Sara Hsu

 Japan’s geography  Followed Western nations in industrialization  Foreign intervention  Population (see map)  Industrialization (see map)

 Japan is island chain in North Pacific Ocean, near Korea, Russia and China  Only 12% is arable land, rugged and mountainous terrain  Lacks own energy resources  Imports energy and raw materials

 Negative experience with Western powers, inducing Japan to strengthen military and economy  Forced open by Commodore Perry and his men  Suspicious of foreign traders and believed they would try to colonize Japan  Closed off trade in later Tokugawa regime to all but Chinese and Dutch

 “Rich country and strong army”  Moved local governors (daimyo) to Tokyo  Modern emperor who supported Japan’s modernization process  1889 Constitution gave power to the bureaucracy and military, set up mandatory education and conscription, and promoted industry  Parliamentary government, Western legal system

Technological know-how Infrastructure Monetary and fiscal systems Agriculture Compulsory education Tax revenue- from production to land tax Some government enterprises sold to private sector

 Resolved inflation problem in 1885 by removing unsound notes from circulation  Instituted employment based on merit  Import substitution industrialization  Focused on building up textile and shipping industries  Improvements in agriculture  Four pillars of Meiji Restoration: 1) establish a national banking system; (2) develop transportation and communication networks; (3) create and subsequently sell public sector factories; and (4) lend to private firms.

Heavy industry grew from 1912 to 1946 WWI and exports Merchant marine fleet doubled in size for trading goods Public health ignored Post WWI lag-export prices declined Great Tokyo Earthquake of 1923 Great Depression of 1929 (Showa Depression)

To combat Great Depression, Japan disposed bad loans and imposed minimum capital req’s on banks Household frugality was praised Ministry of Commerce and Industry created to address the industrial sector specifically Zaibatsu strengthened by allowing cartel agreements

 Food rationing began in 1940, then redistributed in 1942 to military  Black markets run by yakuza to get food and supplies to families  Engaged in WWII on losing side  Able-bodied men were lost

Post-WWII occupation by Allies At first Allies did not help—famine set in until Soviet Threat Rural and urban restructuring—land reform and zaitbatsu Democracy created Dodge Plan-austerity measures included budget surplus and single exchange rate

 “Rationalization” entailed subsidy cuts  Bank of Japan loaned large sums to banks  Dodge Plan ended with beginning of Korean War

 Korean War drove up demand  Produced trucks and equipment  Acted as station for R&R for Allied troops  Acted as repair station for UN forces  Pent-up consumer demand rose  Post-Korean War slump-lasted one year  Consumption increased after  Global innovations like plastic and synthetic rubber increased production

 First Five-Year Plan in 1955 promoted trade, technology and industry  Import liberalization in 1960s  Second agricultural revolution in 1960s: Green Revolution  Booming in sixties and seventies-at British standard of living by seventies  Financial economy in eighties-real estate asset prices

 Meiji period-Emperor restored as head of Japan, but reform process guided by feudal lords—transition away from feudal system  Taisho period political conflict resulted in increased power to Diet  Showa period began with turbulence of crisis & Great Depression, rise of militarism  Liberal Democratic Party in 1950s & 1960s- protected small businesses

 Industrial power grew between 1881 and 1937, especially after WWI with modern factory system  Accompanied by increase in capital stock and horsepower  Started with textile industry-Osaka Spinning Company  Located from Tokyo through Nagoya and Osaka, to Fukuoka in the northern part of Kyushu

 Imported Western technology and employed Western engineers in universities, who would replace foreign engineers  At the end of the nineteenth century, inventions such as scientific measuring instruments, armaments, textiles and food industry inventions were created.  ISI during WWI forced Japan to improve technology

 Set up government departments to develop industrial raw materials and carry out research  After World War II, additional technology was transferred to Japan from the West as Japan reverse-engineered products  High-tech military equipment demanded during Korean War  Private companies encouraged to take part in university and state sector proj.

 Japan focused on industrialization and improvement of innovation during the Meiji period  Japan focused on light industry and then textile industry  Post-WWII decline was countered by pro- reindustrialization policies