JAPAN, from 1946 into the 1990s

Japan, from 1946 into the 1990s

Emerging from War, Devastation and Hunger

Devastated by the war, Japan's population in 1946 was what it had been in 1940 and increased by Japanese arriving from Korea and Manchuria. Japan was under the impression that it would not again be a first-class military power. Its resources were limited. The dream of prosperity through conquest was over. Japan was now dependent on goodwill and trade. With the United States supplying the military needed for defense, Japan could now devote its entire economy to peace-time development.

After the war, Japan began with much need for economic development. In the cites some people were starving. City dwellers were rushing to farming areas in what was called the "onion existence," pealing off layer after layer of possessions and exchanging them for food. For years Japan's population was kept from starvation by the free food from the United States. It would take time for Japan to develop its industry and exports to create self-sufficiency. Forced to start from scratch, Japan did not need to overcome reluctance to spend money on new machinery as some did in the industrialized West. Demolition by U.S. bombing had taken care of that.

One advantage that Japan had over countries that were to be called "developing nations" was its tradition in education. Like Germany, Japan emerged from World War II with a reservoir of persons experienced with technology and science. Other advantages was Japan's devotion to free enterprise. Japan's industries were relatively well managed within a free enterprise system. The Soviet Union's experience demonstrated that no matter how well trained a work force, much was lost if the system was poorly managed.

Japan's government entered into a partnership with private enterprise. But its private insurance industry was devasted. Private insurance companies had failed as Japan had passed through the earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression and then the destruction from bombing raids during the war. Japan's government took on the role of the nation's insurance, security against sickness, injury, unemployment and just about everything else that insurers cover, and social security for the elderly. Japan's government turned the nation into a welfare state comparable to what was developing in Scandinavia. Japan's government, still under occupation, was replacing, it was said, a feudal economy with a welfare economy. Its welfare policy was to benefit from Japan's culture of social responsibility and conformity. Japan was to cling to its universal welfare, and rather then inhibiting Japan's economic growth, it was to develop one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

please continue

to navigation links at the top