Everyday Life in Japan Essay. History Assignment.

Everyday Life in Japan
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Everyday Life in Japan
Introduction
The 70s and 80s era was an era of economic turmoil for Japan. The inflation rate in Japan recorded during the 1970s played a role in the decline of the country's economy. The country recorded a high growth rate before the 70s period. The Japanese economy underperformed considerably during the 1980s era. After the end of bubble economic crisis, the authorities found it difficult to develop a strategy to boost the economy. The country's growth rate reached to almost zero during the 1990s. The reasons for economic breakdown were both global and local. The countries of Western Europe and North America also observed a decline in their growth (Itoh, 2000). The country observed a significant decline during the early1970s and 1980s. The happenings of the lost decade resulted in negatively impacting the Japanese economy. The policymakers believe that the Japanese economy is still experiencing the influence of poor policies executed during the bubble economy period.
Restructuring of Capitalism and Its Impact on Everyday Life in Japan
The economic historians and analysts have described the starting point of the bubble economy from September 1985. Six nations, including Japan and the United States, agreed to abide by the Plaza Accord. Following the agreement, the dollar depreciated against the Japanese Yen. It allowed Japanese businesses to buy foreign assets at a low rate. Japanese companies purchased golf courses and properties in the United States. In December 1989, the Japanese stock market reached a high point of 39,000. However, in the early 1990s, there was a sudden decline in the stock market which resulted in a loss of over $2 trillion.
The Plaza Accord did not prove to be successful in maintaining balance in the trade relations between the United States and Japan. No significant change was observed in the exchange rate of the US dollar and yen. In the United States, the trade deficit started to rise, and Japan observed a significant level of export surplus. These factors resulted in asset bubble price and affecting the lives of Japanese people. Consumer spending was high, which damaged the economy of Japan. The income inequality present in Japan benefitted the user groups with high income. Such a situation was not good for the overall economy of the country.
The rise in the rates of asset prices in Japan contributed to a sufficient decrease in the interest rates in the short term period during 1986 and 1987. It resulted in a discount rate remaining fixed for the next two years. The Bank of Japan adopted policies which resulted in a significant drop in the discount rate from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent (Kohso, 2015). The international policy of intervention within foreign exchange contributed in the discount cut. The aggressive monetary easing policy adopted by the Bank of Japan resulted in a decrease in the US dollar value to 35 per cent. The international community criticized this strategy of Bank of Japan as it appeared to be an attempt to increase the value of yen.
The distortions present within the tax system of Japan resulted in creating an economic bubble. During the 1980s era, the Japanese local government levied a high level of taxes on land and property. It resulted in regressing the property tax as the total value of the sector did not increase to a significant level. A decrease of 0.06 per cent was observed in Greater Tokyo Area to that of the total market price. The land cost increased significantly with the overall tax rate.
Corporate and capitalist restricting policies implemented in Japan from 1981 to 2007 provided the local government with economic freedom. The focus of the distressed firms and larger firms in Japan was on restructuring. It resulted in a decrease in total debt, employment growth and capital (Harootunian & Harootunian, 2000). With time the possibility of a distressed firm going under restructuring minimized the investments made by the company during the 1980s. Japan is focused on adopting neoliberalism for minimizing trade barriers and price controls, deregulating stock markets and decreasing the governments influence the economy through austerity and privatization. Since the beginning of the 2000s era, Japanese political leadership is focused and committed to implementing selective urban revitalization and state decentralization. The Japanese government has abandoned its long-held policy of maintaining spatial development in a balanced way. The policy mix adopted by Japan is similar to the neoliberal spatial restructuring applied in Western Europe. The primary goal of the state spatial restructuring applied in Japan is on overcoming government failure and collectivist culture.
The economic restructuring allowed the business operating in Japan to minimize their operational costs. The payroll costs were reduced to a significant level which helped the corporations to manage their business operations. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry has played a vital role in identifying the sectors where the businesses should focus. The long-term partnership and planning established between private firms and state have contributed to economic growth.
The Japan nation went through many ups and downs during the post-war era, but the country has been able to maintain its position as the second-largest economy. The country suffered from two major oil crisis during the 70s era, which forced the companies to put their efforts into developing energy-saving items. The collapse of the bubble economy during the 90s era created a negative impact on multiple sectors. The country faced a severe level of recession because of the economy’s declining productivity. The changes which occurred in the national factors resulted in reducing the employment rate. With the country’s economy declining, many companies decided to lay off their employees. It meant that many low-income families faced significant difficulties in meeting their daily expenses and needs. The inflation rate increased to a significant level which resulted in increasing the prices of goods.
The capitalist modernisation played a vital role in transforming and reconstructing urban sites into large industrialized cities. The bubble burst observed in the real estate during 1989 ended the booming economic growth of the country. The price levels and wages either dropped significantly or remained stagnant. The production capacity of the organizations and industries was curtailed to a significant level which meant low employment opportunities for the local people. It contributed to the country going into the recession period. A brief period of economic recovery was observed during the year 2003, and 2004 that was not sufficient to stabilize the economy (Cwiertka & Machotka, 2018). The lost decade period, which started in 1990 and ended in 2000 created a negative impact on the country’s economy. The government could only deliver minimal benefits to the citizens. The allowances received by the employees observed a significant level of shrink. The food quality of hotels worsened, and the business trips for travellers became cheaper, which affected the country negatively. On average the salary of people decreased to almost 20 per cent and the workplace reduced from 40,000 employees to almost half.
Developmental capitalism played a vital role in the national growth of Japan. In the post-war period, Japan’s economy did not show much continuity and progress. The industries were institutionalized in multiple stages after the social and political crisis of the 1960s. During the period between 1960 to 1973, the shared growth was achieved on the national level. In the 70s and 80s era, the social basis was strengthened in Japan through institutionalization. Developmental capitalism in this era showed some signs of stress. The re-establishment of developmental capitalism helped in improving the economic system of the country. The upward social mobility and demographic development played a role in disintegrating the social basis and multiple components of developmental capitalism.
The Japanese economic system has undergone many paradoxical changes over the last few decades. The country was able to develop a culture which is a company focused. It contributed to creating a zero growth capitalism. The widespread of information technology across the country resulted in economic life deterioration among the working class and a significant drop in the birth rate. The company system Japanese model failed miserably, which resulted in a long-term depression during the entire 1990s era. The neoliberalism with capitalist development contributed to making markets more competitive, which problems for the local people. The neoliberalism in Japan played a vital role in removing price controls and minimizing trade barriers.
The everyday life in Japan moved towards urbanization which contributed to the rise of population density in different cities. With the rapid urbanization of the country, the spatial distribution balance was disrupted, and the conflict can be seen in rural and urban areas. The Japanese government formulates its policies related to National land planning based on this perspective. The economic crisis in 1980 to 1983 and the bubble economy during 1986-1990 damaged the country’s economic system. The suicide mortality rates among the male population increased significantly in relation to the economic and urbanization development factor.
The worker’s migration and male mortality rate had a positive relationship between them. The urbanization played a significant role in minimizing male suicide death rates from 1970 to 1990 in Japan. The social factors like worker’s migration resulted in increasing the male suicide rates. The female population was less vulnerable to social factors, and the women are less likely to commit suicide. The main concentration of urbanization was in three metropolitan areas which include Nagoya, Tokyo and Keihanshin region. During 1965 to 1985, the urbanization process can be mainly characterized by spatial dispersion and suburbanization.
The Japanese government established an urban planning system to monitor land use following the City Planning Act. The urban planning territorial units were characterized into multiple areas like urbanization control areas and urbanization promotion areas. The system has been developed to ensure that there is no disorderly development in the cities. The regulations on building development and land use have been applied to ensure that the construction is carried out only in the specifically permitted areas. Some areas have been restricted to manufacturing and housing only to control the city population.
A rapid property boom and sudden collapse were observed in Japan. The extraordinary increase observed in land prices resulted in property finance expansion. The land markets domination was observed through finance capital which was a result of urban development during the 1980s era. The bubble economy’s sudden collapse did not create a negative impact on the real estate sector.
The relaxations offered by the Japanese government in the monetary policy during the 1980s resulted in an economic bubble which negatively affected the economy. A recession was observed in Japan, which continued for nearly 25 years. The Bank of Japan adopted a policy to maintain interest rates at the lowest po...