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{{History of Japan |topics}}
[[File:Historical economic growth of Japan.jpg|thumb|right|Historical GDP per capita development]]
The '''economic history of Japan''' is most studied for the spectacular [[Economic growth|social and economic growth]] in the 1800s after the [[Meiji Restoration]]. It became the first non-Western great power, and expanded steadily until its defeat in the [[Second World War]]. When Japan recovered from devastation, it became the world's [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|second largest economy]] behind the United States until 2010, when it was overtaken by China, followed by Germany in 2023. Scholars have evaluated the nation's unique economic position during the [[Cold War]], with exports going to both U.S.- and Soviet-aligned powers, and have taken keen interest in the situation of the post-Cold War period of the [[Lost Decade (Japan)|Japanese "lost decades"]].

==Prehistoric and ancient Japan==

===Jōmon period===
{{Main|Jōmon period}}
In Japanese history, the {{nihongo|Jōmon period|[[wikt:縄文|縄文]][[wikt:時代|時代]]|Jōmon jidai}} is the time between {{circa}}&nbsp;[[Upper Paleolithic|14,000]] and 300 BCE,<ref name="perri20162">{{cite journal|last1=Perri|first1=Angela R.|year=2016|title=Hunting dogs as environmental adaptations in Jōmon Japan|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/F1469BF53172B3C30B7E9B5F9B67C701/S0003598X16001150a.pdf/hunting-dogs-as-environmental-adaptations-in-jomon-japan.pdf|journal=Antiquity|volume=90|issue=353|pages=1166–1180|doi=10.15184/aqy.2016.115|s2cid=163956846}}</ref><ref name="genetic-japan3">{{cite journal|author1=Timothy Jinam|author2=Hideaki Kanzawa-Kiriyama|author3=Naruya Saitou|date=2015|title=Human genetic diversity in the Japanese Archipelago: dual structure and beyond|journal=Genes & Genetic Systems|volume=90|issue=3|pages=147–152|doi=10.1266/ggs.90.147|pmid=26510569|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="verb-morphology2">{{citation|last=Robbeets|first=Martine|title=Diachrony of Verb Morphology: Japanese and the Transeurasian Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1u8xCgAAQBAJ&q=Jomon|page=26|year=2015|publisher=De Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-039994-3}}</ref> during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse [[hunter-gatherer]] and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a considerable degree of [[sedentism]] and cultural complexity.<ref name="Mason, 142">* Mason, Penelope E., with Donald Dinwiddie, ''History of Japanese art'', page 14, 2nd edn 2005, Pearson Prentice Hall, {{ISBN|0-13-117602-1}}, 9780131176027</ref> The [[Jōmon pottery|pottery style]] characteristic of the first phases of Jōmon culture was decorated by impressing cords into the surface of wet clay and is generally accepted to be among the oldest in the world.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kuzmin|first1=Y.V.|year=2006|title=Chronology of the Earliest Pottery in East Asia: Progress and Pitfalls|journal=Antiquity|volume=80|issue=308|pages=362–371|doi=10.1017/s0003598x00093686|s2cid=17316841}}</ref> The Jōmon period was rich in tools and jewelry made from bone, stone, shell and antler; pottery figurines and vessels; and [[lacquerware]].<ref name="BMA2">{{cite book|last=Birmingham Museum of Art|author-link=Birmingham Museum of Art|url=http://artsbma.org|title=Birmingham Museum of Art : Guide to the Collection|publisher=Birmingham Museum of Art|year=2010|isbn=978-1-904832-77-5|location=Birmingham, AL|page=40}}</ref><ref name="imamura3">Imamura, K. (1996) ''Prehistoric Japan: New Perspectives on Insular East Asia''. Honolulu: University of Hawai{{okina}}i Press</ref><ref name="mizoguchi2">{{cite book|last=Mizoguchi|first=Koji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rXa_ngEACAAJ|title=An Archaeological History of Japan, 30,000 B.C. to A.D. 700|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8122-3651-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=長野県立歴史館|date=1996-07-01|title=縄文人の一生|url=http://sitereports.nabunken.go.jp/7905|access-date=2016-09-02|website=Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan}}</ref>

[[File:Museums in Yamanashi prefecture-4b.jpg|thumb|[[Jōmon pottery]] in the Yamanashi museum]]
Archaeologist Junko Habu claims "[t]he majority of Japanese scholars believed, and still believe, that pottery production was first invented in mainland Asia and subsequently introduced into the Japanese archipelago."<ref name="habu">{{cite book |last=Habu |first=Junko <!-- |author-link=Junko Habu --> |title=Ancient Jomōn of Japan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vGnAbTyTynsC |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-77670-7}}</ref> This seems to be confirmed by recent archaeology. As of now, the earliest pottery vessels in the world date back to {{nowrap|20 000 [[Before Present|BP]]}} and were discovered in [[Xianren Cave]] in [[Jiangxi]], China.<ref name=Xianrendong>{{cite journal |title=Early pottery at {{nowrap|20 000 years}} ago in Xianrendong Cave, China |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |date=June 29, 2012 |volume=336 |issue=6089 |pages=1696–1700 |doi=10.1126/science.1218643 |pmid=22745428 |last1=Wu |first1=X. |last2=Zhang |first2=C. |last3=Goldberg |first3=P. |last4=Cohen |first4=D. |last5=Pan |first5=Y. |last6=Arpin |first6=T. |last7=Bar-Yosef |first7=O. |bibcode=2012Sci...336.1696W|s2cid=37666548 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/06/pottery-found-in-from-china-cave-confirmed-as-worlds-oldest/1#.UDiyGtZlRv0 |title=Pottery found in China cave confirmed as world's oldest |last=Stanglin |first=Douglas |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=2012-06-29 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The pottery may have been used as [[cookware and bakeware|cookware]].<ref name=Xianrendong /> Other early pottery vessels include those excavated from the [[Yuchanyan Cave]] in southern China, dated from {{nowrap|16 000 BCE}},<ref name=cl>{{cite news |website=Cleveland.com |url=http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2009/06/chinese_pottery_may_be_earlies.html |title=Chinese pottery may be earliest discovered |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=2009-06-01 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and at present it appears that pottery emerged at roughly the same time in Japan, and in the [[Amur River]] basin of the [[Russian Far East]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kuzmin |first1=Y.V. |last2=Keally |first2=C.T. |year=2001 |title=Radiocarbon chronology of the earliest Neolithic sites in east Asia |journal=Radiocarbon |volume=43 |issue=2B |pages=1121–1128 |doi=10.1017/s0033822200041771 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Craig |first1=O.E. |last2=Saul |first2=H. |title=Earliest evidence for the use of pottery |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=496 |issue=7445 |pages=351–354 |doi=10.1038/nature12109 |pmid =23575637 |year =2013 |bibcode=2013Natur.496..351C|s2cid=3094491 }}</ref> The manufacture of pottery typically implies some form of [[sedentism|sedentary life]] because pottery is heavy, bulky, and fragile and thus generally unusable for [[hunter-gatherer]]s. However, this does not seem to have been the case with the first Jōmon people, who perhaps numbered {{nowrap|20,000 individuals}} over the whole archipelago.<ref name="Mason, 132">* Mason, Penelope E., with Donald Dinwiddie, ''History of Japanese art'', page 13, 2nd edn 2005, Pearson Prentice Hall, {{ISBN|0-13-117602-1}}, 9780131176027</ref>

The degree to which horticulture or [[small-scale agriculture]] was practiced by Jōmon people is debated. Currently, there is no scientific consensus to support a conceptualization of Jōmon period culture as only [[hunter-gatherer]].<ref name="Crawford20113">{{cite journal|last=Crawford|first=Gary W.|year=2011|title=Advances in understanding early agriculture in Japan|journal=Current Anthropology|volume=52|issue=S4|pages=S331–S345|doi=10.1086/658369|jstor=10.1086/658369|s2cid=143756517}}</ref> There is evidence to suggest that [[arboriculture]] was practiced.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Matsui|first1=A.|last2=Kanehara|first2=M.|year=2006|title=The question of prehistoric plant husbandry during the Jomōn Period in Japan|journal=World Archaeology|volume=38|issue=2|pages=259–273|doi=10.1080/00438240600708295|s2cid=162258797}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Crawford|first=G.W.|title=Transitions to Agriculture in Prehistory|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|year=1992|editor1-last=Gebauer|editor1-first=A.B.|place=Madison, WI|pages=117–132|article=The transitions to agriculture in Japan|editor2-last=Price|editor2-first=T.D.}}</ref><ref name="Crawford20113" /> An apparently domesticated variety of [[peach]] appeared very early at Jōmon sites in 6700–6400&nbsp;BP (4700–4400&nbsp;BC).<ref name="YangZheng20142">{{cite journal|last1=Yang|first1=Xiaoyan|last2=Zheng|first2=Yunfei|last3=Crawford|first3=Gary W.|last4=Chen|first4=Xugao|year=2014|title=Archaeological evidence for peach (''Prunus persica'') cultivation and domestication in China|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=9|issue=9|page=e106595|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j6595Z|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0106595|issn=1932-6203|pmc=4156326|pmid=25192436|doi-access=free}}</ref> This was already similar to modern cultivated forms. This domesticated type of peach was apparently brought into Japan from China. Nevertheless, in China, itself, this variety is currently attested only at a later date of 5300–4300&nbsp;BP.<ref name="YangZheng20142" />

[[File:140913 Sannai-Maruyama site Aomori Japan10n.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of [[Jōmon period]] [[pit-house]]s in the [[Aomori Prefecture]]]]
The Middle Jōmon period (3520–2470 BCE) saw a rise in complexity in the design of [[pit-house]]s, the most commonly used method of housing at the time,<ref>{{cite news|date=May 27, 1997|title=Early Jomon hamlet found|journal=The Japan Times|url=http://www.trussel.com/prehist/news21.htm}}</ref> with some even having paved stone floors.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Moriya|first1=Toyohito|year=2015|title=A Study of the Utilization of Wood to Build Pit Dwellings from the Epi-Jomon Culture|url=http://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/58209/1/10_06_moriya.pdf|journal=Journal of the Graduate School of Letters|volume=10|pages=71–85|doi=10.14943/jgsl.10.71}}</ref> At the end of the Jōmon period the local population declined sharply. Scientists suggest that this was possibly caused by food shortages and other environmental problems. They concluded that not all Jōmon groups suffered under these circumstances but the overall population declined.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ohashi|first1=Jun|last2=Tokunaga|first2=Katsushi|last3=Hitomi|first3=Yuki|last4=Sawai|first4=Hiromi|last5=Khor|first5=Seik-Soon|last6=Naka|first6=Izumi|last7=Watanabe|first7=Yusuke|date=2019-06-17|title=Analysis of whole Y-chromosome sequences reveals the Japanese population history in the Jomon period|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=9|issue=1|pages=8556|bibcode=2019NatSR...9.8556W|doi=10.1038/s41598-019-44473-z|issn=2045-2322|pmc=6572846|pmid=31209235}}</ref> Examining the remains of the people who lived throughout the Jōmon period, there is evidence that these deaths were not inflicted by warfare or violence on a large enough scale to cause these deaths.<ref>Nakao, Hisashi, Tamura, Kohei, Arimatsu, Yui, Nakagawa, Tomomi, Matsumoto, Naoko, & Matsugi, Takehiko. (2016). Violence in the prehistoric period of Japan: the spatio-temporal pattern of skeletal evidence for violence in the Jomon period. Biology letters (2005), 12(3), 20160028. Historical Article, LONDON: The Royal Society.</ref>

===Yayoi period===
[[File:Bronze Mirror in Ancient Japan.jpg|thumb|right|[[Shinju-kyo]] [[bronze mirror]] from [[Yayoi period]] excavated in Tsubai-otsukayama kofun, [[Yamashiro, Kyoto]]]]
{{Main|Yayoi period}}
The Yayoi period is generally accepted to date from 300 BCE to 300 CE.<ref name="keally-yayoi">{{Cite web |last=Keally |first=Charles T. |date=2006-06-03 |title=Yayoi Culture |url=http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/yayoi.html |access-date=2010-03-19 |website=Japanese Archaeology |publisher=Charles T. Keally}}</ref> However, radio-carbon evidence suggests a date up to 500 years earlier, between 1,000 and 800 BCE.<ref name="Silberman2012">{{cite book |last=Silberman |first=Neil Asher |year=2012 |title=The Oxford Companion to Archaeology |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York|pages=154–155}}.</ref><ref name="SchirokauerBrown2012">{{cite book |last=Schirokauer |first=Conrad |year=2013 |title=A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations |publisher=Wadsworth Cengage Learning |location=Boston |pages=133–143}}</ref><ref name="Shinya">{{Cite journal |year=2007 |title=A Comment on the Yayoi Period Dating Controversy |url=http://www.seaa-web.org/bul-essay-01.htm |journal=Bulletin of the Society for East Asian Archaeology |volume=1 |surname=Shōda |given=Shinya}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mizoguchi |first=Koji |title=The Archaeology of Japan: From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-521-88490-7 |pages=35–36}}</ref> During this period Japan transitioned to a settled agricultural society.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Picken |first=Stuart D. B. |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio00pick_147 |title=Historical Dictionary of Japanese Business |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2007 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio00pick_147/page/n53 13] |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Imamura |first=Keiji |title=Prehistoric Japan: New Perspectives on Insular East Asia |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |pages=13}}</ref> As the Yayoi population increased, the society became more stratified and complex. They wove [[textile]]s, lived in permanent farming villages, and constructed buildings with wood and stone. They also accumulated wealth through land ownership and the storage of grain. Such factors promoted the development of distinct social classes.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1998 |title=Japanese |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of World Cultures CD-ROM |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/fiske/135b/japan.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121213005634/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/fiske/135b/japan.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 December 2012 |access-date=10 July 2015 |last=Lock |first=Margaret}}</ref> Yayoi chiefs, in some parts of Kyūshū, appear to have sponsored, and politically manipulated, trade in bronze and other prestige objects.<ref>[[Richard J. Pearson|Pearson, Richard J.]] Chiefly Exchange Between Kyushu and Okinawa, Japan, in the Yayoi Period. ''Antiquity'' 64(245)912–922, 1990.</ref> That was made possible by the introduction of an irrigated, wet-rice agriculture from the [[Yangtze River|Yangtze]] estuary in southern [[China]] via the [[Ryukyu Islands]] or [[Korean Peninsula]].<ref name="keally-yayoi" /><ref>[https://www.science.org/content/article/earlier-start-japanese-rice-cultivation Earlier Start for Japanese Rice Cultivation], Dennis Normile, Science, 2003 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160707223555/http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2003/05/earlier-start-japanese-rice-cultivation archive])</ref>

===Kofun period (250–538)===
[[File:Warehouse (Kofun era) Osaka JPN 001.jpg|thumb|alt=Brown building with an angular roof|Reconstructed Kofun-era warehouse]]
{{Main|Kofun period}}
The Kofun period recorded Japan's earliest [[political centralization]], when the [[Imperial House of Japan|Yamato clan]] rose to power in southwestern Japan, established the [[Imperial House of Japan|Imperial House]], and helped control trade routes across the region.<ref name=":0">Denoon, Donald ''et al.'' (2001). {{Google books|XUw6kiX9LQ0C|''Multicultural Japan: Palaeolithic to Postmodern,'' p. 107.|page=107}}</ref> Much of the [[material culture]] of the Kofun period demonstrates that Japan was in close political and economic contact with continental Asia (especially with the southern dynasties of China) via the Korean Peninsula; bronze mirrors cast from the same mould have been found on both sides of the [[Tsushima Strait]]. [[Irrigation]], [[sericulture]], and [[weaving]] were brought to Japan by Chinese immigrants, who are mentioned in ancient Japanese histories; the Chinese Hata clan {{Nihongo||秦|extra=read "Qín" in Chinese}} introduced sericulture and certain types of weaving.<ref name="Shogakukan">{{Citation
| year = 1988
| title = 国語大辞典 (Kokugo Dai Jiten Dictionary)
| edition = 新装版 (Revised Edition)
| publisher = Shogakukan
| place = Tokyo
| language = ja
| quote = 姓氏。古代の有力帰化系氏族。出自は諸説あるが、おそらく五世紀に渡来した中国人の子孫で、養蚕・機織の技術をもって朝廷に仕え、伴造（とものみやつこ）の一員として秦造（はたのみやつこ）を称したと思われる。<br/> Surname. Influential immigrant clan in ancient times. Various theories about origins, but most likely descendants of Chinese immigrants who came to Japan in the fifth century, who are thought to have brought sericulture and weaving technologies and served in the imperial court, and to have been granted the title ''Hata no Miyatsuko'' as members of the ''Tomo no Miyatsuko'' [an imperial rank responsible for overseeing technically skilled artisans].
}}</ref>

==Classical Japan==
===Asuka period (538–710)===
{{Main|Asuka period}}
[[File:Fuhonsen Asukaike end of 7th century copper and antimony.jpg|thumb|Copper '''{{ill|Fuhonsen|ja|富本銭}}'' (富本銭) [[Japanese currency|coinage]] from the 7th century, [[Asuka period]]]]
The [[Yamato period|Yamato]] polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which was concentrated in the Asuka region and exercised power over clans in [[Kyūshū]] and [[Honshū]], bestowing titles, some hereditary, on clan chieftains. The Yamato name became synonymous with all of Japan as the Yamato rulers suppressed other clans and acquired agricultural lands. Based on [[China|Chinese]] modelhi s (including the adoption of the [[Chinese written language]]), they developed a system of trade roads and a central administration. By the mid-seventh century, the agricultural lands had grown to a substantial public domain, subject to central policy. The basic administrative unit of the {{Nihongo|''[[Gokishichidō]]''|五畿七道|extra="five cities, seven roads"}} system was the county, and society was organized into occupation groups. Most people were farmers; others were fishers, weavers, potters, artisans, armorers, and ritual specialists.<ref name="FRD">{{Cite journal |last=L. Worden |first=Robert |year=1994 |title=Kofun and Asuka Periods, ca. A.D. 250–710 |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/jptoc.html |url-status=live |journal=A Country Study: Japan |publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070406121546/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/jptoc.html |archive-date=6 April 2007 |access-date=2007-04-06}}</ref>

In 645, the Soga clan were overthrown in [[Isshi Incident|a coup]] launched by [[Emperor Tenji|Prince Naka no Ōe]] and [[Fujiwara no Kamatari]], the founder of the [[Fujiwara clan]].<ref name="ritsuryo">{{Cite book |last=Totman |first=Conrad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QBGGBAAAQBAJ |title=A History of Japan |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell|Blackwell Publishing]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-119-02235-0 |location=Malden, MA |pages=107–108 |author-link=Conrad Totman}}</ref> Their government devised and implemented the far-reaching [[Taika Reform]]s. The Reform began with land reform, based on [[Confucian]] ideas and [[Chinese philosophy|philosophies]] from [[China]]. It nationalized all land in Japan, to be [[Equal-field system|distributed equally]] among cultivators, and ordered the compilation of a household registry as the basis for a new system of taxation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sansom |first=George |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofjapanto00sans |title=A History of Japan to 1334 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |year=1958 |isbn=978-0-8047-0523-3 |location=Stanford, CA |page=57 |author-link=George Bailey Sansom |url-access=registration}}</ref> What were once called {{nihongo|"private lands and private people"|私地私民|shichi shimin}} became {{nihongo|"public lands and public people"|公地公民|kōchi kōmin}}, as the court now sought to assert its control over all of Japan and to make the people direct subjects of the throne. Land was no longer hereditary but reverted to the state at the death of the owner. Taxes were levied on harvests and on silk, cotton, cloth, thread, and other products. A [[corvée]] (labor) tax was established for military conscription and building public works.<ref name="FRD" />

{{nihongo|[[Wadōkaichin]]|和同開珎}} is the oldest official [[Japanese currency|Japanese coinage]], having been minted starting on 29 August 708<ref>On the 10th day of the 8th month of the first year of the [[Wadō (era)|Wadō era]] based on the [[Japanese calendar|traditional Japanese date]], according to ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]''</ref> on order of [[Empress Genmei]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Titsingh |first=Isaac |title=Annales des empereurs du Japon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&q=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran&pg=PP9 |pages=63–5 |year=1834 |language=fr}}.</ref><ref>Brown, Delmer ''et al.'' (1979). ''Gukanshō'', p. 271,</ref><ref>Varley, H. Paul. (1980). ''Jinnō Shōtōki''. p. 140.</ref> Inspired by the Chinese [[Tang dynasty]] coinage ''[[Kaiyuan Tongbao]]'', the ''Wadōkaichin'' began being produced following the discovery of large copper deposits in Japan during the early [[8th century]].<ref name="PrimaltrekYakushi-JiTempleHoard">{{Cite web |date=26 August 2015 |title=Four Wadokaichin Coins Discovered Under East Pagoda of Yakushi-ji Temple. |url=http://primaltrek.com/blog/2015/08/26/four-wadokaichin-coins-discovered-under-east-pagoda-of-yakushi-ji-temple/ |access-date=6 April 2020 |website=Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture) |language=en}}</ref><ref name="JCM">[[Japan Currency Museum]] (日本貨幣博物館) permanent exhibit.</ref>

===Nara period (710–794)===
{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}
{{Main|Nara period#Economic, livelihood, and administrative developments}}
[[File:Gokishichido.svg|thumb|Gokishichidō system showing ancient regions and provinces during the Nara period after the introduction of the Yōrō Code (720)
{|  style="„border: 1px solid #F9F9F9; background: #F9F9F9”"
|align=center style="BACKGROUND: #FFC109; width: 25%;"| [[Kinai]]
|align=center style="BACKGROUND: #FF9D9D; width: 25%;"| [[Tōkaidō (region)|Tōkaidō]]
|align=center style="BACKGROUND: #FFDDBB; width: 25%;"| [[Tōsandō]]
|align=center style="BACKGROUND: #EAEAEA; width: 25%;"| [[Hokurikudō]]
|-
|align=center style="BACKGROUND: #DFDFFF; width: 25%;"| [[San’indō]]
|align=center style="BACKGROUND: #F5FD95; width: 25%;"| [[San’yōdō]]
|align=center style="BACKGROUND: #DCE0C0; width: 25%;"| [[Nankaidō]]
|align=center style="BACKGROUND: #F0E1E1; width: 25%;"| [[Saikaidō]]
|}]]
[[File:Daigoku-den at Heijō Palace under repair 2010.jpg|thumb|The primary building, i.e. the Daigoku-den at the [[Heijō Palace]] (In the center of the photograph: this is a modern version built for the 1300th anniversary of Nara becoming Japan's capital).
[[Tōdai-ji]]'s [[Daibutsuden]] and Wakakusayama can be seen in the rear (January, 2010).]]

Before the Taihō Code was established, the capital was customarily moved after the death of an emperor because of the ancient belief that a place of death was polluted. Reforms and bureaucratization of government led to the establishment of a permanent imperial capital at Heijō-kyō, or Nara, in AD 710. The capital was moved shortly (for reasons described later in this section) to Kuni-kyō (present-day Kizugawa) in 740–744, to Naniwa-kyō (present-day Osaka) in 744–745, to Shigarakinomiya (紫香楽宮, present-day Shigaraki) in 745, and moved back to Nara in 745. Nara was Japan's first truly urban center. It soon had a population of 200,000 (representing nearly 7% of the country's population) and some 10,000 people worked in government jobs.

Economic and administrative activity increased during the Nara period. Roads linked Nara to provincial capitals, and taxes were collected more efficiently and routinely. Coins were minted, if not widely used. Outside the Nara area, however, there was little commercial activity, and in the provinces the old Shōtoku land reform systems declined. By the mid-eighth century, shōen (landed estates), one of the most important economic institutions in prehistoric Japan, began to rise as a result of the search for a more manageable form of landholding. Local administration gradually became more self-sufficient, while the breakdown of the old land distribution system and the rise of taxes led to the loss or abandonment of land by many people who became the "wave people" (furōsha). Some of these formerly "public people" were privately employed by large landholders, and "public lands" increasingly reverted to the shōen.

Factional fighting at the imperial court continued throughout the Nara period. Imperial family members, leading court families, such as the Fujiwara, and Buddhist priests all contended for influence. Earlier during this period, Prince Nagaya seized power at the court after the death of Fujiwara no Fuhito. Fuhito was succeeded by four sons, Muchimaro, Umakai, Fusasaki, and Maro. They put Emperor Shōmu, the prince by Fuhito's daughter, on the throne. In 729, they arrested Nagaya and regained control. However, as a major outbreak of smallpox spread from Kyūshū in 735, all four brothers died two years later, resulting in temporary reduction in the Fujiwara dominance. In 740, a member of the Fujiwara clan, Hirotsugu, launched a rebellion from his base in Fukuoka, Kyushu. Although defeated, it is without doubt that the Emperor was heavily shocked about these events, and he moved the palace three times in only five years from 740, until he eventually returned to Nara. In the late Nara period, financial burdens on the state increased, and the court began dismissing nonessential officials. In 792 universal conscription was abandoned, and district heads were allowed to establish private militia forces for local police work. Decentralization of authority became the rule despite the reforms of the Nara period. Eventually, to return control to imperial hands, the capital was moved in 784 to Nagaoka-kyō and in 794 to Heian-kyō (literally Capital of Peace and Tranquility), about twenty-six kilometers north of Nara. By the late eleventh century, the city was popularly called Kyoto (capital city), the name it has had ever since.

===Heian period (794–1185)===
{{Main|Heian period#Economics}}

While on one hand, the Heian period was an unusually long period of prosperity, it can also be argued that the period weakened Japan economically and led to poverty for all but a tiny few of its inhabitants. The control of rice fields provided a key source of income for families such as the Fujiwara and was a fundamental base for their power.<ref name="Morris 1964 p.73">Morris, I., ''The World of the Shining Prince; Court Life in Ancient Japan'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964), p. 73.</ref> The aristocratic beneficiaries of Heian culture, the ''[[Japanese castes under the ritsuryō|Ryōmin]]'' (良民 "Good People") numbered about five thousand in a land of perhaps five million. One reason the [[samurai]] were able to take power was that the ruling nobility proved incompetent at managing Japan and its provinces. By the year 1000, the government no longer knew how to issue currency and money was gradually disappearing. Instead of a fully realized system of money circulation, rice was the primary unit of exchange.<ref name="Morris 1964 p.73"/>

Throughout the Heian period, the power of the imperial court declined. The court became so self-absorbed with power struggles, and with the artistic pursuits of court nobles, that it neglected the administration of government outside the capital.<ref name="fujiwara">{{cite book |last=Henshall |first=Kenneth |year=2012 |title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] | location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vD76fF5hqf8C |isbn=978-0-230-34662-8|pages=29–30}}</ref> The nationalization of land undertaken as part of the ''[[ritsuryō]]'' state decayed as various noble families and religious orders succeeded in securing tax-exempt status for their private ''[[shōen]]'' manors<ref name="Heian">{{cite book |last=Totman |first=Conrad |author-link=Conrad Totman |year=2005 |title=A History of Japan |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell|Blackwell Publishing]] |location=Malden, MA |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QBGGBAAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1-119-02235-0|pages=149–151}}</ref> By the eleventh century, more land in Japan was controlled by ''[[shōen]]'' owners than by the central government. The imperial court was thus deprived of the tax revenue to pay for its national army. In response, the owners of the ''shōen'' set up their own armies of [[samurai]] warriors.<ref>Perez, 25–26.</ref> Two powerful noble families that had descended from branches of the imperial family,<ref>{{cite book |last=Henshall |first=Kenneth |year=2012 |title=A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] | location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vD76fF5hqf8C |isbn=978-0-230-34662-8|page=31}}</ref> the Taira and Minamoto clans, acquired large armies and many ''shōen'' outside the capital. The central government began to use these two warrior clans to suppress rebellions and piracy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Totman |first=Conrad |author-link=Conrad Totman |year=2005 |title=A History of Japan |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell|Blackwell Publishing]] |location=Malden, MA |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QBGGBAAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1-119-02235-0|page=153}}.</ref> Japan's population stabilized during the late-Heian period after hundreds of years of decline.<ref>{{cite book |last=Farris |first=William Wayne |year=2009 |title=Japan to 1600: A Social and Economic History |publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]] |location=Honolulu, HI |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oEkewem1LBYC |isbn=978-0-8248-3379-4|page=87}}.</ref>

==Feudal Japan==
{{Main|Economics of feudal Japan}}

===Kamakura period (1185–1333)===
{{Main|Kamakura period}}

The samurai armies of the whole nation were mobilized in 1274 and 1281 to confront [[Mongol invasions of Japan|two full-scale invasions]] launched by [[Kublai Khan]] of the [[Mongol Empire]].<ref>Sansom, 441–442.</ref> Though outnumbered by an enemy equipped with superior weaponry, the Japanese fought the Mongols to a standstill in Kyushu on both occasions until the Mongol fleet was destroyed by typhoons called ''[[Kamikaze (typhoon)|kamikaze]]'', meaning "divine wind". In spite of the [[Kamakura shogunate]]'s victory, the defense so depleted its finances that it was unable to provide compensation to its vassals for their role in the victory. This had permanent negative consequences for the shogunate's relations with the samurai class.<ref>Henshall, 39–40.</ref> Japan nevertheless entered a period of prosperity and population growth starting around 1250.<ref name="population"/> In rural areas, the greater use of iron tools and fertilizer, improved irrigation techniques, and [[double-cropping]] increased productivity and rural villages grew.<ref>Farris, 144–145.</ref> Fewer famines and epidemics allowed cities to grow and commerce to boom.<ref name="population"/>

===Muromachi period (1333–1568)===
[[File:MuromachiShip1538.jpg|thumb|A ship of the Muromachi period (1538)]]
[[File:Japan-Ming Trade Ship Flag 1584.jpg|thumb|right|1584 [[Japan-Ming trade ship flag]], inscribed with the signatures and [[kaō]], or stylized signatures, of three Ming merchants; to be raised the following year upon arrival in what is now [[Shimonoseki]] ([[Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives]])]]<!--1584/5 ie Azuchi-Momoyama but here probably works best-->
{{Main|Muromachi period#Economic and cultural developments}}

In spite of the war, Japan's relative economic prosperity, which had begun in the Kamakura period, continued well into the Muromachi period. By 1450 Japan's population stood at ten million, compared to six million at the end of the thirteenth century.<ref name="population">Farris, 141–142, 149.</ref> Commerce flourished, including considerable trade with China and Korea.<ref>Farris, 152.</ref> Because the ''daimyōs'' and other groups within Japan were minting their own coins, Japan began to transition from a barter-based to a currency-based economy.<ref>Perez, 40.</ref> During the period, some of Japan's most representative art forms developed, including [[ink wash painting]], ''[[ikebana]]'' flower arrangement, the [[tea ceremony]], [[Japanese garden]]ing, ''[[bonsai]]'', and ''[[Noh]]'' theater.<ref>Perez, 43–45.</ref> Though the eighth Ashikaga shogun, [[Ashikaga Yoshimasa|Yoshimasa]], was an ineffectual political and military leader, he played a critical role in promoting these cultural developments.<ref>Harold Bolitho, "Book Review: Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion," ''The Journal of Asian Studies'', August 2004, 799–800.</ref>

The Japanese contact with the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644) began when China was renewed during the Muromachi period after the Chinese sought support in suppressing Japanese pirates in coastal areas of China. Japanese pirates of this era and region were referred to as ''[[wokou]]'' by the Chinese (Japanese ''wakō''). Wanting to improve relations with China and to rid Japan of the wokou threat, [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]] accepted a relationship with the Chinese that was to last for half a century. In 1401 he restarted the tribute system, describing himself in a letter to the Chinese Emperor as "Your subject, the King of Japan". Japanese wood, sulfur, copper ore, swords, and folding fans were traded for Chinese silk, porcelain, books, and coins, in what the Chinese considered tribute but the Japanese saw as profitable trade.<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of Japan: Revised Edition|last=Mason|first=Richard|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|year=2011|chapter=10}}</ref>

==Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1603)==
{{Main|Azuchi–Momoyama period#Social and commercial developments|Nanban trade period}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}
[[Renaissance]] Europeans were quite admiring of Japan when they reached the country in the 16th century. Japan was considered a country immensely rich in precious metals, a view that owed its conception mainly to [[Marco Polo]]'s accounts of gilded temples and palaces,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/wonders-and-whoppers-27166/?no-ist|title=Wonders and Whoppers / People & Places / Smithsonian|access-date=17 October 2014}}</ref> but also due to the relative abundance of surface ores characteristic of a volcanic country, before large-scale deep-mining became possible in Industrial times. Japan was to become a major exporter of copper and silver during the period.

[[File:Hasekura in Rome.JPG|thumb|left|170px|The [[Samurai]] [[Hasekura Tsunenaga]] in Rome in 1615, Coll. Borghese, Rome]]
Japan was also perceived as a sophisticated [[feudal society]] with a high culture and advanced pre-industrial technology. It was densely populated and urbanized. Prominent European observers of the time seemed to agree that the Japanese ''"excel not only all the other Oriental peoples, they surpass the Europeans as well"'' ([[Alessandro Valignano]], 1584, "Historia del Principo y Progresso de la Compania de Jesus en las Indias Orientales).

Early European visitors were amazed by the quality of Japanese craftsmanship and metalsmithing. This stems from the fact that Japan itself is rather poor in natural resources found commonly in Europe, especially iron. Thus, the Japanese were famously frugal with their consumable resources; what little they had they used with expert skill.

===Trade with Europe===
The cargo of the first Portuguese ships (usually about four small ships every year) that arrived in Japan consisted almost entirely of Chinese goods (silk, porcelain). The Japanese were very much looking forward to acquiring such goods, but had been prohibited from any contacts with the Emperor of China, as a punishment for [[Wokou|Wakō]] pirate raids. The Portuguese (who were called ''Nanban'', lit. Southern Barbarians) therefore found the opportunity to act as intermediaries in Asian trade.

[[File:NanbanCarrack-Enhanced.jpg|thumb|230px|A Portuguese [[carrack]] in [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]], 17th century]]
From the time of the acquisition of [[Macau]] in 1557, and their formal recognition as trade partners by the Chinese, the Portuguese started to regulate trade to Japan, by selling to the highest bidder the annual "Captaincy" to Japan, in effect conferring exclusive trading rights for a single [[carrack]] bound for Japan every year. The carracks were very large ships, usually between 1000 and 1500 tons, about double or triple the size of a large [[galleon]] or [[junk (ship)|junk]].

That trade continued with few interruptions until 1638, when it was prohibited on the ground that the ships were smuggling priests into Japan.

Portuguese trade was progressively more and more challenged by Chinese smugglers on [[junk (ship)|junks]], Japanese [[Red Seal Ships]] from around 1592<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aKKOAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA73|title=Asia in the Making of Europe, Volume III: A Century of Advance. Book 3 ... – Donald F. Lach, Edwin J. Van Kley – Google Livros|access-date=17 October 2014|isbn=9781136604720|last1=Smith|first1=R.B|date=2014-05-12|publisher=Routledge }}</ref> (about ten ships per year), Spanish ships from [[Manila]] from around 1600 (about one ship per year), the Dutch from 1609, and the English from 1613 (about one ship per year).

The Dutch, who, rather than "Nanban" were called "Kōmō" (Jp:紅毛, lit. "Red Hair") by the Japanese, first arrived in Japan in 1600, on board the ''Liefde''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://japan.nlembassy.org/you-and-netherlands/dutch-japanese-relations.html|title=Dutch-Japanese relations / Netherlands Missions, Japan|access-date=17 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209205254/http://japan.nlembassy.org/you-and-netherlands/dutch-japanese-relations.html|archive-date=9 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Their pilot was [[William Adams (sailor, born 1564)|William Adams]], the first Englishman to reach Japan. In 1605, two of the ''Liefde'''s crew were sent to [[Pattani kingdom|Pattani]] by Tokugawa Ieyasu, to invite Dutch trade to Japan. The head of the Pattani Dutch trading post, Victor Sprinckel, refused on the ground that he was too busy dealing with Portuguese opposition in Southeast Asia. In 1609 however, the Dutch [[Jacques Specx]] arrived with two ships in Hirado, and through Adams obtained trading privileges from Ieyasu.

The Dutch also engaged in piracy and naval combat to weaken Portuguese and Spanish shipping in the Pacific, and ultimately became the only westerners to be allowed access to Japan from the small enclave of [[Dejima]] after 1638 and for the next two centuries.

==Edo period (1603–1868)==
{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}
{{Main|Edo period#Economic development}}
[[File:Le Musée Paul Dupuy - Horloge japonaise à double foliot (Wadokei) - Période Edo.jpg|thumb|Japanese-made clockwatch of the 18th century, or [[Wadokei]]. Then time changed in the season because from sunrise to sunset made 12 hours and from sunset to sunrise made 12 hours.]]
[[File:鶏文髭皿 肥前焼・古伊万里様式-Barber's Bowl with Cockerel MET DP281043 (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Japanese export porcelain]] in the European shape of a barber's shaving basin bowl, with copulating cock, around 1700]]
Economic development during the Edo period included urbanization, increased shipping of commodities, a significant expansion of domestic and, initially, foreign commerce, and a diffusion of trade and handicraft industries. The construction trades flourished, along with banking facilities and [[merchant association]]s. Increasingly, [[Han (country subdivision)|''han'']] authorities oversaw the rising agricultural production and the spread of rural handicrafts. By the mid-18th century, Edo had a population of more than 1 million and [[Osaka]] and [[Kyoto]] each had more than 400,000 inhabitants. Many other [[castle town]]s grew as well. Osaka and Kyoto became busy trading and handicraft production centers, while Edo was the center for the supply of food and essential urban consumer goods. Rice was the base of the economy, as the daimyō collected the taxes from the peasants in the form of rice. Taxes were high, about 40% of the harvest. The rice was sold at the ''[[fudasashi]]'' market in [[Edo]]. To raise money, the daimyō used [[forward contract]]s to sell rice that was not yet harvested. These contracts were similar to modern [[futures trading]].<ref>G.C. Allen, ''Short Economic History of Modern Japan'' (1946) pp 9–25.</ref>

The beginning of the [[Edo period]] coincides with the last decades of the [[Nanban trade period]], during which intense interaction with European powers, on the economic and religious plane, took place. At the beginning of the Edo period, Japan built her first ocean-going Western-style warships, such as the [[Japanese warship San Juan Bautista|''San Juan Bautista'']], a 500-ton [[galleon]]-type ship that transported a Japanese embassy headed by [[Hasekura Tsunenaga]] to the Americas, and then continued to Europe. Also during that period, the ''bakufu'' commissioned around 350 [[Red Seal Ships]], three-masted and armed trade ships, for intra-Asian commerce. Japanese adventurers, such as [[Yamada Nagamasa]], were active throughout Asia.

In order to eradicate the influence of Christianization, Japan entered in a period of isolation called [[sakoku]], during which its economy enjoyed stability and mild progress. But not long after, in the 1650s, the production of [[Japanese export porcelain]] increased greatly when civil war put the main Chinese center of porcelain production, [[Jingdezhen porcelain|in Jingdezhen]], out of action for several decades. For the rest of the 17th century most [[Japanese porcelain]] production was in [[Kyushu]] for export through the Chinese and Dutch. The trade dwindled under renewed Chinese competition by the 1740s, before resuming after the opening of Japan in the mid-19th century.<ref>[[David Battie|Battie, David]], ed., ''Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Porcelain'', pp. 71–78, 1990, Conran Octopus. {{ISBN|1850292515}}</ref>

During the period, Japan progressively studied Western sciences and techniques (called ''[[rangaku]]'', literally "Dutch studies") through the information and books received through the Dutch traders in [[Dejima]]. The main areas that were studied included geography, medicine, natural sciences, astronomy, art, languages, physical sciences such as the study of electrical phenomena, and mechanical sciences as exemplified by the development of Japanese clockwatches, or [[wadokei]], inspired from Western techniques.

==Meiji era (1868–1912) ==
{{Main|Meiji era#Economy}}
[[File:KaitakushiSapporoHonchosha1873-restoration.jpg|thumb|right|[[Hokkaidō Development Commission]] [[Sapporo]] Main Office ([[Historical Village of Hokkaido]])]]

After the fall of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] and subsequent founding of the [[Government of Meiji Japan|Meiji government]] in 1868, Japan underwent significant [[Westernization]].<ref>George Allen, ''Short Economic History of Modern Japan'' (1972)</ref>

It involved rapid [[industrialization]], the development of a [[capitalist economy]], and the transformation of many [[Feudal Japan hierarchy|feudal]] workers to [[wage labour]]. The use of strike action also increased, and 1897, with the establishment of a union for metalworkers, the foundations of the modern [[Labor unions in Japan|Japanese trade-union movement]] were formed.<ref>Nimura, K. (1997). [http://www.historycooperative.org/cgi-bin/justtop.cgi?act=justtop&url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/104.3/br_18.html The Ashio Riot of 1907: A Social History of Mining in Japan.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091204072930/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/104.3/br_18.html |date=2009-12-04 }} ''American Historical Review, 104:3.'' June 1999. Retrieved 16 June 2011</ref>

Industrialization first appeared in the textile industries, especially cotton and silk production, which were based in home workshops in rural areas. By the 1890s, Japanese textiles dominated the home markets and competed successfully with British products in China and India, as well. Japanese shippers were also competing with European traders to carry these goods across Asia and even to Europe. As in the West, the textile mills employed mainly women, half of them under age twenty. They were sent there by their fathers, and they turned over their wages to their fathers.<ref>E. Patricia Tsurumi, ''Factory Girls: Women in the Thread Mills of Meiji Japan'' (1992) p. 83</ref> Japan largely skipped water power and moved straight to steam powered mills, which were more productive and created a demand for coal.

1907 saw the greatest number of labor disputes in a decade, with large-scale riots at Japan's two leading copper mines, [[Ashio, Tochigi|Ashio]] and Besshi, which were only suppressed by the use of troops. None of these early unions were large (the metalworkers union had 3,000 members, only 5% of workers employed in the industry), or lasted longer than three or four years, largely due to strong opposition from employers and the government's [[anti-union]] policies, notably the Public Order and Police Provisions Law (1900).<ref name="Nimura"/>

Despite this, Japanese citizens were given more opportunities for social mobility. Samurai and their descendants were allowed to work in any occupation. Admissions to universities were done on the basis of examination results. Nonetheless, samurai and their descendants were still overrepresented in the new elite class.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=Gregory |last2=Ishii |first2=Tatsuya |date=2012 |title=Social Mobility in Japan, 1868-2012: The Surprising Persistence of the Samurai |url=https://faculty.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/gclark/The%20Son%20Also%20Rises/Japan%202012.pdf |journal=University of California, Davis}}</ref> The government also recruited more than 3,000 Westerners to teach modern science, mathematics, technology, and foreign languages in Japan ([[O-yatoi gaikokujin]]).<ref>Hardy's Case, The Japan Weekly Mail, January 4, 1875.</ref>

===Banking===
{{Main|Japanese financial system}}

Before 1868 the feudal fiefs all issued their own money, ''[[Scrip of Edo period Japan|called hansatsu]]'', in an array of incompatible denominations. The government sent observers to the United States, and at first copied the decentralized American system with no central bank.<ref>Phra Sarasas, ''Money And Banking in Japan'' (1940) p. 107.</ref> The ''New Currency Act'' of Meiji 4 (1871) did away with local currencies and established the [[yen]] as the new decimal currency. It had parity with the Mexican silver dollar.<ref>Itsuo Hamaoka, ''A study on the Central Bank of Japan'' (1902) [https://archive.org/details/studyoncentralba00hamauoft online]</ref><ref>Masato Shizume, "A History of the Bank of Japan, 1882–2016." (Waseda University, 2016) [https://www.waseda.jp/fpse/winpec/assets/uploads/2014/05/No.E1719.pdf online]</ref> The former [[Han (Japan)|han]] (fiefs) became [[Prefectures of Japan|prefecture]]s and their mints became private chartered banks. Initially they retained the right to print money. For a time both the central government and these so-called "national" banks issued money. That period ended when central bank—the [[Bank of Japan]]—was founded in 1882, after the Belgian model. It has since been partly privately owned (its stock is traded over the counter, hence the stock number).<ref>[[Willy Vande Walle|Vande Walle, Willy]] ''et al''. [http://www.kuleuven.be/research/researchdatabase/project/3H03/3H030060.htm "Institutions and ideologies: the modernization of monetary, legal and law enforcement 'regimes' in Japan in the early Meiji-period (1868–1889)"] (abstract). FRIS/Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 2007; retrieved 2012-10-17.</ref> The national Bank was given a monopoly on controlling the [[money supply]] in 1884, and by 1904 the previously issued notes were all retired.<ref>Cargill, Thomas ''et al.'' (1997). [https://books.google.com/books?id=f3s47HWB8g8C&dq=bank+of+Japan&pg=PA10 ''The political economy of Japanese monetary policy''], p. 10.</ref> The Bank started out on the silver standard, but adopted the gold standard in 1897. The gold standard was suspended in 1917 and dropped in 1931. In 1973 flexible exchange rates were adopted.<ref>Shizume, 2016, p.1</ref>

===Railways===
{{Main|History of rail transport in Japan}}
After 1868 the new Meiji regime strongly encouraged railroad construction. This modernizing move had multiple objectives. It would weaken feudalistic institutions. Railroads would enable rapid military responses to invasion threats, by Russia in particular. The movement and therefore price of rice would become cheaper and foreign trade would grow. In a broader sense, modernized transportation would inspire the people and facilitate growth. The government made the final decision to build the system in 1870, using a million-pound sterling loan from Britain and British engineers. The Japanese Public Works Ministry handled the actual construction.<ref>Tokihiko Tanaka, "Meiji Government and the Introduction of Railroads."  ''Contemporary Japan'' (1966) 28#3 pp 567–589.</ref><ref>Tanaka, "Meiji Government and the Introduction of Railroads." ''Contemporary Japan'' (1966) 28#4 pp 750–788.</ref>

In 1868 [[Thomas Blake Glover]], a Scottish merchant, was responsible for bringing the first steam [[locomotive]], "Iron Duke", to Japan, which he demonstrated on an 8-mile track in the Ōura district of Nagasaki.<ref name="Semmens">{{cite book | last=Semmens | first=Peter | title=High Speed in Japan: Shinkansen – The World's Busiest High-speed Railway | publisher=Platform 5 Publishing | year=1997 | location=Sheffield, UK | isbn=1-872524-88-5}}</ref> However, after centuries of a culture of 'distrust of foreigners', construction of the premier railway built by non-Japanese was considered politically unacceptable to the new Japanese regime. Therefore, the government of Japan decided to build a railway from the major port of Yokohama to Tokyo using British financing and 300 British and European technical advisors: civil engineers, general managers, locomotive builders and drivers.<ref>Dan Free, ''Early Japanese Railways 1853–1914: Engineering Triumphs That Transformed Meiji-era Japan'' (2008) pp 39 [https://www.amazon.com/Early-Japanese-Railways-1853-1914-Engineering/dp/0804849730/ excerpt].</ref> In order to undertake its construction, foreign experts were contracted, with the specific intent that such experts would educate Japanese co-workers so that Japan could become self-sufficient in railway construction expertise, at which time the foreign contractors were expected to leave the country. In late 1872, the first railway, between [[Shimbashi Station|Shimbashi]] (later [[Shiodome Station (JNR)|Shiodome]]) and [[Yokohama Station|Yokohama]] (present [[Sakuragicho Station|Sakuragichō]]) opened. A one-way trip took 53 minutes in comparison to 40 minutes for a modern electric train. Service started with nine round trips daily.<ref name="slj">Naotaka Hirota ''Steam Locomotives of Japan'' (1972) Kodansha International Ltd. pp.22–25,34–38,44–46&52–54.}</ref>

British engineer [[Edmund Morel (railway engineer)|Edmund Morel]] (1841–1871) supervised construction of the first railway on [[Honshu]]. American engineer Joseph U. Crowford (1842–1942) supervised construction of a coal mine railway on [[Hokkaidō]] in 1880, and German engineer Herrmann Rumschottel (1844–1918) supervised railway construction on [[Kyushu]] beginning in 1887. All three trained Japanese engineers to undertake railway projects. Two men trained by Crowford later became presidents of Japan National Railways.<ref name="slj"/>

The precise reason why a [[rail gauge|track gauge]] of {{RailGauge|3ft6in}} (also known as "Cape gauge") came to be selected remains uncertain.<ref>{{Citation |last=Akira Saito |title=Why Did Japan Choose the 3'6" Narrow Gauge? |date=June 2002 |url=http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr31/pdf/f33_sai.pdf |work=Japan Railway & Transport Review |issue=31 |pages=33–38 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908121421/http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr31/pdf/f33_sai.pdf |publisher=EJRCF |access-date=10 June 2012 |archive-date=8 September 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It could be because {{RailGauge|3ft6in}} was supposed to be cheaper to build than the internationally more widely used "Stephenson gauge" of {{RailGauge|ussg}}, or because the first British agent, whose contract was later cancelled, ordered iron sleepers made for the narrower gauge. It seems most likely, however, that Morel's previous experience building Cape gauge railways in similar New Zealand terrain was a significant influence, and Cape gauge became the ''de facto'' standard.<ref name="slj"/>

====Network expansion====
{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}
The next line constructed was from another port, Kobe, to the major commercial city of Osaka (opening in 1874), and then to Kyoto (1877) and Otsu (1880) at the southern end of [[Lake Biwa]]. A line was constructed from Tsuruga, on the Sea of Japan, to Ogaki (connecting to a canal to Nagoya) via Nagahama on the northern end of Lake Biwa, opening in 1884 and utilizing trans-shipment onto water-going vessels to connect the Sea of Japan to Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya.<ref>Free, pp 109–180.</ref>

Linking Tokyo to Nagoya and Kyoto became the next priority. Initially the proposed route was inland, from Tokyo north to Takasaki, then west through the [[Usui Pass]] to Karuizawa and the Kiso River valley. At this time the Nippon Railway Co. (NRC) became the first to be granted a concession to operate what became the [[Tohoku Main Line]] from Ueno to Aomori, with a branch line from Omiya to Takasaki. Construction of both lines was undertaken by the Government at the company's expense, with the government having running rights on the Takasaki-Ueno section. The line to Takasaki opened in 1884, as did the Tohoku line as far as Utsunomiya.

The NRC also financed a new line linking to the Yokohama line which was built from Akabane via Shinjuku to Shinagawa (with the NRC gaining track usage rights at the government station at Shinagawa). This was the first section of what has become the [[Yamanote Line]], and opened in 1885.

The government funded line from Takasaki reached Yokokawa at the base of the Usui Pass in 1885, and initial surveys indicated a ruling grade of 10% (later improved to 6.67%) and extensive tunneling was required to reach Karuizawa.

Construction also started on another line from the Sea of Japan, commencing at Naoetsu and opening to Karuizawa via Nagano in 1888.

As the costs of construction through the mountainous interior of Japan became apparent, in 1886 the construction of what became the [[Tokaido line]] was approved, approximately paralleling the southern coastline (and Tokaido road) as far as Nagoya. Although ~238&nbsp;km longer, it was projected to cost 13% less, this saving then being allocated to construct a line from Otsu along the eastern side of Lake Biwa to Nagahama to remove the need for trans-shipment, which opened in 1889, as did the final section of the Tokaido Line via Gotemba. Until the opening of the [[Tokaido Shinkansen]] in 1964, this was the most important main line in Japan.

====Consolidating the network====
{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}
In 1888 the San'yō Railway Co. (SRC) was granted a charter to build the [[San'yō Main Line]] from Kobe west to Shimonoseki, a port providing a connection to the port of Moji on Kyushu, from which the Kyushu Railway Co (KRC) built its line to Hakata and Kumamoto opening between 1889 and 1891, extended to Yatsushiro in 1896. The SRC line reached Hiroshima in 1894, and Shimonoseki in 1901. Other private endeavors included the Mito Railway, which opened the first section of the [[Joban Line]] in 1889 and was acquired by the NRC in 1892 which extended to Sendai via an east coastal route in 1905 and the [[Bantan Line|Bantan Railway]], which built a 52&nbsp;km line north from Himeji between 1894 and 1901, and was acquired by the SRC in 1903.

The success of the Nippon Railway Co and other private companies led to a Japanese situation akin to the UK [[Railway Mania]]. From the mid-1880s until 1891 new railway companies had little difficulty in attracting funding, usually through issuing shares. However, in 1891 the failure of a company proposing to build a line from Gotenba to Matsumoto ended the 'mania', and the Government realized a more planned approach to the network expansion it desired was required.<ref>Riotaro Kodama, ''Railway Transportation in Japan'' (1898) [https://archive.org/details/railwaytranspor00kodagoog online]
</ref>

====Evolving policy====
{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}
In 1887 the Japanese Army proposed building its own lines to ensure routes of military significance were given priority. The Railway Department deflected that proposal by commencing development of a policy for a comprehensive national network. The Japanese Government became increasingly interested in the policy formulation following the completion of the [[Tokaido Main Line]] in 1889, the creation of the [[National Diet]] in 1890 and the financial panic of 1891. The 1892 Railway Construction Act (RCA) listed a series of priority routes on Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku (Hokkaido was covered separately in 1896 legislation), with the specific policy that private construction of such routes would be encouraged, with the Japanese Government only funding routes not able to be privately constructed. By that year the privately owned network was ~2,124&nbsp;km compared to the government owned sections totaling ~887&nbsp;km. While this figure seemed to indicate the potential for further private funding of railway construction (notwithstanding the routes already targeted by private companies), subsequent events demonstrated otherwise.<ref>Steven J. Ericson, ''The sound of the whistle: railroads and the state in Meiji Japan'' (Harvard Univ Asia Center, 1996) [https://web.archive.org/web/20210206193710/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9a46/3e4b405e7e01c29d46234d930365cc862f49.pdf online].
</ref>

A two-phase approach was adopted in the RCA, with 40 routes totaling ~3,000&nbsp;km included in the "phase one" 12-year program, with phase 2 covering another ~4,000&nbsp;km of proposed lines, the priorities being set on the basis of economic development and/or military strategic importance.

A specific outcome of the RCA was that every prefecture would be served by railway communication. The major routes proposed under the act for government construction included;
*	The [[Chuo Main Line|Chuo line]], an inland connection from Tokyo to Nagoya favored by the military (detailed below);
*	The [[Ou Main Line|Ou line]], also detailed below;
*	Extension of the line from Tsuruga to Kanazawa and Toyama ([[Hokuriku Main Line]]) opened 1896–1899;
*	A connection from the Chuo line at Shiojiri to Matsuyama and Nagano ([[Shinonoi Line]]) opened 1900–1902; and
*	The original inland line from Kagoshima to Yatsushiro (now the [[Nippo Main Line]] and [[Hisatsu Line]]) opened 1901–1909

The Chuo line, the route of which approximated the initial proposed inland line between Tokyo and Nagoya, was favored by the military as its inland alignment protected it from perceived risk of bombardment by enemy vessels. A privately built line from Shinjuku to the silk industry centre of Hachioji had opened 1889, and this became the starting point for government construction.

The newly determined route was via Kofu (through the 4,657&nbsp;m Sasago tunnel, which was the longest in Japan until the [[Shimizu Tunnel]] opened in 1931), Shiojiri and then via the Kiso River valley to Nagoya. Construction was undertaken from both ends, with sections opening sequentially from 1900 until the lines were connected in 1911.

The Ou line from Fukushima to Yamagata, Akita and Aomori, serving the poorer northern Sea of Japan coastal prefectures, was seen as a priority for national development that was commercially unattractive. The government commenced construction from Aomori towards Hirosaki in 1894, and at the southern end from Fukushima in 1899, the lines connecting in 1905. Most of the major routes proposed under the act for private construction were not so funded and were ultimately constructed by the government.

The Japanese National Railways was formed by the nationalization of 17 private railways in 1907. It actively promoted uniformity and scientific management.<ref>Eisuke Daito, "Railways and scientific management in Japan 1907–30." ''Business History'' 31.1 (1989): 1–28.</ref>

==Taishō era (1912–1926)==
{{Main|Taishō era}}

From 1918 to 1921, a wave of major industrial disputes marked the peak of organized labour power. A prolonged [[economic slump]] that followed brought cutbacks in employment in [[heavy industry]].<ref>Weathers, C. (2009). Business and Labor. In William M. Tsutsui, ed., ''A Companion to Japanese History'' (2009) pp. 493–510.</ref> By 1928, the GNP of Japan at current prices peaked at ¥16,506 million. In the mid-1930s, the Japanese nominal wage rates were a tenth of those in the United States (based on mid-1930s exchange rates), while the price level is estimated to have been about 44% that of the US.<ref name="davis">{{cite book|last=Fukao|first=Kyoji|title=Real GDP in Pre-War East Asia: A 1934–36 Benchmark Purchasing Power Parity Comparison with the US|year=2007|url=http://gpih.ucdavis.edu/files/Fukao_Ma_Yuan.pdf}}</ref>

Comparison of GDP per capita (US Dollars) between East-Asian Nations and the US in 1936:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Country
! GDP/capita, in 1935 dollars (Liu-Ta-Chung<ref>{{cite book|last=Liu|first=Ta-Chung|title=China's National Income 1931–36, An Exploratory Study|publisher=The Brookings Institution|year=1946}}</ref>)
! GDP-PPP/capita, in 1990 dollars (Fukao<ref name="davis"/>)
! GDP-PPP/capita, in 1990 dollars (Maddison<ref>{{cite book|last=Maddison|first=Angus|title=The World Economy: Historical Statistics|publisher=OECD Development Center, Paris, France|year=2003|url=http://www.theworldeconomy.org/publications/worldeconomy|access-date=19 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608193613/http://www.theworldeconomy.org/publications/worldeconomy/|archive-date=8 June 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>)
|-
| U.S.
| 540
| 5,590
| 5,590
|-
| Japan ([[Mainland Japan]])
| 64
| 1,760
| 2,154
|-
| Taiwan 
| 42
| 1,262
| 1,212
|-
| [[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea]]
| 24
| 690
| 1,224
|-
| China
| 18
| 619
| 562
|}

==Shōwa era (1926–1989)==
{{Main|Shōwa era}}

In the 1930s, the Japanese economy suffered less from the [[Great Depression]] than most industrialized nations, its GDP expanding at a rapid rate of 5% per year. Manufacturing and mining came to account for more than 30% of GDP, more than twice the value for the agricultural sector. Most industrial growth, however, was geared toward expanding the nation's military power.

Beginning in 1937 with significant land seizures in China, and to a greater extent after 1941, when annexations and invasions across Southeast Asia and the Pacific created the [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere]], the Japanese government sought to acquire and develop critical natural resources in order to secure economic independence. Among the natural resources that Japan seized and developed were: coal in China, sugarcane in the [[Philippines]], petroleum from the [[Dutch East Indies]] and [[Burma]], and tin and [[bauxite]] from the Dutch East Indies and [[British Malaya|Malaya]]. Japan also purchased the rice production of [[Thailand]], Burma, and [[Cochinchina]]. According to a 2020 study, Japan used its imperial power to boost its industrialization.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ayuso-Díaz |first1=Alejandro |last2=Tena-Junguito |first2=Antonio |year=2020 |title=Trade in the shadow of power: Japanese industrial exports in the interwar years |url=http://www.ehes.org/EHES_153.pdf |journal=The Economic History Review |language=en |volume=73 |issue=3 |pages=815–843 |doi=10.1111/ehr.12912 |issn=1468-0289 |s2cid=197866746 |hdl=10016/28350 |access-date=7 September 2020 |archive-date=5 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805001629/http://www.ehes.org/EHES_153.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the early stages of Japan's expansion, the Japanese economy expanded considerably. Steel production rose from 6,442,000 tons to 8,838,000 tons over the same time period. In 1941 Japanese aircraft industries had the capacity to manufacture 10,000 aircraft per year. Much of this economic expansion benefited the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[zaibatsu]]}}, large industrial conglomerates.

Over the course of the [[Pacific War]], the economies of Japan and its occupied territories all suffered severely. Inflation was rampant; Japanese heavy industry, forced to devote nearly all its production to meet military needs, was unable to meet the commercial requirements of Japan (which had previously relied on trade with Western countries for their manufactured goods). Local industries were unable to produce at high enough levels to avoid severe shortfalls. Furthermore, maritime trade, upon which the Empire depended greatly, was sharply curtailed by damage to the Japanese merchant fleet over the course of the war.

By the end of the war, what remained of the Japanese Empire was wracked by shortages, inflation, and currency devaluation. Transport was nearly impossible, and industrial production in Japan's shattered cities ground to a halt. The destruction wrought by the war eventually brought the Japanese economy to a virtual standstill.

===Post-World War II===
{{See also|Japanese post-war economic miracle}}
The war wiped out many of the gains which Japan had made since 1868. About 40% of the nation's industrial plants and infrastructure were destroyed, and production reverted to levels of about fifteen years earlier. The people were shocked by the devastation and swung into action. New factories were equipped with the best modern machines, giving Japan an initial competitive advantage over the victor states, who now had older factories. As Japan's second period of economic development began, millions of former soldiers joined a well-disciplined and highly educated work force to rebuild Japan. Japan's colonies were lost as a result of World War II, but since then the Japanese had extended their economic influence throughout Asia and beyond.

====Occupation====
After the [[Japanese surrender]] on 15 August 1945, allied forces, mostly American, rapidly began arriving in Japan. Almost immediately, the occupiers began an intensive program of legal changes designed to democratize Japan. One action was to ensure the creation of a Trade Union law to allow for the first time workers to organize, strike, and bargain collectively, which was passed by the Diet of Japan on 22 December 1945.<ref>Dower, John. ''Embracing Defeat''. Penguin, 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-14-028551-2}}. p. 82.</ref> While the law was created while Japan was under occupation, the law itself was largely a Japanese work. It was put together by a large legal advisory commission headed by the legal scholar Suehiro Izutaro. The commission was quite large, consisting of "three Welfare ministry bureaucrats and two scholars, a steering committee of 30 members (including the communist firebrand [[Kyuichi Tokuda]]), and an overall membership of more than 130 members representing universities, corporations, political parties, the bureaucracy, social workers, and labor."<ref>Dower, John (1999). ''Embracing Defeat''. Penguin. {{ISBN|978-0-14-028551-2}}. p. 245.</ref> US assistance totaled about US$1.9 billion during the occupation, or about 15% of the nation's imports and 4% of GNP in that period. About 59% of this aid was in the form of food, 15% in industrial materials, and 12% in transportation equipment. US grant assistance, however, tapered off quickly in the mid-1950s. US military procurement from Japan peaked at a level equivalent to 7% of Japan's GNP in 1953 and fell below 1% after 1960. A variety of United States-sponsored measures during the occupation, such as land reform, contributed to the economy's later performance by increasing competition. In particular, the post-war purge of industrial leaders allowed new talent to rise in the management of the nation's rebuilt industries. Finally, the economy benefited from foreign trade because it was able to expand exports rapidly enough to pay for imports of equipment and technology without falling into debt, as had a number of developing nations in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first =Andrew|editor-last = Gordon|title =Postwar Japan as History|date =1993|pages = 99–188, 259–292|publisher = University of California Press|url = https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=acls;idno=heb01984.0001.001}}</ref>

A 2018 study, using the [[synthetic control method]] whereby Japan is compared to "synthetic Japan" (a combination of which are similar to Japan but without the US alliance), found that the US alliance allowed Japan's GDP to "grow much faster" from 1958 to 1968.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Beckley|first1=Michael|last2=Horiuchi|first2=Yusaku|last3=Miller|first3=Jennifer M.|date=2018|journal=Journal of East Asian Studies|volume=18|pages=1–21|doi=10.1017/jea.2017.24|issn=1598-2408|title=America's Role in the Making of Japan's Economic Miracle|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==== "Gifts From Heaven" ====
In the wake of WWII, the Japanese citizenry was suffering from widespread exhaustion and despair from the war, known as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[wiktionary:kyodatsu|kyodatsu]]}}, causing large-scale dejection and despondency.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Embracing Defeat: Japan in the wake of World War II|url=https://archive.org/details/embracingdefeatj00dowe_375|url-access=limited|last=Dower|first=John|publisher=WW Norton & Company|year=2000|pages=[https://archive.org/details/embracingdefeatj00dowe_375/page/n74 87]–89}}</ref> The term "gifts from Heaven" was coined by cartoonist Kato Etsuro in his first illustrations under US military occupation. These gifts referred to the bloodless democratic revolution from above ushered in by US forces that put an end to a socially debilitating war.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Baba|first=Kimihiko|date=4 August 2010|title=Japan and East Asia: Shifting Images on an Imagined Map|journal=Japanese Studies|volume=21|issue=3|pages=248|doi=10.1080/10371390120101443|s2cid=145451627|issn=1037-1397}}</ref> Of the many aspects of the revolution from above, the reforms extending the right to vote to women, strengthening labor unionization, and liberalizing the economy were some of the most enduring changes that stand to this day.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

Following the [[1947 Japanese general election|1947 elections]], in which the [[Japan Socialist Party]] came in first, [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Tetsu Katayama]] formed a coalition government with the [[Democratic Party (Japan, 1947)|Democratic Party]] and the [[National Cooperative Party]].<ref>Studies on Japan’s social democratic parties, Volume 2 by George Oakley Totten</ref> One of the first and most significant economic reforms was the division and distribution of rural land to Japanese tenant farmers. Previously, property belonged to landlords and farmers worked on it in a feudal type system. Modern capitalist theory held that this feudal practice did not incentivize growth and the rural landlord class was dissolved.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Parker|first1=Gavin|last2=Amati|first2=Marco|date=May 2009|title=Institutional Setting, Politics and Planning: Private Property, Public Interest and Land Reform in Japan|journal=International Planning Studies|volume=14|issue=2|pages=141–160|doi=10.1080/13563470903021191|s2cid=144037234|issn=1356-3475}}</ref> In addition to the dissolution of the landlord class, the massive business conglomerates known as {{lang|ja-Latn|[[zaibatsu]]}} that had effectively controlled the Japanese economy for almost 100 years were also broken up and faced market competition.<ref>{{Citation|last=Castley|first=Robert|title=Japan's Relationship with Korea|date=1997|work=Korea's Economic Miracle|pages=78–106|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=9781349258352|doi=10.1007/978-1-349-25833-8_3}}</ref> The Law for the Elimination of Excessive Economic Concentration (passed in December 1947) provided for the dissolution of any company considered to be monopolistic,<ref>Kōzō Yamamura, ''The economic emergence of modern Japan'', Volume 1</ref> while the "law on the expulsion of Zaibatsu-affiliated controls" of January 1948 enforced the resignation of Zaibatsu board members who were related closely to Zaibatsu families, while a measure was taken to ban on holding the concurrent board posts of their affiliated companies. In addition, a government employees law was enacted, the first group of Japanese Supreme Court justices was appointed, local government and the police were reorganised, the Ministries of Home Affairs, Navy, and War were abolished,<ref>Allan B. Cole, George O. Totten, Cecil H. Uyehara, Ronald P. Dore, ''Socialist Parties in Postwar Japan''</ref> extensive revisions were made to criminal law, and progress was made on land reform.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O3QuFAHMFqUC&q=katayama+tetsu+civil+code+1947&pg=PA186|title=Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Japan|last1=Stockwin|first1=J. A. A.|date=2003-12-16|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9780203402177|language=en}}</ref> Finally, the unionization of Japanese workers was encouraged by US occupying forces that forced companies to compete on technology and innovation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Araki|first=Takashi|chapter=Corporate Governance, Labour, and Employment Relations in Japan: The Future of the Stakeholder Model?|date=2004-10-07|pages=254–283|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199263677|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199263677.003.0010|title=Corporate Governance and Labour Management}}</ref>

====Rebuilding====
{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}
The early post-war years were devoted to rebuilding lost industrial capacity: major investments were made in electric power, coal, steel, and chemicals. By the mid-1950s, production matched prewar levels. Released from the demands of military-dominated government, the economy not only recovered its lost momentum but also surpassed the growth rates of earlier periods. Between 1953 and 1965, GDP expanded by more than 9% per year, manufacturing and mining by 13%, construction by 11%, and infrastructure by 12%. In 1965 these sectors employed more than 41% of the labor force, whereas only 26% remained in agriculture.

Japan's highly acclaimed post-war [[Education in Japan|education system]] contributed strongly to the modernizing process. The world's highest literacy rate and high education standards were major reasons for Japan's success in achieving a technologically advanced economy. Japanese schools also encouraged discipline, another benefit in forming an effective work force.

The mid-1960s ushered in a new type of industrial development as the economy opened itself to international competition in some industries and developed heavy and chemical manufactures. Whereas textiles and light manufactures maintained their profitability internationally, other products, such as automobiles, electronics, ships, and machine tools assumed new importance. The value added to manufacturing and mining grew at the rate of 17% per year between 1965 and 1970. Growth rates moderated to about 8% and evened out between the industrial and service sectors between 1970 and 1973, as retail trade, finance, real estate, information technology, and other service industries streamlined their operations.

Japanese consumerism continued to grow throughout the 1960s, giving rise to a well-known saying that the "[[Imperial Regalia of Japan|three treasures]]" which all Japanese families needed to have were a [[refrigerator]], a [[washing machine]], and a [[television set]]. By 1962, it was estimated that 79.4% of all urban homes and 48.9% of rural homes in Japan had access to television.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ukai|first=Nobushige|date=1962-08-01|title=The Japanese House of Councillors Election of July 1962|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/as/article/2/6/1/21490/The-Japanese-House-of-Councillors-Election-of-July|journal=Asian Survey|language=en|volume=2|issue=6|pages=1–8|doi=10.2307/3023612|jstor=3023612 |issn=0004-4687}}</ref>

====Labor unions====
{{Main|Labor unions in Japan}}
[[File:NUGW May Day 2011.jpg|thumb|alt=NUGW May Day 2011|2011 [[Zenrokyo|National Trade Union Council ({{lang|ja-Latn|cat=no|Zenrokyo}})]] [[International Workers' Day#Japan|May Day]] march, Tokyo]]
Trade unions emerged in Japan in the second half of the [[Meiji period]] as the country underwent a period of rapid [[industrialization]].<ref name="Nimura">Nimura, K. [http://oohara.mt.tama.hosei.ac.jp/nk/English/eg-formation.html ''The Formation of Japanese Labor Movement: 1868–1914''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001233543/http://oohara.mt.tama.hosei.ac.jp/nk/English/eg-formation.html |date=1 October 2011 }} (Translated by Terry Boardman). Retrieved 11 June 2011</ref> Until 1945, however, the labour movement remained weak, impeded by lack of legal rights,<ref name="Cross">Cross Currents. [http://www.crosscurrents.hawaii.edu/content.aspx?lang=eng&site=japan&theme=work&subtheme=UNION&unit=JWORK079 "Labor unions in Japan"]. CULCON. Retrieved 11 June 2011</ref> [[anti-union]] legislation,<ref name="Nimura" /> management-organised factory councils, and political divisions between "cooperative" and radical unionists.<ref>Weathers, C. (2009). "Business and Labor". In William M. Tsutsui (Ed.), ''A Companion to Japanese History'' (pp. 493–510). Chichester, UK: Blackwell.</ref>

After the war the Occupation authorities initially encouraged the formation of independent unions.<ref name="Cross" /> Legislation was passed that enshrined the right to organise,<ref>Jung, L. (30 March 2011). [http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/ifpdial/info/national/jp.htm#tu "National Labour Law Profile: Japan"]. ILO. Retrieved 10 June 2011.</ref> and membership rapidly rose to 5&nbsp;million by February 1947.<ref name="Cross" /> The organisation rate, however, peaked at 55.8% in 1949 and subsequently declined to 18.2% (2006).<ref name="Jil">Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training. [http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborsituation/2009-2010/detailed_2009-2010.pdf "Labor Situation in Japan and Analysis: 2009/2010"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927061114/http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborsituation/2009-2010/detailed_2009-2010.pdf |date=27 September 2011 }}. Retrieved 10 June 2011</ref> The labour movement went through a process of reorganisation from 1987 to 1991<ref>Dolan, R. E. & Worden, R. L. (eds.). [http://countrystudies.us/japan/104.htm "Labor Unions, Employment and Labor Relations"]. In ''Japan: A Country Study''. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1994. Retrieved 12 June 2011.</ref> from which emerged the present configuration of three major trade union federations, [[RENGO|Rengo]], [[Zenroren]], and [[Zenrokyo]], along with other smaller national union organisations.

====Oil crisis====

Japan faced a severe economic challenge in the mid-1970s. The [[1973 oil crisis]] shocked an economy that had become dependent on imported petroleum. Japan experienced its first post-war decline in industrial production, together with severe price inflation. The recovery that followed the first oil crisis revived the optimism of most business leaders, but the maintenance of industrial growth in the face of high energy costs required shifts in the industrial structure.<ref>Atsushi Yamakoshi (1986). [https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/download/pdf/831/1.0076972/1 "A study on Japan's reaction to the 1973 oil crisis"] (PhD thesis). University of British Columbia.</ref>

Changing price conditions favored [[Energy conservation|conservation]] and alternative sources of industrial energy. Although the investment costs were high, many energy-intensive industries successfully reduced their dependence on oil during the late 1970s and 1980s and enhanced their productivity. Advances in microcircuitry and [[semiconductor]]s in the late 1970s and 1980s led to new growth industries in [[consumer electronics]] and computers, and to higher productivity in pre-established industries. In 1978, Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry provided subsidies, which was illegal under international law, to help Japanese semiconductor companies sell their chips at artificially low prices in the United States while keeping prices high in Japan, a trade practice known as [[Dumping (pricing policy)|dumping]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Michael S. |last=Malone|title=Intel Trinity|year=2014|publisher=Harper Business |page=307|asin=B00G2A7WL2|edition=Kindle }}</ref> The net result of these adjustments was to increase the energy efficiency of manufacturing and to expand knowledge-intensive industries. The service industries expanded in an increasingly postindustrial economy.<ref>Cyrus Bina (1994). "Oil, Japan, and globalization". ''Challenge'' 37.3: 41-48.</ref>

Structural economic changes, however, were unable to check the slowing of economic growth as the economy matured in the late 1970s and 1980s, attaining annual growth rates at only 4–6%. But these rates were remarkable in a world of expensive petroleum and in a nation of few natural resources. Japan's average growth rate of 5% in the late 1980s, for example, was far higher than the 3.8% growth rate of the United States. Despite more petroleum price increases in 1979, the strength of the Japanese economy was apparent. It expanded without the double-digit inflation that afflicted other industrial nations (and that had bothered Japan itself after the first oil crisis in 1973). Japan experienced slower growth in the mid-1980s, but its [[demand]]-sustained [[economic boom]] of the late 1980s revived many troubled industries.<ref>Nakamura Takafusa,  "An economy in search of stable growth: Japan since the oil crisis". ''Journal of Japanese Studies'' 6.1 (1980): 155-178. {{JSTOR|132003}}</ref>

====Factors of growth====
Complex economic and institutional factors affected Japan's post-war growth. First, the nation's prewar experience provided several important legacies. The [[Edo period|Tokugawa period]] (1600–1867) bequeathed a ''vital commercial sector'' in burgeoning urban centers, a relatively well-educated elite (although one with limited knowledge of European science), a sophisticated government [[bureaucracy]], productive agriculture, a closely unified nation with highly developed financial and marketing systems, and a national infrastructure of roads. The buildup of industry during the Meiji period to the point where Japan could vie for world power was an important prelude to post-war growth from 1955 to 1973, and provided a pool of experienced labor.<ref>Richard Katz (2002). ''Japanese Phoenix: the long road to economic revival''.</ref>

Second, and more important, was the level and quality of investment that persisted through the 1980s. Investment in capital equipment, which averaged more than 11% of GNP during the prewar period, rose to about 20% of GNP during the 1950s and to more than 30% in the late 1960s and 1970s. During the economic boom of the late 1980s, the rate still hovered around 20%. Japanese businesses imported the latest technologies to develop the industrial base. As a latecomer to [[Industrial Revolution|modernization]], Japan was able to avoid some of the trial and error earlier needed by other nations to develop industrial processes. In the 1970s and 1980s, Japan improved its industrial base through licensing from the US, patent purchases, and imitation and improvement of foreign inventions. In the 1980s, industry stepped up its [[research and development]], and many firms became famous for their innovations and creativity.<ref>Yamamura Kozo and Yasuba Yasukichi, eds. (1987). ''The Political Economy of Japan''. Volume 1 – The Domestic Transformation.</ref>

Japan's [[labor force]] contributed significantly to economic growth, because of its availability and literacy, and also because of its reasonable wage demands. Before and immediately after World War II, the transfer of numerous agricultural workers to modern industry resulted in rising productivity and only moderate wage increases. As population growth slowed and the nation became increasingly industrialized in the mid-1960s, wages rose significantly. However, labor union cooperation generally kept salary increases within the range of gains in productivity. {{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

High productivity growth played a key role in post-war economic growth. The highly skilled and educated labor force, extraordinary [[savings rate]]s and accompanying levels of investment, and the low growth of Japan's labor force were major factors in the high rate of productivity growth. {{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

The nation also benefited from [[economies of scale]]. Although medium-sized and small enterprises generated much of the nation's employment, large facilities were the most productive. Many industrial enterprises consolidated to form larger, more efficient units. Before World War II, large holding companies formed wealth groups, or [[zaibatsu]], which dominated most industry. The zaibatsu were dissolved after the war, but [[keiretsu]]—large, modern industrial enterprise groupings—emerged. The coordination of activities within these groupings and the integration of smaller [[subcontractor]]s into the groups enhanced industrial efficiency.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mikio Sumiya|title=A History of Japanese Trade and Industry Policy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mVN_OTa_KCYC&pg=PA158|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=158|isbn=9780191584022}}</ref>

Japanese corporations developed strategies that contributed to their immense growth. Growth-oriented corporations that took chances competed successfully. Product diversification became an essential ingredient of the growth patterns of many {{lang|ja-Latn|keiretsu}}. Japanese companies added plant and human capacity ahead of demand. Seeking market share rather than quick profit was another powerful strategy.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

Finally, circumstances beyond Japan's direct control contributed to its success. International conflicts tended to stimulate the Japanese economy until the devastation at the end of World War II. The [[Russo-Japanese War]] (1904–05), [[World War I]] (1914–1918), the [[Korean War]] (1950–1953), and the [[Vietnam War|Second Indochina War]] (1954–1975) brought economic booms to Japan. In addition, benign treatment from the United States after World War II facilitated the nation's reconstruction and growth.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

====The changing occupational structure====
As late as 1955, some 40% of the labor force still worked in agriculture, but this figure had declined to 17% by 1970 and to 7.2% by 1990 and under 5% in the 21st century as Japan imported more and more of its food and small family farms disappeared.<ref>{{cite book|first=Gary D. |last=Allinson|title=Japan's Postwar History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_yWAqHe-TO8C&pg=PA84|year=2004|publisher=Cornell University Press|pages=84ff|isbn=0801489121}}</ref>

Japan's economic growth in the 1960s and 1970s was based on the rapid expansion of heavy manufacturing in such areas as automobiles, steel, shipbuilding, chemicals, and electronics. The secondary sector (manufacturing, construction, and mining) expanded to 35.6% of the work force by 1970. By the late 1970s, however, the Japanese economy began to move away from heavy manufacturing toward a more service-oriented (tertiary sector) base. During the 1980s, jobs in wholesaling, retailing, finance, insurance, real estate, transportation, communications, and government grew rapidly, while secondary-sector employment remained stable. The tertiary sector grew from 47% of the work force in 1970 to 59.2% in 1990.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

===1980s===
{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}
Throughout the 1970s, Japan had the world's third largest gross national product ([[Measures of national income and output|GNP]])—just behind the United States and Soviet Union—and ranked first among major industrial nations in 1990 in per capita GNP at US$23,801, up sharply from US$9,068 in 1980. After a mild economic slump in the mid-1980s, Japan's economy began a period of expansion in 1986 that continued until it again entered a [[recession|recessionary period]] in 1992. Economic growth averaging 5% between 1987 and 1989 revived industries, such as steel and construction, which had been relatively dormant in the mid-1980s, and brought record salaries and employment. In 1992, however, Japan's [[real dollars|real]] GNP growth slowed to 1.7%. Even industries such as automobiles and electronics that had experienced phenomenal growth in the 1980s entered a recessionary period in 1992. The domestic market for Japanese automobiles shrank at the same time that Japan's share of the United States' market declined. Foreign and domestic demand for Japanese electronics also declined, and Japan seemed on the way to losing its leadership in the world [[semiconductor]] market to the United States, Korea and Taiwan.

Unlike the economic booms of the 1960s and 1970s, when increasing exports played the key role in economic expansion, domestic [[demand]] propelled the Japanese economy in the late 1980s. This development involved fundamental economic restructuring, moving from dependence on exports to reliance on domestic demand. The boom that started in 1986 was generated by the decisions of companies to increase private plant and equipment spending and of consumers to go on a buying spree. Japan's imports grew at a faster rate than exports. Japanese post-war technological research was carried out for the sake of economic growth rather than military development. The growth in high-technology industries in the 1980s resulted from heightened domestic demand for high-technology products such as electronics, and for higher living, housing, and environmental standards; better medical care and more welfare; expanded leisure-time facilities; and improved ways to accommodate a rapidly aging society.<ref>Jeffrey Kingston (2001). ''Japan in Transformation, 1952–2000''. pp. 36–44.</ref>

During the 1980s, the Japanese economy shifted its emphasis from primary and secondary activities (notably agriculture, manufacturing, and mining) to processing, with telecommunications and computers becoming increasingly vital. Information became an important resource and product, central to wealth and power. The rise of an information-based economy was led by major research in highly sophisticated technology, such as advanced computers. The selling and use of information became very beneficial to the economy. Tokyo became a major financial center, home to some of the world's major banks, financial firms, insurance companies, and the world's largest [[stock exchange]], the Tokyo Securities and Stock Exchange. Even here, however, the recession took its toll. In 1992, the [[Nikkei 225]] stock average began the year at 23,000 points, but fell to 14,000 points in mid-August before leveling off at 17,000 by the end of the year.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

==Heisei era (1989–2019)==
{{Main|Heisei era#Economy}}

===1989 economic bubble===
{{Further|Japanese asset price bubble}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}

[[File:Japan bonds.webp|thumb|upright=1.4|{{center|Japan bonds}} [[Inverted yield curve]] in 1990 <br> [[Zero interest-rate policy]] started in 1995
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[[File:Japan money supply and inflation.webp|thumb|upright=1.4|Japan money supply and inflation (year over year)
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In the decades following World War II, Japan implemented stringent [[tariff]]s and policies to encourage the people to save their income. With more money in banks, loans and credit became easier to obtain, and with Japan running large [[balance of trade|trade surpluses]], the [[Japanese yen|yen]] appreciated against foreign currencies. This allowed local companies to invest in capital resources more easily than their overseas competitors, which reduced the price of Japanese-made goods and widened the trade surplus further. And, with the yen appreciating, financial assets became lucrative.

With so much money readily available for investment, speculation was inevitable, particularly in the [[Tokyo Stock Exchange]] and the real estate market. The [[Nikkei 225|Nikkei stock index]] hit its all-time high on 29 December 1989 when it reached an intra-day high of 38,957.44 before closing at 38,915.87. The rates for housing, stocks, and bonds rose so much that at one point the government issued 100-year bonds. Additionally, banks granted increasingly risky loans.

At the height of the bubble, real estate was extremely over-valued. Prices were highest in Tokyo's [[Ginza]] district in 1989, with choice properties fetching over US$1.5 million per square meter ($139,000 per square foot). Prices were only slightly less in other areas of Tokyo. By 2004, prime "A" property in Tokyo's financial districts had slumped and Tokyo's residential homes were a fraction of their peak, but still managed to be listed as the most expensive real estate in the world. Trillions were wiped out with the combined collapse of the Tokyo stock and real estate markets.

With Japan's economy driven by its high rates of reinvestment, this crash hit particularly hard. Investments were increasingly directed out of the country, and Japanese manufacturing firms lost some degree of their technological edge. As Japanese products became less competitive overseas, some people argue that the low consumption rate began to bear on the economy, causing a [[deflation]]ary spiral.

The easily obtainable credit that had helped create and engorge the real-estate bubble continued to be a problem for several years to come, and as late as 1997, banks were still making loans that had a low guarantee of being repaid. Loan officers and investment staff had a hard time finding anything to invest in that would return a profit. Meanwhile, the extremely low interest rate offered for deposits, such as 0.1%, meant that ordinary Japanese savers were just as inclined to put their money under their beds as they were to put it in savings accounts. Correcting the credit problem became even more difficult as the government began to subsidize failing banks and businesses, creating many so-called "zombie businesses". Eventually a [[carry trade]] developed in which money was borrowed from Japan, invested for returns elsewhere and then the Japanese were paid back, with a nice profit for the trader.

The time after the {{nihongo|bubble's collapse|崩壊|hōkai}}, which occurred gradually rather than catastrophically, is known as the {{nihongo|"lost decade or end of the 20th century"|失われた10年|ushinawareta jūnen}} in Japan. The [[Nikkei 225]] stock index eventually bottomed out at 7603.76 in April 2003, moved upward to a new peak of 18,138 in June 2007, before resuming a downward trend. The downward movement in the Nikkei is likely due to global as well as national economic problems.

===Deflation from the 1990s===
{{See also|Lost Decade (Japan)}}
{{expand section|date=August 2013}}

Deflation in Japan started in the early 1990s. On 19 March 2001, the [[Bank of Japan]] and the Japanese government tried to eliminate deflation in the economy by reducing interest rates (part of their '[[quantitative easing]]' policy). Despite having interest rates near zero for a long period, this strategy did not succeed.<ref name="Spiegel 2006">{{cite news|last=Spiegel|first=Mark|title=Did Quantitative Easing by the Bank of Japan 'Work'?|date=20 October 2006|url=http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2006/el2006-28.html|access-date=8 August 2008|archive-date=19 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019135129/http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2006/el2006-28.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Once the near-zero interest rates failed to stop deflation, some economists, such as [[Paul Krugman]], and some Japanese politicians spoke of deliberately causing (or at least creating the fear of) inflation.<ref>[http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/jpage.html See, as one example, Paul Krugman's website]</ref>
Systemic reasons for deflation in Japan can be said to include:  
* Fallen asset prices. There was a large [[price bubble]] in both [[equities]] and real estate in Japan in the 1980s (peaking in late 1989). {{Citation needed|date=May 2021}} 
* Insolvent companies: Banks lent to companies and individuals that invested in real estate. When real estate values dropped, many loans went unpaid. The banks could try to collect on the collateral (land), but due to reduced real estate values, this would not pay off the loan. Banks have delayed the decision to collect on the collateral, hoping asset prices would improve. These delays were allowed by national banking regulators. Some banks make even more loans to these companies that are used to service the debt they already have. This continuing process is known as maintaining an "unrealized loss", and until the assets are completely revalued and/or sold off (and the loss realized), it will continue to be a deflationary force in the economy. {{Citation needed|date=May 2021}} 
* Insolvent banks: Banks with a large percentage of their loans which are "non-performing" (loans for which payments are not being made), but have not yet written them off. These banks cannot lend more money until they increase their cash reserves to cover the bad loans. Thus the number of loans is reduced sooner and less funds are available for economic growth. {{Citation needed|date=May 2021}} 
* Fear of insolvent banks: Japanese people are afraid that banks will collapse so they prefer to buy gold or (United States or Japanese) Treasury bonds instead of saving their money in a bank account. People also save by investing in real estate. {{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

By 1998, Japan's public works projects still could not stimulate demand enough to end the economy's stagnation. In desperation, the Japanese government undertook "structural reform" policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Unfortunately, these policies led Japan into deflation on numerous occasions between 1999 and 2004. The Bank of Japan used [[quantitative easing]] to expand the country's money supply in order to raise expectations of inflation and spur economic growth. Initially, the policy failed to induce any growth, but it eventually began to affect inflationary expectations. By late 2005, the economy finally began what seems to be a sustained recovery. GDP growth for that year was 2.8%, with an annualized fourth quarter expansion of 5.5%, surpassing the growth rates of the US and [[Economy of the European Union|European Union]] during the same period.<ref>Masake, Hisane (2 March 2006). [https://web.archive.org/web/20060311003951/http://atimes.com/atimes/Japan/HC02Dh01.html "A farewell to zero"]. ''Asia Times Online'' (2 March 2006). Retrieved on 28 December 2006.</ref> Unlike previous recovery trends, domestic consumption has been the dominant factor of growth.

[[File:Japanese Bond Market.webp|thumb|upright=1.4|Japanese bond market <br> [[Negative interest on excess reserves|Negative interest rates]] started in 2014.
{{legend-line|#FF42A1 solid 3px|40 year bond}}
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[[File:2005Japanese exports.PNG|thumb|right|upright=1.4|Japanese exports partners in 2005]]
Despite having interest rates down near zero for a long period of time, the quantitative easing strategy did not succeed in stopping price deflation.<ref name="Spiegel 2006"/> This led some economists, such as Paul Krugman, and some Japanese politicians, to advocate the generation of higher inflation expectations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/jpage.html|title=Saving Japan|first=Paul|last=Krugman|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}</ref> In July 2006, the zero-rate policy was ended. In 2008, the Japanese Central Bank still had the lowest interest rates in the developed world, but deflation had still not been eliminated<ref>{{cite news |title=Economic survey of Japan 2008: Bringing an end to deflation under the new monetary policy framework |date=7 April 2008 |url=http://www.oecd.org/document/12/0,3343,en_2649_34115_40363340_1_1_1_1,00.html}}</ref> and the Nikkei 225 has fallen over approximately 50% (between June 2007 and December 2008). However, on 5 April 2013, the [[Bank of Japan]] announced that it would be purchasing 60–70 trillion yen in bonds and securities in an attempt to eliminate deflation by doubling the money supply in Japan over the course of two years. Markets around the world have responded positively to the government's current proactive policies, with the [[Nikkei 225]] adding more than 42% since November 2012.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://money.cnn.com/2013/04/04/news/economy/bank-of-japan-decision/index.html | publisher=CNN | first=Charles | last=Riley | title=Bank of Japan takes fight to deflation | date=4 April 2013}}</ref> In recent years, Japan has been the top export market for almost 15 trading nations worldwide.

The [[Late-2000s recession|global economic recession]] of the late 2000s significantly harmed the economy of Japan. The nation suffered a 0.7% loss in [[Real gross domestic product|real GDP]] in 2008 followed by a severe 5.2% loss in 2009. In contrast, the data for world real GDP growth was a 3.1% hike in 2008 followed by a 0.7% loss in 2009.<ref>[http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?v=66&c=ja&c=xx&l=en] mundi index</ref>

''[[The Economist]]'' has suggested that improvements to bankruptcy law, land transfer law, and tax law will aid Japan's economy. In October 2009 the Japanese government announced plans to increase [[tobacco tax|tobacco]] and [[green tax]]es while reducing rates for small and medium-sized companies, according to [[NHK]].

In 2011 Japan under [[Yoshihiko Noda]] decided to consider joining the [[Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership]].

In December 2018, a [[free trade agreement]] between Japan and the [[European Union]] was cleared to commence in February 2019. It creates the world's largest [[free trade zone]] valued at {{frac|1|3}} of global gross domestic product. This reduces tariffs on Japanese cars by 10%, duties by 30% on cheese and 10% on wines and opens service markets.<ref>{{cite web|title=EU-Japan free trade deal cleared for early 2019 start |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-japan-trade-idUSKBN1OB1EN |website=Reuters | date=12 December 2018 |access-date=23 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616210243/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-japan-trade-idUSKBN1OB1EN |archive-date=16 June 2020}}</ref>

Economic policy over the past several quarters in Japan has been influenced by the '[[Abenomics]]' debate, with the government pursuing aggressive government infrastructure spending hikes and significant yen devaluations.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

==Reiwa era (2019–present)==
{{Main|Reiwa era}}
Prior to the global [[COVID-19 recession]], the 2019 4th quarter GDP shrank an annualized 7.1% from the previous quarter<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Japan-s-Q4-GDP-downgraded-to-annualized-7.1-contraction|title=Japan's Q4 GDP downgraded to annualized 7.1% contraction|date=9 March 2020|work=Nikkei Asian Review|access-date=20 April 2020|archive-date=23 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723051439/https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Japan-s-Q4-GDP-downgraded-to-annualized-7.1-contraction|url-status=dead}}</ref> due to two main factors.<ref name="cnn may 2020">{{cite news |title=Japan's economy just got another $1 trillion shot in the arm |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/27/economy/japan-economic-stimulus-coronavirus/index.html |access-date=28 May 2020 |work=CNN |date=27 May 2020}}</ref> One is the government's raise in [[consumption tax]] from 8% to 10%.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fujikawa |first1=Megumi |title=Japan's Economy Shrinks 6.3% as Sales-Tax Increase Cools Consumption |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/japans-economyshrinks-as-sales-tax-increase-cools-consumption-11581898410 |access-date=28 May 2020 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=17 February 2020}}</ref> The other is the devastating effects of [[Typhoon Hagibis]], also known as the {{Nihongo|Reiwa{{nbsp}}1 East Japan Typhoon|令和元年東日本台風|Reiwa Gannen Higashi-Nihon Taifū}}, or {{Nihongo|Typhoon Number 19|台風19}}. The 38th depression, 9th typhoon and 3rd super typhoon of the [[2019 Pacific typhoon season]], it was the strongest typhoon in decades to strike mainland Japan, and one of the largest typhoons ever recorded at a peak diameter of {{convert|825|nmi|mi km}}. It was also the costliest Pacific typhoon on record, surpassing [[Typhoon Mireille]]'s record by more than US$5 billion (when not adjusted for inflation).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tropical.atmos.colostate.edu/Realtime/index.php?loc=northwestpacific|title=Real-Time Northwest Pacific Ocean Statistics compared with climatology|publisher=Tropical.atmos.colostate.edu|access-date=20 April 2020}}</ref> In the resort town of Hakone, record rainfall of almost a meter (942.3&nbsp;mm, 37.1 inches) fell in only 24 hours.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://watchers.news/2019/10/13/typhoon-hagibis-casualties-damage/|title=Widespread floods after extreme rainfall brought by Typhoon "Hagibis" – dozens dead or missing, Japan|date=13 October 2019|work=The Watchers|access-date=20 April 2020}}</ref> This adds to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people's lives and the economy, the prime minister unveiling a "massive" stimulus amounting to 20% of GDP.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/04/06/business/shinzo-abe-japan-massive-coronavirus-stimulus/#.Xp0zH25uLIU|title=Abe unveils 'massive' coronavirus stimulus worth 20% of GDP|date=6 April 2020|work=The Japan Times|access-date=20 April 2020}}</ref> In April 2020, Prime Minister [[Shinzo Abe]] announced that [[COVID-19 pandemic in Japan]], which also forced a national state of emergency,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/16/835925031/japans-declares-nationwide-state-of-emergency-as-coronavirus-spreads|title=Japan Declares Nationwide State of Emergency As Coronavirus Spreads|first=Brakkton|last=Booker|publisher=NPR|date=16 April 2020|access-date=16 April 2020}}</ref> gave the nation its worst economic crisis since the end of World War II.<ref name="416emergency">{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-07/japan-s-abe-declares-state-of-emergency-over-coronavirus|title=Japan Declares Emergency For Tokyo, Osaka as Hospitals Fill Up|first1=Isabel|last1=Reynolds|first2=Emi|last2=Nobuhiro|publisher=Bloomberg|date=7 April 2020|access-date=16 April 2020}}</ref> Jun Saito of the Japan Center for Economic Research stated that the pandemic delivered the "final blow" to Japan's long fledging economy, which also resumed slow growth in 2018.<ref name="Huang">{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/07/japans-economy-has-been-dealt-the-final-blow-by-the-coronavirus-pandemic.html|title=Japan's economy has been dealt the 'final blow' by the coronavirus pandemic, says analyst|first=Eustance|last=Huang|publisher=CNBC|date=7 April 2020|access-date=7 April 2020}}</ref> Two stimulus packages, in April and May 2020, injected 234 trillion yen (US$2.2 trillion), or almost 40% of Japan's GDP.<ref name="cnn may 2020"/>

=== 2020–21 recession ===
Since early January 2020, Japanese economy began to suffer from the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Japan|COVID-19 pandemic]] as several countries reported a significant increase in cases by March 2020. However, in early April, Japanese Prime Minister [[Shinzo Abe]] announced that he declared [[state of emergency]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/16/835925031/japans-declares-nationwide-state-of-emergency-as-coronavirus-spreads|title=Japan Declares Nationwide State Of Emergency As Coronavirus Spreads|first=Brakkton|last=Booker|publisher=NPR|date=16 April 2020|access-date=16 April 2020}}</ref> citing gave the nation its worst economic crisis since the end of World War II.<ref name="416emergency"/> Jun Saito of the Japan Center for Economic Research stated that the pandemic delivered the "final blow" to Japan's long fledging economy, which also resumed slow growth in 2018.<ref name="Huang"/>
Less than a quarter of Japanese people expect living conditions to improve in the coming decades.<ref>The Economist, 28 March 2020, page 4.</ref>

In October 2020 during the pandemic, Japan and the [[United Kingdom]] formally signed the first free-trade agreement post-[[Brexit]], which will boost trade by approximately £15.2 billion. It enables tariff-free trade on 99% of exports to Japan.<ref>{{cite news|title=Britain signs first major post-Brexit trade deal with Japan |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/instant-article/idUSKBN2780HG |website=Reuters |date=23 October 2020 |access-date=23 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023152555/https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-japan-trade/britain-signs-first-major-post-brexit-trade-deal-with-japan-idINKBN2780HG |archive-date=23 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=UK and Japan agree historic free trade agreement |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-japan-agree-historic-free-trade-agreement |publisher=Gov.uk (Government of the United Kingdom) |access-date=12 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200911085404/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-japan-agree-historic-free-trade-agreement |archive-date=11 September 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 15 February 2021, the Nikkei average breached the 30k benchmark, the highest since November 1991.<ref name="30kbenchmark"/> It is due to strong corporate earnings, GDP data and optimism over [[COVID-19 vaccination in Japan|COVID-19 vaccination program]] in the country.<ref name="30kbenchmark">{{cite web |title=Nikkei index hits 30,000 for first time in three decades |website=Nikkei |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Nikkei-index-hits-30-000-for-first-time-in-three-decades |date=15 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215143613/https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Nikkei-index-hits-30-000-for-first-time-in-three-decades |archive-date=15 February 2021}}</ref>

In the year ending of March 2021 despite COVID-19 spreading, SoftBank Group made a record net profit of  45.88 billion, which is largely due to the debut of e-commerce company [[Coupang]].<ref name="record-profit">{{Cite web |title=Softbank just shocked its critics by landing the biggest profit in the history of a Japanese company |website=CNBC |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/12/softbank-joins-top-corporate-earners-with-its-37-billion-vision-fund-profit.html |date=12 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515161539/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/12/softbank-joins-top-corporate-earners-with-its-37-billion-vision-fund-profit.html |archive-date=15 May 2021}}</ref> However, this is the largest annual profit by a Japanese company in the nation's history.

As of result, Japanese economic impact of COVID-19 was officially ended by early October 2021 as the country ahead of the [[Endemic phase of COVID-19|endemic phase]].

=== Post-recession (2021–present) ===
At the end of March 2022, the [[Ministry of Finance (Japan)|Ministry of Finance]] announced that the national debt reached precisely 1.017 million billion yen.<ref name="medium"/> The total public debt of the country, which includes debts contracted by local governments, represents 1.210 million billion yen (9,200 billion dollars) which is nearly 250% of Japan's GDP.<ref name="medium"/> Economist Kohei Iwahara said such an exceptional debt to GDP level is only possible because Japanese hold most of the debt: "“Japanese households hold most of their savings in bank accounts (48%) and these sums are used by commercial banks to buy Japanese government bonds. Thus, 85.7% of these bonds are held by Japanese investors.”<ref name="medium"/> However, an aging population could decrease savings.<ref name="medium">{{cite web |title=Japan Exceeds One Million Billion Yen in Debt — "Whatever It Takes" Has Become the Norm. |date=May 13, 2022 |author=Sylvain Saurel |website=Medium.com |url=https://ssaurel.medium.com/japan-exceeds-one-million-billion-yen-in-debt-whatever-it-takes-has-become-the-norm-9adc5f501327 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220513205120/https://ssaurel.medium.com/japan-exceeds-one-million-billion-yen-in-debt-whatever-it-takes-has-become-the-norm-9adc5f501327 |archive-date=May 13, 2022}}</ref>

==Timeline==
* 1600, Foundation of [[Tokugawa shogunate]], beginning of early modern industrialization
* 1868, [[Meiji Restoration]], beginning of industrialization
* 1930s, Controlled economy
* 1945, [[Surrender of Japan]]: economic prostration; [[Occupation of Japan|American Occupation]]
* 1948, [[Reverse Course]] Conservative governments
* 1950s, Recovery and growth.
* 1960, [[Income Doubling Plan]]
* 25 April 1971, End of the [[gold standard]]
* 22 September 1985, [[Plaza Accord]]
* 29 December 1989, [[Nikkei 225]] average peaks at 38,915
* 1990s, "[[Lost Decade (Japan)|the Lost Decade]]", the time after [[Japanese asset price bubble|Japan's economic bubble]] collapsed. The [[Nikkei 225]] stock index bottomed out at 7603.76 in April 2003, moved upward to a new peak of 18,138 in June 2007, before resuming a downward trend.
* July 1997, start of the [[Asian financial crisis]] which caused several companies including [[Nissan Mutual Life Insurance]] and [[Yaohan]] to go bankrupt
* Post 2000, [[Bank of Japan]] begins [[quantitative easing]] strategy
* 2011, the [[Aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami]] had far-reaching economic consequences
* 2012, [[Abenomics]] Prime Minister [[Shinzō Abe]]'s programme to help the country's economic recovery: the economics side is one part of a more general programme, which was commented on by [[Joseph Stiglitz]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfo-insight.com/markets-economy/global-economy/the-promise-of-abenomics/ |title=The Promise of Abenomics - CFO Insight |access-date=2013-04-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503102529/http://www.cfo-insight.com/markets-economy/global-economy/the-promise-of-abenomics/ |archive-date=3 May 2013 }} "The promise of Abenomics"</ref>
* 2020, [[COVID-19 pandemic]], with Abe announcing that Japan had encountered its worst economic crisis since the end of World War II.<ref name="416emergency" />
* 2022, Japan's core consumer price inflation increased to 3.7%, the highest it has been since 1981.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-12-23 |title=Cost of living: Japan's inflation hits a 41-year high |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64072866 |access-date=2022-12-23}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Economics|History|Japan}}
* [[Bank of Japan]]
* [[Economy of Japan]]
* [[Economic relations of Japan]]
* [[Economics of feudal Japan]]
* [[History of Japan]]
* [[Japanese cuisine]]
* [[Keiretsu]] – a distinctive Japanese way in which firms are related
* [[Labor market of Japan]]
* [[Poverty in Japan]]
* [[Tokugawa coinage]]
* [[Japanese asset price bubble]]
* [[Lost Decade (Japan)]]
* [[Japanese economic miracle|Japanese Economic Miracle]]

==References==

===Notes===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{Country study}} – [https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/frd/frdcstdy/ja/japancountrystud00dola/japancountrystud00dola.pdf]

==Further reading==
* Allen, G. C. ''A Short Economic History of Modern Japan'' (3rd ed. 1982) [https://archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28%27%27A%20Short%20Economic%20History%20of%20Modern%20Japan%27%27%20%29 online]
* Black, Cyril, ed. ''The Modernization of Japan and Russia: A Comparative Study'' (1975)
* Duus, Peter, ed. ''The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 6: The Twentieth Century'' (1989), ch 8–12 [https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Japan-Vol-Twentieth/dp/0521223571/ excerpt]
* Ericson, Steven J''. The Sound of the Whistle: Railroads and the State in Meiji Japan'' (Harvard Council on East Asian Studies, 1996)
* Fairbank, John K., Edwin Reischauer, and Albert M. Craig. ''East Asia: The great tradition'' and ''East Asia: The modern transformation'' (1960) [2 vol 1960] [https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%28Reischauer%2C%20Fairbank%2C%29 online free to borrow], famous textbook.
* Ferris, William W. ''Japan to 1600: A Social and Economic History'' (2009) [https://www.amazon.com/Japan-1600-Social-Economic-History/dp/0824833791/  excerpt and text search]
* Flath, David. ''The Japanese Economy'' (3rd ed. Oxford UP, 2014), on recent conditions
* Francks, Penelope. "Diet and the comparison of living standards across the Great Divergence: Japanese food history in an English mirror." ''Journal of Global History'' 14.1 (2019): 3–21.
* Free, Dan. ''Early Japanese Railways 1853–1914: Engineering Triumphs That Transformed Meiji-Era Japan'' (Tuttle Publishing, 2012).
* Fukao, Kyoji and Saumik Paul. 2020. "[[doi:10.1111/ehr.13021|Baumol, Engel, and beyond: accounting for a century of structural transformation in Japan, 1885–1985]]." ''The Economic History Review''.
* Gordon, Andrew, ed. ''Postwar Japan as History'' (1993), pp.&nbsp;99–188, 259–92
* Hashino, Tomoko, and Osamu Saito. "Tradition and interaction: research trends in modern Japanese industrial history," ''Australian Economic History Review,'' Nov 2004, Vol. 44 Issue 3, pp 241–258.
* Hayami, Yujiro, and Saburo Yamada. ''The agricultural development of Japan: a century's perspective'' (University of Tokyo Press, 1991).
*  {{cite book |last = Heenan |first= Patrick|year = 1998 |title = The Japan Handbook |publisher = Fitzroy Dearborn| location = London, Chicago|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qNawsKPltbwC |isbn = 9781579580551|ref = none}}, "Economy" (bibliography) pp.&nbsp;304–307. 
* Honjō, Eijirō. ''The social and economic history of Japan'' (1965) [https://archive.org/details/socialeconomichi0000honj online]
* Jansen, Marius B. ed. ''The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 5: The Nineteenth Century'' (1989), pp 569–617. [https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Japan-Vol-Nineteenth/dp/0521223563/  excerpt]
* Jansen, Marius B. ''The Making of Modern Japan'' (2002), passim [https://www.amazon.com/Making-Modern-Japan-Marius-Jansen/dp/0674009916/ excerpt]
* {{cite book | last =Johnson, Chalmers A. | author-link = Chalmers Johnson| title = MITI and the Japanese Miracle| url = https://archive.org/details/mitijapanesemira00chal| url-access = registration| publisher = Stanford University Press| isbn= 0-8047-1206-9| year = 1982}}
*{{cite book |last = Kapur |first = Nick |year = 2018 |title = Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo |publisher = [[Harvard University Press]] |location = Cambridge, MA |isbn = 978-0674984424 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Re5hDwAAQBAJ}}
* Kodama, Riotaro. ''Railway Transportation in Japan'' (1898) [https://archive.org/details/railwaytranspor00kodagoog online]
* Kornicki, Peter F., ed. ''Meiji Japan: Political, Economic and Social History 1868–1912'' (4 vol; 1998) 1336 pages
* Kozo, Yamamura, and Yasuba Yasukichi, eds. ''The Political Economy of Japan: Volume 1 – The Domestic Transformation'' (1987)
* Lechevalier, Sébastien, ed. ''The Great Transformation of Japanese Capitalism'' (2014) on 1980–2012 [https://www.amazon.com/Transformation-Japanese-Capitalism-Institute-Routledge/dp/0415717663/] excerpt
* Macpherson, W. J.  ''Economic development of Japan 1868–1941'' (1995) [https://www.tsu.ge/data/file_db/faculty_humanities/MacPherson%20-%20The%20Economic%20Development%20of%20Japan%20c.1868-1941.pdf online], 92 pp
* Minami, Ryoshin. ''The Economic Development of Japan: A Quantitative Study'' (1994), in-depth coverage
* Morikawa, Hidemasa. ''A History of Top Management in Japan: Managerial Enterprises and Family Enterprises'' (2001) 
* Nakamura, Takafusa, ''et al.'' eds. ''The Economic History of Japan: 1600–1990: Volume 1: Emergence of Economic Society in Japan, 1600–1859'' (2004); ''Volume 3: Economic History of Japan 1914–1955: A Dual Structure'' (2003)
* Nakamura, James. ''Agricultural Production and the Economic Development of Japan, 1873–1922'' (Princeton University Press, 1966)
* Odagiri, Hiroyuki and Akira Goto; ''Technology and Industrial Development in Japan: Building Capabilities by Learning, Innovation, and Public Policy'' (1996)
* Soyeda, Juichi. ''A history of banking in Japan'' (Routledge, 2013).
* Tang, John P. "Railroad Expansion and Industrialization: Evidence from Meiji Japan". ''Journal of Economic History'' 74#3 (2014), pp.&nbsp;863–886. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24550514 online]
* Tiedemann, Arthur E. "Japan's Economic Foreign Policies, 1868–1893." in James William Morley, ed., ''Japan's Foreign Policy: 1868–1941'' (1974) pp 118–152, historiography
* Tolliday, Steven. ''The Economic Development of Modern Japan, 1868–1945: From the Meiji Restoration to the Second World War'' (2 vol; 2001), 1376 pages
* Wilkins, Mira. "Japanese multinational enterprise before 1914." ''Business History Review'' (1986) 60#2: 199–231 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3115307  online].
* Yamamura, Kozo. "The Role of the Samurai in the Development of Modern Banking in Japan." ''Journal of Economic History'' 27.2 (1967): 198–220.

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130514234018/http://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/552494/search?query=geographic-region%3A%22Japan%22] Videos on Japan's Relations with the US from the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160115205405/https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/552494] Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives

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