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| 1975 |
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| By this time, the Japanese economy had been growing rapidly for over two decades. It was the third largest in the world, behind only the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Japanese laborers became famous for their industriousness, frugality, and willingness to work closely with management to ensure success. Technologies supplied by the U.S. aided this growth, as did the low domestic spending on the military (1 percent of GNP). In addition, the Japanese government played a critical role in the development of the economy, through the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). | 1 |
| Japanese agriculture also became more productive, indeed becoming the most efficient in the world. Prices on domestically produced essential foodstuffs, such as rice, were kept artificially high by government supports; in return, the agrarian populace and those dependent on them for a livelihood supported the ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party. | 2 |
| Trade also exploded, increasing from $2 billion in 1955 to $55.75 billion in 1975. The U.S. consumed 22 percent of Japanese exports (1975). Japan largely imported raw materials in exchange, mainly from the Middle East (oil), Southeast Asia, and Australia (Japan's largest supplier). Japanese protectionism became a topic of heated negotiations from the 1970s, and the government was compelled partially to open certain markets to foreign goods; but by that time foreign producers were usually in no position to compete with their Japanese counterparts. High-quality Japanese products—especially electronic equipment, automobiles, shipping lines, and other products of the immense industrial combines (zaibatsu)—were by the 1970s to be found everywhere in the world. | 3 |
| It should also be noted that, following the Arab oil boycott of 1973 and the great increase in the price of oil, the Japanese economy went into a major recession during 1974–76. | 4 |
| A negative effect of rapid industrial growth was insufficient attention to environmental problems. Forest lands were wiped out, and Japanese industrialists began importing wood from Southeast Asia thereafter. There was considerable industrial pollution, the most famous case (early 1970s) being that of Minamata (Kyushu), where a chemical plant spewed mercury waste into the local water supply, poisoned the fish, and brought havoc to the local populace, some of whom died. Similar cases cropped up elsewhere. | 5 |
| By 1975 the rate of population growth had slowed down because of family planning and the paucity of living spaces for families. In 1945, the population was 72 million; by 1965, it had reached 98 million; ten years later, it was only 112 million. In 1985, it numbered 121 million. The social position of women rose slowly, too, as many attended school and began to opt for careers of their own. Some became active in politics, both in the long-governing LDP and in opposition parties. But relative pay levels and employment rates for women lagged behind comparable Western figures. | 6 |
| Compulsory education, initiated by the occupation, drove up the numbers of students enrolled in middle and high schools. University students also increased in number dramatically. This development helped close the divide between elite and commoner. At the same time, schools became exceedingly competitive in entrance requirements. | 7 |
| From the latter half of the 1970s, a new attitude became more generally visible in Japan, as many more Japanese began to take advantage of their great economic successes. Japan massed immense export surpluses and was no longer in the position of “catching up” even though the annual growth rate slowed down considerably. | 8 |
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| 1976 |
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| Early in the year, the Lockheed scandal stunned the Japanese and others. Former prime minister Tanaka was charged with corruption, found guilty in 1983, and found guilty on appeal in 1987. | 9 |
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| 1978 |
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| China and Japan signed a peace treaty. The 1972–75 agreements and this treaty paved the way for bilateral trade in immense volume. | 10 |
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| 1982 |
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| Nakasone Yasuhiro (b. 1918) became prime minister, a post he held until 1987. | 11 |
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| 1987, April |
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| Prime Minister Nakasone visited Washington, D.C., and met with Pres. Ronald Reagan. | 12 |
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| Nov |
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| Takeshita Noboru (b. 1924) became prime minister. He was forced to resign (June 1989) in a cloud of scandal concerning money funneled his way by the Recruit Company. | 13 |
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