How did Japan focus on its economic growth?

No one else took Japan very seriously as a regional or global actor for more than two decades. This enabled Japan to focus almost singularly on the protection of its narrow economic interests. Japan behaved like the tall schoolboy who sits in the back of the class hoping no one will notice his presence. Beginning in the early-mid 1970s, Japan began to modify their policies in response to US presence and partly a reaction to international developments. The oil shock of 1973 drove home Japan’s vulnerability to events in distant places. Thus, Japanese leaders began to broaden their horizons: They supported the western allies on international political issues, including the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the boycott of the Moscow Olympics; endorsed allied statements on terrorism and arms control and resisted strong Soviet pressures and allowed Japanese firms to participate in the US Strategic Defense Initiative. Most significantly, they began to increase substantially Japanese foreign economic assistance, to the point where today Japan is the world’s largest donor of Official Development Assistance.

The post How did Japan focus on its economic growth? appeared first on interaksyonph.