Economic development is a major concern to the majority of countries in the world today as they strive to catch up to the industrial West. Japan has been the most successful non-Western country in building an economy which qualifies it as developed. Most studies of economic development in Japan focus on macro-level issues, particularly on analysis of the role government played in the development process. It is generally recognized that Japan's central government played a major role in fostering industrial development. It is unfortunate that this fairly centralized political structure has somewhat obscured the role that local government may have had in helping local economies grow. In a sense, these local development efforts were at least as important as what was going on at the national level, because if peripheral areas had not developed at all, they would have become a liability for the central government and the core areas. This study examines one particular aspect of the development process in Japan; specifically, local government's role in fostering economic development throughout the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho (1912-1926) eras. The silk industry in Shimane prefecture provides the context of the case study approach used. The analysis focuses on two key issues: the mechanisms used by local government and the impact of growth on the local silk industry and on the standard of living.

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The most important long-term political forces operative in the Japanese political system are the interplay of decentralized community authority and the consolidation of that authority toward the top. The mura kyodotai (village community) concept is representative of both types of authority, neither of which has defined boundaries. An examination of the nature of indigenous community authority may provide the broad context for a valid understanding of Japanese decision making. Under the ideal of this order, Japanese political organization has valued the structure of Shinto: polytheistic local authority, plus conflated authority of church and state. Buddhism and Confucianism have provided direction and moral force to preserve traditional order.

Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine might have been better equipped to understand the Okinawan reversion movement than are most Americans today. Many Americans in Okinawa wonder why, in the light of the obvious military and economic advantages of American occupation of the Ryukyus, an over- whelming majority of the Ryukyus wish to return to Japan. The question includes, of course, a full periphery of qualifications relating to degree and schedule of withdrawal, but the fact remains that no Japanese or okinawan politician dares oppose eventual reversion.

The postwar transformation of the international environment has caused economic issues to become a main source of contention among industrial states. The trade imbalance between Japan and its trading partners became a major source of conflict. Reciprocity of access and opening the market of Japan became the main point of debate and the major issue affecting relations between Japan and the United States. While the distinction between the domain of domestic and international politics increasingly is blurred, different domestic political economies create bilateral political and economic conflict. The structure and politics of intercorporate groups or vertical keiretsu are a major feature of Japan's industrial structure and political economy. This case study examines how vertical keiretsu in the automobile and home electric appliance industries affect the Japanese political economy and international trade. A political economy approach focuses on the political context of economic phenomena by analyzing both political and economic variables. Case studies of keiretsu were used in order to gain an understanding of Japan's political economy. A number of propositions or assumptions about the political economy and the dynamics of keiretsu were examined in these studies. It was found that vertical keiretsu influences the industrial sector, trade, and foreign policies in Japan. Japan's industrial policies cannot fully be understood without taking keiretsu into consideration. Scholars have not yet fully considered vertical keiretsu as major actors in the Japanese political process. Their political influence on industrial policies has largely been overlooked. Vertical keiretsu in the automobile and home electric appliance industries were found in the case studies to have been shaping industrial policies since the early post war years. Findings about the nature of Japan's political economy help to explain the conflictive bilateral relationships between Japan and the United States. The findings also show that understanding political economies of nations is increasingly important as the world economy grows and greater trade interaction is imminent.

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This thesis examines the Japanese military conquests leading up to their attack on Pearl Harbor, including aggression towards Korea, China, and the Pacific islands.