Japan is an industrialized, free free-market economy. Some elements refer still to of Japan past as guided national economy, into which last years became and denationalizes however increasingly dereguliert, a further large step line up with the privatisation of the Japanese post office.

After Japan in fourth place stands to the USA, China and since newest India. One counted the European Union as uniform market would be Japan fifth. The export in the year 2003 amounted to 363 billion euro. Thus Japan is on place 3 of the export-strongest countries behind Germany and the USA.

A good co-operation between state and industry, a strong "worker mentality", the control of Hightech, a large attention of the state to training and a comparatively small defense budget (1 % of the gross inland product) helped Japan to become end of the 60's behind the USA and the European Union the third biggest economic power of the world. Spectacularly: Over three decades Japan had to register only economic growth: an average of 10 % into the 1960ern, on the average 5 % in the 1970ern, and 4 % economic growth into the 1980ern.

The Japanese economy is highly efficient, their strengths particularly lies in the international trade and the research-intensive high technology. The agrarian sector however is subsidized despite all efficiency highly. Due to the high wage level Japanese companies already began the Southeast Asiatic countries in the seventies to page their production out particularly such as Singapore and Malaysia became the extended work bench of Japan. The infrastructure created in these countries permitted it however in the last years to also there native enterprises to grow up to attained full growth competitors for the Japanese industry about Lenovo in China and Samsung in South Korea.

Postwar development

After the Second World War all Japanese large cities (with exception of Kyoto) were destroyed with their industrial plants, the GROS DOMESTIC PRODUCT were only on half of the Vorkriegswerts. Unemployment was with over thirty per cent and by the fact was only moderated that many workers went back on the country.

The supreme COMMAND OF let the Allied Powers (SCAP) additional change over or dissolve the entire armaments industry to civilian production. Thus for example the structure of the Japanese automobile industry was coined/shaped by former aviation engineers. The Zaibatsu, the dominating industrial conglomerates of the first half 20. Century were constituted as supporters of the Japanese nationalism and dissolved 1947. The companies united formerly in the Zaibatsu began thereupon to secure itself by over cross participation against assumptions and created so new structures, the keiretsu.

The Japanese economic policy of the post-war period was coined/shaped of Marxist ideas. The Japanese government set all forces in its first five-year plan on the reconstruction of the heavy industry, and could already at the beginning of the fifties the Vorkriegsniveau again reach. In 1950 the using Korea war Japan became the allied one and the supply basis of the Americans, which supported the economic growth and Japan 1953 to the regaining help the sovereignty.

The initial Marxist tendencies were back-pushed in the middle of the fifties toward the increasing dominance of the liberals and democrats, who united to 1950 to the liberal-democratic party.

From the beginning of the 1960er years up to the first oil shock Japan experienced a phase of high growth, which was favoured by several factors. To first the Japanese government pursued a per-cyclic policy and still increased in growth the public expenditures. Secondly the Japanese market was inward shielded by violent competition several equally strong competitors heated up, outward however, which gave a safe basis to Japanese enterprises. Thirdly Japanese enterprises understood it to take over key technologies from the foreign country continuously to improve (Kaizen) and step by step internationally market shares conquer. Fourth the enterprises secured themselves a well trained and loyale permanent staff (approximately 30% of all persons employed) by the system of the lifelong occupation, while a large number of small businesses functioned at the same time as supplier (dual structure) and with small wages the prices pressed. The wage development did not keep up, which to the Slogan "rich Japan with the economic development - poor Japanese "led.

The oil crisis 1973 provided for a first depression in the Japanese economic situation. Japan depended without own oil reserves very strongly on the oil from the Gulf States, more than every other industrial nation. The oil crisis led to a reorientation, among other things now strengthened on oil from Southeast Asia and on nuclear power one set. The second oil crisis got over Japan almost without prejudice to. Altogether the seventies were a phase of stable growth and a phase of rising foreign trade surplus.

After the Plaza agreement 1985 speculative capital flowed to Japan and started there a spiral, the so-called Bubble Economy into expectation of a Yen revaluation: Stock market and real estate prices tightened, in expectation of further profits from speculation real estates beliehen and the capital in shares were invested. The Yen course actually rose and doubled themselves in the period of only about one year. The material restaurant boom was overheated by the speculations and a speculation blister developed. Japanese enterprises had now very much capital available, which was used partly for the Aquirierung by enterprises outside of Japan, particularly in the USA.

Beginning of the nineties place then the blister. The real estate prices fell by three quarters, the stock markets fell, and banks sat on its putrid credits ("bath loans"), whose height exceeded those of the value of deposited properties and buildings. Actually many banks and enterprises were threatened, these however were not carried out by insolvency. Since then Japan is in a phase of the Wirtschaftsflaute and Deflation.Auch the Asia crisis 1997/98 made more difficult a reorganization, and some large banks and insurer now actually went into bankruptcy.

The government cabinet around Junichiro Koizumi issued laws at the beginning of the Millenniums for global privatisation (partly in vain) and with laws as a check of foreign investors tries to energize the still Japanese economy. Although already some these laws were not decided has the economy yet reacted, and which was to set aging Japanese population now the Japanese economy in motion.

Referring to improvement of the situation give the China boom, which began in the last years, and progress in the robotics research. Also the banks succeeded in the last 15 years to copy a multiplicity of the putrid credits and by fusions the sector was stabilized.

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