Japan: The Fuse for Asian Economic Development

Abstract

The long, narrow Japanese archipelago lies north to south, resembling a curved breakwater for the vast Eurasian continent. Yet this seemingly insignificant archipelago is home to the world’s second largest economic powerhouse. Up to the 1850s, two centuries after its first contact with Europeans, Japan was no more than a Far Eastern hermit to European eyes. That is why many tend to believe that Japan emerged as a modern industrialized nation overnight with the Meiji Restoration, which is a totally erroneous point of view.