The Economic History of Japan: 1600-1990 by Akira Hayami

The Economic History of Japan: 1600-1990 by Akira Hayami

This multi-volume series of modern Japanese economic history encompasses both the institutional aspects of Japanese economic development, and the results of econometric and cliometric research to place the key moments of Japanese economic history in a more general context.Volume one, The Emergence of Economic Society in Japan, focuses on the period from the start of the seventeenth century, when a discernible consumer population begins to form within cities, to the 1870s when the start of rapid industrialization is witnessed. This industrialization was unique amongst non-Western countries, facilitated by the emergence of their market economy. The contributors examine the reasons for these developments, tracing the emergence of a national economy in which agricultural produce begins to be produced specifically for the purpose of sale to the newly-forming urban consumer populations, and considerations of efficiency and competition are introduced into agriculture.Seventeenth century Japan is shown to be a society that was almost immediately able to provide key components of a market economy, such as communications, transport, and currency, so that economic laws began to operate spontaneously. Following its encounters with industrialized Western powers, Japan was quick to embrace their example, and uniquely was able to rapidly industrialize. Focusing on the foundations of modernity laid in this period, the volume explores whether this was a process of 'alternative modernization' to that experienced in the West.Written by leading Japanese scholars, and available for the first time in English-translation, the contributions have been abridged and re-written for a non-Japanese readership.

Overall, this is a treasure trove of information for students of both Japanese and comparative economic development, and it is valuable for making the recent work of some of Japan's leading economic historians accessible to readers who do not know Japanese* CHOICE *

Akira Hayami is Professor of Economics at Reitaku University, having previously held positions at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies and Keio University. His previous publications include The Historical Demography of Pre-Modern Japan (University of Tokyo Press, 2001). Osamu Saitô is Professor of Japanese and Asian Economics, and Director at the Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University. His previous publications include Asian Population History (OUP 2001) and Population and Economy: From Hunger to Modern Economic Growth (Co-edited with T. Bengtsson, OUP 2000). Ronald P. Toby is Professor of History at the Department of History, University of Illinois. He has previously held visiting professorships at the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, and Keio University, and has lectured at the University of California, Berkeley. His previous publications include State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia in the Development of the Tokugawa Bakufu (Princeton University Press, 1984).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780198289050
ISBN 10	0198289057
Title	The Economic History of Japan: 1600-1990
Author	Akira Hayami
Series	Economic History Of Japan 1660-1990
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Year published	2004-07-22
Number of pages	440
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.