Japan's Economic "Miracle," 1950-89

GDP Annual Average Growth Rates (based on World Bank)

1945: pre-WW I levels

1946-70: 10%/year

1970s: 4.11%/year

Comparative GDP Growth Rates Per Decade (%), 1960-1979 (calculated based on World Bank)

Production increases of 1960s

TVs: 3.6 to 13.8 million (about 400% increase)

Cars: 165,000 to 3 million (1,800% increase)

Export orientation

Exported manufactured goods

Ships, cameras, TVs, cars, artificial fibers

Heavy importer of raw materials

Middle Eastern oil

Australian iron ore

Factors explaining rapid growth in 1950-60s

1) Legacies of pre-war Japan (*Transwar System, Gordon, pp. 253-59)

Educated, technically skilled population

Experienced managers and entrepreneurs

Strong work ethic

2) WW II: (*Transwar System, Gordon or "a useful war," John Dower)

Counterintuitive: 10 million unemployed, 1946

Hidden strengths

Bureaucracy

*"2nd" industrial revolution

Heavy industrial development

New, smaller companies

Intensified spread of technical skills

Technical schools grew from 11 to 400, 1935-45

3) External situation, post-WWII

*Korean War (no Marshall Plan for Japan)

US defensive curtain

US free trade policies

Export growth 17%/year, 1953-65

4) Internal situation, post-WWII

Technological importation and innovation

Licensed technology

High rate of savings (*Transwar System)

18% of income, 1960s (US 7-8%)

High rate of investment (*Transwar System)

Role of bureaucracy (*Transwar System)

Ministry of Finance

Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI)

7 of 10 Prime Ministers previously Minister of MITI, 1957-86

Policies

Protectionist tariffs

Tax breaks for businesses

Loans to leading industries

"Administrative guidance"

Japan's GDP Growth Rates Per Decade (World Bank)

1946-70: 10%/year

1970s: 4.11%

1980s: 4.37%

Comparative GDP Growth Rates Per Decade (%), 1960-1989 (calculated based on World Bank)

Middle Class “Consciousness” Gordon pp. 275-76; Secrets of Mariko

Discussion: Secrets of Mariko, pp. 3-63

1. Can we trust a book by a non-Japanese speaking American journalist to learn about Japan? How can we check it validity?

2. The author Bumiller, chose Mariko as a subject because her family seemed like a typical “middle of the road” family (p.12).

Why did Bumiller feel that Mariko’s family would be good subjects?

Mariko and her family represent what Gordon calls the “new middle class” in contrast the “old middle class (p. 265). What does Gordon mean by this distinction?

What might be atypical about Mariko?

3. According to Gordon, by about the time of the book, only about 1/5th of Japanese lived in 3-generation extended families (p. 265). How do Mariko and her family relate to Mariko’s elderly parents, Ito and Saburo?

4. What are the differences in how Mariko’s parents, Ito and Saburo, came together in marriage as compared to Mariko and Takeshi? Is this typical of the trends mentioned by Gordon (p. 265)?

What role does a kiss play (p. 58) in Mariko’s courtship with her future husband Takeshi?

5. What were her father Saburo’s experiences during WWII?

How typical is his view of the war (p. 43)? Does his viewpoint seem justified?