After major investments in the United States and Britain, Japan switched investments to Southeastern Asia in the late 1980s because of the rising value of the yen. Hong Kong is now the world s leading container port. Japan has a long history of contact and interaction with its neighbors. The lowlands of Eastern Asia became some of the world s least densely populated places. Labor forces in Eastern Asia are low cost, but often poor in quality and productivity.
More foreign tourists visit Japan than Japanese tourists visit other countries.
One of the major environmental problems Japan faces in the 1990s is the disposal of trash. China would like to create its own multinational corporations with internationally known brands. South Korea was helped by massive aid and investment from the United States and Japan after World War II and the Korean War. Eastern Asia contains some of the world s poorest and some of the world s richest countries. Relatively few people in Taiwan support reunification with mainland China.