A Modern Economic History of Japan

Japan rose over the course of a hundred and twenty years from outright backwardness to the elite tier of the advanced economies. This was a great achievement, and one realised despite the nation succumbing to a damaging interlude of totalitarianism and subsequently suffering the most demoralising of military defeats. The decades following Japan's defeat and occupation by the US saw it record unheard-of rates of economic growth. By the 1980s, such was Japan's record of unrelenting achievement, its competitor nations sought to adopt important aspects of the country's economic model. The belief at this time was that Japan's success was set to continue, but such predictions proved wide of the mark. The powerful forces that had driven its post-war boom had already been waning for some time, and