Success of Non-Christian Japan
As of 2012, there are 11,020,000 millionaires in the US while the 3,580,000 millionaires in Japan.
The two countries lead this ranking of countries in terms of the number of millionaires followed by No.3 France with 2,280,000, No.4 the UK 1,580,000, No.5 Germany 1,460,000, No.6 Italy and No.7 China.
Though the population of the US is 2.5 times larger than Japan's, there are three times more millionaires in the US than in Japan.
The GDP of the US in 2012 was about $16,244 billion while Japan recorded $5,960 billion. The ratio is 2.7.
However the land size of Japan is almost equal to the area of California State. Japan produces almost no crude oil and natural gas. So, it tells that Japanese people have been making great efforts to catch up with the US in terms of production of wealth.
Nonetheless there are 230 million Christians in the US while only two million Christians in Japan. For reference, it is estimated that there are 90 million Christians in China.
The modern science and technology originally developed in Europe and the US allowed peoples and nations in the world to produce various industrial products which became sources of wealth. Japan has adopted and developed material aspects of the Western civilization so well, and China has learnt modern technology and industrial knowledge from Japan. But the core of Western civilization which is Christianity has still no direct influence on the Japanese people.
Put differently, it is a kind of surprise than the non-Christian country Japan has been able to so well learn Western civilization in these 150 years to produce so many millionaires and so many valuable products.
So, some Western scholars came to be interested in Japan even before WWII. They have studied various aspects of Japan, including religion and history, but seem not to come to any clear conclusion. But it may tell that they have become less and less Christian. Only true Christians might find a true cause for success, if so material, of non-Christian Japan in this modern era.
The Number of Nobel Prize Laureates in Natural Science as of 2012:
1. US 242
2. UK 77
3. Germany 68
4. France 31
5. Sweden 16
6. JAPAN 15
6. Swiď˝”zerland 15
8. Netherlands 14
8. USSR/Russia 14
10. Denmark 9
10. Canada 9
Anyway Japan is the only leading scientific country in regions with non-European tradition.
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Luk 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.