The Japanese Economy: The Capacity to Transform and Restructure

It is frequently said that the Japanese economy has a strong capacity to transform itself. The capacity to transform is the ability to convert rapidly. "Convertibility" is the ability to adapt quickly to a rapidly changing environment. The history of Japanese modernization is a history of adaptation. From the policy of "a prosperous country and a strong military force," adopted at the time of the decision to open up the country to foreign commerce, made at the end of the Tokugawa period, to the policies of economic democratization under the Peace Constitution that followed World War II, the country itself was at stake in each period of adaptation. These were changes that involved the whole of society and that contained many factors not limited to just the economic sphere. However, I will limit the following discussion to those factors having a direct connection to the capacity of the Japanese economy to transform itself.