Job Discussion Forums

[leeroy]

Out of a general curiosity...

Japan seems to have done OK for itself since the war. Economically, politically, it could be doing far worse - at least this is my interpretation.

Technologically it seems that Japan has exceeded most western nations - and while some might see the more conservative and traditional aspects of its culture as "backward", who's to say the western liberal way is "progress", right? It's a stable, prosperous, G7 country - compared to most others in the world it does OK.

So my question is...

Eventually in WWII, so I understand, Japan recieved a fairly severe arse-kicking. After that, what happened? How did Japan manage to get where it is today? I would guess that the pattern of progress that other western nations have followed doesn't quite apply in Japan's case..

Did they simply work very hard? Underhandedly steal money and resources from someone? Win the lottery? What?

If someone could summarise Japanese history from 1940-2004 in a paragraph that would be greatly appreciated!

[guest of Japan]

ONE PARAGRAPH!!!!!

How about just a few points of note.

- Despite the efforts of the US the huge industries of Japan were able to remain intact after the occupation. They didn't have to start from scratch.

- The US presense in both Vietnam and Korea pumped huge amounts of money into the Japanese economy.

- Low labor costs enabled Japan to develop into a powerful export nation. Because the major industries were still intact Japan didn't need huge foreign investment to get going. Therefore it was able to keep the profits from being sucked out of the country.

- They worked very hard.

- They didn't have to spend much money on defense due to the US desire to keep them from becoming a dominant military power again. Instead they put that money into building up the infrastructure creating the bohemoth parasite they have today.

- Government policy was and is very much pro-big business.

- Had an incredibly efficient method of manufacturing.

- Fuzzy math, as GW would say.

- Protectionism.

- Perseverence.

- Organized crime.

If anyone thinks of things to add, then feel free.

[Gordon]

They have a real knack for copying other's inventions and then improving upon it. Many of the electronic wizardry we see today was not invented in Japan (the walkman excluded), but the Japanese have made them smaller and better. They're very inventive that way.

The U.S. did not want the Japanese militaristic powerhouse to return, so they befriended them (after they nuked them). They learned from the mistakes the Western Allies made with Germany after WWI.

[viddy]

1) Profiting from others' inventions, particularly in consumer electronics e.g. the television, pocket calculator and CD were all invented in Britain, but mostly profiteered by the Japanese

2) Introduction of highly efficient production line systems which put their Western counterparts to shame. This is why Japanese electronics and cars are so successful (and cheap!).

3) U.S. redevelopment funding and protection throughout the Cold War.

4) Spending less than 1% of the annual budget on defense (U.S. $399 billion, Japan $42 billion).

5) LOTS and LOTS of hard work!

[lajzar]

Don't be fooled, those of you who think the Japanese military is weak. they may well be under the US umbrella, but they still are the region's military superpower. The two things they lack are manpower (compared to China and North Korea), and strategic depth.

[shmooj]

let's not forget the huge amount of financial resources that were taken by Japan during its military occupation of south east Asia which provided many companies with the startup capital for projects which they needed postwar

Oh, and as Gaddafi has recently found out, letting the west tell you how to run your country seems to help too...

[Mike L.]

"Embracing Defeat" John Dower :idea:

[Mike L.]

Sorry. should've underlined that.

It's a book.

[bshabu]

All of the above. Plus Japan and it's companies planned for 10 of years ahead. Unlike the quarter to quarter, or year to year that was typical of many western companies.

[Mike L.]

Good point! Many, Japanese companies did and still do a lot of RD and have good long term business plans.

Certainly Sony, Matsushita, Honda and companies of simmilar ilk planned ahead and fit in this category but represent at best 20% of Japan's economy.

The rest of the economy?

[shmooj]

[cafebleu]

Aside from looting the Asian nations (banks, etc) Japan occupied and keeping that wealth after the 2nd World War finished, one important point to remember is that in general the Japanese people were willing to defer comfort for the sake of getting Japan on its feet economically again.

Even in the year 2004 there are some aspects of life in Japan that I find more compatible with 3rd World country conditions. The dilapidated and poorly constructed shack-like housing that too many people still live in, the public hospitals that look like slum housing when you first see them, the apartment buildings that make areas of Japanese cities look deprived ( I have been to New York, Boston and LA and I saw poor black areas called ghetto areas that have far superior housing), the lack of urban planning with everything constructed higgledly piggedly next to or on top of the next building, houses smack bang next to industrial areas with no delineation between them, sand everywhere in public parks and most dangerously on so called playing areas and fields in schools.

This reflects the endurance mentality that the Japanese possessed after the 2nd World War. For the sake of pumping resources into national industries, the Japanese people accepted lack of comfort as part of their daily life. The thinking still endures in the case of Japanese people in general buying the notion that the Government cannot put some grass in school playing areas.

They protest that it is too expensive, but it is a matter of priorities. Institutionalised corruption, whether by the few rich families, the politicians and the hold that organised crime has here on MUCH MORE than the mizu shobai, is the factor that is costing Japanese people so much but they still buy into the iwake that there is no money for safe, grass areas in schools or to reconstruct housing that is sub-standard or whatever.

[Brooks]

where I live I don`t have hot water in my kitchen. My apato was built in 1984, back when Japanese people on average made about half as much as Americans.
It was in the 1980s that Japan`s GNP real grew.

This year I plan on moving. One of my priorities is to have a kitchen sink where I can turn a handle and get hot water. I had hot water in Siberia and Morocco, but here if I wanted it, it would have cost me 17,000 yen to buy a water heater and to have it installed.

I would also like to have insulation. I don`t like it when I can see my breath in my kitchen. I was warmer in Russia!
Mansions are apparently warmers than apatos, but cost more.

I read somewhere that half of the bad loans that banks made were connected to organized crime. I wonder why the Japanese mafia can get away with so much. Maybe because right wing politicians get something in return.

[cafebleu]

Ah, you jogged my memory about a point I was going to make. I don`t have hot water in my apartment`s kitchen, either.

I also don`t have a shower - I am not calling that 3rd world but inconvenient, as who the hell wants to wait 30 or 40 minutes in cold weather while the bath water is heated up by propane gas when you could have jumped under a very hot shower for five minutes.

I strongly recommend Brooks and ANYBODY who wants to really learn just why Japan is in the mess it is economically at the moment (and it is, don`t let the spin doctors in the media and government deceive you as they make a habit of doing to the Japanese people) to read the book `Yakuza`.

This is a sober, non sensationalised book that will surprise you by its devastating facts and the proof of the validity of these facts. It is proof that while one of the great pleasures of living in Japan is the general honesty of ordinary people, rampant crime here is chiefly of the organised, structural kind.

I can`t remember the authors but I will find out their names. Reading this book made me understand more in depth why Japan is so expensive and why the economy dived after the largely Yakuza engineered `Bubble Economy`.

[Gordon]

I'd love to read that book Cafebleu, and a good historical book on Japan in the 1940's.
Insulation, what a simple concept. The place I lived in last year had such a bad draft, you could have flown a kite in it if the ceiling was higher. Does anyone have any tips on insulating windows? I wear a hat, wool sweater and scarf in my house at all times. The funny thing is when I go to a Japanese person's house here it is always freezing and their kids run around in bare feet.