Japanese Industrialization and the Asian Economy

Traces the origins of the post-war Japanese economic miracle and its spectacular effect on the region as a whole. The authors examine the factors which contributed to the period of major industrialization from 1870 to 1940.
Much has been made of the post-war Japanese economic miracle. However, the origins of this spectacular success and its effect on the region can actually be traced back to an earlier period of Asian history. In "Japanese Industrialization and the Asian Economy", the authors examine the factors which contributed to the period of major industrialization from 1870 to 1940. They trace the roots of this growth back to 17th-century rivalry between Japan and China and describe how this acted as a spur to the expansion of Japanese manufacturing skills. They go on to examine how the development of the Asian market was an important pre-condition of Japanese economic growth but was, in turn, fostered by that growth. The volume comprises nine chapters by eminent economic historians. While the style is non-technical, details are backed up by diagrams and graphs. "Japanese Industrialization and the Asian Economy" offers a guide to the origins of economic dynamism in the Pacific Rim. Latham has also published "Decline and Recovery in Britain's Overseas Trade 1873-1914", with Platt and Ranald (Macmillan, 1993); and "The Market in History", with Anderson (Croom Helm, 1986).