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This article shows how our increasing world population leads to increased concern in many different crisis areas.

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This part of the globalissues.org web site looks into the relationship between growing populations, the possible affects on the environment and the political factors that are at play.

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Despite Japan's population problems, it is still a very wealthy nation, with high quality of life and life expectancy. Other countries, like Singapore and the Netherlands have also found creative ways to deal with their high population rates and use their nation's wealth to provide viable options for people to thrive in such crowded atmospheres. In contrast, for poorer nations, such as India and Bangladesh, dense or concentrated populations can lead to health hazards, lack of jobs, land use issues including lack of food and resources leading to lowered life expectancy.

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Four Areas Most Affected by Population Density

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Four Areas Most Affected by Population Density

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The map below shows areas of Japan with the highest population density, represented by red dots.

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Japan is known for creating a very high volume of garbage because of the massive amount of people. There are 12 million people who produce 2-3 lbs. of trash per day. When you also include sewage, wastewater, and pollution, this becomes a huge problem. Industrial waste has historically polluted Japan's water and food sources, and acid rain continues to be a problem, even though Japan has many programs in place to reduce pollution and keep their cities clean. They have implemented recycling programs, and also wear masks to prevent the spread of disease. Despite high levels of pollution, they have a very high life expectancy related to other countries of the world. They are working hard to combat the effects of overpopulation.

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To save needed space, many Japanese families live in apartments that are no bigger than many American family rooms. They use rooms for many purposes, including taking out futon matresses to sleep in their living quarters. They also have miniature appliances, decorations, etc. Their hotels have "compartments" where people can rent cubbies to sleep in, rather than entire rooms.

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Nagoya, Japan's Underground mall:
http://www.mynagoya.net/shops/guide-to-nagoyas-shopping-malls/

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Japan's overpopulation makes land very scarce. They have learned to build up- using earth quake safe materials; to build underground, including underground shopping centers, zoos, parking garages, etc.; and to fill in wetlands to gain more land. This method unfortunately has a negative affect on aquatic wildlife. They use terraces to grow rice, their most important crop along mountain and hillsides like you see below. Still land conflicts are common.

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Japan uses public transportation to reduce traffic in their most highly populated areas. So many people ride the subway and trains that they hire "Pushers" to literally push as many people on the subways and trains as possible. They also limit car ownership to those who can prove they have parking spots off the street. Often these parking garages use elevators to stack cars on top of each other.

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"In 2009, the population density of Japan was 878 persons per square mile. In comparison, the United States had a population density of 87 persons per square mile. This means that Japan is more than 10 times as densely populated as the United States." (Teachtci.com)

The image to the right shows a Population Density map of Japan where the red areas are the most densely populated. The pictures around the outside are the major areas most affected by overpopulation and crowding.