Immediately after the defeat of the Pacific War, Japan was seriously damaged.
Inflation caused tremendous inflation due to currency outbursts due to lack of goods, and many people wandered on the hunger line due to food shortages. Also, due to the large number of military personnel and repatriators, many people needed jobs and were worried about the increase in unemployment.
Economic democratization policy by GHQ
Under these circumstances, the United States and other allies that occupied Japan will undergo various reforms such as democratization of the Japanese economy.
Land reform
Most prewar farmers are peasants It is said that Japan has started to invade Asia because it is very poor and the domestic market is narrow. So, GHQ says poverty of farmers is the motive for Japan's invasion of foreign countries As a result, we abolished the landowners and copyholds that held down the farmers and reformed them so that they could carry out stable self-owned farming.
1946 In addition, Self-produced farming special measures law Was enacted and was implemented over 5 years.
All the absentee landowners and the farmland over about 1ha were bought cheaply by the government and sold to the tenant farmers at a low price.
Absentee Landlord =Landowner lives in another area
Landowner in village =Area where the landowner lives
With this policy, many peasants who suffered from high-interest rents are homegrown . The self-cultivation rate, which was about 30% in 1940, doubled to 62% in 1950, and the peasant land decreased to about 10% of the total.
Until now, peasants have been forced to sit down when landowners visit, but they have been freed from such feudal relationships, and farmers have become more motivated to produce and their productivity has improved.
On the other hand, the forests have not been touched, and there are still some areas where the policy is a little loose.
Dismantling the zaibatsu
Until now, it has been a driving force in the Japanese business world and has a deep relationship with the war [ Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Yasuda 】 15 conglomerates represented by asset freeze and dismantling Was ordered.
In the past, the head office employee of a conglomerate company was able to buy a house in Tokyo with a bonus, and the employee who bought the property with that bonus rented the house and was surprised that he could live on rent income only in old age.
So why was the chaebol dismantled?
The United States thought that Japan, which has few resources, was able to build the world's best battleship called [Yamato / Musashi] because of the power of the chaebol. The chaebol dominated the prewar Japanese economy and was a leader in the munitions industry, and wanted to support it.
Eliminating the monopoly of these conglomerates, economic democratization =free competition It seems that there was also the purpose of realizing this and weakening Japan's economic power.
1946 In addition, Holding Company Liquidity Committee Was established, and took up the shares owned by the holding company and the conglomerate family, sold them to the general public, and tried to eliminate the control of the affiliated companies by owning the shares.
The top conglomerates were banished from the business world, and the remaining younger generation became executives of the company, rejuvenating the management team. This Zaibatsu Dismantling By Sony or Honda New companies other than conglomerates have become the driving force of postwar economic development.
It also prevents the profit monopoly of large capital and brings competition to the market . For that purpose, 1947 Antitrust Law Was enacted and the Cartel Trust was banned. In the same year, a huge monopoly company whose economic power is concentrated due to a merger etc. will be split.
However, when this policy began to focus on the reconstruction of the Japanese economy as a barrier to communism from the demilitarization and democratization line, the dismantling of the conglomerate remained inadequate and its capital remained in a different form. ..
Elimination of Excessive Economic Power The division work of large companies by the company was limited to 11 companies after the initial 325 companies.
Democratization of education
Such a democratization policy was carried out with the aim of expanding domestic demand so that Japan would not be invaded by foreign countries, but GHQ thought that it would not be possible to expand domestic demand without raising the standard of living of the people who are workers. I also put a scalpel into the democratization of.
I thought that if free education was given, various opinions would be born and it would not lead to a national war.
Companies after the dismantling of the zaibatsu
We dismantled the conglomerate so that it could revitalize the Japanese economy and develop outside of the group companies.
Conglomerate Yasuda Bank After being dismantled, it became Fuji Bank, and after passing through the Industrial Bank of Japan ⇒ Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, it follows the current flow of Mizuho Bank.
Even now, the companies named Mitsubishi have dinner parties in Marunouchi and toast with the beer brand Kirin Beer because these companies are affiliated with Mitsubishi.
Elimination of Excessive Economic Power So, Dainippon Beer Is divided into Asahi beer and Japanese beer, and Japanese beer is Sapporo beer became. With the dismantling of Dainippon Beer, Kirin Beer has become able to compete on an equal footing and is still competing with each other.
Even in the steel industry, Nippon Steel has been split into Yawata Iron &Steel and Fuji Iron &Steel . The competition started with Kawasaki Steel and Sumitomo Metals . Has advanced. However, due to the globalization of the economy, it will become a company that can compete with foreign companies, so the split Yawata Iron &Steel and Fuji Iron &Steel merged to become Nippon Steel, and further merged with Sumitomo Metal Industries Nippon Steel &Steel .> have become.
Establishment of three labor rights and development of labor unions
1945 ⇒ Enactment of the Labor Union Law. Right to organize, right to bargain collectively, right to dispute Approved.
1946 ⇒ The Labor Relations Adjustment Act is enacted.
1947 ⇒ Labor Standards Law to protect workers from poor working conditions Is enacted.
Contents of the Labor Standards Law
Eight-hour work and equal pay for men and women were stipulated. By the way, it seems that this 8 hours working time was decided based on the standard that if you work more hours every day, there is a danger of life.
What about your company?
Postwar inflation measures
1946 Financial Emergency Measures Is issued.
Blocking deposits and switching to new yen to curb inflation The we.
We called on the bank to deposit old bills in order to collect and stop the distribution of banknotes that are already in circulation. We also called for the withdrawal of deposits to be withdrawn little by little with new bills, and set a limit on the amount of withdrawals.
Inflation gradually ended in this way.
1946 Has an Economic Stability Headquarters in Inclined Production to hold.
The inclined production method is a policy that focuses on the core industries such as coal, steel, and fertilizer by allocating limited supplies, funds, and labor, and prioritizes reconstruction. 1947- 1948 Was carried out.
But the government didn't have the money, so 1947 We also established the Reconstruction Finance Bank, which issued receivables and raised funds in the form of underwriting by the Bank of Japan. In this way, the production of coal and steel increased, and certain results were obtained.
Japan Finance Corporation As a result, the loan from the Bank of Japan was like having the Bank of Japan print money, resulting in accelerated inflation.
9 principles of economic stability
GHQ is 1948 In order, the Cabinet of Shigeru Yoshida will be instructed on the nine principles of economic stability.
The content was issued to control economic stability and inflation.
- Balanced budget (make budget without deficit)
- Strengthening tax collection
- Wage stability
- Exchange management
- Promotion of exports
Dodge, a banker, came to Japan as an economic adviser to GHQ in order to achieve these nine principles of economic stability.
Dodge's stilts economic theory
The Japanese economy is riding on stilts without both feet on the ground, and one is American aid . The other is domestic subsidy mechanism was. Therefore, Dodge thought that if the legs of the bamboo horse were raised too high, they could fall and break, so they needed to be shrunk immediately.
So 1949 Dodge Line Was carried out.
In order to curb inflation, we reduced national spending so that it could be covered by taxes, and created a budget that does not generate a deficit [super-balanced fiscal policy]. In addition, the [government subsidy] on one leg of stilts was discontinued, and the reconstruction financial bank Is abolished and credit issuance suspension policy And tried to rebuild the industry with the help of the United States, which is another foot.
Setting a single exchange rate
Until now, there have been innumerable exchange routes that are determined from time to time for each product in the exchange market, but $ 1 =¥ 360 I set the exchange rate in.
In addition, 1949 for the modernization of the Japanese tax system. Issued the Shoup Recommendation.
This is income tax-centric (direct tax-centric) / progressive taxation system 1950 Japan fully accepted this reform and implemented tax reform. However, although inflation has ended, the economy has been in recession due to lower fiscal spending and tax increases, many small and medium-sized enterprises have gone bankrupt, and ministries and private companies have been reorganized and unemployed.
1949 People's Republic of China With the expansion of communism, GHQ changed Japan's occupation policy to [ democratization and demilitarization . ] To [ Anti-communist barrier in the Far East ], And lifted the restrictions on the heavy chemical industry.
Korean War Special Demand and Reconstruction
When the Korean War began in 1950, Japan was flooded with orders for the production, repair, and transportation of American munitions. Ironically, the Japanese economy, which had fallen into a severe recession due to the forced Dodge Line, came back to life in the wake of this special demand.
In this special demand economy, productivity will recover to prewar levels, and Japan will advance to the period of high economic growth after that ...