by Ikuo Kashiwakura and it showed the fact that the levels were low to non-existent in the majority of cases and that only 10 people among those tested have had high levels of contamination. Even so, neither of them required decontamination.

While the findings are encouraging the monitorization for long term effects will not stop and the population will definitely be constantly evaluated for potential risk in terms of long term health. Still, the findings are quite reassuring.

A panel which was tasked to investigate the nuclear disaster in Japan following the devastating tsunami earlier in the year, has released the interim report of its findings. The panel was created by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and one of its prime tasks was to determine how many hydrogen blasts took place and at which reactors. The panel was also tasked to identify if the disaster was made worse by technical flaws.

After the investigation, the panel wrote that there was no hydrogen blast at Plant 2. TEPCO announced in March that there has been an explosion at the Fukushima Plant 2. The company announced that the blast took place on the 15^th of March, four days after the deadly tsunami.

However the report identified that the explosion that was heard on that particular day did not come from Plant 2 but rather Plant 4. Contrary to what has been entered into several official documents in Japan, four hydrogen explosions did not take place after the tsunami. Though several exploding sounds were heard, officials say data at the Fukushima reactors revealed that there were only three hydrogen explosions.

The document is currently not official because an independent third party team has not verified it. The company plans to get the report audited before it can be released to the public. Details of the report has however been made public through a press briefing by the panel.

The panel identified that the first hydrogen explosion took place just a day after the tsunami struck. The report said Plant 1 was the first to explode because of pressure build-up inside. On the 12^th of March, the report says the first hydrogen explosion took place at the reactor. Two days later on the morning of the 14^th of March, the report says the second explosion took place at Reactor No. 3.

On the 15^th of March, a double explosion was heard and TEPCO announced then that there have been hydrogen explosions in Reactors 2 and 4 but the report says the explosion only took place in Reactor 4. There was no explosion in Reactor 2 as it was earlier announced, the report says.

Though the report identified that some damage might have been done to Reactor 2 the panel failed to give further details on that.

Another highlight of the report is the exoneration of TEPCO of any wrongdoing. The panel says the massive nature of the tsunami made it almost impossible for the company to handle the catastrophe that it brought in its wake. The report argued that no one was in the position to predict what would happen if a disaster of such scale occurs.

The 11^th of March quake is one of the deadliest natural disasters in the history of Japan. The quake was triggered by a massive 9.1 quake that flattened several houses in the coastal part of the country. The rescue mission was compounded by the damage that the tsunami did to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. The cooling system of the plant became unresponsive and the temperature in the reactors kept rising. Multiple blasts in the plant sent radiation into the sky and that hampered the rescue efforts.

The TEPCO fact-finding committee was put together on the 11^th of June to come out with what actually happened at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. The panel is made up of TEPCO officials and the company plans to get the report audited by a third party before its planned release to the public in November.

The third party verification committee is made up of seven members and will be led by University of Tokyo’s professor emeritus Genki Yagawa.

China surpassed Japan in the second quarter of current fiscal year to become the world’s second largest economy. The number position is still held by the US. This position has been acquired by China after almost three decades of fabulous growth.

This milestone was being anticipated by the world for quite some time and is evidence towards china’s ascendancy. The world might have to gear up to face a new economic super power.

Japan’s economy, in the second quarter, was valued at about $1.28 trillion below the $1.33 trillion Chinese economy. Tokyo said that the growth rate of Japanese economy has been less than the forecasted 0.4 percent suggesting that the Chinese economy will race past for almost for the full year, the Japanese economy.

Experts have said that China’s growing dominance in the world economy is primarily attributed to unseating Japan and it has in recent years surpasses Germany, Great Britain and France as well. This bolsters speculations and forecasts about China racing past the US for the numero uno position and becoming the world’s largest economy by as early as 2030. The gross domestic product of the US in 2009 was about $ 14 trillion.

Economists say that this fact has enormous significance. China has been overshadowing Japan economically for a majority part of this decade and the fact that it has surpassed it re-confirms it. For the world, especially in and around the China region, the US or Japan are no longer the biggest trading partner. This position now belongs to China.

For Japan this isn’t surprising news. The Japanese economy was stagnating for almost more than 10 years now and had started showing declining trends in both economic and political power. During 1980s, Japan was seen as another economy superpower and there were talks everywhere that it will overtake US one day. Japan had been the world’s second largest economy for the majority part of the last four decades.

But while the Japanese population is quickly ageing and the economy is mature, China is far from being completely developed. It has a very poor standard of living and there is a lot more scope for it to grow. It has approximately the same land area as the United States but it is weighed down by a fifth of the world’s population and inadequate resources. The per capita income of the Chinese population is at the same level as those of the impoverished nations like Albania, El Salvador and Algeria- which are roughly around $ 3600 while that of the US is about $ 46000.

Yet there is little doubt that China under the guidance of the Communist Party has began to exert a lot of clout on the global economy and has started to reshape the way it functions because of its increasing dominance in huge hoard of foreign exchange reserves, trade and its insatiable appetite for coal, oil, iron ore and other natural resources. China has proved itself to be a major driver of growth in the global arena. The nation has started exerting greater influence in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

The US people had a habit of railing against imported cars! But now, two new cars have been introduced from the Japan family- Honda and Toyota. Recently Car.com (Chicago) declared its yearly ranking of cars and is it from here that we came to know that most of the so called “made in U.S.A” cars are from Japan. Since 1980s, these automakers have implemented production facilities in the US to undercut the anti-Japanese angst which rose with the global stature and competitiveness of the country in the global markets. Let us now check out the rankings announced by Car.com. Here we go-

1. Toyota Camry

2. Honda Accord

3. Ford Escape

4. Ford Focus

5. Chevrolet Malibu

6. Honda Odyssey Lincoln

7. Dodge Ram 1500

8. Toyota Tundra

9. Jeep Wrangler

10. Toyota Sienna

Well, let’s see how well these rankings do in leaving a mark in the minds of car lovers.