Japanese Postwar Economy - The Japanese "Miracle"

Question 1

Factors:

Answer 1

Like much of the world, Japan was devastated by the war but its highly educated population remained.

Question 2

Culture:

Answer 2

SCAP (Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers) set out to change Japanese culture to inhibit the re-emergence of militarism

Question 3

What did SCAP do?

Answer 3

Ended state subsidies for Shinto shrines

Textbooks revised to eliminate reference to racial superiority and imperial divinity

Opened college education to larger numbers

Lowered the voting age to 20 and gave women the right to vote

Question 4

Institutions

Answer 4

Land reform reduced the amount of agricultural land under tenancy from 45% to 10%

Powerful gov. bureaucracy with the power to regulate private investment, allocate foreign currency, and target the development of specific industries

Urbanization

Family

Political System

Economic Direction

Target industries

Question 5

Ubanization

Answer 5

Urbanization would steadily reduce proportion of population in rural areas

Government subsidies for agriculture ensured rural prosperity and reduced the rural-urban gap

Question 6

Family

Answer 6

Postwar laws prohibited primogeniture, inheritance became partiable

Urbanization - small apartments and a desire for upward mobility lead to smaller family sizes

Question 7

Political System

Answer 7

The iron triangle made up of the Liberal Democratic party, special interest groups and the government bureaucracy controlled policy within a narrow group.

Question 8

Example of a powerful gov. bureaucracy with the power to regulate private investment, allocate foreign currency

Answer 8

MITI, ministry of international trade and industry

Question 9

Target industries?

Answer 9

Early 1950’s, electric power, steel, shipbuilding, and coal

oil refining, chemical fertilizers, plastics, petrochemicals, machine tools, electronic goods, automobiles and artificial fibers

Question 10

Range of economic direction tools through Institutions

Answer 10

special tax treatment
subsidy of interest on ship building
loan of gov. funds through specialized development banks

Question 11

Institutions: Corporate form

Answer 11

Dual economy of large and small firms

Question 12

Large Firms

Answer 12

US dissolves zaibatsu under US occupation

corporations relied on banks and other corporations not stock markets for funds

shareholders had little power over management

Keiretsu groups around particular banks came to replace prewar zaibatsu form

Question 13

What did the corporate culture encourage?

Answer 13

Collective Identity
singing company songs, lifetime employment

BUT… hired part time employees who were usually women.

Question 14

Small Firms

Answer 14

Worked as suppliers to the large firms. Kept wage costs low which allowed for non-permanent employment

Question 15

Small firms accounted for ____% of manufacturing workers in 1970

Answer 15

40%

Question 16

World System

Answer 16

A special geopolitical position in the cold war

Question 17

What did the US decide to do During the Korean War?

Answer 17

Rebuild Japanese economy

Prevent a Japanese military through protection of US military umbrella

Question 18

What were the results of Iron Triangle, policies, pursuit of domestic economy ( import substitution ) along with foreign economy of export led growth?

Answer 18

Japanese economy grew about 10% per year.

Japan became second largest economy in the world

huge rise in living standards

Americans worried that japan would take over economic dominance in the world

In 1980’s, bubble economy in Japan finally burst