Japan is a long and narrow island country located in East Asia. It is extremely poor in natural resources such as oil and coal, and has relatively many natural disasters such as earthquakes. The aggressive war launched by the Japanese fascists not only brought huge trauma to Asian countries and nations, "the imperialist war also caused serious disasters to the Japanese country and nation." World War II caused Japan to lose all the wealth accumulated before the war, and the post-war economy On the verge of collapse. Regarding the damage to national property, "According to a survey by the Post-War Reconstruction Agency, 119 cities were damaged due to air raids, 2.4 million households were burned down, 8.8 million people were affected, and direct property losses amounted to 64.39 billion yen." Japan Industrial output after the war was only 20% of that in 1937 before the war. Inflation was severe, food was scarce, production almost came to a standstill, and the shadow of defeat hung over the hearts of most citizens.
However, on top of this scarred and devastated ruins, Japan seized the opportunity of the world's economic center of gravity shifting to the Pacific. Under the background of the "Cold War" and combined with Japan's national conditions, Japan set off a climax of industrialization. Created a miracle of world economic development. "In 1951, Japan's economy returned to pre-war levels (referring to the average level from 1934 to 1936)." On this basis, "a full recovery was achieved by 1955." The volume of commodity exports has increased significantly, and the balance of payments has also improved. Balance is achieved. The ultra-high-speed economic growth has caused Japan's economic scale to expand rapidly, and its GDP has surpassed India and Canada. By "1965, the gross national product was US$8.8 billion, ranking fifth after the United States, West Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. Since then, it has surpassed France and surpassed the United Kingdom in 1968 and 1968. It surpassed West Germany in 2016 (Japan’s US$141.9 billion and West Germany’s US$132.2 billion), becoming the second largest economic power in the capitalist world after the United States. "The inducements for Japan's rapid economic development after the war are multifaceted. , both subjective and objective.
From an objective analysis, the main reason is that there was an environment conducive to Japan's economic development both internationally and domestically at that time. First, democratic reforms in the early postwar period were the basic prerequisite for economic revitalization. The purpose of this reform is to "encourage the Japanese people to develop the desire to fight for personal freedom and respect Japanese human rights, especially freedom of religion, assembly, speech and press. And to encourage the Japanese people to establish representative organizations." Democratic reform involves amending the constitution , agricultural land reform, dismantling chaebols and carrying out labor reforms, etc., are of great significance to Japan's modernization process. Secondly, after the war, Japan took advantage of the low prices of international raw materials and fuels. Especially before the outbreak of the oil crisis in 1973, Japan took advantage of cheap international oil energy to develop its economy. In addition, the prices of industrial products were high at that time, which was extremely difficult for resource-poor Japan. favorable. Third, the U.S.’s economic support and its own military spending have dropped sharply. Out of the "Cold War" global strategic needs, the United States vigorously supported Japan economically. With the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union and the establishment of New China, the United States included Japan in its Far East strategic plan, making Japan a base for American dominance in Asia and a fortress against the Soviet Union. According to statistics, “from 1946 to the end of June 1950, the cumulative amount of U.S. aid and loans to Japan reached 3 billion U.S. dollars.” Under the “protection” of the United States, Japan did not have a heavy military burden. “Japan’s military expenditures were In 1944, it accounted for 98.9 of the gross national product, and in 1977 it dropped to 0.88, the lowest among the capitalist powers. "The sharp reduction in military expenditure has provided sufficient funds for Japan's economic development. Fourth, U.S. military orders have stimulated Japan's economic development. After the outbreak of the Korean War, Japan immediately turned into a military depot and a supply base for military supplies for the US military. Large-scale military orders of all kinds made the Japanese economy in a depressed state run like a panacea that revived the stagnant Japanese economy. Get out of the trough. According to statistics, "from the outbreak of the war to the signing of the armistice agreement in July 1953, the total 'special needs' reached 2.4 billion U.S. dollars, and by 1955 it reached 3.6 billion U.S. dollars." In the following 1960s, Japan made great war fortunes, " Received US$4 billion in military orders due to the Vietnam War.”
The Korean War and the Vietnam War were turning points in postwar Japanese history. Fifth, the rise and development of the third technological revolution have played a huge role in Japan's economic leap. By the end of the 1960s, Japan had eliminated 30 years of traditional industries. New technologies and new industries drove the development of the entire national economy, and Japan became the fastest-growing country in the capitalist world."
From a subjective point of view , the incentives for Japan's economic development after the war are inseparable from the economic development strategy formulated by the Japanese government and a series of successful economic policies adopted.
1. Strengthen Keynesian theory and develop state monopoly capitalism. After the war, the Japanese government implemented Keynesian theory, used the power of state power to strengthen intervention, guidance and control of economic life, and developed state monopoly capitalism. 1. Strengthen the planned nature of the capitalist economy. In the early post-war period, the Japanese government formulated many economic plans, such as "the 'Five-Year Plan for Economic Revitalization Trial Plan' was formulated twice from 1948 to 1949; in 1951, it also formulated the 'Three-Year Plan for an Independent Economy.'" to further promote economic development. In the mid-war period, at the end of 1955, the Hatoyama Cabinet formulated the "Five-Year Plan for Economic Independence" (1956-1960); in December 1957, the Kishi Nobusuke Cabinet formulated the "New Long-term Economic Plan" (1958-1962); in 1960, Ikeda The "National Income Doubling Plan" formulated during the cabinet period" and so on. Through these plans, some blind factors in capital competition have been avoided and the Japanese economy has a basis for continuous development. 2. Develop state-owned enterprises. By 1965, state-owned enterprises accounted for 15.5% of Japan’s total fixed assets. The development of state monopoly capitalism has made up for some of the shortcomings of private monopoly capitalism and promoted Japan's high economic prosperity.
2. Take various measures to promote the improvement of labor productivity and increase the total amount of capital. 1. Vigorously develop education and pay attention to cultivating talents. Japan carried out educational reforms in 1947 and changed to nine-year compulsory education. “In 1950, nine-year compulsory education was fully universalized, with an enrollment rate of 99%; in 1965, the rate of junior high school graduates entering high school reached 69.6; in 1970, the rate of high school graduates entering university reached 23.6.” The government increased investment in education “1950 The annual education funding was 159.9 billion yen, which increased to 4024.4 billion yen in 1972, accounting for 20% of the budget of that year. "The result of attaching great importance to education has provided a sufficient number of outstanding workers and scientific and technological talents for the modernization of the economy, and has become a key factor in the Japanese economy. Rapidly developing human resources. 2. Introduce a large number of advanced foreign technologies. The number of advanced technologies Japan introduced from abroad in the 1950s: "446 pieces in 1950-1954, 577 pieces in 1955-1959, and 2,039 pieces in 1960-1964." It can be seen that Japan introduced foreign advanced technologies quickly. By 1979, Japan had systematically introduced 31,000 world-leading technologies on a large scale, half of which came from the United States. The introduction was mainly carried out by purchasing technology patents and drawings, and then combined with the characteristics of the country to transform and improve. As a result, Japanese industry concentrated on the long-term development achievements of other countries in a short period of time, and saved huge amounts of money. "According to statistics, from 1945 to 1970, Japan only paid 6 billion US dollars to obtain technology that foreign countries spent 180 billion US dollars to develop." At that time, the Japanese had a slogan: "The No. 1 machine is imported, the No. 2 machine is made domestically, and the No. 3 machine is made in China." Export." 3. Make full use of the positive factors of traditional culture and unique enterprise management system. The excellent traditions of collectivism, emphasis on education, emphasis on harmony, discipline, frugality, and hard work in traditional Japanese culture are conducive to employees enhancing their sense of honor for the company, and are conducive to employees forming a loyalty mentality that they are in the same boat as the company, and have a strong sense of loyalty to Japan. A high degree of economic development has positive significance. The enterprise management system achieves expert personnel, scientific methods, automated technology, and efficient organizations. These unique management systems play a vital role in improving labor efficiency.
3. Actively implement high-investment policies and expand investment scale. After the war, Japan quickly set off an investment boom. "According to estimates from the Economic Planning Agency, the amount of equipment investment by Japanese companies in 1956 will increase by 7.8% compared with the previous year. However, it actually increased by 57.6%."
"In the 15 years from 1955 to 1970, Japan's fixed asset investment increased by more than 115 times." The ratio of Japanese government investment to government expenditure was 35 in 1960, 47 in 1965, and rose to 52 in 1970. According to statistics in 1977, the Japanese government's investment accounted for 5.6 of the gross national product, which is equivalent to 1.4 times that of the United States and higher than the combined investment of the United Kingdom, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, and Italy in the same year. "The focus of fixed capital investment is on basic industries such as electric power, steel, and machinery and emerging industries such as electronics, chemicals, and automobiles. Large-scale investment not only enabled Japan to quickly establish an industrial system centered on steel and a series of emerging industries, such as The industrial sector has also greatly accelerated the renewal of fixed capital in various departments and improved the level of technological equipment and modernization of enterprises.
Fourth, Japan has vigorously developed foreign trade by taking advantage of its excellent ports in the Pacific. The export-oriented economy and the rapid growth of foreign trade have brought huge profits to Japan. In the second half of the 1960s, the growth rate of Japan’s output exceeded the growth rate of production. The black value of trade was US$2.5 billion in 1968 and reached US$4 billion in 1970. "Japan reinvested part of these huge profits into the production field to continue to promote Japan's economic growth. At the same time, foreign exchange reserves increased rapidly. According to statistics, "at the end of 1970, it was 2.005 billion U.S. dollars (ranking tenth in the world), and increased to 18.365 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 1972 ( Ranking second in the world). "These huge foreign exchange reserves have enhanced Japan's economic strength.
5. The long-term rule of the Liberal Democratic Party has made social and economic development relatively stable. On November 15, 1955, the Liberal Party of Japan and the Democratic Party merged to form the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party for short). Since the Liberal Democratic Party occupies a majority of seats in the parliament, “the essence of the system in 1955 is that it is actually a one-party system governed by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party. Since then, Japan has had a long history of being in power by the Liberal Democratic Party. "Judging from the governance practices of the 1950s and 1960s, the domestic and foreign policies of successive governments are of the same origin. On the economic front, the Liberal Democratic Party government extensively intervened in economic life, formulated plans, devoted itself to the cultivation and development of new industries, and increased capital investment. , special measures were taken to promote capital accumulation. In terms of politics and society, the government formulated and issued a series of decrees with the goal of achieving stability and strengthening control over the people; the Liberal Democratic Party's foreign policy was followed by every government. United States.
In summary, the Japanese government and people built a country riddled with holes, devastated, and shrouded in nuclear fear in just twenty or thirty years on the ruins of World War II. It has become a modern industrial power. As for the incentives for its development, there are both objective reasons for the international environment after World War II and Japan's own subjective reasons, and these two reasons work together to influence the rapid development of Japan's economy. It has had a huge impact on Asia and the entire world.