Political Economy in Japan After World War II

Abstract

As a necessary prelude to examining the theory of civil society in postwar Japan, in this first chapter, I will begin by discussing how Japanese political economy viewed economic development and contemporary capitalism in the postwar era. As is well known, postwar Japan, emerging from the military defeat of World War II, realized an astonishing level of economic development and became a “great economic power.” From today’s point of view, this is obviously one of the major events in world history. But for the economists present during these historical events, what were the main issues in Japanese economic development, in which direction did they want to guide the Japanese economy, and how did they develop their own economic thought and theories? Examining these questions will illuminate the historical and theoretical background against which civil society thought was developed in the postwar era.