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POSC 215
Kesselman, pgs. 258-263, C:CP22-15
Part IV
Japanese Politics in Transition
True/False Questions
1. Japan’s GDP per capita on a purchasing power parity is comparable to Britain and France
but well below that of the United States. True or False
2. An Asahi Shimbun poll taken about 2010 found an overwhelming 90 percent of Japanese
respondents deeply concerned and pessimistic about the future of their nation. True or False
3. On a positive note, the majority of the Japanese people were very satisfied with how the
government responded to the 2011 disaster. True or False
4. Japan’s average life expectancy at 84 years in 2013, among the longest in the world and
its birthrate of 8.23 per 1,000 persons is among the lowest in the world. True or False
5. The efforts by the Japanese central and local government efforts to reverse the trend from
low birthrates to higher rates have significantly succeeded, increasing birthrates to those of
low-income countries. True or False
6. A serious effort to cut government spending has been under way since the 1980s in Japan,
but has thus far failed to make a tangible dent in the enormous government debt problem.
True or False
7. Japan’s aging population problem is acute, but the same problem is nearly as serious in
most advanced and emerging industrial nations, including China. True or False
8. Japan’s economic and fiscal problems, such as low and falling growth rates and growing
budget deficits, are widely shared by most high-income nations. True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What is Japan’s GDP per capita on a purchasing power parity? a) $25,300, b) $35, 900, c)
$44,200, d) $51,700.
2. In 2010, according to a Japanese survey found the number of respondents satisfied with
their current personal economic conditions: a) one-fifth, b) one-fourth, c) one-half, d) twothirds.
3. Today, the elderly account for what percent of the overall population of Japan? a) 15%, b)
23%, c) 32%, d) 39%.
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4. The outstanding national government debt in 2013 stood at about 225 percent of Japan’s
GDP, or about what amount per citizen? a) $35,000, b) $40,000, c) $54,000, d) $60,000.
5. In an effort to take control of the skyrocketing government debt, since 1989 Japanese
cabinets introduced and steadily increased a national value-added tax, officially referred to
as a: a) consumption tax, b) expenditure tax, c) managerial tax, d) material tax.
6. On the World Youth Consciousness Survey of 2008, where were the Japanese youth
percentages lowest (excluding South Korea) than those of their foreign counterparts? a)
national identity, b) education, c) international standing, d) future development.
Fill-in Questions
1. People living longer and a small birthrate in Japan has resulted in:
a) a) a sharp increase in _______ _____ for the ________ and
b) a significant __________ in the number of ______, productive ________.
2. Upon reviewing Japan’s annual national debt to its GDP, these are the facts:
a) Over the last two decades, Japan’s GDP has grown by ___ percent, its annual
national government’s budget by ___ percent, and
b) the annual government spending for social welfare–related programs by ____
percent.
c) Meanwhile, the Japanese government budget has been chronically in deficit,
which has been routinely covered by newly issued government ______,
d) claiming nearly a ________ of the 2013 budget.
3. What have been the consequences of the growing national debt, the inability to resolve
the on-going recession and the “triple disaster” of 2011 on Japanese society?
a) There has been a widespread sense of _____________ and doubt about
_____________ ability to solve them,
b) which in turn keeps a large segment of the Japanese ___________ from _______
in Diet, and also local, elections.
c) This growing _________________ mood poses another serious challenge and
threat to the future of Japanese __________.
Answers
True/False Questions
1. True
3. False
5. False
7. True
Multiple Choice Questions
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1. b
3. b
5. a
Fill-in Questions
1. a) health care, elderly, b) shortfall, youth, workers
3. a) helplessness, government’s, b) electorate, voting, c) nonparticipatory, democracy
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