*** economics economies Japan chronology







Japanese Economy: Chronology


Figure 1.--This 1896 stereoview card shows a prosperous Japanese farm. Most Japonese involved in agriculture did not own their land. Japan at the time had begun to industrilize, but most people still lived in rural areas and were involved in agriculture. .

Japanese society and the economy has been powerfully shaped by geography. Economic patterns were largely inherited from China. They was no over arching plan, but brought by Chinese immigrants seeking new land. Until the arrival of Chinese immigrants during the a poorly defined Yayoi period, Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon. a hunter gathering people. The Yayoi brought Chinese agriculture and economic activity to Japan. Chinese political control, however, did not follow. The Chinese were never able to fully dominate Korea and Japan because of the lack of a land bridge was even more of a problem. There was one major effort. Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty launched two massive invasions (1274 and 1281) to conquer Japan. Both were disasters. Thus Japan was left to develop with basically a Chinese economy on it own. There was one major difference--The Japanese Home Islands are highly mountainous . This meant that there were no vast areas of arable land that could be farmed. One might have thought that this would have pushed the Japanese people toward the sea. While fishing was important and there were ocean-going traders, the Japanese did not take to the sea until the modern era. We suspect that the Chinese example was an influence. Thus, as in China, Japan did not find its way to the West, but the West arrived on Japanese shores (16th century). The impact on Japan's conservative, rigidly hierarchical society was unsettling. The Japanese reaction was to brutally suppress the spread of Christianity which had made major inroads and to wall itself off from disruptive European influences--basically the Korean approach. This lasted until the arrival of American Admiral Perry and his Black Ships (1853). Within two decades there was civil war and the Meiji Restoration (1871). Japan became the first non-Western country to modernize and achieve great power status. The attention at the time was largely on modernization and technology. Almost no Western observer recognized the wealth generating potential of capitalism. Reformers in the West were more focused on socialism and the demonization of capitalism. The Meiji reformers for their part took the Western example only too well. They believed that great power status and a successful economy required colonial possessions. The geography of Japan only fueled this outlook. The mountainous terrain meant that Japan could not feed its growing population and contained few of the resources needed by Japanese industry--especially oil. The result was that Meiji Government adopted a policy of imperial expansion. The Japanese military then launched upon a campaign of aggression (1930s) leading to the disastrous Pacific War with America and Britain (1941-45). The country with its highly educated, industrious population quickly recovered from the devastation of war -- the Japanese Economic Miracle. Japan became the world's second largest economy after only the United States. Economists in Japan and Europe began to understand that colonies were not necessary for economic success, but were slower ti understand the vital importance of capitalism. While the West and the newly independent countries emerging from the former European colonial empires were still absorbed with socialism, a few Pacific Rim countries decided to follow the Japanese example and also achieve notable success--the Asian Tigers followed by China which would eventually surpass Japan. After the Financial Crisis (1970s) became mired in the Lost Decades and economic stagnation.

Pre-history (4,000 - 300 BC)

Japanesepre-history extends into what in thecWest andChina was the ancient history. There are no written references until very late (1st century AD) and they ae all Chinese. The native hunter-gatherer population are known as the Jōmon people (縄文人). It is a generic term of the many different peoples who migrated from the East Asian mainland during the Neolithic or Jōmon period (14,000 to 300 BC). There is not a great deal known about these peopole, but Japanese historians beliee that they were not a single homogeneous people, but numerous heterogeneous groups that arrive on the Home islands at different times and at different places. They appear to have split off from the main East Asian popukation about (15,000 BC). This was milleniia before the nlieed split of who became Native American people from East Asians (about 25,000 BC). [Miura] Upon reaching theJapanese isalnds they became largely isolated from other East Asian people. The economy was based on a hunter gatherer life style. The Jōmon did not develop agriculture.

Ancient Era

The Jōmon period was followed bn the Yayoi and Kofun perios. Yayoi culture flourished throughout the Home Islands. It was the Yayoi People that introduced agriculture to Japan. They were a peop;e transoting from China and the Koream Peninsula. it is not known the nature of the interaction with the Jōmon people who they mixd with and or overwhelmed. tThere are no written records. All that is known with any certainty is that aboutb10 mpercent bof the genome os the modern Japanese peopole is Jōmon. This coukd suggest a violent invasion or the fact that the Yayoi arrived in far greater numbers. Japanese scholars have been unabl to date of the beginning of the Yayoi transition with any certanty. There are assessments covering a wide chronological range (10th - 3rd centuries BC). [Mizoguchi, pp. 35-36. The eraliest written records come from the Chinese vKindom of Won (1st centry AD). The people are mamed after ater a Tokyo meigborhood where archaeological evidence was first encountered. Whatbespecially distinguishing the Yayoi era was a new pottery styles and the the noticeable appearance of agricultue, namely the intensive cultivation in paddy fields. The Chinese culutural influence is easily idebtifiable by the bronze and copper weapons (dōkyō, dōtaku) and the irrigated paddy rice cultivation. Historians decribe a long era of mixture between immigrant populations and the indigenous Jōmon and with it the new cultural influences. [Kidder] Yayoi people fist acquired iron agricultural tools and weapons (1st century AD). It was in the Kofun period that Japan's earliest political centralization ocurred. Unlike the Yayoi era there are more definitive dates (300 to 538 AD). This is when Buddhism was introduced to Jaoan. The Yamato clan rose in southwestern Japan, establishing the Imperial line which still exidsts today. Some Jaoanese historuins link the Kofun and the Ckassical Asuka period as the Ymato period. The Yamato clan gained control of vital trade routes. [Denoon] Archeolgical evidence uneahing artifacts demonstrate that Japan dyuriung the Kofun period was in close political and economic contact with continental China. This apparently was with the southern dynasties of China via the Korean Peninsula where only a narrow sea voyage was required. Noably bronze mirrors cast from the same moulds have been found on both sides of the narriw Tsushima Strait. Economic activity was similar. Chinese immigrants transferred irrigation technology, sericulture, and weaving. The Chinese Hata clan (秦) was especially important.

Medieval Era

Medieval Japan was a very conservative society with son following his father in the fields ot trade. It is generlly divided into two periods, the Classical and Feuydal era. The classical era (537-1185) included the Asuka period (538–710), the Nara period (710–794), and the Heian period (794–1185). Feudal Japan (1185-1568) included the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and the Muromachi period (1333–1568). Jpan's economic direction was set during the Classijcal Asuka period with the comprehensive Taika Reforms. At the center for an agricuktural societywas land reform which was largely based on Vhinese Confucian ideas and philosophies. Land was nationalized and distributed equally among farmers. The creation of a household registry began to establish a new tax system. [Sansom, p. 57.] What had once been refered to as 'private' lands and people (私地私民,) became known as 'public' lands and people (公地公民). The Court began to expand its control over all of the Home vIslands and make the entire populatiomn people direct subjects of the throne. Land pwnership was deamatically altered. It ceased to be hereditary but reverted to the state upon the death of the owner. Imperil degrees levied taxes on on harvests and on silk, cotton, cloth, thread, and other products. A corvée (conscrip labor) was established for noth military service and public works.[ L. Worden, Robert (1994). "Kofun and Asuka Periods, ca. A.D. 250–710". A Country Study: Japan. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 6 April 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2007.] Yhiswas in short the creatioin of the modern stare andeconomy. It was of course with the Muromachi period that the unselling collision with the West began.

Europeans

Europeans were impressed with Japan when they first reached the country (16th century). Thet saw Japan as a country of imense riches in precious metals, meabing gold and silver. This was in part because of Marco Polo's accounts of gilded temples and palaces. Polo never reacged Japan, but ws repeating accounts heard in China. There was arelative abundance of surface ores as a result of volcanism. This was of some importance in a pre-industrial society. Japan at the time was exporting silver and copper. The mineral resources were, however, inadequate to supply an industrial economy. This required the large-scale deep-mining that began to develop in the 18th century Europe. Japan did not have the needed mineral resources on the Home islands. The arrival of the Europeans and spread of Christianity fed on existing forces which were destabiling society (16th century). At the same time, Japan was a deeply duvided coiuntry with the country's feudal lords enganged in endemic warfare agasinst each other.

Tokugawa/Edo Shogunate (1603-1867)

One of Japan's daimyōs (feudal lords), Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), put an end to the constant confict during the Sengoku (Warring States) period. He won the Battle of Sekigaghara and unified the country under hus rule (1600). This gave birth to the Shogunate which unified Japan abnd expanded the power of the national government. The Shogun was essentuially an absolute ruler, but nominally ruled in the name of the Emperor who became something like a religious leader akin to the pope in Europe. The Shogun was apauled by the destabilization of Japanese society accelerated by the Europeans and Christianity. He decided to cut Japan off from all outside influences. He decided to liquidate the Christians and expel the Europeans, except for a small Dutch trading community. The idea was to end foreign influence and trade except for a few close countries (China abnd Korea). Foreigners who even by accident landed in Japan were executed which tended to limit foreign commerce. The Tokegawa Shogunate was the last medieval government in Japan meaning that mecieval culture and ecinomic practices continued into the 19th century. This did not mean that Japan was primitive, but it certainly was backward in technology without any of the scientific advancdes th were propelling the West. It provided Japan nearly three centuries of peace. Tokugawa to strabilize society established a class of four tiers samurai (knights), peasants, artisans, and merchants. Therre werev strict rules that these classes should followed without change. The clss tiers were not arranged by wealth. Rather it was by a philosophical moral order. The wealth and power of the merchant class grdually increased, but was still less inflentisl than their countrrparts in the West. Merchants were looked down on by their social betters because they obtained wealth without producing abnything. They were thought to be tainted by greed. While looked down on, they were not the poorest tier in society--that was the peasantry. The Shogunate achieved ciontrol over the economy, ciontroling both production and distribution and they achieved cibsiderabke success. Agriculture and commerce thrived under te Shigunaste. Improved farming methods increased harvests. Land surveys track and helped imprive agricultural production. The Shogunate helped ensuring a stable food supply. City life also flourished and urbanization increased. A national road system systematically connecting the provinces to the capital promoting commerce. The country's population steadily increased. Although the Meji Restoration is commonly seen as moderizing Japan, it brought with it a century of warfare which ended in Japan playing an important role in launhing the most catrotrophic war in human history. The economy continued to be primarily based on a basically feudal agriculture with most of the land in the hands of the aristocracy. The primary source of the Shogunate's income was a tax (about 40 percent) levied on peasantry worrking the Tokugawa clan's personal domains (tenryō). [Hane and Perez] The other daimyōs were not taxed. Foreign trade was controled by the Shogun, an important source of income. There was a brief asctive participation in forein trade. An embassy and trade mission under Hasekura Tsunenaga was sent to Nueva España (the Spanish colony of Mexico) on a Japanese-built galleon, San Juan Bautista. This was parently an attempt to participate in the Manila Galeopn trade thriough which vst quabtities of Spanish silver was beuing shiped to China to finance European trade there. The Shogun issued numerous Red Seal Ships permits for the Asian trade. With the Seclusion Laws stability and siocial order became more imprtant. The Shogun only allowed merchant ships from China, Korea, and the Netherlands to trade with Japan. The policy of isolation continued unyil the arrival of Commodore Perry and his black ships (1853). Irionically it was the Shogun's reveral of this policy that ld to his downfall.

Meiji Restoration (1868)

Insightful Japanese leaders observing what was hapening in China, realized that they would have to modernize or be taken over by the foreigners. The first step was the Mejii Restoration which ended the Shogunate. With the coup d'état in 1867, the Shogun abdicated. An energetic new, young emperor for the first time in centuries actually ruled Japan. He took the title Meiji for his reign (1867-1912). He soon showed himself to be both competent and strong-willed. He proved to be especially adept at choosing wise officials to positions of influence. Japan under Meiji rule pursue a consistent policy with considerable success. He installed men from the formerly 'outside clans' into the key positions of power. The new Government had taken power in part because of the Shogun's decession to open Japan. They concluded, however, that given Western military superiority that convinced the men who took control in 1867 that anti-Western actions and policies, without the military power needed to defend the country, would be self defeating. They decided to mute their anti-Western attitudes while Japan built a modern military. Officials soon realized that this meant industrialization.

Economic Modernization

The super-isolated Japan became the first Asian country to introduce Western methods and industrialize. After the Unied States forced Japan to open its ports (1850s), the Tokogawa Shogunate began the industrilization of the country. That process was excelerated by the Mejii Restoration. One of the major steps taken by the Mejii reforers was to end the feudal system. The first sector to industrilize as with the induistrial revvolution in the West was the textile industry, primarily cotton and especially silk. Cotton had to be imported, but silk was produced domesticlly. Traditionally silk was produed at home workshops in rural areas. Modern Japanese textiles plants dominated the domestic marke and had begu to competey with British textiles in China and India (1890s) Japanese shippers had begun competing with European lines to carry goods in the Pacific and had begun to open European routes. The textile mills employed mainly employed women, about half of whom were teenagers. Their fathers incouraged this to increase family income. Japan largely skipped over theearly water power phase that Britain went thrug and early mills oprated on steam power. This created ademand for coal, onentural resource Japan had. The Mejii Government intervened massively in the economy. The government often introduced new industries seen as important, especially industries needed for producing military weapons and supplies. The Goverment would not operate these new industries over a long period. Once a factory had achieved some success, it was sold to private operators, not uncommonly at attractiove prices. Thus the Japanese Government was financing the creation of a capitalist economy. Many developing countries maintain high-import duties on foreign goods to promote the development of domestic industries. Japan did not do this. Thus Japanese industries while supported by the sate developed in a competitive environment and became highly efficient. It also meant that the companies could compete on the world market. Even before World War I, Japanese products had begun to compete with Western goods in China and other Asian markets. The relationship between industry and military power was clear. The country, however, took to economic moderization much quicker than to political ans social modernization.

Imperialism

Japanese leaders influenced by 19th century European colonization concluded that Japan as part of building a modern nation would also need a colonial empire. Japan of all the countries who build industrial societies needed to import both food and raw matetials. Mountaneous Japan had little available agricultural land. And the country had very limited natural resources to supply factories. And a market would supply secure markets for the output of its industrial factoiries. This attitude became particularly entrenched within the military, not only for economic reasons, but as a demonstration of nationl pride. The immediate target became China and Korea. Only a decade after the Meijii Restoration, Japan launched a war with China (1894-95) and in quick secession fought a war with Russian (1905-06) and seixed Korea (1909). Seizing control of China became a long term Japanese goal expressed dufing World war by the 21 Demands which would have turned China into a colony.

World War I (1914-18)

World War I erupted in Europe (August 1914). Japan at the time was not tied into the world community to the extent it is today. Japanese leaders did not know what to expect and how it would impact their energing industrial economy. exiusting intermatial trade was disrupted, both imports and exports. The initial impact was that Japanese industry began to experience shortages of high-quality machines and industrial materials that they had been obtaining in Europe. The British Royal Navy implemented a naval embargo against Germany. The British and French begam to shift their industry to a war footing producing arms rather than export products. Soon orders for industrial products began flooding into Japan. Germany could not purchase Japanese products because of the Royal Navy, but other countries except for the other Central Powees could. And because the Allies mobilized their industry for war, a market opportunity opened for Japan. The country was one of the few industrial powers besides the United States which did not mobilize its industry for arms production. Yje result was a bonanza for Japanese industry. Countries unable to obtain manufactured goods in Europe, turned to America and a lesser extent, Japan which was still a developing industrial economy. As a result, Japan produced manufactured goods that often were not of the same quality as European and American products, but at least they were avilable. [Ohno, p. 100.]

Inter-War Era (1920s-30s)

It was in the Inter-War Era that Japan developed the heavy industry need to fight the Pacific War. It was an industrial base a fraction of American industry, but it was enough to prepare for a short war of conquest as long as America severely limited military expenditures. The Japanese World War I export boom burst with the end of World War I in Europe (November 1918). It took about a year for the bubble to be burst because it took some time for European industry to convert to peace time production. The crash finally came (1920). A post-War recession ensued. Prices of Japanese manufactured coomities (suh as cotton yarn and silk collapsed, The stock market fell by more than half. In the recession, problems like the lak of copetition and the overcapcity developing during the war-time boom became all too apparent. Many small businessmen who expanded during the boom and got rich (narikin) wwere forced into bankrupcy. Throughout the 1920s, Japan experuenced recessions and banking crises. There were several recessions, but they were mild and short lived. Very serious bank runs occurred (1927). The overall economy slowed, at least compared to the World War I bubble period. There was, however, no serious decline in production. Domestic demand was not vigorous, but was stable. Foreign demnd was a different matter. Decling foreign sales ed into the desire to expand the Empire and the creation of a solid caotive market. This of coirse ponted to China. The persistent trade defecits that dominated before the war resumed after the war, but were not a serious problem because of the sizeable gold reserves that accumulted during the War. The business climate was not terrible, but it was very different than he Roaring Twenties underway in America. The Government became concerned about a prolonged period of recesion. In the era before quantative easing, the Government had two basic options. One the Government could rescue weak, endebted compnies and banks or two shit down the weak companies to build a stringer, solid economy. The Government opted for short-term stability ad decided to support the weak companies. The Bank of Japan provided emergency funds to hard pressed banls and compaies that were close to failing. The goal was to prevent more bankruptcies and unemployment. This policy prevented serious exonomic paoin in the 20s, bu asone econist reports, 'implanted a time bomb in the Japanese economy which exploded several years later.' [Ohno, p. 103.] Despite the economic problems of he 1920s, Japan made huge progress in developing heavy industries and chemical industry. This was when Japan made huge profress in steel, chemicals, machinery, and artifical silk (rayon). This began during World War I when European exports were cut. Then durng the 1920s government support (financing, prders, and tariff protection), electrification, acquisition of foreign technology, and industrial linkages. [Ohno, p. 104.] Involved in this process was the zaibatsus which began to form during the Meiji Era as the Government began granting special rights to private, family businesses in return for their promotion of government objectives. This corporate structure was essentially a two-headed entity. Business and government were superficially eparate entities but in practice were parts of the same structure. New heavy industrial zaibatsu emerged as industrial giants such as Nissan, Nicchitsu, and Mori adding to the existing zaibatsu such as Mitsui and Mitsubishi. [Ohno, p. 104-05.] Japan was rocked by the Great Depression of the 1930s. Japan was especially impacted because it was so export oriented. And Government officials pursued disasterous policies like fixating on the gold standard and austerity. The result was rising unemployment and serious deflation. Japan thus experiencded social instability which helped the military expand its control of Japan, similar to the development of European Fascism. Japan gained a quick victory in Manchuria, but when it invaded Chinaeoper (1937) they ahieved military success, but were unable to defeat the Chinese Nationlists. Five years of war in China greatly strained the Japanese economy.

World War II (1941-45)

The result of Japan's colonial goals was first a long-drawn out war in China and then unable to defeat China, the Japanese military decided to attack the United States. Japan had built a sizeable industrial establishmednt. It was the only industrialized country in Asia. The primary Japanese goal was the resources of the Southern Resource Zone--especially oil. These resources were needed to supply the factories of the Home Islands. World War II even more than World War I would prove to be an industrial war. The Japanese industrial and scientific establishment was dwarfed by that of America. So much so that to modern observers, the Japanese decision to go to war seems incomprehensible. Japan's industrial capacity enabled it to defeat Chinese armies. Somehow the Japanese were convinced that their warrior spirit would triumph over American industrial superiority. The result was the bloody Pacific war and national disaster. The Japanese military made the decesion to go to war when they thought NAZI Germany was about to defeat the Soviet Union and the triumphant NAZIs would force the United States to direct most of its military effort on Germany. This of course was a huge miscalulation. And even before America's huge industriasl production began to reach the Pacific, The U.S. Pacific Fleet forced the Imperial Navy to withdraw to their secure bases. American shipyards created a huge new fleet that Japanese industry could not begin to match. And the American submarine campaign set about destroying the Maru fkeet that was transporting raw materials and food to Japan. Thus while Japan seized a huge empire, it proved of little benefit to the Japanese war economy. The War was mostly fought far from Japan itself. The Japanese people, however, began to feel the effects of the war when shortages began to develop, Not only werre the Japanese unable to fully supply factories with raw materials, but food became increasingly difficult to obrain. The conscription of workers meant that more and more fasctories had to be run with school girls. Then the American strategic bombing began to devestate the industrial cities of Japan. Thus before the two atomic bombs were dropped, industrial Japan ceased to exist.

Post-War Economic Recovery

Japanese cities like those of Germany were destoyed by the American strategic bombing campaign. Most Japanese people lived in wooden houses. Japanese cities were in esence, vast tinfer boxes. Thus the factories and homes were destroyed in huge fire storms. Japan ceased to be an industrial nation. One of the great economic success stories of the 20th century was the country's economic recovery and modernization following World War II. From the American occupation, Japan emerged both an economic powerhouse and a modern democratic country. The Japanese were so sucessful that some economists believed that the Japanese economy would surpass the American economy (1970s). Japanese investors began buying up realestate, including iconic buildings in major ASmerican cities (1980s). Not only was the Japanese economy growing, but percapita income surpased levels in most of Europe. Japan had the fourth highest percapita income (1989)

Economic Stagnation

Japan experienced economic stagnation (1990s). Japan beginning in the 1970s looked like it waa becoming the dominant economic powerhouse in the world. They were buying iconic land mnarks in America and outselling Detroit, not on price, but quqlity. Then the realestate and stock market plummeted. The Nikkei 225 reached over 38,900--clearly a bubble. It now has a hard time remaining above 10,000. The low was nearly 7,300 (2003). The GNP in Japan during 2010 was the same size it had been in 1995. (The U.S. economy grew 50 percent in the same period.) And what the Japanese once called the lost decade has become two lost decades. What has occurred in Japan is the result of failed government policy. Policy makers were unwilling to make pasinful decesions, fearing voter backlash. Their resonse was a series of 10 ecoiniomic stimulus packages. When the first oner failed, they simply tried another one. While this seems incomprehensible, there are American politicans and econmidts that favor the same perscription. The Japanese also reduced interest vrates--to zero. And when when the economy seem to be recovering, the Governmernt enacted higher taxes which stopped the recovery cold (1997). Japan today is one of the most important industrial nations. There is extrodiry technical capability and scientific talent in Japan. The Japanese Government, however, continues to avoid difficult decesions to restructure the economy. And the failed stimulus packages has left the Japanese Government once of the most indebted in the world. The Government did not want to shake a system that was providing 'lifetime employment' to workers. As a result, the system of 'life-time employment' no longer exists. Today, over a third of Japanese workers are temporary employees. and Demographic trends are not favoravle to Japan. The aging population is creating major problems which the heavily indebted Government is going to find it very difficult to solve. And thus for 20 tears, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has been at the center of a massive deflationary cycle that has severely crippled a once great economy.

Abenomics (2013)

After two decades of stagnation, the Japanese finally decided on a massive stimulus program. The Japanese had tried smaller stimulus prorams to no avail. The stimulus package of Primeminister Abe and Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is orders of magnitude greater of the previous efforts. In fact it is the larger experiment in financial engineering every attemopted. It makes American Federal Reserve Chairman, nicknamed Helicopter Ben, by the financial media look like a piker. Abenomics it just one of the quantative easing efforts launched by the world's central banks, but is by far the largest. And they are all great experiments in financial engineering which no one really knows will work. So far the results in the United States havev been meager--so growth and hogh levels of unemployment. And no one knows yet what happens with the Fed begins as Bernanke calls it--tapering. Even so the BOJ has launched on a massive stimulus effort. The Japanese have decided not to pursue need policy changes to liberalize the economy. Rather they like the United States have decided to rely largely on fiscal policies. Injecting newly printed money in the economy. The Japanese goal is to generate 2 percent inflation by doubling the amount od BOJ bond purchases and doubling the money suppy. This was not the cautious, incremental efforts of previous governments, but something akin to the nuclear option. The stimulus is something like 40 percent of the Japanese GDP. This compares with Bernanke's 17 percent (if as expected, QE3 end in 2014). The Japanese stimulus is not only massive, it is more comprehensive than the American QE3. It seeks to depress bond yiels by purchases moe than twice as large as the Fed in a much smaller economy. And it will buy all maturities and not just1-3 year bonds. And the BOJ is not only buying bonds, but foreign assetts and stocks, including realestate investments trustsand exhange traded funds (ETFs). There are huge risks for the Japanese. Nake no mistake about uit, thios is a risk and given the amouints uinvoved, a huge risk. Ine of the greatest potential risks is inflation. It is, however, hardly the onlky risk. The program is supressing the yen. This us good for exporters, but the public and manufacturers nopwv facing rising prices for fuel, food and other commodity imports. Abe and Kuroda start from a weak position. Japan is already heavily indebted--the most haeavily indebted industrial country. The Government debt is something like two-and-a-half times the size of the economy. And the Japanese have an aging population that will be demanding increasing services. Abenomics will have far reaching consequences which will affect the country's credit rating and ability to finance infrastructure projects,.

Sources

Denoon, Donald, Mark Hudson, Gavan McCormack, and Tessa Morris-Suzuki. Multicultural Japan: Palaeolithic to Postmodern.

Hane, Mikiso and Louis G. Perez. Premodern Japan: A Historical Survey (Boulder, Col.: 2014).

Kidder, J. Edward Jr. "The earliest societies in Japan". In Delmer Brown, ed. Cambridge History of Japan Vol. 1: Ancient Japan (Cambridge University Press: 1993). pp. 48-107.

Mizoguchi, Koji. The Archaeology of Japan: From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State (Cambridge University Press: 2013).

Ohno, Kenichi. The Economic Development of Japan: The Path Traveled by Japan as a Developing Country (GRIPS: 2006).

Sansom, George. A History of Japan to 1334 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1958).

Sukeyuk, Miura. "The Origins of Japanese Culture Uncovered Using DNA ―What happens when we cut into the world of the Kojiki myths using the latest science," Japan Foreign Policy Forum. (2016).

Worden, Robert L. "Kofun and Asuka Periods, ca. A.D. 250–710," in . A Country Study: Japan. (Library of Congress: 1994).








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Created: 8:40 AM 4/1/2022
Last updated: 8:41 AM 4/1/2022