Japan
Japan: the basics
• Area
– Germany < Japan < California
• Population
– 127 million (> 3 times California’s)
– life expectancy: 84 (88 for female)
– 1/4 are 65 or older
• constitutional monarchy
Japan in history
• Oldest continuous monarchy
• feudal rule under shogun (1192 - 1867)
• U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry
– forced Japan to open to trade (1853)
• Meiji Restoration (1868)
– centralized government under Emperor
– industrialization and trade
Japan in World War II
• Invasion and annexation of Northeast
China (Manchuria) (1931-1932)
• full-scale aggression in China (1937-1940)
• alliance with Nazi and fascists (1940)
• Pacific War (1941-1945)
– every country and colony in East and
Southeast Asia was invaded
The Occupation
• 1945 - 1952
• Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers
(SCAP) - General Douglas MacArthur
• Two main tasks:
– demilitarization
– democratization
Demilitarization
• Purged almost all wartime officers and
politicians
• Disbanded almost all militaristic
associations and parties
• Prosecuted almost all war criminals
– The issue of Yasukuni Shrine
• Dismantled almost all war industries
War Criminals
• Yasukuni Shrine was
built in Meiji 2 (1869)
• Japan’s Pacific War
criminals have been
worshiped in it since
1978
• Strong protests from
other Asian countries
The "Peace Clause"
• Article 9 in the 1947 constitution:
• “the Japanese people forever renounce
war as a sovereign right of the nation and
the threat or use of force as means of
settling international disputes
• “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other
war potential, will never be maintained”
Korean War (1950 - 1953)
• Economic turning point for Japan:
– war supplies to Korea
– industrial resurgence
– foreign currency
• 1945 - 1950 growth rate: 9.4%
• 1950 - 1955 growth rate: 10.9%
• 1952 Japan’s GDP matched prewar high
Korean War (1950 - 1953)
• Political turning point for Japan
• U.S. started to regard Japan as a vital link
in the “arc of containment” against
communism
• Demilitarization gave way to reconstituting
a military force
– Self-Defense Force
U.S. Strategic Change
• General peace treaty in San Francisco in
September 1951
– China and Soviet Union were excluded
– formally ended the Occupation in 1952
• U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty
– U.S. troops and military base in Japan
“Arc of Containment”
Japan’s Economic Growth
High Growth of 1955-1962
• Large investment in heavy industry
• Imports of energy and raw materials
• Government’s economic goals:
– achieve economic self-sufficiency
– achieve full employment
– improve export competitiveness
– keep domestic demand high
High Growth of 1963-1973
• Government’s “doubling income” plan
– Large-scale infrastructure construction
• Labor-intensive to capital-intensive
– Technological improvement and facility
modernization under government protection
• Aggressive export strategy
– Businesses compete with foreign counterparts
under government protection
Jan-07
Jan-05
Jan-03
Jan-01
Jan-99
Jan-97
Jan-95
Jan-93
Jan-91
Jan-89
Jan-87
Jan-85
Jan-83
Jan-81
Jan-79
Jan-77
Jan-75
Jan-73
Jan-71
JPY/USD Exchange Rate 1971-2007
360
330
300
270
240
210
180
150
120
90
60
30
0
Bubble burst
More shocks in 1990s
• Large and rising government deficit and
public debt (now more than 200% of GDP)
• Aging population (median age now at 46)
• Banking crises and non-performing loans
• Asian financial crisis (1997-1998)
• “Hollowing out” of industry
• Natural disasters and terrorist attacks
Japan’s trade partners 2012
Japanese Ties to Mississippi
• Japanese foreign direct investment
creates more jobs in Mississippi than FDI
from any other country.
• Approximately 9,700 Mississippians are
employed by Japanese companies.
• More than 650 Japanese citizens live in
Mississippi.
• Major Japanese corporations across Miss.