Japan: Growth Towards the Third Largest Economy || Hiroshima Nagasaki Bomb Blast

Japan: Growth Towards the Third Largest Economy...

 

 

Hey!!! How have you been... Remember the bullet train project announced by our Honourable Prime Minister, 'Shri Narendra Modi'. Which country's technology is India using in making bullet train? The answer is Japan... The cost of the project is funded by a loan. Japan has funded 85% of the project by a loan which has a repayment period of 50 years and a moratorium period of 15 years with an interest rate of 0.1%. With this, you must have got an idea of Japan's economy. Now, let's go to a little more to history. Remember the year 1945... And too, the deadly month of August. It is this month when the most infamous example of the lack of humanity took place. Even now the body shivers thinking about the incident. Two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6th and 9th of August respectively. The two cities were completely devastated. But now Japan is again one of the strongest nations of the world. What tactics were implemented by Japan? What made Japan bounce back even after such a deadly situation? Let's find out.

A Look Into Present Japan

Japan is an island country of East Asia. It borders the Sea of Japan to the west and the Pacific Ocean in the east. It extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Pacific Ring of Fire and volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis are a common thing. It comprises 6,852 islands covering 377,975 sq. kilometres. It has five main islands namely, Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa. 

Tokyo is the capital of Japan and the official language is Japanese. It has a population of  125,930,000 making it the 11th most populous country. It has a GDP of $5.413 trillion making it the 3rd largest economy and a per capita income of $43,043 making it the 22nd largest country of per capita income. Japan also has an HDI ranking of 19th in the world...

Foundation Stones Of Development From Meiji Era.

If we will go through the history of Japan, we will find an era christened as Shogun Era. This Shogun Era started in 1650 and lasted till 1850. During these two hundred years, Japan was divided into small parts, which were led by several feudal lords. Feudal lords are the same which we call jamindars and jagidars in India. Japan didn't make any link to the foreign environment. Due to this Japan had no common legal system, no foreign policies, no cross border trade, no democracy even they didn't have any common leader! Even the trade and transportation inside Japan also posed a problem. Different feudal lords followed different taxation system which posed a great problem for the people. Apart from this, there were many problems faced by the people. The people revolted and threw the Shogun Era. A new era was established named Meiji Era. This era lasted from 1868 to 1912. These 44 years were the most peaceful in Japan. This era proved to be major developmental years of Japan. The first thing the Meiji Era did was they exposed Japan into the foreign world. 

After that, a series of measures were implemented during the Meiji Era. These were:

• Elected Parliament
• Democracy
• Common tax system
• Road development
• Manufacturing
• Education
• Common army
• Strong foreign trade
• Strong legal system
• Common foreign policy

and many more. Meiji Era helped Japan to be an economically stable country. But the lack of resources in Japan made a great obstacle to the development of Japan... 

War Chosen By Japan

As I already said, Japan didn't have any natural resources. As there was a lack of resources Japan's infrastructure and warfare development was very slow as compared to the rest of the world. This bounded Japan to go beyond its boundaries. They fought a series of war to capture the territories and their natural resources. In 1874, Japan attacked Taiwan which eventually resulted in the Japanese invasion of Taiwan. In 1894, the Sino–Japanese war was fought which was again won by Japan. In 1895, they annexed Formosa. In 1905, the Russo– Japanese War was fought, which was again won by Japan. In 1931, they annexed Manchuria. In 1940, Japan invaded French Indochina and was again successful in the invasion. Like this, they annexed various territories which helped them to fill their warehouses with resources. Not only Japan invaded various territories but the most surprising fact is that Japan was successful in defeating two major powers i.e. Russia and China.

Japan In World War

Eventually, Japan entered the world war. To gain territories, they entered World War I on 23 August 1914. They took the side of the Allies. The Allies won the First World War. This gave Japan an unprecedented economic growth and helped it to gain several colonies in the South Pacific. After the war, Japan signed the Treaty of Versailles and enjoyed good international relations as a member of the League of Nations.

But the fate of Japan in the Second World War was exactly the opposite. The Second World War proved to be very disastrous for Japan. Japan entered the Second World War on 27 September 1940 by signing the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, but this time from the side of the Axis. The Axis must have won the war, but the entry of U.S.A  was a game-changer for the Allies. Japan made the gravest mistake by attacking Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  This resulted in the entry of U.S.A in the war. What happened next must be known to everybody. It resulted in one of the largest mass killings in history.

Atomic Bomb Droppings

The consequences of the attack of Pearl Harbor was very disastrous. The U.S.A. detonated an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. The name of the atomic bomb was, 'Little Boy' and was carried by an American Boeing B–29 Superfortress aircraft. The dropping of the atomic bomb was very hazardous and the radiation spread over 100 kilometres. Within 3 days, another atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945 named, 'Fat Man'. The two atomic bombs immediately destroyed their targets, killing about 226,000 people! 

The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right) after the atomic bomb attack.

Apart from these, many people were killed after the attack due to radioactive diseases, skin burning, etc. Even today, it is very difficult to plant a tree in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even today, children are born handicapped and with a lot of diseases. The city which was normal a few minutes back had turned into ruins in just a few seconds. Japan was completely desolated by the attack. 

Nagasaki before the attack( above) and after the attack( below).

Hiroshima before the attack ( left) and after the attack (right).

Japan's Surrender In World War

Japan after facing such devastation, decided to surrender. On August 15, 1945, Japanese Emperor Hirohito declared unconditional surrender. On September 2, 1945, a peace treaty was signed between Japan and the U.S. According to this, the U.S made a condition that Japan can't build their army. Japan can't invest in their army. But the U.S. will be with them in every international dispute. The U.S. will provide them with arms and ammunition. Japan agreed. Demilitarization took place in Japan. Japan had to face a difficult time.

Japanese Strategy After Demilitrazitation

Japanese military people had developed a strong and excellent leadership quality within this time. Their ambition of expanding their territory made them a great leader with many skills. The experience of their military in spending time in many countries, fighting in two world wars helped them to build a strong personality. 

The Japanese government made a good strategy to rebuild its economy. The people of Japan were mentally depressed... They had no hope for some good days. But Japanese govt transformed every adversity to opportunity. Those who were strongly mental were transformed to mentally strong. Those who had a hopeless end now had endless hope. Japanese government told the most intelligent military men to divert their focus on business. The militants were made workers in factories. With the help of these, Japanese factories got extremely hardworking, patient, disciplined workers as all the workers were ex-militants. The intelligent army men have now become very large business tycoons. The patience, hard-working quality and discipline acquired by the workers and the businessmen helped them to be the most productive people in the world. This productivity of the people, in turn, helped Japan in mass production. Not only the militants were transformed but also the companies. Companies like Isuzu, Nissan, Toyota are now large MNCs. But they previously made armed vehicles. Due to demilitarization, they transformed their products to passenger cars. As they were producing armed vehicles, they knew the technology to build the safest, strong cars. This technology was used in passenger cars and in turn improvised the quality of the product. Sony, which used to produce binoculars for the military, now began to produce cameras. Like these, the Japanese government transformed every adversity to opportunity. The Japanese government used a strong mental ideology process. They mobilised their citizen in favour of the government. Nationalism was poured down into the hearts of the Japanese. Japanese government always told their citizen that, "You are the best. Nobody can beat you. Even the whites cannot defeat us". Japanese people became mentally strong. These psychological techniques proved to be excellent. Now every Japanese worked day and night to build a strong nation. They worked not for money but their own country. Because of this only Japan made a quick bounce back.  But not only a quick bounce back but they also made a strong, hard and efficient bounce back. The atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, which caused severe destruction, but a strong bounce-back helped them to host the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. Think they took less than 20 years to host Olympics despite suffering two atomic bombs. And now they are again hosting Olympics in the next year. 

Tokyo Olympics in 1964

On the contrary, almost 70 years have passed after the Indian independence, but till now India is not able to host the Olympics. Only one Asian Games in 1982 and a Common Wealth Games in 2010 and that too with a bonus of CWG scams. 

Mistake Less Japanese

From the very beginning of a child in Japan, they are taught to not to do any mistakes. Japanese are very risk-averse. They don't like to take risks, as risks lead to mistakes. Why not to do mistakes? Because even a small mistake done by them may lead to huge mistakes, as Japan is a disaster-prone country. Disasters like earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption are very common for them. Even a small mistake can take them back to several years. As a result of this Japanese started a quality movement. Japan is known for its perfection. Even 99.5 out of 100 means 0 out of 100 for Japanese. The personality of not doing any mistake took them closer to perfection. They built a quality circle within them. The results are known to the world. Japanese products are known for their quality, durability and reliability. Quality improvement tools like Kaizen, Poka Yoke, 5 S, Six Sigma, Total quality management (TQM), Total Productivity Management (TPM) are all Japanese. Not only this, but almost all the quality improvement tools are also Japanese. 

Advantage From Cold War

Between 1947–1991, a new era had started named Cold war between Communists and Capitalists. America was a capitalist country and Russia was a communist country. In Asia, a communist belt was formed. Starting from Russia to Central Asia to China followed by North Korea. America needed a country in East Asia to build army bases and to also make easy access to the belt. Japan as I already said, has started mass production. They now needed a global market. Japanese knew that if they will support America, then they will get preferential access to the global market. As a result of this America, South Korea and Japan joined hands together. America got a friend in East Asia and Japan got a global market. As Japan got a global market, the export of Japanese products skyrocketed. Now the purse of every Japanese got filled. Japanese people have a very good habit of saving. They don't spend money on unwanted luxuries. During the Cold War, Japanese income grew and people saved a lot of money in this. And they didn't hide the money in their home locker, but they saved their money in banks. In turn, Japanese banks accumulated a lot of money, which helped them to give loans at a lower interest. Today also, an average lending rate in Japan is 0.994%!! And in India, it is contrary. It is 10%!!! Just see the difference. It is only because the Japanese save their money in banks and we save money under our pillows. As now Japanese banks could give a loan in a lower interest rate, several industries could be set up in Japan. This resulted in industrialization in Japan. As industrialization took place, jobs vacancies grew, which in turn eliminated poverty. As a result, the Japanese economy grew. Like this, due to saving, they made a cycle of development.

Japanese Ethics

Japanese from the very beginning didn't forget their ethics. They developed but didn't ignore their values and their culture. The Japanese government have always worked on their values, integrity, morality, character and ethics. These Japanese people may die, but will not break the rules of their values. Japanese are always obsessed with punctuality. Even the late of 1 sec will be a game of do or die for them. On average, a train gets delayed by 6.5 seconds in a year! This shows the punctuality of the Japanese. If a local train will get delay by 10 seconds in Japan, the ticket collector will come and will give you a train delay certificate. The certificate will say that if you will get delay to the office by 10 seconds, tell your boss that it is not your fault, it is the fault of the railway ministry. And in India, it is different. Even after 3 hours of a delayed train, the announcement in the mic will be saying, "यात्रीगण कृपया ध्यान दें। ट्रेन नो. XXXXXX तीन घंटे लेट से चल रही हैं। असुविधा के लिए हमें खेद हैं।" (Translation: Passengers please pay attention. Train no. XXXXXX is running late by 3 hrs. Sorry for the inconvenience). Morality and socially responsible behaviours are in their blood. Discipline is taught from the very first level of school. And the class of discipline is very high. In 2011, a tsunami had struck the islands in Japan. And this tsunami is one of the deadliest tsunamis in the world. But also after this disaster, not a single crime was reported. For them, their country is first. Nationalism is in their soul. They co-operated and helped each other to outcome the destruction. They also didn't break the rules of the country. There is a famous story, which I want to share with you. Once there was a Japanese person going in a car with an Indian. It was 2.00am in the night. Not a single car was going on the road. A traffic signal came, which saw red colour. The Japanese man stopped the car. The Indian man told him to avoid the signal and carry on with their journey as there were no vehicles. But the Japanese man told, "Why? If a child is seeing me from his window, he would learn that ignoring a red light is allowed. Why should I lay a wrong example for him?" Japanese are faithful. They would die but will not break their promise.  The fastest way to restore your broken trust is to honour your commitment. Japanese have a very good habit of listening. In India, in a kitty party, all the women would be talking at the same time. One would think if all are talking then who is listening. But the Japanese listen. Always observe, that in a Japanese meet, only one person would be talking. Not only the other people would be listening, but also they would be taking note of what the person is saying. Japanese students are taught the basics in life, from their primary school. Basics like cleaning, gardening, cooking, etc. Students are asked to clean the school, cook the canteen food, serve the canteen food. When a student will clean an area, he would never make it messy and greasy. If a student will grow vegetables and will cook, he will never waste the food. Like this, the Japanese never forget their ethics, culture and values even after a strong development.

Japanese girl following the their culture with traditional dress Kimono

Conclusion / My Opinion

As you already saw, Japanese how transformed every adversity to opportunity, always try to find something good from bad, always gave respect to their culture. 

Like this only if we Indians would respect our country, never forget our past culture. Then for sure, our country will develop. Indians have all the good qualities inside them. The only problem is that we always try to find something for our own. As you saw not a single crime was reported in Japan after the 2011  tsunami, but if it was in India, the crime rate would reach its peak. We always try to look for short term profit. Also in this pandemic, many Indians would be looking for the money they would get from the government. But for how long will this money last? If proper work would be engaged for them, they would never sleep hungry. The money spent on providing the poor with the food could be made used in making schools, roads or some other developmental activities. This would make India self equipped and also will generate employment, which is a long term profit. Japanese also started industrialization and setting up factories after the atomic bomb droppings. They didn't distribute money. Like this, they opted for long term profit. 

I hope that the suggestion of mine would have been beneficial for you. In the end, I would just like to say, 'ENJOY READING".

     –Dibyaansh Pradhan