The Main Causes Of Japan’s Postwar Economic Transformation

WHAT WERE THE MAIN CAUSES OF JAPAN’S POSTWAR ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION? Name: Institution: Course Code: Date: WHAT WERE THE MAIN CAUSES OF JAPAN’S POSTWAR ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION? In 1945, when Japan surrendered after a humiliating defeat to the United States, its economy and two of its big cities were in ruins. The war had cost the country a lot economically, many of its young people in war and most of the government revenue earned before and during the war. The two atomic bombs that were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki had also shown Japan that it stood no chance if it was involved in another international conflict. So, what next? This question meant that Japan had to find ways to revive its economy while taking a different approach to the one that involved war. Japan’s leadership had to rethink the future of the country and they focused on economic recovery. The economic recovery was multifaceted because it had to involve rebranding the country as peaceful in the international market. Japan only focused on economic recovery to fix its ailing economy and mend its international relations with the world. By delving deeper in research and analysis, this paper seeks to showcase how Japan’s approach to technology, education, unification of the people under the Yoshida doctrine, formation of strong multilateral and bilateral bonds, and finally, government involvement helped Japan to be on the development track once again. First, Japan sought to improve and make practical use of technologies and technological know-how imported from foreign countries. During the war, the country had invested very little efforts and resources towards scaling its usable technology outside military applications. Some of the companies which had started before the world war such as Isuzu and Toyota had been largely affected by the war such that they were nearly uncompetitive in the international markets. After World War II, Japan’s focus on economic recovery was monumental through keiretsu and the education sector. The economy grew steadily and as a show of how far the technology came in about two decades, they tried to showcase it during the 1964 Olympics in Japan. Japan’s exhibitions tried to market its technology. CITATION Pau11 \p 2317 \l 1033 (Droubie, 2011, p. 2317) notes, ‘photography exhibition consisted of more than 150 colored photographs by 56 Japanese photographers and focused on all things ‘Japanese.’41 The choice to use all color photographs focused attention on the advanced nature of Japan’s photographic industry everything could be and was shot, developed and printed using Japanese technology.’ Japan understood that it was not the best in technology and invested in learning from other countries which had better technologies. Through the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Japan imported technologies that helped its industries recover. This government agency created synergy between the private sector and the government and helped the country to share technologies to stimulate the industrial sector to make better products. Technology thus became one of the most building blocks of Japan’s resurgence. However, this could not be successful without Japan working hard to straighten its relationships at the international level as indicated below. Japan also sought to form strong bilateral and multilateral bonds with other countries. First, Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru guided his economic and foreign relations under the ‘Yoshida doctrine.’ CITATION Pau11 \p 2309 \l 1033 (Droubie, 2011, p. 2309) notes that the Yoshida doctrine had three main components; focus on economic growth, avoiding contentious international issues that could potentially escalate or alienate Japan from other nations and relying on the united states for security. The Yoshida Doctrine was anchored in the constitution which renounced Japan’s sovereignty on the threat or use of force to settle international disputes. One of the countries which Japan formed a strong bilateral trade agreement was the United States even after their belligerence during the world war two. The United States came to be Japans most important ally after the war during and after the occupation years. Their bond was too strong such that Japan relied on the United States for security and renounced any military developments to solely depend on the United States. The United States was a gateway for the Japanese to form stronger alliances with the West once it secured a strong bilateral bond with the United States. It also went on to have good bilateral and foreign relations with other western countries whereby it formed trade agreements and forged a closer working relationship. The new mantra helped Japan become close trading partners with many non-western nations and also joined GATT, the forerunner of WTO. Japan was routing for an export-based economy and these trading alliances were instrumental for her recovery. Japan’s commitment to non-militaristic and formation of the strong bond with the united states helped her recover by injecting millions of dollars into its economy. However, Japan had to work hard to unite its people with the goal of rebuilding. The Japanese public was dejected and had...