1945: pre-WW I levels
1946-70: 10%/year
1970s: 4.11%/year
TVs: 3.6 to 13.8 million (about 400% increase)
Cars: 165,000 to 3 million (1,800% increase)
Ships, cameras, TVs, cars, artificial fibers
Middle Eastern oil
Australian iron ore
Educated, technically skilled population
Experienced managers and entrepreneurs
Strong work ethic
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
*Korean War (no Marshall Plan for Japan)
US defensive curtain
US free trade policies
Export growth 17%/year, 1953-65
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"
1946-70: 10%/year
1970s: 4.11%
1980s: 4.37%
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?