Course Description

In this course, we’ll look back the long history of Japanese economic and industrial modernization after late 19th century or the Meiji era. It includes (a) the transition of world trade and economy after the Age of Discovery, (b) the beginnings of Japanese Industrial Revolution in the Meiji era, which was influenced by the expanding world trade of those days, (c) Japanese industrial and technological development afterwards, (d) Japanese repetitive business cycles and government's economic, financial and industrial policy in the Meiji era, (e) Japanese unique economic system which boosted its postwar economic growth, and so on. Through studying these subjects, we’ll try to understand the characteristics of Japanese economic growth.