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Subtract their position as the forward operating base for the US military in Asia and try telling this story again. While Japanese economic progress postwar wa

Subtract their position as the forward operating base for the US military in Asia and try telling this story again. While Japanese economic progress postwar was astonishing, it was entirely premised on them having favored status in the region. Few people know, for example, that the US forced Korea to purchase massive amounts of goods from Japan to rebuild its economy, essentially reinstating their former colonial relationship and stoking tensions that culminated in the Korean War. Japan is a cautionary take because it was entirely too dependent on using its favored status in American geopolitics to throw its weight around Asia-Pacific, as opposed to building meaningful, trade and immigration agreements with other countries in the regions. Now that US dominance is in retreat and the Chinese ascendant, they’re in a poor overall economic position to counter them.

beat 7y ago
I think it's rather an oversimplification to say that five years of reconstruction of a totally shattered Japan caused the Korean War. Or to take any lessons from the immediate postwar period and use them to explain the state of Japan 75 years later.
- asdff 7y ago
  At least as far as development goes, the United States supercharged the postwar economy in Japan which directly lead to where it is today. If, say Indiana got the same investment, it too would look like Japan today with high speed maglev rail criss crossing like a fisherman's net and be a dominant position in high tech manufacturing.
  - beat 7y ago
    And if we bombed Indiana to the brink of collapse and burned Indianapolis to the ground and nuked Terre Haute, maybe we'd do that.
raxxorrax 7y ago
Products from Japan are sold in many countries and usually have a good reputation. The country has many trade relations and foreign investments all over the planet. They are solidly in the top 5 of trading countries. Certainly the geo-strategic position was favorable, but I think this is quite the exaggeration.
NonEUCitizen 7y ago
Japan exports more to China than to US: http://www.worldstopexports.com/japans-top-import-partners/ http://www.worldstopexports.com/japans-top-import-partners/

beat 7y ago

I think it's rather an oversimplification to say that five years of reconstruction of a totally shattered Japan caused the Korean War. Or to take any lessons from the immediate postwar period and use them to explain the state of Japan 75 years later.

asdff 7y ago
At least as far as development goes, the United States supercharged the postwar economy in Japan which directly lead to where it is today. If, say Indiana got the same investment, it too would look like Japan today with high speed maglev rail criss crossing like a fisherman's net and be a dominant position in high tech manufacturing.
- beat 7y ago
  And if we bombed Indiana to the brink of collapse and burned Indianapolis to the ground and nuked Terre Haute, maybe we'd do that.

raxxorrax 7y ago

Products from Japan are sold in many countries and usually have a good reputation. The country has many trade relations and foreign investments all over the planet. They are solidly in the top 5 of trading countries. Certainly the geo-strategic position was favorable, but I think this is quite the exaggeration.

NonEUCitizen 7y ago

Japan exports more to China than to US: http://www.worldstopexports.com/japans-top-import-partners/ http://www.worldstopexports.com/japans-top-import-partners/