guillaume laroche, ma llm edm kkc fellow 2018 calgary...

Laroche, KKC 20181

GuillaumeLaroche,MALLMEdMKKCFellow2018Calgary, Alberta Canada

HowdidJapanbecomeaneconomicsuperpower,1945-1968?

LessonGradeSpan:Secondary/HighSchoolBasedontheAlbertaprogramofstudiesforSocialStudies30-1,30-2(Grade12)Specificoutcomesinthe30-1/30-2AlbertaProgramofStudies:SocialStudies(2005):1

2.11 analyze perspectives on the imposition of the principles of liberalism

3.1 appreciate various perspectives regarding the viability of the principles of liberalism

3.5 analyze the extent to which the practices of political and economic systems reflect principles of liberalism

4.2 exhibit a global consciousness with respect to the human condition and world issues

Summary:Inthelesson,studentsexaminepossiblecausesfortheriseoftheJapaneseeconomyinthepost-waryearsuntil1968,whenJapanattained2ndhighesteconomicoutputintheworld.Studentsstudyavarietyofmediasourcestodataandevidencetobeusedinsupportofassessingwhichcausesaremostprobable.StudentsconcludebydecidingwhichsinglecauseswasmostinfluentindrivingandsecuringJapan’seconomicsuccess.Thelessonasawholeistiedbacktoawiderstudyofliberalismtounderstandhowitmay,ormaynot,havehelpedJapanbecomeaglobaleconomicsuperpower.

Suggestedtime:120-150minutes(2-3periods)

Resources:Attachedworksheets;acolourdigitalprojectorwithsoundispreferable.

Outcomes:- Studentswilldevelopanin-depthknowledgeofacasestudyinsupportof

argumentsaboutliberalattitudesleadstoprosperity.- Studentswilldrawhistoricalinferencesfromphotos,documentsanddata- Studentswillappreciatethesocial,politicalandeconomicdimensionsofliberalism.

1AlbertaEducation.SocialStudies:30-levelProgramsofStudy.AlbertaQueen’sPrinter.2005.https://education.alberta.ca/media/3386090/program-of-study-grade-12.pdf.AccessedOctober13,2018.

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Pre-requisites:AnappreciationfortheeconomicandpoliticalconditionofJapanimmediatelyafteritssurrenderattheconclusionofWorldWarII.

References:texts,graphs&videosusedinthelesson

Note:PhotosfromDocument#2containdirectlinkstotheoriginalsourceinthephotocreditdescription.LinksaccessedOctober30th,2018.

Cusumano,Michael.1988.“ManufacturingInnovation:LessonsfromtheJapaneseAutoIndustry.”MITSloanManagementReview(Fall1988).Availableonlineathttps://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/manufacturing-innovation-lessons-from-the-japanese-auto-industry/.AccessedOctober30th,2018.

Drucker,Peter.1981.“BehindJapan’sSuccess.”HarvardBusinessReview(Jan1981).Availableonlineathttps://hbr.org/1981/01/behind-japans-success.AccessedOctober30th,2018.

Ellington,Lucien.2004.“LearningfromtheJapaneseEconomy.”JapanDigest.Availableonlineathttps://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/learning_from_the_japanese_economy.AccessedOctober30th,2018.

Frost,Peter.2003.“PostwarJapan,1952-1989.”JapanSociety.Availableonlineathttp://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/postwar_japan_1952-1989#sthash.5lOOVyt3.dpbs.AccessedOctober30th,2018.

MarginalRevolutionUniversity.2016.“GrowthMiraclesandGrowthDisasters.”YouTube.Availableonlineathttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X5v7vRYQjc.AccessedOctober30th,2018.

OfficeoftheHistorian.n.d."OccupationandReconstructionofJapan,1945–52".UnitedStatesDepartmentofState.Availableonlineathttps://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/japan-reconstruction.AccessedOctober30th,2018.

Tetsuji,Okazaki.2015.“LessonsfromtheJapaneseMiracle:BuildingtheFoundationsforaNewGrowthParadigm.”Nippon.com.Availableathttps://www.nippon.com/en/in-

depth/a04003/.AccessedOctober30th,2018.

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LessonProcedure

1.BeginwithareviewoftheconditionofJapanattheendofWorldWarII.Lookingthroughpicturescanbeuseful,tobettercontextualizemuchofthedevastation.Manypicturesareavailableonline.StudentsshouldreflectupontheeconomicconditionofJapancircaSeptember1945,giventhehistoricalevidencesuggestedbytheimages.Someroleplayingcanappropriatelyfocusenergies:iftheywereinchargeofJapananditsfutureatthispoint,whatwouldtheydo?Howwouldtheyrebuildaneconomy?Whatchallengeswouldtheyexpect?Whatwouldbemostimportanttodofirst?2.PresentDocument#1,eitherbyprojectingtoascreenorbyprintinganddistributingcopiestostudents.Askstudentstoanalyzethedata,notingwhatthemostsalientfeatureofthegraphmightbe.Discuss;thedesiredanswerisafocusontheabnormalgrowthrateoftheJapaneseeconomypost-WWII,suchthatitcatchesuptoBritain’sby1970.Emphasizethatthelessonwillseektounderstandwhythiswaspossible.Afterall–goingbacktoStep1–theclassjustsawthatJapanwaswar-tornandessentiallyeconomicallydisempoweredin1945.Howcouldsuchgrowthbepossible?Extension:withanadvancedandmathematicallyadeptgroupofstudents,onemightwanttoaskwhythegraphisconstructedusingnaturallogpercapitaGDPunits,asopposedtoGDP,andwhattheeffectofdoingsoisonthepresentationofthedata.3.Ifpossible,continuebyshowingthisYouTubevideoonthetopicof“economicmiraclegrowths”.Ithasthesamemessageasthegraph,butpresentsitinawidercontext:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X5v7vRYQjc

InlightoftheevidencethatJapanfoundwaystoachievesubstantialeconomicgrowthimmediatelyafterWWII,reviewsomeofthequestionsaskedattheconclusionofStep1.WouldtheychangeoftheiranswersfromStep1,basedonwhatwasheardthusfar?4.ConsiderwhatisknownaboutJapan’seconomyinthepost-waryears.ImagesfromDocument#2maybeusedasstartingpointstogatherevidence.WhatdotheimagesindicateaboutJapan’seconomyinthisera?Whatismissingfromwhatispictured?Steertheconversationtowardscurrent-dayknowledgeoftheJapaneseeconomy,todrawparallels;today’slargecompaniesdidnotsuddenlyappear.StudentsaretypicallyabletoidentifylargeJapanesecorporationsinavarietyofindustries,suchasToyotaandHondaintheautoindustry,andSonyandNintendointheelectronicssector.Usingtheirsmartphonesorotherinternet-enableddevices,havestudentsquicklyresearch(7minutes)theoriginsofaJapanesecompanytheyarefamiliarwith,and,ifpossible,understandwhatthatcompanywasdoingintheperiodbetween1946-1968.ThetemplateinDocument#3maybeusedtojotsomeideasabouttheirchosencompany.Thepointisquickfamiliarizationwithanexample,notanin-depthstudy.

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5.Distributethereading“OccupationandReconstructionofJapan,1946-1952”,publishedtheOfficeoftheHistorian,UnitedStatesDepartmentofState:

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/japan-reconstruction

Studentsidentifykeytrends,accordingtothisarticle:whatdrivesJapan’sgrowth?WhatroleisSCAPplayingintheearlyreconstructioneffort?6.DistributeacontrastingreadingbyLucienEllington,“LearningfromtheJapaneseEconomy”.Atwo-pagePDFversionisavailableonline:

https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/learning_from_the_japanese_economy

Inpractice,onlythefirstpageandthebeginningofthesecond(upto“Japan’sRecentEconomicProblems”)areuseful.Studentsreadthroughthesesections,classifyingitsideasaccordingtothechartgiveninDocument#4.StudentsshouldexplicitlykeeparecordofhowEllingtonandtheUSHistorian’sinterpretationsvary.Adaptation:WeakergroupsofstudentsmayrequiresomeassistanceinunderstandingeachoftheEllington’sproposedfactors.TakingthetimeupfronttovisuallyrepresentthelinkbetweeneachofEllington’sfactorsandthewidereconomymayhelpclarifyforsuchstudentshowthesefactorsaffectaneconomicsystem;insomecases,itmightbeusefultoreviewsuchfactorsseparatelyfromthereadingentirely.Notallstudentswillbeabletoconnectthesefactorsfromthereadingalone,evenwhenusingreadingstrategiessuchasgroupreadingsorkeywordhighlighting.Extensions:Anumberofgreatarticlesareavailableassubstitutesorsupplementstothisstep.Mostnotably,economichistorianPeterDruckerpublishedapieceintheHarvardBusinessReview(January1981)andarguesinfavourofprudentJapanesebusinessmanagementpracticesasdrivingtheriseoftheJapaneseeconomy.Elsewhere,intheFall1988editionoftheMITSloanManagementReview,MichaelCusumanoexaminestheriseoftheJapaneseautoindustryinsomedetail,too.PeterFrostwritesalessacademicbutnolessdetailedaccountfortheJapanSocietyeducators’site,withmoreemphasisonpoliticalandmanagerialpracticesofthe1950s.EvidencefromthesesourcescouldbeusedtosupplementtheanalysisofEllington’scausesforadvancedstudentscapableofreadinggeneral-interestacademicpublications.

Drucker,HBR(1981):https://hbr.org/1981/01/behind-japans-success

Cusumano,MITSMR(1988):https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/manufacturing-innovation-lessons-from-

the-japanese-auto-industry/

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Frost,JapanSociety(2003):http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/postwar_japan_1952-

1989#sthash.5lOOVyt3.dpbs7.Ingroupsof3-4,studentsresearchingreaterdepth(atleast)sixofthefactorsthatEllingtonidentifies,tobetterappreciatetheirpotentialapplications,ortoconsiderparallelsituations.UsingcardscutoutfromDocument#5,studentgroupsthennegotiatewhichfactorsseemmostrelevanttoJapaneseeconomicgrowthbyrankingthemfrommosttoleastimportant.Studentsshouldbeabletosupportwithrankingwithevidenceandexamples.Parallelstoothereconomiccasestudiesareencouragedaspartofthisstep,and/ortocurrent-dayeconomicpracticestojustifytheanalysis.Extension:aclass-widedebate/discussiontorankallfactorsfromEllington’sanalysiscanalsoensue,thoughitmaybedifficulttoholdstudents’attentionforthedurationrequiredtoplaceandjustify11differentfactors.8.Returnonceagaintothequestionsfromsection1.Studentswriterecommendationsforwhatawar-torncountryshoulddotoputitselfbacktogethereconomically,usinginformationfromallsourcesstudied.Recommendationsmightbecompiledasashortreportormemo,andevaluatedand/orpresented.9.Extensionstoliberalism:FurtherquestioningontherolethatliberalismplaysinsecuringJapan’seconomicfuture.WhatroledidpoliticalinstitutionssuchastheLiberalDemocraticPartyplay?Whataboutcompetitionandfreeenterprise?Orcouldthissuccesshaveoccurredwithoutliberalism,orinfacthappenedwellinspiteofit?Or,isanysocietythatbecomesanindustrialsuppliertoarich,majorworldpowerabletoitselfbecomerichovertime,regardlessofitseconomicandpoliticalideologies?Returnstothesekindsofquestionsmaybeusefulincontextswhereconnectingthecasestudytoanexaminationofthevalueofliberalismisnecessaryinthecurriculum.

Document#1

LarocheKKC2018

Datasource:TheMaddisonProject,https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/Datavisualization:OkazakiTetsuji,"LessonsfromtheJapaneseMiracle:BuildingtheFoundationsforaNewGrowthParadigm",Nippon.com.Availableathttps://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a04003/,accessedOctober30th,2018.

Document#2

LarocheKKC2018

KonicaRangefindercamera,produced1948-1952Photocredit:DirkHRSpennemann,Flickr

ToyotaCrown,circa1955PhotoCredit:Taisyo,Wikipedia

Document#2

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LightbulbsproducedatTokyoShibauraElectricCo.,1951

Photocredit:ArthurCurlis,USArmy/AssociatedPressPhoto

Machinepartsaremelteddownfromscrap,Tokyo,1946Photocredit:AssociatedPressPhoto

Document#3

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Companyportfolio–QuickStudy

NameoftheCompany

Foundedintheyear

Productsmade

Domesticcompetitors

Internationalcompetitors

Economicactivitiesinthe1950sand1960s

Economicactivitiestoday

Document#4

LarocheKKC2018

UnderstandingLucienEllington’s“LearningfromtheJapaneseEconomy”PoliticalFactorsdrivenbytheGov’tofJapanandSCAP

SocialFactorsdrivenbytheJapanesepeople

EconomicFactorsdrivenbybusinessesandworkers

OtherFactorsdrivenbyotheractors

Document#5

LarocheKKC2018

LucienEllington’sCausesofJapaneseWealth–Cutouts

State-AssistedCapitalism Surplusfundsforinvestment

USOccupation&EconomicReforms TradeUnions&IndustrialRelations

TheKoreanWar Domesticcompetition&entrepreneurship

WorldwideFreeTradeBoom Stablepolitics

Shifttolessdependentindustries Lowmilitaryexpenses

Manywell-educatedworkers Other:_______________________