This book deals with the major problems that Japan and East Asian countries have faced during the turbulent years of their reconstruction and development from 1945 to the present time. The Development Report of the World Bank 1993 on the same subject was given the subtitle East Asian Miracle. I have never thought, however, that the impressive achievement of East Asian development was a miracle in any sense. Indeed, as this book tries to show, Japanese and Asian development has been the fruit of the sweat, tears, and blood of all East Asian nations. The efforts and sacrifices involved in the process of their development after World War II are no less than those during the war itself. One should not overlook the fact that almost all the peoples of East Asia have achieved not just economic development but indeed new nation-building after hundreds of years of coloni al submission. It is my assertion in this book that even economists' analyses of Asian development should pay attention to not only the logos but also the pathos of develop ment in this last half of twentieth century. Ever since I became the director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University in 1969, I have written extensively in English as well as in Japanese on the various problems arising in the Japanese and other Asian economies.

For students of international political economy, it is hard to ignore the growth, dynamism, and global impact of East Asia. Japan and China are two of the largest economies in the world, in a region now accounting for almost 30 percent more trade than the United States, Canada, and Mexico combined. What explains this increasing wealth and burgeoning power? In his new text, Ming Wan illustrates the diverse ways that the domestic politics and policies of countries within East Asia affect the region’s production, trade, exchange rates, and development, and are in turn affected by global market forces and international institutions. Unlike most other texts on East Asian political economy that are essentially comparisons of major individual countries, Wan effectively integrates key thematic issues and country-specific examples to present a comprehensive overview of East Asia’s role in the world economy. The text first takes a comparative look at the region’s economic systems and institutions to explore their evolution—a rich and complex story that looks beyond the response to Western pressures. Later chapters are organized around close examination of production, trade, finance, and monetary relations. While featuring extended discussion of China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, Wan is inclusive in his analysis, with coverage including Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines. The text is richly illustrated with more than fifty tables, figures, and maps that present the latest economic and political data to help students better visualize trends and demographics. Each chapter ends with extensive lists of suggested readings.

This study provides up-to-date coverage of the most important domestic and external political and economic influences on Japanese trade policy, as well as the evolutionary dynamics of that policy in the post-war period.

The Political Economy of Japanese Globalisation reveals the key dimensions of Japanese globalisation today by analysing both its inward and outward manifestations. This is the first book to examine fully the issue of globalisation in relation to Japan. Organised in three parts, The Political Economy of Japanese Globalisation reveals the meanings and implications of the study of Japan's globalization in the context of on-going debates about globalisation in general. The book demonstrates how, despite the passing of the 'Japanese model', Japan can still provide significant insights into the meaning of this phenomenon. The first part of the book examines globalization in politics and international relations: Japan's particular position in globalization; its recent role in the East Asian political economy; and the relative identities of Japan and Europe. Part two looks at the economy and business at the heart of Japanese globalization: Japan's globalization in Asia as part of oriental capitalism; its recent financial reforms; the US globalization in Japan; Japan's impact on Germany and the meaning of 'Japanization' and 'globalization'. The third part of the book assesses the social issues in Japan in the context of globalization, highlighting the positive political impact of globalization seen in the way externally generated pressures have brought into focus 'universal' values, such as citizenship, human rights and democracy. Providing a clear analysis of the political economy of Japanese globalization in one volume, The Political Economy of Japanese Globalization is a major resource for postgraduates and researchers in Japanese studies, Asian studies, international relations, international political economy, as well as for all those dealing with Japan professionally.

Developmental state, n.: the government, motivated by desire for economic advancement, intervenes in industrial affairs. The notion of the developmental state has come under attack in recent years. Critics charge that Japan's success in putting this notion into practice has not been replicated elsewhere, that the concept threatens the purity of freemarket economics, and that its shortcomings have led to financial turmoil in Asia. In this informative and thought-provoking book, a team of distinguished scholars revisits this notion to assess its continuing utility and establish a common vocabulary for debates on these issues. Drawing on new political and economic theories and emphasizing recent events, the authors examine the East Asian experience to show how the developmental state involves a combination of political, bureaucratic, and moneyed influences that shape economic life in the region. Taking as its point of departure Chalmers Johnson's account of the Japanese developmental state, the book explores the interplay of forces that have determined the structure of opportunity in the region. The authors critically address the argument for centralized political involvement in industrial development (with a new contribution by Johnson), describe the historical impact of colonialism and the Cold War, consider new ideas in economics, and compare the experiences of East Asian countries with those of France, Brazil, Mexico, and India.

This book looks at Korea's economic, social and spatial development processes from the early Modernisation period to the financial crisis of 1997. It focuses on the political and ideological control of the state during the developmental era, as well as the environmental problems of Korea, and examines how society and environment have been used as means to attain rapid accumulation. Providing an holistic approach to Korean development, this title allows a comprehensive view of Korea's economic miracle as well as its recent problems.

Given the impressive growth in East Asia after World War II, initially led by Japan, the region's development models have been scrutinized since the 1980s. The shared Confucian cultural heritage, strong government guidance, and export led economies were often cited as contributors to the impressive growth. However, major changes have taken place in Asia on and around the turn of the century: Japan experienced two decades of economic slow-down, while World Bank figures reveal that China is poised to become the largest economy in the world in 2014, overtaking the United States. Bearing this in mind, is it even possible to formulate an East Asian development model in the context of a shifting twenty-first century? And if so, what is it? This book addresses this issue by looking at the economic, political and cultural perspectives of China, Japan and South Korea, focusing on dynamism and potential consensus regarding an East Asian development model. The chapters offer a historical background to the East Asian development model, as well as in-depth case studies of each of the countries concerned to show that whilst the East Asian development model does have distinct characteristics as compared with other areas, and other countries may draw some insights from the East Asian experience, it is not a panacea that fits all circumstances and fits all times. This book will be welcomed by students and scholars of Asian economics, Asian politics, international political economy and development studies.

Two powers in East Asia today stand to define the region's economic and commercial future: Japan, which rose in a spectacular industrial burst to become at present the world's second largest economy; and China, which is rapidly advancing towards a market economy under the watchful eye of the world. While much has been made of Japan and China’s particular economic institutions and developmental paths, few works analyze them in a comparative framework. Including contributions from leading academics, the text focuses on the period from the 1980s to the onset of the 2000s, reviewing the experiences of Japan and China across the areas of development, trade, investment, finance and technology. Drawing on a combination of official documents, economic statistics, case studies and original fieldwork, this book will give political scientists, political economists, business concerns, and policy analysts a firmer grasp of the role Japan and China stand to play in the world political economy.

The book is the first attempt to offer a holistic and integrated exploration of the political-economic framework underpinning economic regionalism. In doing so it provides a much-needed contribution to the literature on international political economy, international relations and Asian political economy in relation to economic regionalism. The existing literature provides broad generalizations and limited discussion on economic integration (i.e. free trade agreements, FTA) with most analyses of regionalism generally contained to the field of economics with a focus on the welfare implications of FTAs, both for participating countries and the world as a whole. Readers of this book can view economic regionalism from a variety of perspectives with input from Chinese, Japanese and Korean research institutes, business and industry groups, and government officials. Drawing on the considerable country experience and expertise of the authors, the book attempts to unravel the paradox of the market-driven economic globalization process (regionalism) and address a serious gap in the current literature relating to the political-economic characteristics and strategies of China, Japan and Korea in relation to economic regionalism.

This well-researched book examines the dramatic transformation of Southeast Asian countries from agricultural and mining economies to industrial nations. In doing so, it explores the effects of development policy on a number of interdisciplinary issues, and the emergence of new social and political pressures created by industrialization. These include their heightened vulnerability to complex economic crises, their use of sophisticated instruments in the labour process and increased awareness of environmental issues. The distinguished authors present a regional and cross-border focus on transnational actors and institutions, and the policy issues and problems which have a wider impact on spatial configurations in the region. This insightful study will appeal to researchers, academics and policymakers working on the economics and development of Southeast Asia.