ABSTRACT
Japanese capitalism first started to impress Western commentators in large numbers in the high growth era of the 1960s. For a generation, droves of Western commentators attempted to analyse the reasons for Japanese capitalism’s success (this, of course, meant success measured against capitalist criteria) and draw lessons for the countries of North America and western Europe. At the risk of simplification, one can say that the vast majority of their interpretations of Japanese capitalism fitted into five main categories, which I shall identify as the culturalist, bureaucratic guidance, supermanagement, labour harmony and free ride approaches. These categories were not necessarily mutually exclusive, since it was not uncommon for a single commentator to have feet planted in different camps. Nevertheless, for the purpose of analysis, these categories will be examined separately here.
