Masazumi Wakatabe, Waseda University

The primary aim of this course is to understand the development and nature of the modern Japanese economy from historical perspective. The Japanese economy has been under tremendous changes. It has been a ‘success' in the sense that Japan became the first non-Western industrial economy, and achieved a status of major economic power, especially after WWII. On the other hand, it has been a ‘failure' in that the emerging democracy and free enterprise system in the 1920s collapsed in the 1930s and 1940s, which led to controlled economy, militarism, imperialism and the eventual downfall in 1945. Also the long stagnation of the 1990s, dubbed as the ‘Great Stagnation' cast a serious doubt on the growth potential of Japan .

The course examines the history of the modern Japanese economy from the late Edo era to present, with special reference to a wide variety of issues which are not unique to Japan: prerequisites of development, the process of industrialization, the role of institutions and policy in development, and the role of economic ideas in relation to institutions and policy.

The working knowledge of the Japanese economy, the modern Japanese history, the Japanese language, and development economics is a considerable asset, but not a required one for this course.