Episode 19 - Rising from the Ashes
History of Japan
Isaac Meyer
4.7 • 790 Ratings
🗓️ 17 August 2013
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, we're going to discuss the postwar strategy that enabled Japan to revive itself after World War II. In 1952, most observers believed Japan would become a mid-rank regional power on the same order as Sweden; by 1970 it was clear that would not be the case. We're going to discuss how Japan was able to rebound from defeat so quickly, and what forces propelled the massive growth of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, and welcome to the History of Japan podcast. |
| 0:19.2 | Episode 19, Rising from the Ashes. In the spring of Japan podcast. Episode 19. |
| 0:22.4 | Rising from the Ashes. |
| 0:27.4 | In the spring of 1945, as World War II was coming to a close, |
| 0:31.1 | an economist named Okita Saburo went to visit a friend, |
| 0:34.4 | an engineering professor at Tokyo Imperial University. |
| 0:40.6 | The two men believed the war to already be lost, and took to discussing the future course of the Japanese nation. |
| 0:42.8 | Okita's recollection was that, as American bombers flew overhead, certainly a nice dramatic |
| 0:47.2 | touch, he expressed the belief to his friend that the lesson of the war was that, quote, |
| 0:52.5 | Japan, poorly endowed with natural resources, |
| 0:55.6 | must shape its future around precision engineering. |
| 0:59.3 | Said friend agreed with him, |
| 1:01.2 | recalling in his own diary that, quote, |
| 1:03.7 | Okita made himself comfortable and we spoke for a long time. |
| 1:07.4 | He did not think that a defeated Japan would be allowed to rearm at all, |
| 1:11.0 | but this would probably be a blessing in disguise. |
| 1:13.9 | I completely agreed with what he said. |
| 1:16.6 | I will actually be happy if rearmament is completely prohibited. |
| 1:20.5 | An army in uniform is not the only sort of army. |
| 1:23.9 | Scientific technology and fighting spirit under a business suit will be our underground army. |
| 1:30.3 | Okita's vision of Japan's future was a compelling one, but when the American occupation ended on April 28, |
| 1:37.3 | 1952, seven years after the fateful conversation, Japan was nowhere close to realizing it. |
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