How Modern Japan Is Described in Textbooks around the World
(Select a Country to review excerpts)
Europe ……………
Austria,
France,
Germany,
Switzerland,
UK
Asia ……………… China,
India,
Indonesia,
Korea,
Malaysia,
Russia,
Singapore,
Vietnam
North America ……
Mexico,
USA
South America ……
Brazil
ASIA
Russia
Title:
World in the XXth Century
Pages: 281-283
Publisher: Drofa Company. Ltd., Moscow, Russia, 2002
Excerpt:
Despite the relative diversity of the countries of South East Asia and the Far East that are the carriers of Confucian traditions (including Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea), they are all united by the capitalist model of development. In this group of countries, the Japanese model serves as an example for the “second-tier” countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Thus, in the Asia-Pacific region Japan emerged as a leader in the economic zone that was formed after WWII.
Japan
WWII resulted not only in the defeat of Japanese militarism, but also in the dramatic reversal of the half-a-century strategic course towards the expansion to the continent and the subjugation of the peoples of South East Asia and China, which was pursued by the Japanese authorities. Japan drew the right conclusions from the defeat and the subsequent occupation. The country has undertaken economic and political reforms, which changed the social and political structure of the Japanese society and promoted the transformation of the economic foundations of Japan. The most important reforms included liquidation of land ownership by landed gentry and of other vestiges of feudalism, and transfer of land to peasantry. Japanese corporations’ “dzaibatsu”, which inspired the policy of militarism and expansion, were broken up and liquidated. The Emperor’s power was limited by a constitution (similar to the English queen, the Japanese emperor reigns, but doesn’t rule). Japan introduced parliamentary democracy with a multiparty system, which was non-existent before WWII. The new constitution proclaimed the rejection of war as a means of conflict resolution.
These reforms played a significant role in the revival of Japan. However, the “Japanese miracle” cannot be attributed only to the reforms conducted during this period. In 1950, half of the Japanese population was employed in agriculture, and the other half worked in manufacturing where productivity reached only 15% of the level in the US manufacturing. Three decades later, in 1983, manufacturing output in Japan increased 24-fold as compared to 1950.
Japan manufactures half of the world ocean vessel tonnage and four-fifths of tape recorders (the list of products could be continued). At the same time, Japanese products demonstrate high quality and have an irreproachable reputation in the world market. The present-day Japan is a rich and prosperous country, a center of scientific and technological innovation with a well-developed infrastructure, as well as educational, health care and social security systems.
These achievements have become possible due to the hard, and sometimes exhausting, as well as highly disciplined, labor. Apart from this, the success of Japan also stems from the government policy, which involves support of the role of Japan in foreign trade, as well as support of business, including small business, science and education.
Another important factor contributing to the prosperity of Japan is the lack of defense spending: the constitution disallows the country to maintain a large army.
The Japanese are rejecting the traditions of the samurai, but are retaining other traditional attitudes: strong labor ethic, corporate discipline, respect for the elderly and the relatives.
During the post-WWII decades, Japan has become a superpower. The secret of the Japanese version of modernization can be explained by the ability of the Japanese to learn from the others, and, more important, the “synthesis of the East and the West”, i.e. the unique combination of the borrowings from the foreign experience and achievements with the traditions of the Japanese civilization.
