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Japan, the Sustainable Society: The Artisanal Ethos, Ordinary Virtues, and Everyday Life in the Age of Limits
by John LieBy the late twentieth century, Japan had gained worldwide attention as an economic powerhouse. Having miraculously risen from the ashes of World War II, it was seen by many as a country to be admired if not emulated. But by the early 1990s, that bubble burst in spectacular fashion. The Japanese economic miracle was over. In this book, John Lie argues that in many ways the Japan of today has the potential to be even more significant than it was four decades ago. As countries face the prospect of a world with decreasing economic growth and increasing environmental dangers, Japan offers a unique glimpse into what a viable future might look like—one in which people acknowledge the limits of the economy and environment while championing meaningful and sustainable ways of working and living. Beneath and beyond the rhetoric of growth, some Japanese are leading sustainable lives and creating a sustainable society. Though he does not prescribe a one-size-fits-all cure for the world, Lie makes the compelling case that contemporary Japanese society offers a possibility for how other nations might begin to valorize everyday life and cultivate ordinary virtues.
Japan, the System That Soured: The Rise And Fall Of The Japanese Economic Miracle
by Richard KatzAfter seven long years of economic malaise, it is clear that something has gone awry in Japan. Unless Japan undertakes sweeping reform, official forecasts now warn, growth will steadily dwindle. How could the world's most acclaimed economic miracle have stumbled so badly? As this important book explains, the root of the problem is that Japan is still mired in the structures, policies, and mental habits of the 1950s-1960s. Four decades ago while in the "catch-up" phase of its economic evolution, policies that gave rise to "Japan, Inc". made a lot of sense. By the 1970s and 1980s, when Japan had become a more mature economy, "catch-up economics" had become passe, even counterproductive. Even worse, in response to the oil shocks, Japan increasingly used its industrial policy tools. not to promote "winners", but to shield "losers" from competition at home and abroad. Japan's well-known aversion to imports is part and parcel of this politically understandable, but economically self-defeating, pattern. The end result is a deformed "dual economy" unique in the industrial world. Now this "dualism" is sapping the strength of the entire economy. The protection of the weak is driving Japan's most inefficient companies to invest offshore instead of at home. Without sweeping reform, real recovery will prove elusive. The challenging thesis articulated in this book is receiving widespread media attention in the United States and Japan and is sure to provoke continuing debate and controversy.
Japan to 1600: A Social and Economic History
by William Wayne Farris<p>Japan to 1600 surveys Japanese historical development from the first evidence of human habitation in the archipelago to the consolidation of political power under the Tokugawa shogunate at the beginning of the seventeenth century. It is unique among introductory texts for its focus on developments that impacted all social classes rather than the privileged and powerful few. In accessible language punctuated with lively and interesting examples, William Wayne Farris weaves together major economic and social themes. The book focuses on continuity and change in social and economic structures and experiences, but it by no means ignores the political and cultural. Most chapters begin with an outline of political developments, and cultural phenomena―particularly religious beliefs―are also taken into account. In addition, Japan to 1600 addresses the growing connectedness between residents of the archipelago and the rest of the world. <p>Farris describes how the early inhabitants of the islands moved from a forager mode of subsistence to a more predominantly agrarian base, supplemented by sophisticated industries and an advanced commercial economy. He reveals how the transition to farming took place over many centuries as people moved back and forth from settled agriculture to older forager-collector regimes in response to ecological, political, and personal factors. Economics influenced demographics, and, as the population expanded, the class structure became increasingly complex and occupational specialization and status divisions more intricate. Along with this came trends toward more tightly knit corporate organizations (village, city, market, family), and classes of servants, slaves, and outcastes formed. <p>In reflecting the diversity of traditional Japan’s economy and society, Japan to 1600 is well suited for both undergraduate and graduate courses and will be a welcome introduction to Japan’s early history for scholars and students of other disciplines and regions.</p>
Japan Transformed: Political Change and Economic Restructuring
by Frances Rosenbluth Michael F. ThiesWith little domestic fanfare and even less attention internationally, Japan has been reinventing itself since the 1990s, dramatically changing its political economy, from one managed by regulations to one with a neoliberal orientation. Rebuilding from the economic misfortunes of its recent past, the country retains a formidable economy and its political system is healthier than at any time in its history. Japan Transformed explores the historical, political, and economic forces that led to the country's recent evolution, and looks at the consequences for Japan's citizens and global neighbors. The book examines Japanese history, illustrating the country's multiple transformations over the centuries, and then focuses on the critical and inexorable advance of economic globalization. It describes how global economic integration and urbanization destabilized Japan's postwar policy coalition, undercut the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's ability to buy votes, and paved the way for new electoral rules that emphasized competing visions of the public good. In contrast to the previous system that pitted candidates from the same party against each other, the new rules tether policymaking to the vast swath of voters in the middle of the political spectrum. Regardless of ruling party, Japan's politics, economics, and foreign policy are on a neoliberal path. Japan Transformed combines broad context and comparative analysis to provide an accurate understanding of Japan's past, present, and future.
Japanese Agriculture: A Comparative Economic Analysis
by Cornelius van der Meer Saburo YamadaFood prices in Japan are extremely high by international standards, and its agricultural sector is beset by low productivity. This book determines what the real level of Japanese agricultural productivity is by comparing it with other developed countries and with less developed countries. Japan has set itself the goal of catching up with the European Community in agricultural productivity, and so the book makes an extended comparison of Japanese and Dutch agriculture to try and determine the likelihood of this happening. Extended inter-country comparisons with Taiwan and the United States are also undertaken. The book analyses how various political and economic factors have interacted to prevent Japan achieving high agricultural productivity at the same time as it was experiencing remarkable growth in its industrial productivity. Solutions to the current problem are suggested and the book concludes by discussing the relevance of Japan's experience to other developing economies.
Japanese and German Enterprises: Comparison of Industrial Cocentration System and Business Management
by Toshio YamazakiThe objective of this book is to analyze and compare the processes of corporate expansion of postwar Japan and Germany. It examines the evolution of distinctive Japanese and German business management styles through the adoption of American management methods, thereby establishing a system of industrial concentration in contrast to the US de-concentration policy. This is the first time that the book draws on a range of topics related to business administration, including the concentration of enterprises, management and production systems, management education, marketing, organizational structure, and corporate governance. The book compares the Japanese and German models. Japanese enterprises developed a management style that was suitable for American and Japanese markets, in part due to the underdeveloped Asian markets. Meanwhile, German enterprises established a management style for European markets. The book considers the specificities of the Japanese management model, predicated on thorough cost reduction and few product defects. In contrast, the German management model placed a premium on differentiation based on product quality and functionality, with a particular focus on core markets and the skills of the workforce. The book posits that corporate expansion was a determining factor in the regionalization of each country. Japan underwent a transformation toward "Asianization," which depended on production and markets in Asia after the 1990s. Germany, on the other hand, consistently pursued "Europeanization" after the war in two complementary ways: (1) a heavy reliance on the European region and (2) the endeavor to advance European integration. Transformations in business management are analyzed using the author's two original frameworks: (1) The term "total system of business management" denotes the fundamental conditional structures that regulate and define the established methods of business management within the confines of capitalism in a specific country. (2) The term "reframing" is used to explain the adaptation, modification, and adjustment of one country's particular management style to another nation. These arguments reframe how we understand the historical processes of corporate expansion and provide milestones for a comparative study of management through common factors and characteristics of management.
A Japanese Approach to Stages of Capitalist Development: What Comes Next? (Palgrave Insights into Apocalypse Economics)
by Robert AlbrittonThis book offers a novel treatment of one of the most important and long-standing research agendas in critical political economy: the theorizing of stages of capitalist development. Albritton advances the work of Japanese economist, Kozo Uno, to explore capital accumulation and its ideological, legal and political supports, not only in the stages of mercantilism, liberalism and imperialism, but also in the post-World War II capitalist stage of consumerism. The power of Albritton’s adoption of this Japanese approach resides in the crisp clarity it achieves over the way stage theorizing of capitalism draws on both economic theory and historical analysis.In the new, fully revised edition, written with Richard Westra, two new chapters are added. One meticulously examines the tendencies of capitalism euphemized as globalization and financialization which followed the crisis of the stage of consumerism. The other deals with current threats to civilization posed by burgeoning militarism, environmental destruction and climate apocalypse. The concluding chapter argues for the necessity of major social change to ensure a liveable future for humanity. The book will be of interest to researchers and students of political economy and the history of economic thought, as well as a wider audience interested in the transformation and crises of capitalism.
The Japanese Art of War: Understanding the Culture of Strategy
by Thomas ClearyMilitary rule and the martial tradition of the samurai dominated Japanese culture for more than eight hundred years. According to Thomas Cleary--translator of more than thirty-five classics of Asian philosophy--the Japanese people have been so steeped in the way of the warrior that some of the manners and mentality of this outlook remain embedded in their individual and collective consciousness. Cleary shows how well-known attributes such as the reserve and mystery of formal Japanese behavior are deeply rooted in the ancient strategies of the traditional arts of war. Citing original Japanese sources that are popular among Japanese readers today, he reveals the hidden forces behind Japanese attitudes and conduct in political, business, social, and personal life.
The Japanese Automotive Industry: Model and Challenge for the Future? (Michigan Papers in Japanese Studies #3)
by Robert E. ColeThe Japanese Automotive Industry
The Japanese Banking Crisis
by Ryozo HiminoThis open access book provides a readable narrative of the bubbles and the banking crisis Japan experienced during the two decades between the late 1980s and the early 2000s. Japan, which was a leading competitor in the world’s manufacturing sector, tried to transform itself into an economy with domestic demand-led mature growth, but the ensuing bubbles and crisis instead made the country suffer from chronicle deflation and stagnation. The book analyses why the Japanese authorities could not avoid making choices that led to this outcome. The chapters are based on the lectures to regulators from emerging economies delivered at the Global Financial Partnership Center of the Financial Services Agency of Japan.
The Japanese Banking Crisis of the 1990s: Sources and Lessons
by Akihiro Kanaya David WooA report from the International Monetary Fund.
Japanese Business Operations in an Uncertain World (Routledge Advances in Management and Business Studies)
by Anshuman KhareThis book looks at Japanese companies in manufacturing and services sectors and how they are trying to emerge from the prolonged uncertainty of the pandemic. The chapters are written by those dealing with Japanese business under the shadow of the pandemic and being influenced by the continuous and rapid adoption of digital technologies in business and our daily lives. This book brings together the experiences of big and small corporations while looking at how digital transformation and the pandemic combined have led to a transformation in the product, production processes and services. It highlights the role played by robots, 3-D printing and renewable energy in manufacturing while the impact can be seen in the changes coming to future offices, how we work and interact and how we relax through tourism and travel on the service side. The services sector is as much impacted by digital transformation and the pandemic as any other field in business. Aimed at academics, researchers and practitioners, Japanese Business Operations in an Uncertain World will provide valuable insights into how Japanese organizations are adapting to the dual impact of the pandemic and advancements in digital technologies.
Japanese Candlestick Charting: A Contemporary Guide to the Ancient Techniques of the Far East
by Steve NisonA form of technical analysis, Japanese candlestick charts are a versatile tool that can be fused with any other technical tool, and will help improve any technician's market analysis. They can be used for speculation and hedging, for futures, equities or anywhere technical analysis is applied. Seasoned technicians will discover how joining Japanese candlesticks with other technical tools can create a powerful synergy of techniques; amateurs will find out how effective candlestick charts are as a stand-alone charting method. In easy-to-understand language, this title delivers to the reader the author's years of study, research and practical experience in this increasingly popular and dynamic approach to market analysis. The comprehensive coverage includes everything from the basics, with hundreds of examples showing how candlestick charting techniques can be used in almost any market.
Japanese Capitalism in Crisis: A Regulationist Interpretation (Routledge Advances In International Political Economy Ser.)
by Robert Boyer Toshio YamadaThe contributors to Japanese Capitalism in Crisis show that there can be a middle ground between the current extremes of the Japanese economy, and offer two proposals: a deeper understanding of long term development, and an extension of existing theory.
The Japanese Central Banking System Compared with Its European and American Counterparts: A New Institutional Economics Approach
by Yoshiharu OritaniThis book uniquely explores the role and governance mechanism of central banks by applying new institutional economics (NIE). Simultaneously, the book tests the analytical viability of NIE when applied to an organization that has both public and private characteristics. Special attention is paid to the Bank of Japan (BOJ) based on the author’s 30 years of work experience and “participant observation” there, touching upon discussion of central bank independence. The book argues that central bank independence cannot be defended solely by law, and a mechanism to eliminate requests from politicians needs to be embedded within the governance structure. The book also provides a comparative analysis between the BOJ and central banks in Europe and the USA. In reviewing the global financial crisis of 2008–2009, it suggests possible measures based on behavioral economics and public choice theory. These theory-based analyses provide useful insights when considering matters such as whether a central bank should issue electronic money or the European system of central banks could be established in Asia.
The Japanese Company
by Rodney ClarkThis Japanese business guide takes an honest look at the Japanese company in its full historical, industrial, and societal contexts.<P><P>The author explains how the Japanese company is run and how its workings affect those associated with it-and the people of Japan in general. The author also examines the organization and management of a company and the employees' place within it. The obsession with titles and hierarchy is noted, and the existence of "lifetime employment" is considered carefully. Readers interested in the legal aspects of a company's organization will find this section useful.The Japanese Company is thus offers great insight into Japanese business etiquette and practice for anyone involved (or soon to be involved) in Japanese business.
Japanese Contractors in Overseas Markets: Bridging Cultural and Communication Gaps (Management in the Built Environment)
by Kazuhito Suzuki Low Sui PhengThis book explores the differences in cultural attributes and management factors to enable managers working for Japanese contractors to reduce misunderstandings and misinterpretations when communicating with project team members from different cultural backgrounds. It focuses on Japanese contractors operating in Singapore, since the Singapore construction industry has, for many years, been one of the largest overseas construction markets for the top-5 Japanese contractors. Using Hofstede’s national cultural framework for the cultural studies in construction project management, it reveals various real-world management practices and discusses national cultural differences relating to managers working for Japanese contractors in Singapore as well as the communication weaknesses of current management practices and styles. The results presented provide useful lessons for Japanese contractors operating in Singapore, as well as other parts of the world, to bridge cultural and communication gaps.
Japanese Cooperation and Supporting Industry in Mexico’s Automotive Sector: USMCA, Covid-19 Disruptions, and Electric Vehicle Production (New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives #72)
by Leo Guzman-AnayaThis pioneering work focuses on the crucial role that the cooperation of Japan, a major stakeholder in production networks in North America, is playing in supporting Mexico's domestic suppliers of the automotive industry. The importance of Japanese cooperation is analyzed with an examination of the transfer of knowledge and technology crucial for reshaping the automotive industry. Additionally, particular interest is given to the challenges posed to Mexico's automotive industry by the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), the Covid-19 disruptions, and the transition to electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing. The book demonstrates the importance of cooperation in economic partnership agreements such as the one between Japan and Mexico to strengthen the role of investment in complex regional integration networks and to face new challenges. Academics and policymakers will find a framework to guide research and decision-making regarding the transformation of automotive manufacturing and production networks in Mexico's automotive industry. Specifically, the new conditions facing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the important part that Japanese cooperation will play in the industry's evolution.
Japanese Corporate Transition in Time and Space
by Tomoko KuriharaThis book is an ethnography of a Japanese white-collar workplace in Osaka carried out during the late 1990s. It explores the relevance of social models to the analysis of social relations and women's status in the workplace by examining concepts of time, ritual, and space via the theory of practice.
Japanese Digital Cultural Promotion: Online Experience of Kyoto (Routledge Contemporary Japan Series)
by Nadejda GadjevaGadjeva uses Kyoto as a case study to explore the innovative mechanisms being used to promote Japanese culture and cultural properties since the outbreak of COVID-19. Beginning by setting out the main initiatives and actors involved in preserving, introducing and utilising Kyoto’s cultural heritage, Gadjeva proceeds to discuss alternative approaches using digital technologies. These tools include remote access immersive reality, virtual reality, augmented reality, augmented virtuality, and mixed reality. She looks at how such approaches have been applied to Kyoto’s digital museums, real-time online experiences, and other virtual projects presenting tangible, intangible, and folk heritage. In doing so she draws on a wide range of interviews with experts from the Japan Foundation, the Kyoto Art Center, and other related institutions to investigate the limitations and possible strategies for further development of these practices. She also interviews scholars, government officials and experts from Europe about the prospects for further remote online experiences, applied both specifically to Kyoto and more broadly to cultural tourism. Based on the findings, the book discusses particular future challenges and suggests specific policies and project proposals for further remote online experiences of Kyoto’s cultural properties. A valuable read for professionals and scholars of cultural and tourism studies, that will be of particular interest to those specialising in Japan.
Japanese Direct Investment in China: Locational Determinants and Characteristics
by John F. CassidyChina, with the world's largest population, is set to become the second largest market in the world by 2010. The importance of understanding the environment for foreign direct investment (FDI) in China has never been more apparent. With this as a context, this book examines FDI in China with the emphasis on the 'where to locate' question. Japanese direct investment is used as a case study elucidating the key locational determinants and characteristics thereof. This is the first book focusing on the 'where to locate' question with respect to the China market. All companies with a China strategy and all university business departments will find this book of vital importance.
Japanese Direct Investment in Mexico's Transport Equipment Sector: Macro Impact and Local Responses (New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives #22)
by Melba Falck-Reyes Leo Guzman-AnayaThis book introduces an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Japanese foreign direct investment determinants, the close relations between foreign investment and trade flows in the host country, and the effects and responses by the local economy. It provides an accessible and comprehensive view of the overall macro impacts and local effects associated with the increasing flow of Japanese firms to Mexico’s automotive industry. The research and its outcomes presented here follow extensive fieldwork and use unique statistical datasets to integrate qualitative and quantitative approaches to the analysis. Carefully chosen case studies produce an integrated approach to the subject. As a result, the book fills a vacuum on this topic and provides readers with a clear understanding of the complex interactions among participating actors: Japanese multinationals and Japanese parts-and-components suppliers, Mexican local suppliers, government at the national and local levels, and cooperating Japanese agencies. By critically assessing current theories and empirical methodologies the monograph covers aspects related to the creation of regional production networks and their impact on trade patterns of the recipient country, location determinants of Japanese foreign investment, and spillover externalities in host entities. It presents the reader with a comprehensive view of the different levels of interaction between multinational firms, local recipient economies, and local suppliers and the challenges they face to engage in global chains of production. The book is highly recommended to academics and their students who seek to understand the complex international economic relations in the global economy. This compilation also serves as a valuable guide to policy makers, both at national and local levels, as it provides an informed analysis of how to engage local suppliers in regional and global production chains.
Japanese Discourses on the Marxian Theory of Finance (Marx, Engels, and Marxisms)
by Kei EharaThis edited volume traces the development of the Marxian theory of finance in Japan. Japanese Marxists have long been engaged in this field of study, yet their achievements are hardly known in other languages. Japanese Discourses on the Marxian Theory of Finance brings together in English for the first time six core essays essential to the understanding of the history and development of Japanese Marxian economics. Part I considers the so-called Uno-Miyake debate, which shaped the direction of the research in postwar Japan. Part II includes the three core essays influenced by Uno, including an essay by Shigekatsu Yamaguchi, who introduced a new method to systematically deal with “credit creation” which must be duly taken into consideration if scholars are to analyze today’s “financialization." Finally, the last two essays follow from Yamaguchi’s influential theory to consider the relation of banking with the capital market to complete the theory of finance in Marxian economics.
Japanese Economic Development: Theory and practice (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies)
by Penny FrancksThis fully revised and updated third edition of Japanese Economic Development looks at Japan's economic history from the nineteenth century through to World War II, recasting analysis of Japan’s economic past in the light fresh theoretical perspectives in the study of economic history and development. Francks draws out the historical roots of the institutions and practices on which Japan's post-war economic miracle was based and provides a comparative framework within which the Japanese case can be understood and related to development in the rest of the world. New features for this edition include: textboxes summarising key concepts expanded coverage of the early-modern economy, the ‘traditional sector’, and the international context of Japanese growth an increased number of case studies fully up-dated references, glossary and bibliography. Taking a thematic approach, this textbook demonstrates how studying the first example of Asian industrialisation can provide the basis for an alternative, non-western narrative of development. As it such is an important resource for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on the Japanese economy, as well as comparative economic development and economic history more generally.
Japanese Economic Development: Markets, Norms, Structures
by Carl MoskThis book presents three distinct approaches to understanding how and why Japan made the transition from a relatively low-income country mainly focused on agriculture to a high-income nation centered on manufacturing and services. Making a case forover determination in economic behaviour, the authors argue that individual, firm level and governmental behavior is simultaneously determined by the interaction of markets, norms and structures and that change over time is rarely if ever limited to the economy operating in isolation from social norms and structures.