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.
Laroche, KKC 20182
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.
Laroche,KKC20183
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.
Laroche,KKC20184
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/
Laroche,KKC20185
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
LarocheKKC2018
LightbulbsproducedatTokyoShibauraElectricCo.,1951
Photocredit:ArthurCurlis,USArmy/AssociatedPressPhoto
Machinepartsaremelteddownfromscrap,Tokyo,1946Photocredit:AssociatedPressPhoto
Document#3
LarocheKKC2018
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:_______________________
