Figure 9.35

Virtual water movement. Japan exports roughly 1.5 million automobiles each year to the United States. Meanwhile, the United States exports roughly 150,000 metric tons of rice to Japan each year. When these products are converted to virtual water, it is clear that more than just material goods are being exchanged. Not all of the virtual water used to produce these cars came from Japan, however. Many of the materials used to make an automobile, such as rubber and metals, were themselves imported to Japan from somewhere else. So water is only passing through Japan to the United States as virtual water in the form of automobile components.