The State as the ‘Third-Hand’: MIT/ and Japanese Industrial Development After 1945

Abstract

Abstract Since the publication of Chalmers Johnson’s MITI and the Japanese Miracle, the view that Japanese industrial development was made possible by MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) activities and policy-making, has become, rightly or wrongly, widespread. Some Japan bashers regard MITI as one of the strongholds for maintaining unfair trade practices and structures; by contrast, others, rejecting the notion of ‘notorious MITI’, argue that the role of MITI was fairly limited throughout the post-World War II period and was losing its dominant influence over Japan ese industry with time.