The story of an astonishing vision and growth — Japan.
8:16 AM, 6th August 1945 US detonated a 10,000-pound plutonium bomb (nuclear weapon) in Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, Nagasaki experienced the same.
The two bombings killed around 1.5 lakh people in Japan.
The third largest economy in the world today — Japan, was wrecked after World War Two.
Little did we know that Japan would come out of the destruction. In a matter of a few decades, Japan was among the most powerful countries in the world.
How did this recovery happen?
Japan’s spectacular rise after WW2 is one of history’s most astonishing reconstructions.
Let’s unravel the journey of a shattered Japan to an extraordinary ascent after 1945.
When Japan surrendered after the war, it was occupied by allied troops of America. The only motive of American troops was to make sure that Japan did not conceive the sense of war again.
A new parliament Diet is established.
The radical, social, and political reforms were given in the hands of General Douglas McArthur — the supreme commander of the allied powers.
The country that destroyed Japan helped rebuild it. But why did America decide to help Japan?
With the changing world politics, the USSR/Soviet Union (then) and the US experienced a cold war, and soon after the first communist party was established in China, communism became a headache for the USA.
Japan became an instrument for the US to control Asia and promote democracy in Asia.
The USA felt to secure its hegemony in Asia, the US decided to promote the economic recovery of Japan.
The US invested 1.9 billion dollars in the form of assistance and changed some basic structures of the economy.
- Agricultural reforms — Americans sought to break up the traditional stranglehold by wealthy landowners. Approximately 23000 sq km or 38% of Japan’s cultivated land was purchased from landlords and resold at incredibly low prices to the framers. 3 million farmers acquired land through this system, which altered Japan’s social structure.
- Removing the monopoly of huge industrial firms like Zaibatsu — The wealthy, influential Japanese who were part of these industries. They came crashing down in no time.
- Importing technology from the West for manufacturing.
- Exports. Selling Japanese goods in America at favorable terms.
(Under US assistance, Japan lost its right to have an army) so, Japan set up its self-defense force in 1954. Military force mandated with defending Japan and assisting with internal issues and environmental disasters.
By the mid-1950s, the production had surpassed pre-war levels.
During the Korean War (1950–53), Japan provided the required logistics to the American forces fighting in Korea.
The factories that were destroyed were established with modern technology. The high-technology goods for both the domestic market and exports were manufactured.
The US retained its presence and secured its alliance with Japan to have a democratic buffer state in the area which was now mostly under communist influence.
ECONOMIC MIRACLE
In the 1960s, the Japanese government undertook an ambitious — Income-doubling Plan. It aimed to double the size of the nation’s economy in 10 years.
Tax breaks, targeted investments, an expanded social safety net, incentives to increase exports, and industrial development were introduced.
Their focus shifted to setting up manufacturing units with major investments in electric power, coal, steel, and chemicals.
They specialized in Shipbuilding, Radio, Television, Cameras, Steel, Motorcycles, Motorcars, Textiles, etc.
Japan’s early focus was to provide high-quality mechanical equipment that eventually gave way to the computer age. Japanese education system contributed to the modernization process.
The country implemented a US-based high school system. Soon it had the highest literacy rates in the world.
Many industrial enterprises formed a unit and became large corporations to improve the efficiency of Japan. Soon, the demand for Japanese products went higher in the global markets due to their high quality and reliability.
Japan was established as one of the first developed nations in Asia.
Japanese corporations succeed in retaining a loyal and experienced workforce through a lifetime employment system.
Between 1953 and 1965 GDP grew by more than 9% per year.
After 1980, Japan’s gross national product was 1/10 of the total world production.
It smashed through a trillion dollar mark to hit 1.065 trillion dollars.
Less than 20% of the Japanese people remained in the countryside as the citizens swelled with new arrivals.
Inflation in Japan was hovering around 3% and unemployment was also under 3%.
Agricultural machinery appeared along with improved strains of crops. Farmers began to reap the benefits of a quickly growing population that suddenly had lots of money to spare.
It started to provide development aid to underdeveloped nations.
The population that had put in plenty of hard work fostered education, social care, and determination to rebuild their broken country. It was the reason Japan was able to succeed so quickly. Japanese worked super hard without compromising on their quality of work to turn their companies into world-class organizations.
In just 35 years, Japan went from being a crushed, hungry country with no remaining industry to a pinnacle of global development. And this was a story of having an astonishing vision and growth.
