ABSTRACT
The modern history of Japan and the country’s progress on the path toward Westernization has not been a monotonous journey. The rapid pace of change has resulted in the country repeating many errors at times, causing immeasurable pain not only to the Japanese but also to neighboring countries. The old national slogan was “strong army, strong country.” After World War II, democracy replaced militarism and a cooperative system was established between the political, bureaucratic, and business worlds under the single party leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). This system was aided by the diligence of the Japanese, and swift economic activity was shown to the world based on Japan’s social system. As a result, in the early 1980s, Japan stood at the forefront of modern industrialized societies and was recognized for the high quality of its products and its mass production ability (Sakaiya, 2002).
