1980s in Japan
Encyclopedia
| Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
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| 1990s 1990s in Japan The 1990s in Japan was the beginning of their economic turmoil and recession for that particular nation; resulting in their Lost Decade. While the Lost Decade would finally end in 2000 for Japan, this would become the era where young Japanese salarymen were forced to find different lines of... (1990s) |
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In Japan during the 1980s, the economy
Economy of Japan
The economy of Japan, a free market economy, is the third largest in the world after the United States and the People's Republic of China, and ahead of Germany at 4th...
was in a boom
Boom and bust
A credit boom-bust cycle is an episode characterized by a sustained increase in several economics indicators followed by a sharp and rapid contraction. Commonly the boom is driven by a rapid expansion of credit to the private sector accompanied with rising prices of commodities and stock market index...
where buyers found themselves paying the highest prices for goods and commodities. As of March 2010, the unemployment rate in Japan is 4.9%; a very low number compared to the unemployment rate during the height of the 1990s. The following decade would see Japan's economy decline substantially, giving rise to the name the Lost Decade
Lost Decade (Japan)
The is the time after the Japanese asset price bubble's collapse within the Japanese economy, which occurred gradually rather than catastrophically...
.
Entertainment
The 1980s saw the firm establishment of animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
as major forms of entertainment for the Japanese public. Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation and film studio founded in June 1985. The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro...
, arguably the most famous and respected animation studio in Japan, was established by Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
, Isao Takahata
Isao Takahata
is a Japanese anime filmmaker that have earned critical international acclaim for his work as a director. Takahata is co-founder of Studio Ghibli with long-time collaborative partner Hayao Miyazaki. He has directed films such as the war-themed Grave of the Fireflies, the romantic-drama Only...
, and Toshio Suzuki
Toshio Suzuki (producer)
is a film producer of anime and a long-time colleague of Hayao Miyazaki, as well as the current CEO of Studio Ghibli. Suzuki is renowned as one of Japan's most successful producers after the enormous box office success of many Ghibli films. According to Miyazaki, "If it were not for Mr...
in 1985 following the success of Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Newtype
Newtype (magazine)
is a monthly magazine publication originating from Japan, covering anime and manga . It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985 with its April issue, and has since seen regular release on the 10th of every month in its home country...
, one of the two major anime industry magazines, was started in 1985 as well.
Examples of Japanese products created and distributed during the 1980s included Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong
is a fictional gorilla in the Donkey Kong and Mario series. He is roughly twice the size of a normal gorilla, weighing approximately 800 pounds. Donkey Kong first appeared in Nintendo's popular 1981 video game of the same name. Since then he has appeared in over 20 games in his own series, as well...
, Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
, and classic anime like Astro Boy and Akira
Akira
Akira may refer to:*Akira , a 1980s cyberpunk manga by Katsuhiro Otomo**Akira , a 1988 anime film adaptation of the manga...
. Nintendo came of age offering video arcade
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
games and their famous Family Computer
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
(informally known as Famicom) system. American-based Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
struggled to compete in Japan but they couldn't defeat the Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
-Nintendo duopoly
Duopoly
A true duopoly is a specific type of oligopoly where only two producers exist in one market. In reality, this definition is generally used where only two firms have dominant control over a market...
in the video arcade realm. Future Japanese game designers would cut their teeth during this era playing 8-bit
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
games and end up designing video games on much more complicated architectures (systems like the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
, the Sony PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, and the Sony PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
).
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling in Japan
Puroresu is the popular term for the predominant style or genre of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of "professional wrestling" , which is shortened to puroresu . The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu...
was declining in the 1980s in both Japan and in North America. Even the most predominant men's and women's wrestling leagues were losing popularity like America's World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
. By the 2000s, professional wrestling was relegated to the midnight
Midnight
Midnight is the transition time period from one day to the next: the moment when the date changes. In the Roman time system, midnight was halfway between sunset and sunrise, varying according to the seasons....
hours by television broadcasting. However, a few crucial championships would bring women's wrestling into a new era of the 1980s.
Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
, considered the "god of manga" in Japan, died on 9 February 1989. Hibari Misora
Hibari Misora
was an award-winning Japanese enka singer and actress. and was the first woman in Japan to receive the People's Honour Award, which was awarded posthumously for her notable contributions to the music industry. Misora recorded 1,200 songs, and sold 68 million records. After she died, consumer demand...
, one of the most popular and best selling female pop artists in Japan, died on 24 June 1989. She had held her last public performance in Kitakyushu in February that same year.
Cinema, television, and video
Award-winning live action films released during the 1980s include ZigeunerweisenZigeunerweisen (film)
is a 1980 independent Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki and based on Hyakken Uchida's novel, Disk of Sarasate. It takes its title from a gramophone recording of Pablo de Sarasate's violin composition, Zigeunerweisen, which features prominently in the story...
(1980), Kagemusha
Kagemusha
is a 1980 film by Akira Kurosawa. The title is a term used for an impersonator. It is set in the Warring States era of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class criminal who is taught to impersonate a dying warlord in order to dissuade opposing lords from attacking the newly vulnerable...
(1980), Station
Station (film)
is a 1981 Japanese film directed by Yasuo Furuhata. Among many awards, it was chosen as Best Film at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony.-Cast:* Ken Takakura: Eiji Mikami* Chieko Baisho: Kiriko Michio* Ayumi Ishida: Naoko Mikami...
(1981), Fall Guy
Fall Guy
is a 1982 Japanese film directed by Kinji Fukasaku, art direction by Akira Takahashi. Among many awards, it was chosen as the Best Film at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony....
(1982), The Ballad of Narayama
The Ballad of Narayama (1983 film)
is a 1983 Japanese film by director Shohei Imamura. It stars Sumiko Sakamoto as Orin, Ken Ogata, and Shoichi Ozawa. It is an adaptation of the book Narayama bushiko by Shichiro Fukazawa and remake of the 1958 film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita.- Plot :...
(1983), The Funeral
The Funeral (1984 film)
is a 1984 Japanese comedy film by director Itami Juzo.The film shows the preparations for a traditional Japanese funeral. It mixes grief at the loss of a husband and father with wry observations of the various characters as they interact during the three days of preparation.The Funeral was the...
(1984), Gray Sunset
Gray Sunset
is a 1985 Japanese film directed by Shunya Ito. It was Japan's submission to the 58th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee...
(1985), House on Fire
House on Fire
is a 1986 Japanese film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. It was chosen as Best Film at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony.-Cast:*Ken Ogata as Kazuo Dan*Ayumi Ishida as Yoriko Dan*Mieko Harada as Keiko*Keiko Matsuzaka as Tokuko Tanayoshi*Chu Arai...
(1986), A Taxing Woman
A Taxing Woman
is a 1987 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Juzo Itami. It won numerous awards, including six major Japanese Academy awards.The title character of the film, played by Nobuko Miyamoto, is a government tax investigator who employs various techniques to catch tax evaders.The director...
(1987), The Silk Road
The Silk Road
aka Dun-Huang is a 1988 Japanese film directed by Junya Sato. The movie was adapted from the 1959 novel Tun-Huang by Yasushi Inoue with the backdrop of the plotline being the Mogao Caves manuscript trove...
(1988), and Black Rain
Black Rain (Japanese film)
is a 1989 Japanese film by director Shohei Imamura and based on the novel of the same name by Ibuse Masuji. The events are centered on the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.-Plot:...
(1989).
NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
started experimental broadcasting of TV program using the BS-2a satellite on May, 1984. The satellite BS-2a was launched in preparation for the start of full scale 2-channel broadcasts. Broadcasting Satellite BS-2a was the first national DBS (direct broadcasting satellite), transmitting signals directly into the home of TV viewers. One of the three transponders malfunctioned 2 months after launch (March 23, 1984) and a second transponder malfunctioned 3 months after launch (May 3, 1984), so the scheduled satellite broadcasting had to be hastily adjusted to test broadcasting on a single channel.
Later, NHK started regular service (NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
) and experimental HDTV
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
broadcasting using BS-2b in June 1989. Some Japanese producers of home electronic consumer devices began to deliver TV set
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
s, VCR
Videocassette recorder
The videocassette recorder , is a type of electro-mechanical device that uses removable videocassettes that contain magnetic tape for recording analog audio and analog video from broadcast television so that the images and sound can be played back at a more convenient time...
s and even home acoustic systems equipped with built-in satellite tuner
Tuner
Tuner may refer to someone or something which adjusts or configures a mechanical, electronic, or musical device.- Electronic :* Antenna tuner, a device to adjust the resonance frequency of an antenna or transmission line...
s or receivers
Receiver (radio)
A radio receiver converts signals from a radio antenna to a usable form. It uses electronic filters to separate a wanted radio frequency signal from all other signals, the electronic amplifier increases the level suitable for further processing, and finally recovers the desired information through...
. Such electronic goods had a specific BS logo.
Anime and manga
Mobile Suit GundamMobile Suit Gundam
is a televised anime series, created by Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting Network on April 7, 1979, and lasted until January 26, 1980, spanning 43 episodes...
, the most popular giant robot
Giant Robot
Giant Robot may refer to:* Giant Robot , magazine of Asian American popular culture* Mecha, a piloted or remote-controlled limbed vehicle* Giant Robot Week, week-long event that aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami in 2003...
series in the world, finished its television run in January 1980. The future founders of animation studio Gainax
Gainax
is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as Gunbuster, The Wings of Honneamise, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann which have gone on to critical acclaim and commercial success, as well as for their association with...
created the opening animations
DAICON III and IV Opening Animations
The DAICON III and IV Opening Animations are two short, anime, 8 mm films that were produced for the 1981 DAICON III and 1983 DAICON IV Nihon SF Taikai conventions. They were produced by a group of amateur animators known as DAICON Film, who would later go on to form the animation studio Gainax...
for the 1981 and 1983 Daicon
Nihon SF Taikai
The is an annual science fiction convention held in Japan. Each of these conventions is officially the , but they are more popularly known by the official nicknames given to them based on their locations, e.g. TOKON or DAICON .Each year the Nihon SF Taikai attracts between 1,000 and 1,500 science...
science fiction conventions. The TV series based on the hit Rumiko Takahashi
Rumiko Takahashi
is a Japanese manga artist.Takahashi is one of the wealthiest individuals, and the most affluent manga artists in Japan. The manga she creates are popular worldwide, where they have been translated into a variety of languages...
manga series Urusei Yatsura
Urusei Yatsura
is a comedic manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien...
began its 4½-year run in October 1981. The first arc of the Robotech
Robotech
Robotech is an 85-episode science fiction anime adaptation produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. and first released in the United States in 1985...
series, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
is an anime television series. According to story creator Shoji Kawamori, it depicts "a love triangle against the backdrop of great battles" during the first Human-alien war....
, began airing in Japan in October 1982. In 1983, the first OVA, Dallos
Dallos
is a Japanese science fiction OVA released in 1983, directed by Mamoru Oshii and created by Oshii and Hisayuki Toriumi . It is widely considered the first OVA ever released. The storyline focuses on Moon pioneers and the evolution of mankind.- Story :In a near future, mankind has moved from a...
, was released. The most well known adult
Hentai
is a Japanese word that, in the West, is used when referring to sexually explicit or pornographic comics and animation, particularly those of Japanese origin such as anime, manga, and computer games. The word hentai is a kanji compound of 変 and 態...
anime series, Cream Lemon
Cream Lemon
is an erotic anime series with some in-depth storylines and classic artwork. The first Cream Lemon OVA was released in 1984, though Cream Lemon was not the first hentai OVA...
, began in 1984.
Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
worked with many future members of Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation and film studio founded in June 1985. The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro...
and released Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in theaters in March 1984. Kenji Miyazawa's
Kenji Miyazawa
was a Japanese poet and author of children's literature in the early Shōwa period of Japan. He was also known as a devout Buddhist, vegetarian and social activist.-Early life:...
classic novel Night on the Galactic Railroad
Night on the Galactic Railroad
, sometimes translated as Milky Way Railroad, Night Train to the Stars, or Fantasy Railroad In The Stars, is a classic Japanese novel by Kenji Miyazawa written around 1927. The nine-chapter novel was posthumously published in 1934 as part of published by...
was adapted into an anime film in 1985. The cyberpunk series Bubblegum Crisis
Bubblegum Crisis
is a Japanese cyberpunk direct-to-video animated series. It displays strong influences from Blade Runner, also making occasional references to it.- Setting :...
, one of the first successful commercial anime released on video in North America, began in 1987. In 1988, the popular science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel series Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
is a series of science fiction novels by Yoshiki Tanaka. An anime adaptation of the novels by Artland ran from 1988 to 2000 as well as a manga based on the novels, with art by Katsumi Michihara...
was adapted into an anime film and the longest OVA series in history (110 episodes) was begun in December that same year.
My Neighbor Totoro
My Neighbor Totoro
, is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film follows the two young daughters of a professor and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan...
and Grave of the Fireflies
Grave of the Fireflies
is a 1988 Japanese animated war tragedy film written and directed by Isao Takahata. This is the first film produced by Shinchosha, who hired Studio Ghibli to do the animation production work...
were released together as a double feature in theaters in April 1988. In July that same year, the internationally acclaimed anime film Akira
Akira
Akira may refer to:*Akira , a 1980s cyberpunk manga by Katsuhiro Otomo**Akira , a 1988 anime film adaptation of the manga...
was released.
Demographics
Two cities were named designated cities during the 1980s: HiroshimaHiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
in 1980, and Sendai in 1989.
Population
In addition, the median age of the elderly population was rising in the late 1980s. The proportion of people age 65–85 was expected to increase from 6% in 1985 to 15% in 2025. Because the incidence of chronic disease increases with age, the health care and pension systems are expected to come under severe strain. In the mid-1980s the government began to reevaluate the relative burdens of government and the private sector in health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
and pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
s, and it established policies to control government costs in these programs. Recognizing the lower probability that an elderly person will be residing with an adult child and the higher probability of any daughter or daughter-in-law's participation in the paid labor force, the government encouraged establishment of nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
s, day-care facilities for the elderly, and home health programs. Longer life spans are altering relations between spouses and across generations, creating new government responsibilities, and changing virtually all aspects of social life.
Internal migration
Between 6 million and 7 million people moved their residences each year during the 1980s. About 50% of these moves were within the same prefecture; the others were relocations from one prefecture to another. During Japan's economic development in the twentieth century, and especially during the 1950s and 1960s, migration was characterized by urbanizationUrbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
as people from rural areas in increasing numbers moved to the larger metropolitan areas in search of better jobs and education. Out-migration from rural prefectures continued in the late 1980s, but more slowly than in previous decades.
In the 1980s, government policy provided support for new urban development away from the large cities, particularly Tokyo, and assisted regional cities to attract young people to live and work there. Regional cities offered familiarity to those from nearby areas, lower costs of living, shorter commutes, and, in general, a more relaxed life-style then could be had in larger cities. Young people continued to move to large cities, however, to attend universities and find work, but some returned to regional cities (a pattern known as U-turn) or to their prefecture of origin (a pattern referred to as J-turn).
Government statistics show that in the 1980s significant numbers of people left the largest central cities (Tokyo and Osaka) to move to suburbs within their metropolitan areas. In 1988 more than 500, 000 people left Tokyo, which experienced a net loss through migration of nearly 73, 000 for the year. Osaka had a net loss of nearly 36, 000 in the same year. However, the prefectures showing the highest net growth are located near the major urban centers, such as Saitama
Saitama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...
, Chiba
Chiba Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...
, Ibaraki
Ibaraki Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan, located in the Kantō region on the main island of Honshu. The capital is Mito.-History:Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province...
, and Kanagawa
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
around Tokyo, and Hyogo
Hyogo Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...
, Nara
Nara Prefecture
is a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.-History:The present-day Nara Prefecture was created in 1887, making it independent of Osaka Prefecture....
, and Shiga
Shiga Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan, which forms part of the Kansai region on Honshu Island. The capital is the city of Ōtsu.- History :Shiga was known as Ōmi Province or Gōshū before the prefectural system was established...
near Osaka and Kyoto. This pattern suggests a process of suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
anization, people moving away from the cities for affordable housing but still commuting there for work and recreation, rather than a true decentralization.
Economy
Overall real economic growth was called a "miracle"Japanese post-war economic miracle
The Japanese post-war economic miracle is the name given to the historical phenomenon of Japan's record period of economic growth following World War II, spurred mainly by Japanese economic policy, in particular through the Ministry of International Trade and Industry...
, with a 4% average during the 1980s. Throughout the 1970s, Japan had the world's second largest gross national product (GNP
Measures of national income and output
A variety of measures of national income and output are used in economics to estimate total economic activity in a country or region, including gross domestic product , gross national product , and net national income . All are specially concerned with counting the total amount of goods and...
)—just behind the United States— and ranked first among major industrial nations in 1990 in per capita
Per capita
Per capita is a Latin prepositional phrase: per and capita . The phrase thus means "by heads" or "for each head", i.e. per individual or per person...
GNP at US$23,801, up sharply from US$9,068 in 1980. After a mild economic slump in the mid-1980s, Japan's economy began a period of expansion in 1986 that continued until it again entered a recessionary period
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
in 1992. Economic growth averaging 5% between 1987 and 1989 revived industries, such as steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
and construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
, which had been relatively dormant in the mid-1980s, and brought record salaries and employment.
Unlike the economic booms of the 1960s and 1970s, when increasing exports played the key role in economic expansion, domestic demand
Demand
- Economics :*Demand , the desire to own something and the ability to pay for it*Demand curve, a graphic representation of a demand schedule*Demand deposit, the money in checking accounts...
propelled the Japanese economy in the late 1980s. This development involved fundamental economic restructuring, moving from dependence on exports to reliance on domestic demand. The boom that started in 1986 was generated by the decisions of companies to increase private plant and equipment spending and of consumers to go on a buying spree. Japan's imports grew at a faster rate than exports. Japanese postwar technological research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
was carried out for the sake of economic growth rather than military development. The growth in high-technology industries in the 1980s resulted from heightened domestic demand for high-technology products and for higher living, housing, and environmental standards; better health, medical, and welfare opportunities; better leisure
Recreation
Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...
-time facilities; and improved ways to accommodate a rapidly aging society.
Japan introduced the national consumption tax
Consumption tax
A consumption tax is a tax on spending on goods and services. The tax base of such a tax is the money spent on consumption. Consumption taxes are usually indirect, such as a sales tax or a value added tax...
of three percent in 1989.
Finances
Tokyo became a major financial center, home of some of the world's major bankBank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
s, financial firms, insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
companies, and the world's largest stock exchange
Stock exchange
A stock exchange is an entity that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and...
, the Tokyo Securities and Stock Exchange. Even here, however, the recession took its toll. In the decades following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Japan implemented stringent tariff
Tariff
A tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....
s and policies to encourage the people to save
Saving (money)
Saving is income not spent, or deferred consumption. Methods of saving include putting money aside in a bank or pension plan. Saving also includes reducing expenditures, such as recurring costs...
their income.
With more money in banks, loans and credit became easier to obtain, and with Japan running large trade surpluses
Balance of trade
The balance of trade is the difference between the monetary value of exports and imports of output in an economy over a certain period. It is the relationship between a nation's imports and exports...
, the yen
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
appreciated against foreign currencies. This allowed local companies to invest
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
in capital resources much more easily than their competitors overseas, which reduced the price of Japanese-made goods and widened the trade surplus further. And, with the yen appreciating, financial assets became very lucrative.
With so much money readily available for investment, speculation
Speculation
In finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...
was inevitable, particularly in the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Tokyo Stock Exchange
The , called or TSE for short, is located in Tokyo, Japan and is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies...
and the real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
market. The Nikkei stock index
Nikkei 225
The , more commonly called the Nikkei, the Nikkei index, or the Nikkei Stock Average , is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange . It has been calculated daily by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper since 1950. It is a price-weighted average , and the components are reviewed once a year...
hit its all-time high on December 29, 1989 when it reached an intra-day high of 38,957.44 before closing at 38,915.87. The rates for housing, stocks, and bonds rose so much that at one point the government issued 100-year bonds. Additionally, banks granted increasingly risky loan
Loan
A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....
s.
The Plaza Accord
Plaza Accord
The Plaza Accord or Plaza Agreement was an agreement between the governments of France, West Germany, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, to depreciate the U.S. dollar in relation to the Japanese yen and German Deutsche Mark by intervening in currency markets...
was signed in September 1985. This agreement between the governments of France, West Germany, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom, was to depreciate the US dollar in relation to the Japanese yen and German Deutsche Mark by intervening in currency markets. The exchange rate
Exchange rate
In finance, an exchange rate between two currencies is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. It is also regarded as the value of one country’s currency in terms of another currency...
value of the dollar versus the yen declined by 51% from 1985 to 1987. Most of this devaluation was due to the $10 billion spent by the participating central banks. Currency speculation caused the dollar to continue its fall after the end of coordinated interventions.
The recessionary effects of the strengthened yen in Japan's export-dependent economy created an incentive for the expansionary monetary policies that led to the Japanese asset price bubble
Japanese asset price bubble
The was an economic bubble in Japan from 1986 to 1991, in which real estate and stock prices were greatly inflated. The bubble's collapse lasted for more than a decade with stock prices initially bottoming in 2003, although they would descend even further amidst the global crisis in 2008. The...
of the late 1980s. The Louvre Accord
Louvre Accord
The Louvre Accord was signed by the then G6 on February 22, 1987 in Paris, France. Italy had been an invited member, but declined to finalize the agreement...
was signed in 1987 to halt the continuing decline of the US Dollar. The signing of the Plaza Accord was significant in that it reflected Japan's emergence as a real player in managing the international monetary system.
Health care
National health expenditures rose from about 1 trillion yen in 1965 to nearly 20 trillion yen in 1989, or from slightly more than 5% to more than 6% of Japan's national income. The system has been troubled with excessive paperwork, assembly-line care for out-patients (because few facilities made appointments), over medication, and abuse of the system because of low out-of-pocket costsOut-of-pocket expenses
Out-of-pocket expenses are direct outlays of cash which may or may not be later reimbursed.In operating a vehicle, gasoline, parking fees and tolls are considered out-of-pocket expenses for the trip...
to patients. Another problem is an uneven distribution of health personnel, with rural areas favored over cities.
By the early 1980s, pensions accounted for nearly 50% of social welfare and social security expenditures because people were living longer after retirement. A major revision in the public pension system in 1986 unified several former plans into the single Employee Pension Insurance Plan. In addition to merging the former plans, the 1986 reform attempted to reduce benefits to hold down increases in worker contribution rates. It also established the right of women who did not work outside the home to pension benefits of their own, not only as a dependent of a worker. Everyone aged between twenty and sixty was a compulsory member of this Employee Pension Insurance Plan.
Despite complaints that these pensions amounted to little more than "spending money," an increasing number of people planning for their retirement counted on them as an important source of income. Benefits increased so that the basic monthly pension was about US$420 in 1987, with future payments adjusted to the consumer price index
Consumer price index
A consumer price index measures changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households. The CPI, in the United States is defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as "a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of...
. Forty percent of elderly households in 1985 depended on various types of annuities and pensions as their only sources of income.
Some people are also eligible for corporate retirement allowances. About 90% of firms with thirty or more employees gave retirement allowances in the late 1980s, frequently as lump sum payments but increasingly in the form of annuities.
In the late 1980s, government and professional circles were considering changing the system so that primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of care would be clearly distinguished within each geographical region. Further, facilities would be designated by level of care and referrals would be required to obtain more complex care. Policy makers and administrators also recognized the need to unify the various insurance systems and to control costs.
Manufacturing
During the 1980s, the Japanese economy shifted its emphasis away from primary and secondary activities (notably agricultureAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
, and mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
) to processing, with telecommunications and computers becoming increasingly vital. Information became an important resource and product
Product (business)
In general, the product is defined as a "thing produced by labor or effort" or the "result of an act or a process", and stems from the verb produce, from the Latin prōdūce ' lead or bring forth'. Since 1575, the word "product" has referred to anything produced...
, central to wealth and power. The rise of an information-based economy was led by major research in highly sophisticated technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, such as advanced computers. The selling and use of information became very beneficial to the economy.
Japanese cars had a 33% hold on the American automobile market at that time and then-current U.S. President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
waged a price war against the new Japanese automobiles. As a result, Japanese auto manufactures took advantage of their vehicles' superior MPG (miles per gallon) rating.
Real estate
At the height of the bubble, real estate values were extremely over-valued. Between 1955 and 1989, land prices in the six largest cities increased 15, 000% (+12% a year). Urban land prices generally increased 40% from 1980 to 1987; in the six largest cities, the price of land doubled over that period. For many families, this trend put housing in central cities out of reach. The result was lengthy commutes for many workers; daily commutes of two hours each way are not uncommon in the Tokyo area.Prices were highest in Tokyo's Ginza
Ginza
is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi.It is known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. Ginza is recognized as one of the most...
district in 1989, with choice properties fetching over US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1.5 million per square meter ($139,000 per square foot). Prices were only slightly less in other areas of Tokyo.
Environment
In a 1984 the Environmental Agency had issued its first white paperWhite paper
A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...
. In the 1989 study, citizens thought environmental problems had improved compared with the past, nearly 41 % thought things had improved, 31 % thought that they had stayed the same, and nearly 21 % thought that they had worsened. Some 75 % of those surveyed expressed concern about endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
, shrinkage of rain forests, expansion of deserts
Desertification
Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...
, destruction of the ozone layer
Ozone layer
The ozone layer is a layer in Earth's atmosphere which contains relatively high concentrations of ozone . This layer absorbs 97–99% of the Sun's high frequency ultraviolet light, which is potentially damaging to the life forms on Earth...
, acid rain
Acid rain
Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...
, and increased water
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....
and air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
in developing countries
Developing country
A developing country, also known as a less-developed country, is a nation with a low level of material well-being. Since no single definition of the term developing country is recognized internationally, the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries...
. Most believed that Japan, alone or in cooperation with other industrialized countries, had the responsibility to solve environmental problems.
After the moratorium on commercial whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
in 1986, Japanese government started its whaling for research purposes the following year. This whaling program has been criticized by environmental protection groups and anti-whaling countries, who say that the program was not for scientific researches.
National parks
Several national and quasi-national parks were established during the 1980s. Hidaka Sanmyaku-Erimo Quasi-National ParkHidaka Sanmyaku-Erimo Quasi-National Park
is the largest quasi-national park in Japan. The park includes the Hidaka Mountains and Cape Erimo and is located in southeast Hokkaidō. The park was designated Erimo Prefectural Park in 1950 and Erimo Prefectural Nature Park in 1958 until it was raised to a quasi-national in 1981...
in Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
is the largest quasi-national park in Japan and was opened in October 1981. Kushiro Shitsugen National Park
Kushiro Shitsugen National Park
is a national park located in the east of the island of Hokkaidō, Japan. It was designated as a national park on 31 July 1987, and is the 28th and most recent of Japan's national parks. The park is known for its wetlands ecosystems....
in Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
, known for its wetlands, was opened in July 1987.
Natural disasters
On May 26, 1983, a tsunami caused by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in the Sea of JapanSea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
killed 107 people, including three in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
.
Mount Ontake
Mount Ontake
, also referred to as , is the second highest volcano in Japan at located around northeast of Nagoya. It is on the borders of Kiso and Ōtaki, Nagano Prefecture, and Gero, Gifu Prefecture...
, thought to be inactive, had a series of eruptions in 1980. In 1981, the caldera lake
Crater lake
A crater lake is a lake that forms in a volcanic crater or caldera, such as a maar; less commonly and with lower association to the term a lake may form in an impact crater caused by a meteorite. Sometimes lakes which form inside calderas are called caldera lakes, but often this distinction is not...
volcano Lake Shikotsu
Lake Shikotsu
is a caldera lake in Chitose, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is a part of the Shikotsu-Toya National Park.- Geography :Lake Shikotsu is located in the south-west part of Hokkaidō. It has an average depth of and a maximum depth of , making it the second deepest lake in Japan, after Lake Tazawa...
erupted in Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
, followed in 1982 by Mount Tarumae
Mount Tarumae
is located in the Shikotsu-Toya National Park in Hokkaidō, Japan. It is located near both Tomakomai and Chitose towns and can be seen clearly from both. It is on the shores of Lake Shikotsu, a caldera lake. Tarumae is a 1,041 metre active andesitic stratovolcano, with a lava dome.-Eruptions:The...
, which is located on its shores. Mount Kusatsu-Shirane
Mount Kusatsu-Shirane
is a 2160 meter active volcano in Kusatsu, Gunma, Japan. It is called Kusatsu Shirane to differentiate it from the Mount Nikkō-Shirane on the other side of Gunma Prefecture. The summit of Kusatsu-Shirane volcano, located immediately north of Asama volcano, consists of a series of overlapping...
in Kusatsu
Kusatsu, Gunma
is a small town in Agatsuma District in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Kusatsu is situated about 1,200 meters above sea level. The active volcano Kusatsu-Shirane and the inactive Mount Tengu and Mount Motoshirane are located west of Kusatsu.-Climate:Due to the altitude Kusatsu's annual average...
, Gunma Prefecture
Gunma Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the northwest corner of the Kantō region on Honshu island. Its capital is Maebashi.- History :The remains of a Paleolithic man were found at Iwajuku, Gunma Prefecture, in the early 20th century and there is a public museum there.Japan was without horses until...
, erupted in 1983. The Kaitoku Seamount erupted in 1984, Mount Tokachi
Mount Tokachi (Daisetsuzan)
is an active volcano located in Daisetsuzan National Park, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is the tallest volcano of the Tokachi Volcanic Group. It is one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan....
—located in Hokkaidō—and Izu-Tobu—located on the Izu Peninsula
Izu Peninsula
The is a large mountainous peninsula with deeply indented coasts to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific coast of the island of Honshū, Japan. Formerly the eponymous Izu Province, Izu peninsula is now a part of Shizuoka Prefecture...
—erupted in 1989.
Politics
Emperor ShowaHirohito
, posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or , was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to...
died in the year 1989 after serving his people for more than 60 years. Akihito
Akihito
is the current , the 125th emperor of his line according to Japan's traditional order of succession. He acceded to the throne in 1989.-Name:In Japan, the emperor is never referred to by his given name, but rather is referred to as "His Imperial Majesty the Emperor" which may be shortened to . In...
acceded to the throne in 1989, and is the 20th most senior monarch or lifelong leader. He is the world's only reigning monarch
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
whose title is customarily translated into English as "Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
".
There were a number of prime ministers
Prime Minister of Japan
The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...
who served during the 1980s. Masayoshi Ōhira
Masayoshi Ohira
was a Japanese politician and the 68th and 69th Prime Minister of Japan from December 7, 1978 to June 12, 1980. He is the most recent Japanese prime minister to die in office.He was born in present day Kan'onji, Kagawa and attended Hitotsubashi University....
had to finish his second term in June 1980 and call early elections when the LDP's Fukuda, Nakasone and Miki factions abstained or voted with the opposition in a vote of no-confidence. He was only the second Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
to hold this office, the first having been Tetsu Katayama
Tetsu Katayama
was a Japanese politician and the 46th Prime Minister from May 24, 1947 to March 10, 1948.- Early life :He was born in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, and attended Tokyo Imperial University. Raised in the Christian faith, he was strongly influenced by the Christian Socialism of Abe Isō...
(1947–1948). Zenkō Suzuki
Zenko Suzuki
was a Japanese politician and the 70th Prime Minister of Japan from July 17, 1980 to November 27, 1982.Suzuki graduated from Tokyo University of Fisheries in 1935...
was appointed LDP president and Prime Minister following the sudden death of Ōhira, who died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
during the 1980 general election campaign. The sympathy vote generated by Ohira's death resulted in a landslide for the ruling LDP, handing Suzuki the largest parliament
Diet of Japan
The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
ary majority any Prime Minister had enjoyed for many years, and silencing inner-party opposition. Suzuki chose not to run for reelection to the presidency of the LDP in 1982, and was succeeded by Yasuhiro Nakasone
Yasuhiro Nakasone
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from November 27, 1982 to November 6, 1987. A contemporary of Brian Mulroney, Ronald Reagan, Helmut Kohl, François Mitterrand, Margaret Thatcher, and Mikhail Gorbachev, he is best known for pushing through the privatization of...
in November 1982.
Yasuhiro Nakasone
Yasuhiro Nakasone
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from November 27, 1982 to November 6, 1987. A contemporary of Brian Mulroney, Ronald Reagan, Helmut Kohl, François Mitterrand, Margaret Thatcher, and Mikhail Gorbachev, he is best known for pushing through the privatization of...
served three terms and implemented a policy of economic liberalization. Among his biggest projects was the privatization of the Japanese National Railways
Japanese National Railways
, abbreviated or "JNR", was the national railway network of Japan from 1949 to 1987.-History:The term Kokuyū Tetsudō "state-owned railway" originally referred to a network of railway lines operated by nationalized companies under the control of the Railway Institute following the nationalization...
. On foreign policy, he sought close alignment with the United States maintaining a personal friendship with U.S. president Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
. Nakasone gained notoriety among the various non-Japanese ethnic groups in Japan (particularly the sizeable Korean minority) for proclaiming that Japan's success was because it did not have ethnic minorities, like the US. He then clarified his comments, stating that he meant to congratulate the US on its economic success despite the presence of "problematic" minorities. Nakasone was replaced by Noboru Takeshita
Noboru Takeshita
was a Japanese politician and the 74th Prime Minister of Japan from November 6, 1987 to June 3, 1989.Takeshita was also the last Prime Minister during the long rule of the Emperor Shōwa.-Early years:...
in November 1987, and both were implicated, along with other LDP lawmakers, in the Recruit scandal
Recruit scandal
The was an insider trading and corruption scandal that forced many prominent Japanese politicians to resign in 1988.Recruit is a human resources and classifieds company based in Tokyo. Its chairman, Hiromasa Ezoe, offered a number of shares in a Recruit subsidiary, Cosmos, to business leaders and...
that broke the following year.
In June 1989, Sōsuke Uno
Sosuke Uno
was a Japanese politician and the 75th Prime Minister of Japan from June 3, 1989 to August 10, 1989.He was born in Shiga Prefecture and attended the Kobe University of Commerce...
became Prime Minister only to resign less than three months later in August 1989 amid a sex scandal
Sex scandal
A sex scandal is a scandal involving allegations or information about possibly-immoral sexual activities being made public. Sex scandals are often associated with movie stars, politicians, famous athletes or others in the public eye, and become scandals largely because of the prominence of the...
revealed by a geisha
Geisha
, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...
. The controversy surrounding Uno's extramarital affair was more focused on irresponsibility rather than immorality; Uno supposedly did not support his mistress, at the least not with an appropriate amount, which led her to complain publicly. The story was not widely publicized in Japan until a Washington Post reporter picked up the story from the Mainichi Shimbun
Mainichi Shimbun
The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by .-History:The history of the Mainichi Shimbun begins with founding of two papers during the Meiji period. The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun was founded first, in 1872. The Mainichi claims that it is the oldest existing Japanese daily newspaper...
, bringing international attention to Uno. Following Uno's resignation, most LDP lawmakers refused to associate with him, and he quickly lost control over his faction within the party. He was succeeded by the final Prime Minister of the 1980s, Toshiki Kaifu
Toshiki Kaifu
is a Japanese politician who was the 76th and 77th Prime Minister of Japan from 1989 to 1991.- Career :He was born in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, and was educated at Chuo University and Waseda University. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party , Kaifu ran successfully for the Diet in 1960 and...
, who was seen as a reformer within the LDP. Kaifu's appointment was a reaction to the political scandals of the late 1980s, but his attempts to reform the party were ultimately unsuccessful. The defeat in the House of Councillors elections of 1989
Japanese House of Councillors election, 1989
Elections for the Japanese House of Councillors were held in Japan in July 1989. The election result was a setback for ruling Liberal Democratic Party because of the Recruit scandal, 3% of consumption tax issue and involvement of Prime Minister Uno Sousuke in a sex scandal. The Social Democratic...
was the prelude for the LDP's decline as dominant party in the 1990s.
International agreements
Japan signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the SeaUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea , which took place from 1973 through 1982...
, defining the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources, in December 1982. In November 1983, Japan agreed to the International Tropical Timber Agreement
International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1983
The International Tropical Timber Agreement is an agreement to provide an effective framework for cooperation between tropical timber producers and consumers and to encourage the development of national policies aimed at sustainable utilization and conservation of tropical forests and their...
. The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer
Montreal Protocol
The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion...
was agreed upon in September 1987. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal
Basel Convention
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known simply as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of...
was signed in March 1989.