ABSTRACT
The previous chapter has shown that Japan’s economic recovery after the war was rapid, especially during the 1960s, when technology and GNP advanced at phenomenal rates. Japanese economic growth and development since World War II, in fact, are often referred to as a ‘miracle.’ At the same time, however, some of the country’s characteristic features have persisted. There have been no major discoveries of energy or other domestic natural resources, for example, and resource constraints similar to those of the nineteenth century continue to present a problem – for the economy, for the leadership, and for the public. With respect to its economic activities, Japan remained almost wholly dependent on foreign trade for raw materials and for the foreign exchange to pay for them.
