• Producer(s):

    ARTE GEIE, MANO A MANO

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2012

  • Language(s):

    German, French

  • Rights:

    NON-THEATRICAL, TV, VOD, DVD, INTERNET

They are the "vitamins" of Japanese high-tech. Without them, there would be no more flat screens, mobile phones, wind turbines or solar panels. And it would definitely be goodbye to the Prius range, Toyota's hybrid vehicles.

"Rare earth elements", (or landthanides), are a family of 17 minerals that are essential to the manufacture of a myriad of electronic products from the Land of the Rising Sun. More than any other State in the world, Japan relies on state-of-the-art technology, and on high added-value jobs.

Japan is the first country to be affected by the informal embargo on rare earth elements, as it produces 50% of the rare-elements-based, high-tech products consumed worldwide. As a result of this, is the country doomed to a slow and inevitable decline, dictated by dwindling supplies of its raw material requirements?