Iron and steel
Non- ferrous metals
Metal finished goods
Ma- chinery
Ceramics and cement
Chem- icals
Petro- leum
and coal products
Pulp and paper
Textiles
Wood and wood products
Food
1949
4.8
9.6
4.6
75.7
4.0
3.7
6.3
1.7
7.6
3.5
0.9
4.9
8.9
34.8
11.7
1950
5.9
10.3
5.7
80.0
5.1
5.1
7.3
1.8
9.0
4.7
1.7
6.7
12.6
36.5
13.1
1951
8.0
11.0
7.8
91.4
7.1
6.9
8.8
2.9
12.5
6.3
2.8
9.1
17.9
54.7
16.8
1952
8.6
11.9
8.4
94.4
7.7
7.1
9.3
3.0
13.0
6.9
3.6
10.4
20.3
58.2
17.2
1953
10.4
12.7
10.2
101.2
9.5
8.4
9.9
3.8
15.4
8.6
4.6
13.3
24.4
55.7
26.3
1954
11.2
13.5
11.1
97.5
10.4
8.8
11.5
4.3
17.5
9.8
5.4
14.5
26.5
54.6
28.5
1955
12.1
14.5
11.9
98.0
11.3
9.8
12.2
4.3
17.7
11.3
6.2
16.6
29.6
54.4
30.3
1956
14.9
16.7
14.6
108.3
13.9
12.0
14.7
6.2
21.5
13.6
8.0
19.2
35.2
60.8
32.0
1957
17.3
18.6
17.3
119.3
16.5
13.6
16.4
8.7
25.3
16.0
9.6
21.7
38.9
64.1
30.7
1958
17.4
19.7
17.3
115.7
16.6
12.8
16.0
15.6
9.3
23.9
16.0
10.0
21.3
34.8
61.8
35.6
1959
20.9
22.6
20.8
114.6
20.1
17.0
21.0
19.2
12.0
28.3
18.5
12.4
27.9
40.6
65.9
37.7
1960
26.0
26.5
25.9
125.2
25.3
22.4
27.8
24.4
16.5
25.7
22.3
15.8
33.6
47.9
73.2
39.9
1961
31.0
30.8
31.0
134.0
30.4
28.3
33.3
28.8
21.4
41.5
25.5
19.0
40.5
51.7
77.5
43.1
1962
33.5
32.9
33.6
137.0
32.9
28.3
32.5
30.3
24.0
45.3
29.2
21.4
43.4
54.5
79.3
46.6
1963
37.3
36.0
37.4
135.9
36.7
31.9
37.2
34.0
26.5
48.1
32.2
25.6
48.0
58.6
83.8
57.8
1964
43.2
40.6
43.3
137.1
42.6
39.7
45.6
39.6
32.3
55.5
36.6
30.3
54.5
64.8
88.9
62.7
1965
44.9
43.3
44.9
135.2
44.3
40.8
45.3
40.5
32.8
57.1
40.1
34.8
55.7
69.4
90.0
66.7
1966
50.7
47.6
50.8
143.1
50.2
47.2
51.0
48.0
38.1
62.2
45.3
40.0
62.5
76.4
95.4
73.1
1967
60.5
54.0
60.7
141.0
60.2
61.1
61.6
58.6
49.6
72.8
53.0
48.1
69.6
83.3
102.5
76.8
1968
69.7
59.6
70.1
142.1
69.6
68.4
74.3
71.0
61.5
81.4
62.6
56.9
76.9
88.4
107.0
78.7
1969
80.7
67.0
81.3
142.9
80.9
82.6
86.6
84.0
74.8
90.3
73.7
67.9
86.6
97.0
113.9
83.6
1970
91.8
75.9
92.5
139.2
92.2
94.2
93.8
96.9
87.7
101.0
86.8
79.8
98.2
105.2
118.7
89.9
1971
94.3
80.6
94.9
131.6
94.6
91.2
95.7
100.1
89.8
102.6
91.6
87.4
100.6
109.4
117.1
92.6
1972
101.1
87.4
101.8
121.9
101.6
98.7
108.4
111.0
87.3
109.5
97.2
91.5
106.7
110.8
120.7
97.8
1973
116.2
97.4
117.0
112.8
117.0
118.8
128.6
133.4
117.4
126.5
110.2
106.6
119.3
118.5
122.1
98.6
1974
111.7
97.3
112.3
105.8
112.4
116.9
112.6
123.0
116.2
117.0
109.9
104.4
113.7
106.1
109.1
97.5
1975
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
1976
111.0
108.5
111.1
100.0
111.2
109.5
119.3
116.8
113.7
110.4
111.5
102.7
113.3
108.4
106.8
101.1
1977
115.6
113.7
115.7
103.1
115.7
108.1
125.0
124.9
121.3
115.2
117.2
104.7
115.3
106.7
104.4
104.6
1978
122.7
119.9
122.8
105.9
123.0
110.1
135.0
134.9
131.5
121.0
131.0
104.0
120.8
107.7
107.0
106.1
SOURCE
: Mainichi Shimbun Sha, ed.,
Showa
*
shi jiten
(Dictionary of Showa* History), Tokyo, 1980, p. 457.
Page 6
ment from textiles to machinery and finished metal products, a movement the Japanese call heavy and chemical industrialization (
jukagaku
*
kogyoka
*).
If we use a slightly different base linefor example, if we take 195153 to be 100then the index of gross national product for 193436 is 90; for 196163, 248; and for 197173, 664; and the index of manufacturing production for 193436 is 87; for 196163, 400; and for 197173, 1,350. Over the whole postwar era, 1946 to 1976, the Japanese economy increased 55-fold.
2
By the end of our period Japan accounted for about 10 percent of the world's economic activity though occupying only 0.3 percent of the world's surface and supporting about 3 percent of the world's population. Regardless of whether or not one wants to call this achievement a "miracle," it is certainly a development worth exploring.