MITI and the Japanese miracle

Page 197

The causes of post-World War II Japanese-style "corporatism" were similar, but its priorities were different, and the state played a role that went beyond mediation. The Japanese well understood the potential in their situation for disruption and civil strife as new groups in the society tested and adapted the Allied-installed democratic system. It is astonishing how easily foreign admirers of the tranquility of Japanese society during the 1970's forget the strikes, riots, demonstrations, and sabotage that marked the period 194961. But more important than the need to mediate among the demands of interest groups was the need, recognized by all Japanese, to escape from the economic misery and dependence on foreign assistance that the events of the 1940's had produced. Capital was in short supply, the new technology needed was to be found only overseas, costs were too high, the country imported more than it sold abroad, and the ability to compete internationally was as yet only a dream. Under these circumstances, the role of the state was never questioned. In circumstances quite different from either the 1930's or the 1940's, the economic general staff, enjoying more power than under self-control but less than under state control, was finally given a chance to try to make Japan a wealthy nation.