Preface

ORIGINALLY the brief study that follows was intended merely to be an updating of my Economic Problems of Free Japan (Princeton, Center of International Studies, 1952). It was for this purpose that I was favored by a Rockefeller Foundation grant. But so much new material came to light, so many new trends and forces were apparent, that it seemed wiser to begin anew and write from the vantage point of 1957-58 rather than try to recast and redirect old thoughts and observations of 1950-51.

To avoid misunderstanding with a possible reviewer or two, I should hasten to state what this study is not. It is not a definitive study of the postwar decade, it is not an exhaustive study of the economy of Japan, it is not a detailed review and evaluation of the Occupation. It is simply a brief analysis of the nature of, and factors responsible for, Japan’s economic recovery and of the economic problems which now confront Japan. It is not easy to survey a complex economy in a compact review. Of necessity some aspects and phases of the economy had to be omitted, others had to be treated more concisely than I preferred. But this was above all to be a short book designed primarily for busy American readers who had neither the patience nor the inclination to delve into anything as formidable as my earlier Japan’s Economy in War and Reconstruction (University of Minnesota Press, 1949). That, indeed, ends where this, in point of time, begins.

It is a continuing source of bewilderment that so slim a product should have been the occasion of so much kindness and helpfulness by so many people. To acknowledge my indebtedness to all would be impossible, but some must be singled out for a very real and warm appreciation. Three—Mr. Roger Evans of the Rockefeller Foundation, Mr. Douglas Overton of the Japan Society, and Mr. Gaiji Kawashima of the Bank of Japan—bear a major responsibility. Mr. Evans and Mr. Overton urged the need for such a volume, encouraged its undertaking, provided funds, facilities, and continued support. Seldom has an author had such patient and understanding backing. Mr. Kawashima served as my research associate in Japan and never has such a stream of facts and figures flowed into an author’s study. His unfailing tact and courtesy, willingness and helpfulness, even when I made onerous demands upon him, had to be experienced to be appreciated. I am indebted to Mr. John D. Rockefeller, 3rd, not only for his kindness in writing the foreword but also for his encouragement, over a long period of time, of my interest in Japan. My colleagues, Dr. William I. Greenwald and Mr. James I. Nakamura, provided very useful and helpful research assistance here in New York.

To Mr. Katsutake Hattori of the Mitsubishi Economic Research Institute in Tokyo; Professor Hugh Borton, formerly director of the East Asian Institute at Columbia University and now president of Haverford College; Professor William W. Lockwood of Princeton University; Professor Edwin O. Reischauer of Harvard; Professor Joseph K. Yamagiwa of Michigan; Mr. Suetaka Kuwabara, Director of Economic Research of the Yawata Steel Company, Tokyo; Professor Arthur Tiedermann of the College of the City of New York; Mr. Shuzo Watano, editor of The Oriental Economist, Tokyo; Messrs. Shigeo Matsumoto, Hiromu Yamamoto, and Tokusaburo Fujisawa of the Bank of Japan; Mr. Tristan Beplat of the Manufacturers Trust Company and Mr. August Maffrey of the Irving Trust Company; Mr. Reed J. Irvine of the Federal Reserve; Dr. Ralph J. Watkins of the Brookings Institution; Mr. Eugene Langston of the Japan Society; Professor Solomon B. Levine of the University of Illinois; Professor Warren S. Hunsberger of the University of Rochester; Mr. Takeshi Watanabe of the International Monetary Fund; Mr. David A. Kearns-Preston of the U. S. Department of Commerce; Dr. Philip Mosely and Mr. William Diebold, Jr. of the Council on Foreign Relations; Mr. Leland A. Randall of the International Cooperation Administration; Miss Thelma E. Vettel and Mr. Stanley Nehmer of the U. S. Department of State; and Miss Miriam S. Farley, production editor of Indiana University Press, I owe varying debts of gratitude and appreciation which can be acknowledged only in this most inadequate way. Naturally all these people and many others tried in differing ways to keep me from making mistakes but it seems probable that I outwitted them and misused many a statistic and even an occasional fact.

JEROME B. COHEN

New York, N. Y.

February 1958