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142-534: In 1988, the company was sold to the Japanese Bridgestone Corporation. Firestone was originally based in Akron, Ohio , also the hometown of its archrival, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company , and two other midsized competitors, General Tire and Rubber Company and B.F. Goodrich Company . Founded on August 3, 1900, the company initiated operations with 12 employees. Together, Firestone and Goodyear were

284-460: A cardboard outer packaging , which makes them easier to stack and transport, and also protects the plastic container. Some may use either bag in ball or spear technology. Products like the Hybrid keg have a puncture resistant wall and are easy to disassemble after use. Circular by design, the top and bottom chimes can either be re-used or recycled. A quarter barrel , more commonly known as pony keg ,

426-414: A keystone is still used today to tap unpressurized cask ales. Tapping a keg this way would often waste a bit of beer, which would be forced out under pressure until the tap was secured. By the 1950s and 60s when metal kegs had replaced wooden ones, common tap systems included Golden Gate, Hoff–Stevens, and Peerless taps, which all had one or two couplers for pressurizing and dispensing the beer but retained

568-494: A low unemployment rate of around 2.6%. Its poverty rate is the second highest among the G7 countries, and exceeds 15.7% of the population. Japan has the highest ratio of public debt to GDP among advanced economies, with a national debt estimated at 248% relative to GDP as of 2022 . The Japanese yen is the world's third-largest reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. Japan

710-676: A security alliance . The United States is a major market for Japanese exports and a major source of Japanese imports, and is committed to defending the country, with military bases in Japan. In 2016, Japan announced the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision, which frames its regional policies. Japan is also a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue ("the Quad"), a multilateral security dialogue reformed in 2017 aiming to limit Chinese influence in

852-401: A beach or campsite. Instead, in the US and Australia, kegs are usually kept in a bucket of ice and/or water to keep the beer cool. Alternately, the keg can be kept at ambient temperature and served using a " jockey box ", consisting of a cooler with beer coils (50–120-foot-long (20–40 m) metal dispensing lines arranged in a coil) and filled with ice, which acts as a heat exchanger to cool

994-473: A company called Bubba Keg is established in the U.S., and appears to not be associated with Molson. Today, mini kegs are widely available in liquor stores worldwide, with Heineken , Grolsch and Bitburger all adopting the design. Recently in Austria, beer is available in mini kegs, either by a one-way type keg made of steel or out of a reinforced thermoplastic for about a 4 € deposit. Another type of mini keg

1136-652: A country's commitment to environmental sustainability. Japan is the world's fifth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide . As the host and signatory of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol , Japan is under treaty obligation to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions and to take other steps to curb climate change. In 2020, the government of Japan announced a target of carbon-neutrality by 2050. Environmental issues include urban air pollution ( NOx , suspended particulate matter , and toxics ), waste management , water eutrophication , nature conservation , climate change , chemical management and international co-operation for conservation. Japan

1278-828: A domestic tire plant, which gave it a virtual monopoly. This included both general price and foreign exchange controls . When the ten-year period came to an end in 1979, Firestone retaliated by increasing production, making entry less attractive. Headquarters eventually canceled expansion and failed negotiations led to no further investments. Bridgestone Americas, which has served as the American branch of Japan-based Bridgestone since 1992, moved their corporate office to downtown Nashville in October 2017. In April 2012, Bridgestone Americas opened up its new Bridgestone Americas Technical Center in Akron, Ohio. The $ 100 million facility, located near

1420-446: A generic name for all of the similar industry standard couplers. Today there are six industry standard couplers: There are two different types of tapping equipment that are available for kegs. A "party tap" or "picnic tap" is a hand-operated pump that utilizes outside air, thus introducing oxygen and bacteria into the keg. This causes the beer to oxidize, affecting the taste; the partial pressure of CO 2 will also decrease, causing

1562-411: A keg as well. Carbonated drinks are generally kept under pressure in order to maintain carbon dioxide in solution, preventing the beverage from becoming flat. Beer kegs are made of stainless steel , or less commonly, of aluminium . A keg has a single opening on one end, called a "bung". A tube called a "spear" extends from the opening to the other end. There is a self-closing valve that is opened by

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1704-539: A kingdom in central Japan in 660 BC, beginning a continuous imperial line . Japan first appears in written history in the Chinese Book of Han , completed in 111 AD. Buddhism was introduced to Japan from Baekje (a Korean kingdom) in 552, but the development of Japanese Buddhism was primarily influenced by China. Despite early resistance, Buddhism was promoted by the ruling class, including figures like Prince Shōtoku , and gained widespread acceptance beginning in

1846-479: A large cooperative sector, with three of the world's ten largest cooperatives, including the largest consumer cooperative and the largest agricultural cooperative as of 2018 . It ranks highly for competitiveness and economic freedom . Japan ranked sixth in the Global Competitiveness Report in 2019. It attracted 31.9 million international tourists in 2019, and was ranked eleventh in

1988-479: A major catalyst for further administrative reforms. These reforms culminated with the promulgation of the Taihō Code , which consolidated existing statutes and established the structure of the central and subordinate local governments. These legal reforms created the ritsuryō state, a system of Chinese-style centralized government that remained in place for half a millennium. The Nara period (710–784) marked

2130-878: A month of waiting, the delegation was brought to meet Taylor, and after a further six months of negotiations the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Patriotic Reconstruction Assembly Government's Ministry of Finance in January 1992. This MOU provided for taxes to be paid by Firestone to the Taylor government, and for the Taylor government to provide protection to Firestone's employees and assets in Liberia. Firestone resumed operations in March 1992, but once again had to halt in October that same year as hostilities escalated. Over this period,

2272-543: A new constitution emphasizing liberal democratic practices. The Allied occupation ended with the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952, and Japan was granted membership in the United Nations in 1956. A period of record growth propelled Japan to become the second-largest economy in the world; this ended in the mid-1990s after the popping of an asset price bubble , beginning the " Lost Decade ". In 2011, Japan suffered one of

2414-462: A new system of taxation. The true aim of the reforms was to bring about greater centralization and to enhance the power of the imperial court, which was also based on the governmental structure of China. Envoys and students were dispatched to China to learn about Chinese writing, politics, art, and religion. The Jinshin War of 672, a bloody conflict between Prince Ōama and his nephew Prince Ōtomo , became

2556-641: A reduction from $ 28.8 million–$ 38.5 million to $ 2.4 million.) Shortly afterward, Firestone extended this to a complete withdrawal by the end of the 1974 season. The manufacturer returned in 1995 to the CART Series with technical assistance from Bridgestone. Firestone has been the sole supplier of tires for the IndyCar Series since 2000 and will run until the 2030 season. In 1950, Firestone along with General Motors and Standard Oil , were charged and convicted of criminal conspiracy for their part in

2698-456: A refrigerated room for storage and dispensing, and liquid lines run from this room to all of the faucets in the restaurant. Kegs are too large to fit in a typical home refrigerator. A kegerator (specially designed for kegs, or converted from a suitable small refrigerator) can be used, but as these are somewhat specialized they are cost-prohibitive for the average consumer who has only occasional use for one, and are obviously impractical to bring to

2840-515: A separate bunghole for cleaning and filling the keg which was sealed with a wooden bung. These made it easier to tap the keg, but still had sanitation problems (from the wooden bung and attachments that penetrated the keg, and from ports that were at the bottom of the keg next to the floor) and tended to leave some beer inaccessible at the bottom of the keg. In the 1960s and 70s, several similar styles of tap were created in Europe and America which used

2982-460: A significant shift to urbanization. The early 20th century saw a period of Taishō democracy (1912–1926) overshadowed by increasing expansionism and militarization . World War I allowed Japan, which joined the side of the victorious Allies , to capture German possessions in the Pacific and China in 1920 . The 1920s saw a political shift towards statism , a period of lawlessness following

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3124-399: A single hole for cleaning, filling, pressurizing, and dispensing. A single bunghole at the top of the keg is used to clean and fill the keg, after which it is sealed with a metal assembly containing a ball bearing which acts as a stopper, held in place by the gas pressure inside the keg. The tap is twisted or slid into place atop the keg, and a lever provides the mechanical force needed to push

3266-480: A standard unit of measure for liquid volumes . Despite this, a number of people still refer to kegs as if they were a unit of measure. This size standard varies from country to country and brewery to brewery with most countries using the metric system rather than U.S. gallons. In common parlance, the term keg refers to a half-barrel (15.5 U.S. gallon ) vessel as this is the most common size used in restaurants, bars and limited home use. A quarter-barrel has

3408-456: A standard keg are: In Europe, the most common keg size is 50 liters. This includes the UK, which uses a non-metric standard keg of 11 imperial gallons, which is, by coincidence, equal to 50.007 litres. The German DIN 6647-1 and DIN 6647-2 have also defined kegs in the sizes of 30 and 20 liters. In some areas it is common to refer to the size not in liters but in beers. In areas such as Germany, where

3550-411: A system of terraces is used to farm in small areas. This results in one of the world's highest levels of crop yields per unit area, with an agricultural self-sufficiency rate of about 50% as of 2018 . Japan's small agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected . There has been a growing concern about farming as farmers are aging with a difficult time finding successors. Keg A keg

3692-454: A tread separation than any other SUV. Labour economists Alan Krueger and Alexandre Mas concluded that one of the main reasons for the high defect rate of Firestone tires was linked to a dispute between the unions and Firestone at the Decatur plant 1994–1996. They find that the tires manufactured at the plant in question around this time featured substantially increased defect rates, rising with

3834-460: A volume of 7.75 U.S. gallons. Generally, a keg is a vessel smaller than a barrel; thus, it is 30 gallons or smaller. In the U.S. the terms half-barrel and quarter-barrel are derived from the U.S. beer barrel, legally defined as being equal to 31 U.S. gallons (this is not the same volume as some other units also known as barrels ). A 15.5 U.S. gallon keg is also equal to: However, beer kegs can come in many sizes: Accepted specifications for

3976-489: Is Tokyo ; the Greater Tokyo Area is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 38 million inhabitants as of 2016. Japan is divided into 47 administrative prefectures and eight traditional regions . About three-quarters of the country's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested, concentrating its agriculture and highly urbanized population along its eastern coastal plains . The country sits on

4118-523: Is reclaimed land ( umetatechi ). Lake Biwa is an ancient lake and the country's largest freshwater lake. Japan is substantially prone to earthquakes , tsunami and volcanic eruptions because of its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire. It has the 17th highest natural disaster risk as measured in the 2016 World Risk Index. Japan has 111 active volcanoes. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur several times each century;

4260-475: Is 11 imperial gallons (50 litres/88 imperial pints) and the vast majority of keg beers are supplied in this keg size. There are also smaller 30 litre (≈52.7926 imperial pints) kegs usually reserved for more specialist and premium European beers. A number of manufacturers also produce 18 imperial gallon (81.82 litres/144 imperial pints) and 22 imperial gallon (100 litres/176 imperial pints) kegs, however owing to their size they are not as popular, as manual handling

4402-430: Is 377,975.24 km (145,937.06 sq mi). Japan has the sixth-longest coastline in the world at 29,751 km (18,486 mi). Because of its far-flung outlying islands, Japan's exclusive economic zone is the eighth-largest in the world, covering 4,470,000 km (1,730,000 sq mi). The Japanese archipelago is 67% forests and 14% agricultural . The primarily rugged and mountainous terrain

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4544-400: Is 70-75% nitrogen and 25-30% CO 2 , but the ideal ratio depends on the beer being served and the installation; more advanced installations blend the gas on site so it can be adjusted for each beer. A few beers like Guinness are required to be pressurized and dispensed with mixed gas; they usually also require the use of a special faucet that deliberately creates additional friction to force

4686-691: Is a unitary state and constitutional monarchy in which the power of the Emperor is limited to a ceremonial role . Executive power is instead wielded by the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet , whose sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people. Naruhito is the Emperor of Japan, having succeeded his father Akihito upon his accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019. Japan's legislative organ

4828-546: Is a 5-liter keg produced for retail sales. Some brands come with a spout and pour from the bottom via gravity, while others may use a low cost pressurized tap. Mini kegs are typically not returned to the manufacturer for cleaning and refilling. The disposable kegs, being made of aluminum , may be recycled . In Canada, Molson brewery dubbed the mini keg "Bubba". This name has now been genericized to generally apply to all 5-liter mini kegs in Canada . This might cause confusion, as

4970-461: Is a beer vessel containing approximately 7.75 U.S. gallons (29.33 liters) of fluid. It is half the size of the standard beer keg and equivalent to a quarter of a barrel. The term pony refers to its smaller size – compare pony glass (quarter-pint) and pony bottle . It will serve roughly 82 twelve-ounce cups. The shape of a pony keg resembles that of a full-sized keg while being much easier to move manually. However, it shares many inconveniences with

5112-430: Is a small cask used for storing liquids. Wooden kegs made by a cooper were used to transport nails , gunpowder , and a variety of liquids. Nowadays a keg is normally constructed of stainless steel, although aluminium can be used if it is coated with plastic on the inside. It is commonly used to store, transport, and serve beer . Other alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, carbonated or non-carbonated, may be housed in

5254-462: Is becoming the choice for many establishments and breweries that wish to use kegs smaller than a half barrel . The sixth barrel kegs are nominally larger in size and volume compared to the Cornelius keg. They are normally fitted with a standard US Type D Sanke coupler on a single downspout; whereas, Corny kegs are normally fitted with a flip-hatch, and a dual connector pin-lock or ball-lock top. Although

5396-507: Is divided into 47 prefectures, each overseen by an elected governor and legislature. In the following table, the prefectures are grouped by region : 7.  Fukushima 14.  Kanagawa 23.  Aichi 30.  Wakayama 35.  Yamaguchi 39.  Kōchi 47.  Okinawa A member state of the United Nations since 1956, Japan is one of the G4 countries seeking reform of

5538-687: Is governed by the Ministry of Defense , and primarily consists of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force , the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force . The deployment of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan marked the first overseas use of Japan's military since World War II. The Government of Japan has been making changes to its security policy which include the establishment of

5680-624: Is home of the company's racing tire production for the NTT IndyCar Series . The plant manufactures all Firestone Firehawk racing tires. It is the first new tire plant in the city of Akron in more than 70 years. Bridgestone also opened up a $ 6 million test track adjacent to the Advanced Tire Production Center to support passenger tire testing and development. The test track opened in autumn 2022. Bridgestone has invested more than $ 125 million in its Akron operations since 2012, when

5822-532: Is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snowbanks in the winter. In the Sea of Japan region on Honshu's west coast, northwest winter winds bring heavy snowfall during winter. In the summer, the region sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures because of the Foehn . The Central Highland has a typical inland humid continental climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter. The mountains of

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5964-439: Is restricted for habitation. Thus the habitable zones, mainly in the coastal areas, have very high population densities: Japan is the 40th most densely populated country even without considering that local concentration. Honshu has the highest population density at 450 persons/km (1200/sq mi) as of 2010 , while Hokkaido has the lowest density of 64.5 persons/km as of 2016 . As of 2014 , approximately 0.5% of Japan's total area

6106-457: Is sold in kegs is fully conditioned. Beer intended for local use may be kegged without sterilization, however, the beer must stay cold. Historically a beer barrel was a standard size of 36 US gallons (140 L; 30 imp gal), as opposed to a wine barrel of 32 US gallons (120 L; 27 imp gal), or an oil barrel of 42 US gallons (160 L; 35 imp gal). Over the years barrel sizes have evolved, and breweries throughout

6248-475: Is the National Diet , a bicameral parliament . It consists of a lower House of Representatives with 465 seats, elected by popular vote every four years or when dissolved, and an upper House of Councillors with 245 seats, whose popularly-elected members serve six-year terms. There is universal suffrage for adults over 18 years of age, with a secret ballot for all elected offices. The prime minister as

6390-465: Is the "beer ball" or the "party ball", a disposable plastic ball that usually holds around 5.2 US gallons (20 L), roughly the equivalent of 55 twelve- ounce beers, though they can also be found in a smaller 3.8-US-gallon (14 L) size. Like kegs, it is necessary to tap the ball before the beer inside can be served. One-way kegs, also known as disposable kegs or PET kegs, were invented in 1996. They are usually made of plastic. Some types have

6532-576: Is the oldest unamended constitution in the world. Statutory law originates in the legislature, and the constitution requires that the emperor promulgate legislation passed by the Diet without giving him the power to oppose legislation. The main body of Japanese statutory law is called the Six Codes . Japan's court system is divided into four basic tiers: the Supreme Court and three levels of lower courts. Japan

6674-560: Is typically used in everyday speech and reflects shifts in Japanese phonology during the Edo period . The characters 日本 mean "sun origin", which is the source of the popular Western epithet "Land of the Rising Sun". The name "Japan" is based on Min or Wu Chinese pronunciations of 日本 and was introduced to European languages through early trade. In the 13th century, Marco Polo recorded

6816-557: Is very heavy, especially during the rainy season. The main rainy season begins in early May in Okinawa, and the rain front gradually moves north. In late summer and early autumn, typhoons often bring heavy rain. According to the Environment Ministry, heavy rainfall and increasing temperatures have caused problems in the agricultural industry and elsewhere. The highest temperature ever measured in Japan, 41.1 °C (106.0 °F),

6958-479: Is written using the kanji 日本 and is pronounced Nihon or Nippon . Before 日本 was adopted in the early 8th century, the country was known in China as Wa ( 倭 , changed in Japan around 757 to 和 ) and in Japan by the endonym Yamato . Nippon , the original Sino-Japanese reading of the characters, is favored for official uses, including on Japanese banknotes and postage stamps. Nihon

7100-850: The shōgun led to the Boshin War and the establishment of a centralized state nominally unified under the emperor (the Meiji Restoration ). Adopting Western political, judicial, and military institutions, the Cabinet organized the Privy Council , introduced the Meiji Constitution (November 29, 1890), and assembled the Imperial Diet . During the Meiji period (1868–1912), the Empire of Japan emerged as

7242-416: The 1923 Tokyo earthquake killed over 140,000 people. More recent major quakes are the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, which triggered a large tsunami. The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate but varies greatly from north to south. The northernmost region, Hokkaido, has a humid continental climate with long, cold winters and very warm to cool summers. Precipitation

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7384-459: The Asuka period (592–710). In 645, the government led by Prince Naka no Ōe and Fujiwara no Kamatari devised and implemented the far-reaching Taika Reforms . The Reform began with land reform, based on Confucian ideas and philosophies from China . It nationalized all land in Japan, to be distributed equally among cultivators, and ordered the compilation of a household registry as the basis for

7526-530: The Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. He was appointed shōgun by Emperor Go-Yōzei in 1603 and established the Tokugawa shogunate at Edo (modern Tokyo). The shogunate enacted measures including buke shohatto , as a code of conduct to control the autonomous daimyō , and in 1639 the isolationist sakoku ("closed country") policy that spanned the two and a half centuries of tenuous political unity known as

7668-512: The Chūgoku and Shikoku regions shelter the Seto Inland Sea from seasonal winds, bringing mild weather year-round. The Pacific coast features a humid subtropical climate that experiences milder winters with occasional snowfall and hot, humid summers because of the southeast seasonal wind. The Ryukyu and Nanpō Islands have a subtropical climate , with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation

7810-579: The Early Mandarin Chinese pronunciation of the characters 日本國 as Cipangu . The old Malay name for Japan, Japang or Japun , was borrowed from a southern coastal Chinese dialect and encountered by Portuguese traders in Southeast Asia , who brought the word to Europe in the early 16th century. The first version of the name in English appears in a book published in 1577, which spelled

7952-575: The Edo period (1603–1868). Modern Japan's economic growth began in this period, resulting in roads and water transportation routes, as well as financial instruments such as futures contracts , banking and insurance of the Osaka rice brokers . The study of Western sciences ( rangaku ) continued through contact with the Dutch enclave in Nagasaki . The Edo period gave rise to kokugaku ("national studies"),

8094-554: The Great American streetcar scandal . The scandal included purchasing streetcar systems throughout the United States and dismantling and replacing them with buses. Radial tires were introduced to the U.S. market by rivals B.F. Goodrich and Michelin in the late 1960s, and Firestone lacked their own radial tire. The first radial tire developed and produced by Firestone was the ill-fated Firestone 500 radial. Manufacturing of

8236-664: The Indo-Pacific region, along with the United States, Australia, and India. Japan is engaged in several territorial disputes with its neighbors. Japan contests Russia's control of the Southern Kuril Islands , which were occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945. South Korea's control of the Liancourt Rocks is acknowledged but not accepted as they are claimed by Japan. Japan has strained relations with China and Taiwan over

8378-719: The Kurils . The Allies (led by the United States) repatriated millions of Japanese settlers from their former colonies and military camps throughout Asia, largely eliminating the Japanese Empire and its influence over the territories it conquered. The Allies convened the International Military Tribunal for the Far East to prosecute Japanese leaders except the Emperor for Japanese war crimes . In 1947, Japan adopted

8520-634: The National Security Council , the adoption of the National Security Strategy, and the development of the National Defense Program Guidelines. In May 2014, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan wanted to shed the passiveness it has maintained since the end of World War II and take more responsibility for regional security. In December 2022, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida further confirmed this trend, instructing

8662-550: The Pacific War and two atomic bombings , Japan surrendered in 1945 and came under Allied occupation . After the war, the country underwent rapid economic growth , although its economy has stagnated since 1990 . Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral legislature, the National Diet . A great power and the only Asian member of the G7 , Japan has constitutionally renounced its right to declare war , but maintains one of

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8804-463: The Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands— Hokkaido , Honshu , Shikoku , and Kyushu —and thousands of smaller islands , covering 377,975 square kilometres (145,937 sq mi). Japan has a population of nearly 124 million as of 2024, and is the eleventh-most populous country . Its capital and largest city

8946-406: The Sea of Okhotsk to the East China Sea . The country's five main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido , Honshu , Shikoku , Kyushu and Okinawa . The Ryukyu Islands , which include Okinawa, are a chain to the south of Kyushu. The Nanpō Islands are south and east of the main islands of Japan. Together they are often known as the Japanese archipelago . As of 2019 , Japan's territory

9088-534: The Security Council . Japan is a member of the G7 , APEC , and " ASEAN Plus Three ", and is a participant in the East Asia Summit . It is the world's fifth-largest donor of official development assistance , donating US$ 9.2 billion in 2014. In 2024, Japan had the fourth-largest diplomatic network in the world. Japan has close economic and military relations with the United States, with which it maintains

9230-693: The Senkaku Islands and the status of Okinotorishima . Japan is the third highest-ranked Asian country in the 2024 Global Peace Index . It spent 1.1% of its total GDP on its defence budget in 2022, and maintained the tenth-largest military budget in the world in 2022. The country's military (the Japan Self-Defense Forces) is restricted by Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution , which renounces Japan's right to declare war or use military force in international disputes. The military

9372-420: The University of Pennsylvania taught classes and wrote papers on the issues of misjudgments and poor decision-making by the management of Firestone. After years of bad publicity and millions paid out in compensation to victims, Firestone was losing vast amounts of money, and its name was severely damaged. Firestone established the Firestone Natural Rubber plantation in Harbel, Liberia in 1926. From 1926 until

9514-543: The coupling fitting which is attached when the keg is tapped. There is also an opening at the top of the spear that allows gas (usually carbon dioxide ) to drive the beer out of the keg. The coupling fitting has one or two valves that control the flow of beer out of and gas into the keg. The keg must be in the upright position, that is, with the opening on top, for the beer to be dispensed. Kegs can be contrasted to casks , which have two or more openings and no spear. Most major breweries now use internally speared kegs. Beer that

9656-401: The end of the shogunate and the restoration of imperial power in 1868. In the Meiji period , the Empire of Japan pursued rapid industrialization and modernization , as well as militarism and overseas colonization . In 1937, Japan invaded China , and in 1941 attacked the United States and European colonial powers, entering World War II as an Axis power . After suffering defeat in

9798-411: The head of government has the power to appoint and dismiss Ministers of State , and is appointed by the emperor after being designated from among the members of the Diet. Shigeru Ishiba is Japan's prime minister; he took office after winning the 2024 Liberal Democratic Party leadership election . The broadly conservative Liberal Democratic Party has been the dominant party in the country since

9940-490: The samurai . In 1185, following the defeat of the Taira clan by the Minamoto clan in the Genpei War , samurai Minamoto no Yoritomo established a military government at Kamakura . After Yoritomo's death, the Hōjō clan came to power as regents for the shōgun . The Zen school of Buddhism was introduced from China in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and became popular among the samurai class. The Kamakura shogunate repelled Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281 but

10082-531: The soft drink industry. It is now commonly used to store and dispense beer , especially homebrewed . Cornelius kegs were originally made by Cornelius, Inc., and were used for premix soft drinks. Since the arrival of newer technology such as bag-in-box packages, Cornelius kegs have become largely obsolete in the soft drink industry, and refurbished ones are readily available to hobbyists. Cornelius kegs use two unique types of tap, both very similar to each other, known as ball locks and pin locks. The mini keg

10224-509: The 1923 Great Tokyo Earthquake , the passing of laws against political dissent , and a series of attempted coups . This process accelerated during the 1930s, spawning several radical nationalist groups that shared a hostility to liberal democracy and a dedication to expansion in Asia. In 1931, Japan invaded China and occupied Manchuria , which led to the establishment of puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932; following international condemnation of

10366-851: The 1940s, Firestone was given a defense contract to produce plastic helmet liners; while outproduced by Westinghouse Electric , they still made a fair amount for the M1 Helmet . On September 2, 1940, William Hoppmann, the General Manager of Firestone's Havana office was discharged from his position under the suspicion of being a Nazi agent. On October 11, 1941, a fire at the Firestone Rubber and Latex plant in Fall River, Massachusetts destroyed 5 out of its 8 buildings and destroyed at least 15,000 tons of rubber. The fire caused $ 12 million in damage (equivalent to $ 192 million in 2023). In 1951, Firestone

10508-649: The 1950s, often called the 1955 System . Historically influenced by Chinese law , the Japanese legal system developed independently during the Edo period through texts such as Kujikata Osadamegaki . Since the late 19th century, the judicial system has been largely based on the civil law of Europe, notably Germany. In 1896, Japan established a civil code based on the German Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch , which remains in effect with post–World War II modifications. The Constitution of Japan , adopted in 1947,

10650-425: The 500's debut, Thomas A. Robertson, Firestone's director of development, wrote an internal memo stating "We are making an inferior quality radial tire which will subject us to belt–edge separation at high mileage". Firestone introduced strict quality control measures in an attempt to fix the inherent problems, however they were not successful in eliminating the basic faults. In 1977 a recall of 400,000 tires produced at

10792-547: The 500, a recall, involving seven million tires. The report went on to indicate that Ford also had been complicit, stating that The Ford Motor Company had instructed Firestone to add a nylon ply to the tires it manufactured in Venezuela for additional strength and that Ford had made suspension changes to the Explorer model available in Venezuela. Ford did not specify adding the nylon ply for U.S.-made Firestone tires nor did it change

10934-462: The Explorer suspension on U.S. models at this time. An abnormally high failure rate in Firestone's Wilderness AT, Firestone ATX, and ATX II tires resulted in multiple lawsuits, as well as an eventual mandatory recall. In 2001 Bridgestone/Firestone severed its ties to Ford citing a lack of trust. The lack of trust stemmed from concerns that Ford had not heeded warnings by Bridgestone/Firestone relating to

11076-665: The Fuzion brand name. Fuzion is a tire manufactured in China for Bridgestone/ Firestone as a budget replacement tire. Makes include the Fuzion UHP Sport A/S, SUV, and Touring. Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia . It is located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland , and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from

11218-738: The National Police Agency is administered by the National Public Safety Commission . The Special Assault Team comprises national-level counter-terrorism tactical units that cooperate with territorial-level Anti-Firearms Squads and Counter-NBC Terrorism Squads . The Japan Coast Guard guards territorial waters surrounding Japan and uses surveillance and control countermeasures against smuggling, marine environmental crime , poaching, piracy, spy ships, unauthorized foreign fishing vessels, and illegal immigration. The Firearm and Sword Possession Control Law strictly regulates

11360-571: The Pacific Ring of Fire , making its islands prone to destructive earthquakes and tsunamis . The first known habitation of the archipelago dates to the Upper Paleolithic , with the beginning Japanese Paleolithic dating to c.  36,000 BC . Between the fourth and sixth centuries, its kingdoms were united under an emperor in Nara , and later Heian-kyō . From the 12th century, actual power

11502-615: The Pacific . Throughout areas occupied by Japan during the war, numerous abuses were committed against local inhabitants, with many forced into sexual slavery . After Allied victories during the next four years, which culminated in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender . The war cost Japan millions of lives and its colonies , including de jure parts of Japan such as Korea , Taiwan , Karafuto , and

11644-631: The South Gate plant was closed in 1980 and 1,300 workers were laid off. East Los Angeles College has proposed a new satellite campus at the site. In 1928, the company built a factory in Brentford, England , a longtime Art Deco landmark on a major route into the city; this closed in 1979. After its purchase by Trafalgar House , the building was demolished during the August 1980 bank holiday weekend, reportedly in anticipation of its becoming listed . In 1936,

11786-417: The United States (9.9 percent), and Australia (9.8 percent). Japan's main imports are machinery and equipment, fossil fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, and raw materials for its industries. The Japanese variant of capitalism has many distinct features: keiretsu enterprises are influential, and lifetime employment and seniority-based career advancement are common in the Japanese work environment . Japan has

11928-441: The ball bearing down, providing access to the keg's contents. These taps, or "couplers", are more sanitary and easy to operate, and were adopted by major U.S. breweries like Anheuser-Busch in the 1970s and quickly displaced other taps to become the industry standard. One such system was referred to as Sankey after its designer ( GKN Sankey Ltd. , named for founder Joseph Sankey). The term Sankey, often misspelled "Sanke", has become

12070-413: The beer to go flat. Kegs dispensed with a party pump should be used within 18–24 hours so that the beer does not become unpalatable. Commercial installations, as well as some home users, use pure pressurized gas; these can preserve a keg up to 120 days with proper refrigeration. In simpler installations only CO 2 is used to pressurize and dispense the beer, but in installations with very long lines between

12212-409: The beer to serving temperature by the time it reaches the faucet. European consumers, when not using a party pump, mainly use inline beer chillers, essentially the same concept as a jockey box but using a refrigeration unit instead of ice. Those chillers usually also have their own air compressor for keg pressurization. The Cornelius keg (also known as a "Corny keg" or "soda keg") was originally used by

12354-499: The bigger kegs, such as: often requiring a deposit when purchased, needing a tap to serve the contents, and posing difficulties in determining the amount of beer remaining (weighing the keg or observing its buoyancy are common techniques). Despite this, a pony keg can be a cheap way to provide beer for a medium-sized party. In some places, such as Cincinnati , the term pony keg can mean a convenience store that sells beer. A sixth barrel keg contains approximately 5.2 gallons, and

12496-472: The capital, settling on Heian-kyō (modern-day Kyoto ) in 794. This marked the beginning of the Heian period (794–1185), during which a distinctly indigenous Japanese culture emerged. Murasaki Shikibu 's The Tale of Genji and the lyrics of Japan's national anthem " Kimigayo " were written during this time. Japan's feudal era was characterized by the emergence and dominance of a ruling class of warriors,

12638-538: The civilian ownership of guns, swords, and other weaponry. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime , among the member states of the UN that report statistics as of 2018 , the incidence rates of violent crimes such as murder, abduction, sexual violence, and robbery are very low in Japan. Japanese society traditionally places a strong emphasis on collective harmony and conformity , which has led to

12780-580: The company had paid $ 2.3 million in taxes to the Taylor government (equivalent to $ 4.49 million in 2023), which some say helped legitimize Taylor's Greater Liberia government and finance and enable its attack on ECOMOG controlled Monrovia. Operations did not fully restart until 2003 at the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War . Since the end of the war, Firestone has invested over $ 100 million in restoring and rebuilding its facilities in Liberia. The company's ventures in Liberia have been

12922-511: The company opened a plant in Memphis, Tennessee . With a work force exceeding 3,000 employees, the Memphis plant was the largest tire manufacturer in the company's worldwide operation. On July 1, 1963, the company celebrated the production of 100 million tires in Memphis. The Memphis plant closed in 1982, and most of the plant buildings were demolished. The EPA considers the tract a brownfield site , and

13064-617: The company opened one of the world's largest rubber plantations , extending over one million acres (1,560 sq mi; 4,050 km), in Liberia, West Africa . That year the company also opened its first Firestone Tire and Service Center (later renamed Firestone Complete Auto Care). Firestone Complete Auto Care is the division of Firestone that offers automotive maintenance and repair, including tires. In 1927, Henry Ford and Harvey S. Firestone visited Southern California to select locations for new factories. His friends said Ford wanted to be near

13206-657: The company opened the Bridgestone Americas Technology Center. Firestone Complete Auto Care is an chain of automotive maintenance shops founded in Nashville, Tennessee in 1926. There are over 2,300 Complete Auto Care locations in the United States, all of them independently owned by Firestone, with about 20 million customers each year as of 2002. At the start of 2022 Bridgestone, parent company of Firestone, announced that it will expand its hybrid and electric vehicular services The Indianapolis 500 auto race

13348-483: The company to the Japanese company Bridgestone , which was able to buy the company for much less than it had been worth a decade and a half earlier. The companies celebrated the 20th anniversary of the merger in 2008, and changed the name of the tire division to Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC. In 1972, Firestone received a ten-year import "concession" by the Kenyan government to secure Firestone's investment in

13490-466: The company's seventeen manufacturing plants, including six in one day, and relocated the company from its ancestral home in Akron, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois . He spun off non-tire related businesses, including the Firestone Country Club ; it was considered a deliberate plan to boost the stock price, and it paid off. In 1988, after discussions with Pirelli , Nevin negotiated the sale of

13632-418: The complaints, tested the tires and tried to assert that the tires had been abused or under-inflated. On September 6, 2000, in a statement before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Transportation subcommittee the president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen , Joan Claybrook , stated: ...There are a number of parallels between this recall in 2000 and the 1978 recall of the Firestone 500...there

13774-658: The design of the Ford Explorer. In 2006, Firestone announced renewed efforts to recall tires of the same model recalled in 2000 after the tires were linked to recent deaths and injuries. According to Firestone's last filing with the National Highway Transportation Administration, only 90,259 of more than 2.5 million recalled tires were confirmed as removed from service. In November 2013, two recalled Wilderness AT tires were found in Atlanta, Georgia. One of

13916-617: The emergence of a Japanese state centered on the Imperial Court in Heijō-kyō (modern Nara ). The period is characterized by the appearance of a nascent literary culture with the completion of the Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720), as well as the development of Buddhist-inspired artwork and architecture . A smallpox epidemic in 735–737 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of Japan's population. In 784, Emperor Kanmu moved

14058-650: The event of Cold War hostilities in Eastern Europe. Built in southern California, this missile was replaced in 1962 by the MGM-29 Sergeant system. In 1961, Firestone acquired the Dayton Tire division from the Dayco Corporation. Dayco later sued both Firestone and Goodyear , alleging that the two companies conspired to monopolize the tire industry in the United States. The United States District Court dismissed

14200-757: The first time, initiating direct commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West. Oda Nobunaga used European technology and firearms to conquer many other daimyō ; his consolidation of power began what was known as the Azuchi–Momoyama period . After the death of Nobunaga in 1582, his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi , unified the nation in the early 1590s and launched two unsuccessful invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597 . Tokugawa Ieyasu served as regent for Hideyoshi's son Toyotomi Hideyori and used his position to gain political and military support. When open war broke out, Ieyasu defeated rival clans in

14342-486: The former headquarters, tire plant, and technical center, houses 450 employees whose jobs are to develop innovative and advanced tire technologies for the company. In June 2022, Bridgestone opened up its $ 21 million Advanced Tire Production Center which replaced the Firestone Advance Tire Works Plant at the original Firestone Tire and Rubber Company headquarters which opened in 1910. The new building

14484-415: The government and industrial corporations; as a result, environmental pollution was widespread in the 1950s and 1960s. Responding to rising concerns, the government introduced environmental protection laws in 1970. The oil crisis in 1973 also encouraged the efficient use of energy because of Japan's lack of natural resources. Japan ranks 20th in the 2018 Environmental Performance Index , which measures

14626-607: The government to increase spending by 65% until 2027. Recent tensions, particularly with North Korea and China, have reignited the debate over the status of the JSDF and its relation to Japanese society. Domestic security in Japan is provided mainly by the prefectural police departments , under the oversight of the National Police Agency . As the central coordinating body for the Prefectural Police Departments,

14768-457: The keg and dispensing location (bars with customer-operated faucets at each table being an extreme example), the pressure needed to pump the beer for dispensing would over-carbonate the beer. In these situations, "beer gas" or "mixed gas" is used which combines CO 2 with another gas, usually nitrogen . Nitrogen is 80 times less soluble in water than CO 2 , so it can provide additional pressure without noticeably affecting flavor. Typical beer gas

14910-566: The largest earthquakes in its recorded history - the Tōhoku earthquake - triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster . On May 1, 2019, after the historic abdication of Emperor Akihito , his son Naruhito became Emperor, beginning the Reiwa era. Japan comprises 14,125 islands extending along the Pacific coast of Asia. It stretches over 3000 km (1900 mi) northeast–southwest from

15052-590: The largest suppliers of automotive tires in North America for over 75 years. In 1906, Henry Ford chose Firestone to supply tires for its car models. In 1918, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Canada was incorporated in Hamilton, Ontario , and the first Canadian-made tire rolled off the line on September 15, 1922. During the 1920s, Firestone produced the Oldfield tire, named for racing driver Barney Oldfield . In 1926,

15194-537: The lawsuit. In 1965 Firestone acquired the Seiberling Rubber Company . In late 1979, Firestone brought in John Nevin, the ex-head of Zenith Electronics , as president to save the hemorrhaging company from total collapse. It was more than a billion dollars in debt at the time and losing $ 250 million a year (equivalent respectively to $ 3.39 billion and $ 847 million in 2023). Nevin closed nine of

15336-422: The liquid. The liquid is also dispensed using pressurized gas; the pressure of the gas provides mechanical force to overcome friction and gravity to push the beer to the dispensing location. To serve the beverage, a keg must be tapped to breach the container so that pressurized gas can be added and the liquid can be dispensed. Originally, this was done by hammering a tapping rod through a cork bung , similar to how

15478-603: The most developed state in Asia and as an industrialized world power that pursued military conflict to expand its sphere of influence. After victories in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Japan gained control of Taiwan, Korea and the southern half of Sakhalin , and annexed Korea in 1910. The Japanese population doubled from 35 million in 1873 to 70 million by 1935, with

15620-537: The name as Giapan in a translation of a 1565 Portuguese letter. Modern humans arrived in Japan around 38,000 years ago (~36,000 BC), marking the beginning of the Japanese Paleolithic . This was followed from around 14,500 BC (the start of the Jōmon period ) by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer culture characterized by pit dwelling and rudimentary agriculture. Clay vessels from

15762-402: The new tire was performed on equipment designed to manufacture bias-ply tires. During the 1970s, Firestone experienced major problems with the Firestone 500 radial. The Firestone 500 steel-belted radials began to show signs of separation of the tread at high speeds. While the cause was never proved, it is believed that the failure of bonding cements, used by Firestone to hold the tread to

15904-472: The nitrogen out of solution, creating a thick frothy head. As with any pressurized container, a keg can cause injury, even at normal operating pressure, whether with compressed air or carbon dioxide: "The tapping system and pressure regulator both should be equipped with a pressure relief (blow off) device. If you are not familiar with tapping equipment, consult your retailer..." (printed on an Anheuser-Busch 's keg cap) Commercially, kegs are usually kept in

16046-554: The northern islands. Japan has over 90,000 species of wildlife as of 2019 , including the brown bear , the Japanese macaque , the Japanese raccoon dog , the small Japanese field mouse , and the Japanese giant salamander . There are 53 Ramsar wetland sites in Japan. Five sites have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for their outstanding natural value. In the period of rapid economic growth after World War II, environmental policies were downplayed by

16188-947: The occupation , it resigned from the League of Nations in 1933. In 1936, Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany ; the 1940 Tripartite Pact made it one of the Axis powers . The Empire of Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). In 1940, the Empire invaded French Indochina , after which the United States placed an oil embargo on Japan. On December 7–8, 1941, Japanese forces carried out surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor , as well as on British forces in Malaya , Singapore , and Hong Kong , among others, beginning World War II in

16330-539: The ocean and picked Long Beach and suggested Firestone locate in South Gate, California a small community southeast of downtown Los Angeles that at the time was mostly farmland. There Firestone identified 40 acres (16 ha) of beanfields for the site of his new manufacturing plant. Architects Curlett and Beelman designed a spectacular four-story Italianate -style complex, with its own power plant and decorated with polychrome murals by Gladding, McBean depicting

16472-540: The onset of the dispute and subsiding when the dispute was finally settled at the end of 1996. Other similar plants of Firestone did not report similar increases in the defect rate in this period. Where the Rubber Meets the Road is an advertisement jingle that was frequently used in the 1960s and 1970s, especially on televised sporting events. The jingle was sung by Don Rondo . Bridgestone/Firestone also produces tires under

16614-690: The outbreak of the First Liberian Civil War in 1990, the Firestone Natural Rubber Company was the largest plantation of its kind in the world. It was originally envisioned for 350,000 people to be employed on the newly created plantations. However this was more than the number of able-bodied men in the entire nation at the time, which created intense pressure for labor. In the period between 1926 and 1946 Christine Whyte concluded that: The collusion between Firestone and government officials to keep wages low and coerce workers onto

16756-516: The period are among the oldest surviving examples of pottery. The Japonic -speaking Yayoi people entered the archipelago from the Korean Peninsula, intermingling with the Jōmon ; the Yayoi period saw the introduction of practices including wet-rice farming , a new style of pottery , and metallurgy from China and Korea. According to legend, Emperor Jimmu (descendant of Amaterasu ) founded

16898-522: The plantations was at best substantially overlooked, at worst regarded as a form of "development" in itself. In September 1990, rebel NPFL forces (led by Charles Taylor , who would later be convicted of war crimes ) executed sitting Liberian president Samuel Doe and seized the Harbel plantation. Firestone had to evacuate its American workers as a result. In June 1991, Firestone sent a delegation to Monrovia in an attempt to restart operations in Harbel. After

17040-423: The possible presence of hazardous substances or contaminants have deterred its redevelopment . During World War II , the company was called on by the U.S. Government to make artillery shells , aluminum kegs for food transport, and rubberized military products. Barrage balloons were produced at Akron. Firestone ranked 55th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime military production contracts. In

17182-425: The problematic Decatur, Illinois plant was initiated. Firestone blamed the problems on the consumer, stating underinflation and poor maintenance. On October 20, 1978, Firestone recalled over 7 million Firestone 500 tires, the largest tire recall to date. Congressional hearings into the 500 also took place in 1978. The tire was found to be defective and the cause of 250 deaths. In May 1980 after finding that they knew

17324-425: The same dimensions as a sixth barrel, but the seven bottom-most inches are hollow. The beer vessel supply structure in the UK and Ireland is quite different, whilst the couplers for kegs have been largely standardised to sankey, grundy and interbrew, a couple of others exist such as UEC and U-Type, however these are much less common. The kegs themselves are made from stainless steel or aluminium. The standard keg size

17466-655: The sixth barrel torpedo keg is approximately the same height as the standard half barrel, the smaller foot print of the sixth barrel allows retailers have a greater variety of beer in a small space. This size keg is quickly replacing the quarter barrel size which has the same foot print as a half barrel keg, but is only half as tall. Other than smaller circumference, sixth barrel kegs are very similar to their full-sized counterparts in construction. A stainless Micromatic brand sixth barrel keg weighs approximately 14-15 pounds (6.3–6.8 kg) when empty, and approximately 58-60 pounds (26.3-27.2 kg) when full. An eighth barrel has

17608-417: The standard beer size is 0.5 liters, that means a 50-liter keg contains 100 beers. Kegs are sealed to contain the liquid and pressurized gas for storage and transportation. Most beer is served carbonated, and this is most easily accomplished by storing it carbonated as well. Beer kegs are designed to maintain the carbonation in a beverage by storing it with pressurized carbon dioxide in the headspace above

17750-507: The study of Japan by the Japanese. The United States Navy sent Commodore Matthew C. Perry to force the opening of Japan to the outside world. Arriving at Uraga with four " Black Ships " in July 1853, the Perry Expedition resulted in the March 1854 Convention of Kanagawa . Subsequent similar treaties with other Western countries brought economic and political crises. The resignation of

17892-752: The subject of considerable scrutiny and criticism, including a 2005 Alien Tort Claims Act case brought in California by the International Labor Rights Fund and a 2014 investigative report by ProPublica entitled "Firestone and the Warlord", and a PBS Frontline documentary by the same name. In 1996, several state agencies in Arizona began experiencing major issues with Firestone tires on Ford Explorers. According to news reports, various agencies demanded new tires, and Firestone conducted an investigation of

18034-578: The suppression of individual rights . Japan's constitution prohibits racial and religious discrimination, and the country is a signatory to numerous international human rights treaties. However, it lacks any laws against discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity and does not have a national human rights institution. Japan has faced criticism for its gender inequality , not allowing same-sex marriages , use of racial profiling by police, and allowing capital punishment . Other human rights issues include

18176-537: The tire and rubber-making process. A year after the plant opened in 1928, it expanded to double the initial size, and by 1954 grew to nearly one million square feet (23 acres; 9.3 ha). The town grew around Firestone, its main boulevard was named after Harvey, and Los Angeles became the number one tire market in the country. By the mid-1970s, Ford and General Motors had massive layoffs as Firestone and other manufacturers opened new plants in non-union locales like Wilson, North Carolina . After considerable downsizing,

18318-447: The tire carcass, may have allowed water to penetrate the tire, which in turn may have caused the internal steel wire to corrode. In March 1978, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced publicly a formal investigation into defects of the Firestone 500. The NHTSA investigation found that the tread separation problem was most probably a design defect affecting all Firestone 500s. In 1973, only two years after

18460-571: The tires was offered for sale as new at a used tire retail shop. Some outside observers have speculated about the blame worthiness of both parties. Firestone tires being prone to tread separation and failure, and the SUVs being especially prone to rolling over if a tire fails at speed compared to other vehicles. A subsequent NHTSA investigation of real world accident data showed that the Ford Explorer SUVs in question were no more likely to roll over after

18602-506: The tires were defective, the NHTSA fined Firestone $ 500,000 (equivalent to $ 1.55 million in 2023), which at that time was the largest fine imposed on any U.S. corporation and the largest civil penalty imposed since passage of the 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Act. Multiple lawsuits were settled out of court and the constant negative publicity crippled the company's sales and share price. Harvard Business School and Wharton School of

18744-403: The treatment of marginalized groups, such as ethnic minorities , refugees and asylum seekers . Japan has the world's fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP , after that of the United States, China and Germany; and the fifth-largest economy by PPP-adjusted GDP . As of 2021 , Japan's labor force is the world's eighth-largest , consisting of over 68.6 million workers. As of 2022 , Japan has

18886-416: The world in 2019 for inbound tourism . The 2021 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Japan first in the world out of 117 countries. Its international tourism receipts in 2019 amounted to $ 46.1 billion. The Japanese agricultural sector accounts for about 1.2% of the country's total GDP as of 2018 . Only 11.5% of Japan's land is suitable for cultivation. Because of this lack of arable land,

19028-404: The world use different sized containers. Even when the content capacity of two kegs are equal, e.g. metricized to 50 liters, the keg shape and tap system may differ greatly. Most U.S. brewers sell beer in 1 ⁄ 2 barrels of 15.5 gallons, 1 ⁄ 4 barrels of 7.75 gallons, and 1 ⁄ 6 barrels of 5.17 gallons. Since keg sizes are not standardized, the keg cannot be used as

19170-569: The world's strongest militaries . A developed country with one of the world's largest economies by nominal GDP , Japan is a global leader in science and technology and the automotive , robotics , and electronics industries . It has one of the world's highest life expectancies , though it is undergoing a population decline . Japan's culture is well known around the world, including its art , cuisine , film , music , and popular culture , which includes prominent comics , animation , and video game industries. The name for Japan in Japanese

19312-405: Was a documented coverup by Firestone of the 500 defect, spurred by the lack of a Firestone replacement tire. When the coverup was disclosed, the top management of the company was replaced as Firestone was severely damaged in reputation and economically. But a key difference is that the Firestone 500 was used on passenger cars, which rarely rolled over with tire failure. NHTSA documented 41 deaths with

19454-476: Was eventually overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo . Go-Daigo was defeated by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336, beginning the Muromachi period (1336–1573). The succeeding Ashikaga shogunate failed to control the feudal warlords ( daimyō ) and a civil war began in 1467 , opening the century-long Sengoku period ("Warring States"). During the 16th century, Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries reached Japan for

19596-530: Was given the defense contract for the MGM-5 Corporal missile . Firestone was given a total of US$ 6,888,796 (equivalent to $ 64.8 million in 2023) for the first 200 units. Known as the "Embryo of the Army," it was a surface-to-surface guided missile which could deliver a high-explosive warhead up to 75 nautical miles (140 km). It was later modified to be able to carry a nuclear payload for use in

19738-463: Was held by military dictators ( shōgun ) and feudal lords ( daimyō ), and enforced by warrior nobility ( samurai ). After rule by the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates and a century of warring states , Japan was unified in 1600 by the Tokugawa shogunate , which implemented an isolationist foreign policy . In 1853, a United States fleet forced Japan to open trade to the West , which led to

19880-503: Was recorded on July 23, 2018, and repeated on August 17, 2020. Japan has nine forest ecoregions which reflect the climate and geography of the islands. They range from subtropical moist broadleaf forests in the Ryūkyū and Bonin Islands , to temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the mild climate regions of the main islands, to temperate coniferous forests in the cold, winter portions of

20022-431: Was the world's fifth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer in 2022. Its exports amounted to 18.2% of its total GDP in 2021. As of 2022 , Japan's main export markets were China (23.9 percent, including Hong Kong) and the United States (18.5 percent). Its main exports are motor vehicles, iron and steel products, semiconductors, and auto parts. Japan's main import markets as of 2022 were China (21.1 percent),

20164-531: Was won in 1911 by a car running Firestone tires, as did all winners of the race from 1920 to 1966 . The company also provided tires to NASCAR from 1948 to 1974, and to Formula One from 1950 to 1974. Citing rising costs as the cause, Firestone announced its withdrawal from professional motorsports in August 1974 with the exception of Formula 5000 and Formula One. The change was forecast to reduce Firestone's annual race testing budget from between $ 6 and $ 8 million to around $ 500,000 (in 2023, roughly equivalent to

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