ABSTRACT
In this chapter, oriental capitalism is defined geographically as embracing Japan, the NIEs, ASEAN and China. They may be called JANAC, or NAC for the last three regions and country. Another keyword used here, namely globalization, is regarded as a dynamic process of integrating these economies into the world market. It signifies that their domestic markets have been fully incorporated into the international division of labour in terms of both trade and capital investment. In other words, the economic growth of JANAC has pushed the world market from the West towards the East and the rapidly developing markets of East Asia. In this process, Japan’s position in the world market has grown in importance. From the perspective of an individual economy in the JANAC group, oriental capitalism refers to the progress of the national economy towards globalization at home. However, from the viewpoint of the world market, it implies that, in the development of global capitalism, its centre of gravity is moving from Atlantic Europe and the eastern seaboard of the US to the East Asian region. Of course, as these two aspects of oriental capitalism can be regarded as two sides of the same coin, they should be understood simultaneously.
