Economic Miracle Period In The 1960's Japan example essay topic

Discuss the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1952. What effects did the purges have on political and business leadership in Japan and to what degree did this action have on the continuity or discontinuity between pre-war and post-war elites? What actions led SCAN to "reverse" its policies from around 1948? What were the aims and goals of the occupation forces?

The occupation of Japan began in August 1945 and ended in April 1952. General MacArthur was the first Supreme Commander. The entire operation was for the most part carried out by the United States. Japan in essence lost all the territory obtained after 1894.

The remnants of Japan's war machine were gone, and war crime trials were held. Approximately 500 military officers committed suicide shortly after Japan surrendered, and hundreds more were executed for committing war crimes. The Emperor was not declared a war criminal. A new constitution went into effect in 1947: The emperor lost all political and military power, and was solely the symbol of the state. Universal suffrage was introduced and human rights were now guaranteed. Japan was also forbidden to lead a war again or to maintain an army.

MacArthur also intended to break up power concentrations by dissolving the zaibatsu and other large companies, and by decentralizing the education system and the police. In a land reform, concentrations in land ownership were removed. During the first half of the occupation, Japan's media was subject to rigid censorship of any anti-American statements and controversial topics. The co-operation between the Japanese and the Allied powers worked relatively well.

Critics began to grow when the United States acted according to self-interests in the Cold War. The United States reintroduced the persecution of the communists, stationed even more troops in Japan, and wanted Japan to establish its own self defense force despite the anti-war article in the constitution. Many aspects of the occupation's so called 'reverse course' were welcomed by conservative Japanese politicians. With the peace treaty that went into effect in 1952, the occupation ended. Discuss the significant features of post-war Japan that has lead Japan to become on of the leading industrial nations of the world. Emphasize the economic activities of the 1960's and 1970's.

After the end of World War II, Japan's economy was a disaster, and its international and economic relations were completely disrupted. Initially, imports were limited to essential food and raw materials, for the most part financed by assistance from the United States. Because of horrible domestic shortages, exports did not begin to recover until the Korean War, when the United States armed forces created boom-like conditions in indigenous industries. By 1954 economic rehabilitation and recovery were in essence complete. During the decade of the 1960's, the monetary value of exports grew at an average annual rate faster than the average rate of all noncommunist countries. This rapid productivity growth in manufacturing industries made Japanese products more competitive in world markets.

With the fixed exchange rate for yen during the decade of 1960, the chronic deficits that the nation faced in the 1950's had disappeared by the middle of the 1970's. The 1970's brought major changes for Japan's external relations. The decade began with the end of the fixed exchange rate for yen and with a strong rise in the value of yen under a new system of floating rates. Japan also faced higher bills for imports of energy and raw materials. These new exchange rates and the rise in raw material costs meant that the excesses of the decade's beginning were lost, and large trade deficits followed in the wake of the oil price shocks of 1973 and 1979. Expanding the country's exports remained a priority in the face of raw material supply shocks, and during the decade exports continued to expand at a high annual average rate.

Throughout the majority of the postwar period, foreign investment was not a sizeable part of Japan's external economic relations. Both domestic and foreign investments were carefully controlled by government regulations, which kept the investment flows small. These controls applied to direct investment in the creation of subsidiaries under the control of a parent company, portfolio investment, and lending. Controls were motivated by the desire to prevent foreigners (mostly Americans) from gaining ownership of the economy when Japan was in a weak position after World War II. Beginning in the late 1960's, these controls were gradually loosened, and the process of deregulation accelerated and continued throughout the 1980's.

Social change affected Modern Japan as well. What factors led to the decline in the birth ratio of Japan and how did the phoneme alter Japan's post-war changes in terms of jobs, urban growth, and overall economic growth? The social standing of the Japanese woman has altered dramatically since the end of the Second World War. Before the war, the Japanese woman was firmly embedded in a patriarchal system, taught to obey first her father, then her husband, and later her sons.

The few women who worked outside the home in that pre-war period worked almost exclusively as nurses or teachers or in other professions deemed 'appropriate' for women. This is not to say that any or all Japanese women might still be chained by the restriction of that pre-war system. For example, in terms of labor force participation rate of women, the ratio of women working to the total female population 15 years of age and over in Japan in the mid 1980's was equivalent to that of any other industrialized nation. The factors responsible for the increase in the female work force in Japan are the same as in the other major industrialized nations.

The decade of Japan's economic 'miracle', the 1960's, was indicated by a new wave in the Japanese women's movement, which was deeply entrenched, in the structural changes of the society at the time. It could be said that the Japanese women's movement occurred soon after Japan had completed its modernization, as an inevitable side effect to progress. Japanese society had been 'progressing' through the process of gradual modernization since the Meiji restoration, this process accelerated rapidly during 1960's, because it was the decade when Japan emerged miraculously successful in their economy. For example, the urbanization of the population passed the halfway mark, the number of nuclear families increased to 60% of all households and the average number of family members dropped from five to three. After the economic 'miracle' period in the 1960's Japan was placed second to the U.S.A. in the world market and globalization entered with the progress in technology. A growth in the number of job opportunities for women as a product of urbanization and the growth of service industries as well as the fact that women are attaining higher levels of education.

A lower birth ratio came from these factors, with more women receiving an education and moving into the workforce, the amount of women staying home and having children were becoming fewer. Discuss the growth of political parties in post-war Japan and any of the key individuals that moved to the forefront (i.e. YOSHIDA). What political issues were of significant consideration in the 1950's and 1960's? Jiyuto (Liberal Party) The initial Liberal Party was shaped in 1881 and was the first party in Japan to have a real party constitution, rules, and a nationwide organization. Unfortunately, it lasted only 3 years and subsequent versions were similarly short-lived. It was from this party formed in 1950 that the LDP evolved.

Jim into or Jiu Minshuto, LDP- Liberal Democratic Party. The LDP was born when the Liberal Party merged with the newly-created Japan Democratic Party in 1955 and, under Yoshida Shigeru, became the dominant political force in postwar Japan. Retaining control of the Japanese government almost continuously, the LDP supported Japan's alliance with the U.S. and fostered close links between Japanese business and government New Komeito (New Clean Government Party) Komeito was formed in 1964 as the political wing of Soka Gakkai, an organization affiliated with Nichiren Buddhism. The party lacked support due to its strong connection with religion until it officially severed the link in the 1970's. Komeito went on to become a mainstay of centrist politics. While established to promote international peace, support social welfare and eliminate political corruption, recent years have seen the party move closer to the more conservative policies of the LDP.

This helped the party enter government in a coalition with the LDP and Hoshuto. Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) The original Minshuto was formed in 1947 and formed part of the ruling coalition with the JSP and the People's Cooperative Party later that year. Party leader and Prime Minister Ashi da Hitoshi resigned after he was implicated in a bribery scandal which brought down the government. The party was dissolved in 1950. Nihon Kyo santo (Japan Communist Party - JCP) Formed in 1922, the JCP was mostly a secretive and underground movement until it was legalized after the Second World War.

Some successes in the immediate postwar period were undone soon after the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. The Red Purge drove JCP members to acts of terrorism which led to a loss of public support. Under the leadership of No saka Sanyo and Miyamoto Kenji, the party moderated its policies and began to regain support. With a basic policy of a peaceful transition to Socialism, it has adopted an independent and nationalist position. It calls for the return of the Russian-held Northern Territories but has eased its opposition to the Self Defense Forces and the US. Shaka i Minshuto (Social Democratic Party of Japan - S DPJ) Although the first Japan Socialist Party was formed in 1906, it soon broke into factions.

It wasn't until 1945 that the current party was formed and it was the main opposition force of the postwar period. The party had a brief 15 months in power in 1947-8 and had to wait almost 50 years for its next chance. The early 1950's saw the JSP reach its peak of power but increasingly left-wing elements caused internal feuding that continued for almost 30 years. A right-wing faction broke away to form the Democratic Socialist Party in 1960. The DSP and Komeito drained much of the JSP's support.

The decade of the 1970's has altered Japan's focus in international relations. What issues are of primary focus and how did Japan begin to emerge as a prominent world leader? Diplomatic relations were founded between China and Japan as of September 29, 1972. China and Japan also decided to hold negotiations intended at the conclusion not only of a treaty of peace and friendship but also at agreements on trade, shipping, air transportation, and fisheries. Sino-Japanese trade grew speedily after 1972. In January 1974, a three-year trade agreement -- the first of several working agreements covering civil air transportation, shipping, fisheries, and trademarks -- was signed.

Arrangements for technical cooperation, cultural exchange, and consular matters were also assumed. Issues lingered idly until political transformations in China after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 brought forward a leadership dedicated to economic modernization and interested in accommodation with Japan. A shifting climate of opinion in Japan that was more willing to ignore Soviet warnings and protests and accept the idea of 'anti hegemonism' as an international principle also helped lay the groundwork for new efforts to conclude the treaty. In February of 1978, a long-term private trade agreement led to an arrangement in which trade between China and Japan would steadily increase to a level of US$20 billion by 1985, through exports from Japan of equipment and plants, construction, technology materials, and machine parts in return for crude oil and coal.

This long-term plan, which gave rise to inflated expectations, proved overly ambitious and was drastically cut back the following year as China was forced to reorder its development priorities and scale down its commitments. However, the signing of this arrangement mirrored the desire on both sides to advance relations. In April 1978, a disagreement involving the incursion of armed Chinese fishing boats into the waters off the Senkaku Islands, a collection of barren islets north of Taiwan and south of the Ryukyu Islands, flared up and endangered the developing momentum toward a continuation of peace treaty talks. Self-control on both sides led to an agreeable solution. Talks on the peace treaty were resumed in July, and an arrangement was reached in August on a compromise version of the anti hegemony clause. The Treaty of Peace and Friendship was signed on August 12 and came into effect October 23, 1978.

Thus, common strategic concerns, as well as economic interests, held the two nations together. Until the late 1970's, China appeared more alarmed than Japan about the Soviet military buildup in Asia. But as the Soviet Union increasingly sought to impede strategic cooperation among Japan, the United States, and possibly China, in part by stepped-up intimidation of Japan, the Naka sone government became more concerned about the Soviet military buildup..