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The Metabolic Transition in Japan

Author

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  • Fridolin Krausmann
  • Simone Gingrich
  • Reza Nourbakhch‐Sabet
Abstract
The notion of a (socio‐) metabolic transition has been used to describe fundamental changes in socioeconomic energy and material use during industrialization. During the last century, Japan developed from a largely agrarian economy to one of the world's leading industrial nations. It is one of the few industrial countries that has experienced prolonged dematerialization and recently has adopted a rigorous resource policy. This article investigates changes in Japan's metabolism during industrialization on the basis of a material flow account for the period from 1878 to 2005. It presents annual data for material extraction, trade, and domestic consumption by major material group and explores the relations among population growth, economic development, and material (and energy) use. During the observed period, the size of Japan's metabolism grew by a factor of 40, and the share of mineral and fossil materials in domestic material consumption (DMC) grew to more than 90%. Much of the growth in the Japanese metabolism was based on imported materials and occurred in only 20 years after World War II (WWII), when Japan rapidly built up large stocks of built infrastructure, developed heavy industry, and adopted patterns of mass production and consumption. The surge in material use came to an abrupt halt with the first oil crisis, however. Material use stabilized, and the economy eventually began to dematerialize. Although gross domestic product (GDP) grew much faster than material use, improvements in material intensity are a relatively recent phenomenon. Japan emerges as a role model for the metabolic transition but is also exceptional in many ways.

Suggested Citation

  • Fridolin Krausmann & Simone Gingrich & Reza Nourbakhch‐Sabet, 2011. "The Metabolic Transition in Japan," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 15(6), pages 877-892, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:15:y:2011:i:6:p:877-892
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-9290.2011.00376.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Marco Bianchi & Carlos Tapia & Ikerne del Valle, 2020. "Monitoring domestic material consumption at lower territorial levels: A novel data downscaling method," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(5), pages 1074-1087, October.
    2. Andrew Leigh, 2021. "Putting the Australian Economy on the Scales," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 54(1), pages 19-35, March.
    3. Miatto, Alessio & Schandl, Heinz & Tanikawa, Hiroki, 2017. "How important are realistic building lifespan assumptions for material stock and demolition waste accounts?," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 143-154.
    4. Kalimeris, Panos & Bithas, Kostas & Richardson, Clive & Nijkamp, Peter, 2020. "Hidden linkages between resources and economy: A “Beyond-GDP” approach using alternative welfare indicators," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    5. Martinico-Perez, Marianne Faith G. & Schandl, Heinz & Fishman, Tomer & Tanikawa, Hiroki, 2018. "The Socio-Economic Metabolism of an Emerging Economy: Monitoring Progress of Decoupling of Economic Growth and Environmental Pressures in the Philippines," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 155-166.
    6. Gingrich, Simone & Lauk, Christian & Krausmann, Fridolin & Erb, Karl-Heinz & Le Noë, Julia, 2021. "Changes in energy and livestock systems largely explain the forest transition in Austria (1830–1910)," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    7. Magalhães, Nelo & Fressoz, Jean-Baptiste & Jarrige, François & Le Roux, Thomas & Levillain, Gaëtan & Lyautey, Margot & Noblet, Guillaume & Bonneuil, Christophe, 2019. "The Physical Economy of France (1830–2015). The History of a Parasite?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 291-300.
    8. Kostas Bithas & Panos Kalimeris, 2017. "The Material Intensity of Growth: Implications from the Human Scale of Production," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 1011-1029, September.
    9. Jiajia Huan & Ling Han, 2022. "Potential Contribution to Carbon Neutrality Strategy from Industrial Symbiosis: Evidence from a Local Coal-Aluminum-Electricity-Steel Industrial System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-14, February.
    10. Tobias Wendler, 2019. "About the Relationship Between Green Technology and Material Usage," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(3), pages 1383-1423, November.
    11. West, James & Schandl, Heinz, 2013. "Material use and material efficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 19-27.
    12. Euclides Santos Bittencourt & Cristiano Hora de Oliveira Fontes & Jorge Laureano Moya Rodriguez & Salvador Ávila Filho & Adonias Magdiel Silva Ferreira, 2020. "Modeling the Socioeconomic Metabolism of End-of-Life Tires Using Structural Equations: A Brazilian Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-28, March.
    13. Singh, Simron Jit & Krausmann, Fridolin & Gingrich, Simone & Haberl, Helmut & Erb, Karl-Heinz & Lanz, Peter & Martinez-Alier, Joan & Temper, Leah, 2012. "India's biophysical economy, 1961–2008. Sustainability in a national and global context," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 60-69.
    14. K. Bithas & P. Kalimeris, 2018. "Matter Matters: Reconsidering the (De)materialization of a Hundred Years of Growth," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-10, March.
    15. Pauline Deutz & Giuseppe Ioppolo, 2015. "From Theory to Practice: Enhancing the Potential Policy Impact of Industrial Ecology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-15, February.
    16. Krausmann, Fridolin & Gaugl, Birgit & West, James & Schandl, Heinz, 2016. "The metabolic transition of a planned economy: Material flows in the USSR and the Russian Federation 1900 to 2010," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 76-85.
    17. West, James & Schandl, Heinz & Krausmann, Fridolin & Kovanda, Jan & Hak, Tomas, 2014. "Patterns of change in material use and material efficiency in the successor states of the former Soviet Union," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 211-219.
    18. Fishman, Tomer & Schandl, Heinz & Tanikawa, Hiroki, 2015. "The socio-economic drivers of material stock accumulation in Japan's prefectures," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 76-84.
    19. Ta-Thi Huong & Liang Dong & Izhar Hussain Shah & Hung-Suck Park, 2021. "Exploring the Sustainability of Resource Flow and Productivity Transition in Vietnam from 1978 to 2017: MFA and DEA-Based Malmquist Productivity Index Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-26, October.
    20. Julia K Steinberger & Fridolin Krausmann & Michael Getzner & Heinz Schandl & Jim West, 2013. "Development and Dematerialization: An International Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-11, October.
    21. Souhil Harchaoui & Petros Chatzimpiros, 2018. "Energy, Nitrogen, and Farm Surplus Transitions in Agriculture from Historical Data Modeling. France, 1882–2013," Post-Print hal-02999180, HAL.
    22. Marina Fischer-Kowalski & Daniel Hausknost, 2014. "Large-scale Societal Transitions in the Past. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 55," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 47187, March.
    23. Kostas Bithas & Panos Kalimeris & Eleni Koilakou, 2021. "Re‐estimating the energy intensity of growth with implications for sustainable development. The myth of the decoupling effect," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 441-452, March.
    24. Raupova, Ozoda & Kamahara, Hirotsugu & Goto, Naohiro, 2014. "Assessment of physical economy through economy-wide material flow analysis in developing Uzbekistan," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 76-85.
    25. Jadhao, Sachin B. & Pandit, Aniruddha B. & Bakshi, Bhavik R., 2017. "The evolving metabolism of a developing economy: India’s exergy flows over four decades," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 851-857.

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