—Japan's Profound Ignorance of America's Essence—
—A Great Power Without Tradition, Yet Also Without Convention—

While there are countless examples of things we think we know but don't, America is a prime case.
If you were asked, "Did you know that no members of Congress serve as cabinet ministers in the United States?" how would you respond? In fact, the U.S. has both upper and lower houses, similar to Japan's Diet, but the Constitution prohibits current legislators from becoming ministers (cabinet members).
It is a country fundamentally different from Japan. We need fundamental, unchanging basic knowledge to understand America. America is a nation without tradition, but also without convention. This is the source of its vitality. America is a young immigrant nation of many ethnicities. With a history of only 230 years, it has no ancient or medieval periods. Unlike Western European countries, China, or Japan, which have progressed through ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern eras, America is fundamentally different.

In such a young country, strength (which can also be called physical power) and financial resources (money) become the deciding factors for survival and take precedence over everything else. Indeed, it can be said that America is an exceptionally combative nation with a strong sense of self-preservation, both internally and externally.
While America has its ailments, such as an extreme pursuit of profit, it is also true that there is no other great power to replace it. Whether we like it or not, America is the world's largest nation in terms of resources, agriculture, industrial technology, and military power. It will likely remain at the pinnacle of the free world for a long time to come.

Let's explore this in more detail.
A commonly cited example is that the land area of the United States is about 26 times that of Japan. On this vast land, only about 300 million people live, which is merely 2.3 times the population of Japan (127 million). The image of a country where people can live spaciously is fitting. This vast territory holds numerous resources and energy sources, and is a center for the production of industrial and agricultural products.

Regarding resources and energy, America is self-sufficient in 70% of its industrial raw materials and 50-60% of its oil energy. In terms of oil, if Americans were determined, self-sufficiency of 70-80% would be possible. In a worst-case scenario, by fully utilizing abundant coal and natural gas, near-complete self-sufficiency could be expected.
This is a world of difference compared to resource-poor Japan, which has zero oil self-sufficiency and relies on imports for 90% of its industrial raw materials. Naturally, Japan must pay enormous sums to foreign countries for raw materials and oil imports.
However, the situation is different in America. Both American companies and consumers purchase the majority of their raw materials and energy from domestic suppliers.

Since they do not pay vast sums to foreign countries for these purchases, as Japan does, most of this money circulates within the United States. Unlike Japan, foreign currency is not taken out of the country. The lack of foreign currency outflow is America's strength, while paying most of its purchase costs to foreign nations is Japan's weakness.
Looking at food self-sufficiency, while Japan is said to have seen some improvement, it stands at 40%, whereas America's food self-sufficiency rate is 120-130%. Its strength needs no further explanation.
In the industrial sector as well, aircraft, automobiles, computers, and high-tech products still rank among the world's top. Notably, the aircraft industry has traditionally been the global market leader for America.
While it is true that there are long-term concerns emerging, its status as a leader in industrial technology cannot be denied.

(To be continued)