Japan's Postwar Economic Success and the Liberal Democratic Party

With the change of government in Japan, economic change soon followed. Banks were founded to invest in capital, railways and steam boats were developed, restrictions on trade such as tariffs and guilds were removed, and land was re-distributed. These reforms helped spur the Industrial

Two ships can arrive at the same destination; however that does not necessarily mean that they used the same route on their journey. Such is the same with the industrialization of Britain and Japan. Both rose to become the two great pioneers of the modern world; however the paths they took to success were different. This paper will compare Japan and Britain, exploring the causes of its industrialization, and how the countries drastically changed because of it. What sets Britain’s industrialization process apart from Japans is that it did not have a role model to base its development on; it was the first industrial nation. Therefore the cause of its industrialization must have much

The Economic Effect on Japan during Post World War II Japan’s economy was greatly affected by the atomic bombs dropped on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan’s economic recovery as a result of this incident transformed Japan’s economic growth which has become known as the “Economic Miracle.” The bombs caused Japan to reconstruct many more facilities in which the economy moved forward. The Economic Planning Agency, which used to be known as the Economic Stabilization Board, helped Japan to become one of the leading economic nations. The United States also contributed to much of Japan’s recovery by occuping it from 1945-1951.

Although Japan changed in many ways from 1853 to 1941, there were also many factors that remained the same throughout the history of Japan. One such continuity was the maintained existence of a figurehead ruler controlled by other political authorities. The feudalistic emperor of Japan was the supposed “highest, most powerful authority” in the land, but was actually controlled by the military leaders- the shogun. Similarly, the militaristic emperor of Japan decades later continued to remain a figurehead ruler controlled by military and government officials. In addition, Japan continued to remain reliant on exports in order to maintain its economy. As a result of Japan’s small geographical size, the island nation had few natural resources and was forced to rely on exports to survive economically. The nation also grew increasingly reliant on other nations to provide materials and supplies that it could not provide for itself. This complete reliance on other nations was seen illustrated when the Japanese military was provoked to attacking another superpower- the United States, in response to the 1940 United States embargo

The main challenge about trade is the long-term condition of Japan. Although Japan performs well now, it is a receding market. There is a significant challenge for Japan in the future. It is facing a dwindling work population, as the average populace gets older. This provides a serious risk as if the workforce reduces in size so does the production. And production is one of the main factors that make Japan wealthy. In addition, even though it is the second largest economy in the world it will face high expenditure. This is a serious issue if not properly taken care of. However, a country with one of the highest GDP’s in the world is unlikely to mistreat

For the last several decades China and Japan have both risen as superpowers and dominated the Pacific. Japan during the 1980s had the “economic miracle”, however it had a recession in the 1990s that set Japan back. As China becomes a rising superpower due to growing populations and cheap labor and, while Japan remains a “fragile superpower” because of the lack of resources and ageing population both nations will continue to grow, or will China become another fallen communist nation and will the tiger of the Pacific come to a roaring halt? Ever since the Four Humiliations in 1839 China was in desperate need to modernize and change many aspects of its government if it wanted to keep up with the ever-changing world.

Between the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, Japan’s economy developed remarkably. China had also developed economically; however, not near as much as Japan. The Japanese government industrialized greatly and encouraged western influence, but the Chinese government did the opposite.

William Edwards Deming is one of the most influential people known in today’s business environment. In the video called The Deming of America, it focuses on Deming’s approach to industry. After World War 2, Deming was tasked with helping Japan’s economy recover. Before Deming stepped in, Japan was making a slow effort to recovering. Other nations looked at Japan’s goods as inferior in quality. The term “Made in Japan” meant that the products were of lower quality and inferior. In a sense, Japan was being mocked and made fun of by major economic powers. Japan realized that if they wanted to make their country better along with the goods that they produced, they would have to make drastic changes.

Combining imported technology with their domestic innovation was translated in the inception of the Japanese low-cost mass productions system. Technological improvements such as the one mentioned above played a huge role in the country’s economic growth, as improvement of technology in one industry often influenced the growth of other industries. For instance, Japan’s steel industry was successful in improving the quality of steel used in manufacturing automobiles, due to the technological process in the casing of parts; the automobile industry too benefited and hence could reach a level where it could compete with its international

In 1868, provincial rebels overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan and the new leaders called the regime the “Meiji Restoration.” This was just the beginning for soon-to-be modernized Japan. A stronger military, new ideas, technology, and laws would be all used to transform Japan into a modern industrial nation. Because of these, modernization had a great effects on Japan’s society and the nation as a whole from 1850 to 1950. One effect modernization had was strengthening international presence and relations for Japan as a whole. This helped to keep them active on global terms and impacted them in a positive manner. Another effect modernization resulted in was the transformation of the internal society of Japan. The changes in the society all provided great benefits for Japan.

Throughout the years of 1931-1941, Japan was politically unstable due to divisions among politicians and those in the military. Due to those divisions, the government had changed multiple times as a result of power struggles within the different government factions, and actions of the military. Change in government were a way for Japan to survive through these times with different leaders, albeit the military had most control over the political situation in Japan. Just as a bicycle would be used for survival, Japan was trying to survive through different government factions to lead the country. There were two leading factions within Japan between 1931 and 1941; the Koda-ha and the Tosei-ha, both being imperialist and expansionist, with Koda-ha the more radical group.

Japan during the Depression While the United States was still struggling to emerge from the Great Depression at the end of the 1930s, and would do so partly because of the war, Japan had emerged from its own period of depression, which had begun in 1926, by the mid-1930s. Many of the young soldiers mobilized into the Japanese army by the early 1930s came from the rural areas, where the effects of the depression were devastating and poverty was widespread. Their commitment to the military effort to expand Japanese territory to achieve economic security can be understood partly in these terms. The depression ended in the mid-1930s in Japan partly because of government deficits used to expand greatly both heavy industry and the military. Japanese Aggression in Asia Japan had economic and political ties in Manchuria (Located on China’s eastern seaboard) for quite some time and as a result of their large economic interest in China, namely the South Manchuria Railway Company, the Japanese felt the need to keep a large army in the territory to protect it.

Japan emerged from the Tokugawa-Meiji transition as the first Asian industrialized nation. Domestic commercial activities and limited foreign trade had met the demands for material culture in the Tokugawa period, but the modernized Meiji era had radically different requirements. From the beginning, the Meiji rulers embraced the concept of a market economy and adopted British and North American forms of free enterprise capitalism. The private sector — in a nation blessed with an abundance of aggressive entrepreneurs — welcomed such change.

In 1945, Japan was devastated and lost a quarter of the national wealth after suffering a defect in the second world war. A majority of the commercial buildings and accommodation had been demolished, and massive machinery and equipment formerly used in production for the civil market were out of service to provide metal for military supplies (Miyazaki 1967). Despite the trash and ruins had left over in Japan, Japan was able to rebuilding its infrastructure and reconstruct their economy. It is revealed that the Japanese economy was on its way to recovery, which received a rapid development since the war, and the reconstruction of Japan had spent less than forty years to become the world’s second largest economy in the 1980s. This essay will explore the three factors account for the economic growth of post-war Japan: the financial assistance from the United States, the external environment, and the effective policy of Japanese government.

Japan's prosperous economy and new government structure did not proceed into the following decade. Japan, an island country with a couple of characteristic assets, depended on outside exchange. At the point when the Great Depression hit the world in the mid-1930's, districts at no time in the future imported Japanese extravagances, for example, silk. The estimation of Japanese fares dropped by half in the vicinity of 1929 and 1931 (p 686, Beers). Many individuals rebuked the legislature for Japan's monetary emergency. After Japan consented to keep its naval force little at the London Naval Conference in 1930, the military and patriots progressed toward becoming tired of the administration (p 686, Beers).