The year 1971 was one in which the most extensive changes occurred in postwar diplomatic history. The East-West confrontation, the basic framework of international politics that has been maintained for over a quarter of a century after the war, was transfigured at least outwardly, and concrete steps were taken toward the construction of a new international order. Changes occurred not only in the arena of international politics but also in the international economy. The world economic order which has been consistently maintained in the postwar years was more than a little disrupted. Naturally, Japan could not escape the effects of these changes in both the political and economic arenas.
The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene (at 11,700 calendar years BP) and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period.
