ABSTRACT
The 1956 Economic White Paper began with the phrase "the postwar period is over." Nothing captured the imagination ofthe Japanese people better than those words. It was a signal to begin the process of Japan's unfettered economic expansion that lasted weH into the early 1990s. From 1955 to the end of the 1960s the annual growth rate in GNP was generaHy registered in the double digits. In the 1970s Japan faced head-on the ehallenges brought about by the two oil erises. For example, in 1974, the eountry faced a serious inflation. The nominal growth rate of its GDP was 19.3 percent, but in real tenns, it was -1 percent. However, through rationalization and reduced use of energy, the country emerged even stronger economica11y. In the 1980s Japan became the world's largest creditor nation. Her multi-national industries were found in every corner of the world. She experienced trade surplus against a11 industrialized nations, with deficit registered only against oil-exporting nations.
