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→Economic stagnation: 1990-2009
When the worldwide [[Recession of 2008]] hit, it first appeared Japan would hold up better than other industrial countries. However exports of cars and electronics has plunged, leading to a dramatic 12% drop in GDP.
When the worldwide [[Recession of 2008]] hit, it first appeared Japan would hold up better than other industrial countries. However exports of cars and electronics has plunged, leading to a dramatic 12% drop in GDP.
== Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011 ==
[[File:Japan quake sendai.jpg|left|200px]]
A massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake and several powerful aftershocks struck the eastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 (12:46 a.m. in Washington), triggering a [[tsunami]] that devastated the coastline north of [[Tokyo]] with waves up to 10 meters (33 ft.) high. The earthquake epicenter was in the western Pacific Ocean, 130 kilometers east of [[Sendai]], [[Honshu]] island. The earthquake occurred along the subduction zone between two tectonic plates.
[[File:Japan radiation 2011.jpg|right|140px|Japanese radiation, 2011.]]
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the earthquake was the strongest in the country's history; <ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2011/03/11/ST2011031100651.html?sid=ST2011031100651 Japan Quake - Tsunami] </ref> the death toll is expected to top 10,000 people; Prime Minister Naoto Kan called it the nation's worst crisis since World War II. <ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-03-13-japan-earthquake_N.htm </ref>.
The [[earthquake]] has caused three nuclear power plant cooling systems to fail and those affected reactors. Thousands of residents were evacuated. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/11/japan-issues-emergency-nuke-plant-leak Radiation Levels Surge Outside Two Nuclear Plants in Japan.]</ref>
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[[File:Japanese elderly woman Rikuzentakata Iwate Prefecture.jpg|thumb|center|500px|Braving in snow, an elderly woman carries water bottles on her bicycle in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, five days after an [[earthquake]] and a [[tsunami]] devastated northeastern coastal towns in Japan.]]
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==See also==
==See also==
* [[Osaka]]
* [[Osaka]]