The contention that Japan's postwar economic recovery rested on more far-reaching political, social, and intellectual transformation than had been the case during the country's industrialization in the early-twentieth century does not conform to the facts surrounding Japanese economic development. Rather, Japan's growth subsequent to the end of the Second World War represented a continuation of the patterns of economic development characteristic of the pre-war years.
The first period of modern economic growth in Japan began with the implementation of the Meiji Constitution in 1889. Only modest growth occurred in this period. Japan required more than just government encouragement and cooperation to succeed as rapidly as it eventually did in its economic development. The combination of the strength of the state machinery established by the Meiji Constitution; the poverty of its resource base, which led to disinterest in the country on the part of the developed economies; and the geographic remoteness of Japan from the developed economies created the environment which led to rapid economic development in Japan.
The second period of modern economic development began in 1904. During this period, modern industry expanded substantially. In 1904, agriculture contributed 38 percent of Japan's gross domestic product, and employed 65 percent of the nation's workforce. By the end of the 1920s, manufacturing and mining contributed 23 percent of Japan's gross domestic product, while agriculture's contribution had fallen to 21 percent. The third period of modern economic development in Japan began in the early-1930s. Throughout the decade of the 1930s, Japan's economy grew at an average rate of five-percent per year. Manufacturing and mining contributed one-third of the country's gross domestic product by the end of the 1930s·twice the contribution of agriculture. This third period of modern economic
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