Japan, the System That Soured : The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Economic Miracle [Paperback]

Richard Katz (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

[Katz's] book does a careful job of linking Japan's stunning postwar rise to its later stagnation, pinpointing the moment at which its economic model started to sour and explaining how those changes produced what he calls Japan's "deformed dual economy." -- The Wall Street Journal, David P. Hamilton

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: M.E. Sharpe (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765603101
• ISBN-13: 978-0765603104
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #777,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book integrates colloquially a lot of solid research., December 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Japan, the System That Soured : The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Economic Miracle (Paperback)

This book is essential for those who want to understand Japan's peculiar economy at one -- or perhaps a few -- sittings. It is not a "Japan bashing" book, but rather explains what Japan did right some decades ago, notes some failures, and -- most importantly -- spells out how Japan's 1970s-era switch to increasingly costly measures to shield its domestic economic losers set both Japan and the world up for big troubles down the line.

The introductory chapter sketches the terrain and the next seven chapters, starting with Japan's "Deformed Dual Economy," are easy to read, albeit redundantly written (redundancy is actually a plus for non-economists who need a lot of restatement to take points on board). Chapter 13 "Beyond Revisionism and Traditionalism" is worth the price of admission (to the paperback), giving a neat summary of two decades of American writing on Japan's economic miracle, the Japan justifiers and the "Japan bashing" revisionists. Anyone who missed this vast literature won't feel so guilty after reading Katz' marvelous summary/analysis.

The last chapter ("Interregnum: Whither Japan") is a brave attempt, but .... Leaving aside the merits of Katz' argument that further electoral reform is absolutely essential to shake up Japan's system and open up its economy, the section on electoral reform (pp. 321-331) is extremely confusing for anyone not already steeped in recent Japanese domestic politics. The section skips back and forth in time, assumes too much knowledge, and rehashes Western (too idealistic?) faith in the eventual coming of a true and pure opposition party.

Some aspects of Japan this reviewer would have liked to see more of are: why the tremendous resistance to inward foreign direct investment, and both more exceptions that disprove the rule and more examples of how foreigners came and bent their spears; some sense of whether there are signficant schools of thought within Japan that mirror Katz' and the Western "neo-centrist" view; and some attention to the peculiar postal savings system and its distorting impact on the Japanese budget and economic choices. These are quibbles.

Anyone thinking of buying, or anyone who has read Katz' book, needs absolutely to read a "companion" piece, a fine article about the troubles caused by Japan's (until very recently totally unreformed) banking system. See Peter Hartcher's "Can Japan Come Back" in "National Interest" Winter 1998/99 No. 54. Hartcher hits some of the same themes as Katz but goes into fascinating depth on the history of Japan's banking law/financial institutions, tracing back to WWII and on into the period when the system helped usefully mobilize domestic savings. Like Katz, Hartcher points out when Japan should have realized that "enough was enough" and spells out the terrible consequences both for Japan and the world. Again, no "Japan bashing," just telling it like it is.

Now, it would be great to see a "colloquial" book like this one done on China, not the "system that soured," but "the enigma that seems to suceed."

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Would be relatively worthless even if it was timely, May 12, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Japan, the System That Soured : The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Economic Miracle (Paperback)

It is suprisingly how people could review such a weak book
on Japan positively, considering its author is a run of the mill journalist attempting to morph into an economist and write about Japan-- and doesnt live in Japan or speak Japanese, beside the fact that he has no experience in finance. Though writing on the topic may not demand in-country experience, experience working in finance or language ability- it certainly would help. It is a regurgitation of old comments and arguments published years after the fact- literally no original thought. Old wine in new bottle. The follow up is then a book about how Japan will return. Surprise. Japan: The Coming Collapse by Brian Reading was timely and though journalistic more substantive. Works by Chalmers Johnson (though dated) and Tag Murphy (former investment banker in Tokyo) are a lot more useful. See Japan's Policy Trap: Dollars, Deflation, and the Crisis of Japanese Finance by Akio Mikuni, R. Taggert Murphy, R. Taggart Murphy, Michael H. Armacost (the Katz book is just hopping to a certain extent on this more reputable bandwagon). Another important book is Arthritic Japan: The Slow Pace of Economic Reform by Edward J. Lincoln. Ed Lincoln is a real economist that speaks Japanese and has been dedicated to following Japan for a while. His previous work, Japan's Unequal Trade, was an important work.

Unfortunately, due to the decreased interest in Japan over the past decade, the number of quality books (especially on finance) has declined and, unfortunately, there are a good number of books written in Japanese that would be useful but are not translated into English.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-Written and Thoroughly-Researched Gem, February 24, 2002

By 

Reader from New York (New York City, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Japan, the System That Soured : The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Economic Miracle (Paperback)

...This is a thoroughly researched book backed by an extensive list of references, compiled over extensive period of time. "Useless" is not a fair adjective to qualify this book. Even disregarding all the author's argument about the state of Japan economy as related to its need to adjust its "investment-led economy", the body of research and the related references and bibliographies about Japan post-war economy is amazing and could be used as a starting point for anyone doing a research thesis for its PhD program. While I am not a Japan specialist, I have learned a great deal not only about trade policies in Japan, but also about those policies elsewhere. So in a nutshell, this book is not just about "how the Japan economic system soured", but also about trade policies and productivities (author emphasizes the Total Factor Productivity) in any economy. This should be a must-read for any aspiring economist that want to learn about trade policies: what to do and what not do do.

This book can also be used as a self-contained textbook for any graduate course on Japan and NIC economies. The reference section summaries some of the arguments presented in the main body of the book (Appendix A: Why Industrial Policy Only Works in the Catch-Up Era), some of technical skills need to get the most out of the book (Appendix B: Reading the Econometric Tables), economic growth model (Appendix D: From Superstar to Laggard: The Growth Model), actual trade data (Appendix F: Japan¡¦s Peculiar Trade).

Any negative? Too much information packed into this 463-page well-researched book, so this is not your typical bed-time story book. Yet if you want a book from an "ivory-tower economist" looks elsewhere, but how about one from a down to earth journalist publishing daily article on Japanese economic affairs?