Wirtschaftsgesinnung und völkisch-politische Grundbedingungen als Voraussetzungen des japanischen Industrialisierungsprozesses

• Published in: Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv 1937-01, Vol.46, p.45-61
• Main Author: Kraus, Johannes B.
• Format: Article
• Language: ger
• ISSN: 0043-2636

The course of economic development is decided by three factors: 1. the racial, physical and spiritual characteristics of man, 2. the inner forces emerging from the structure of the economic unity, 3. the forces of pressure and impetus supplied by physical, biological, political and economic surroundings. Since the second problem is discussed in other essays in this volume, this article will deal only with the first and third problems. The main theme of Japanese "Wirtschaftsgesinnung" is identical with that which forms the basis of Japanese culture, namely, community spirit, family feeling, effort directed toward the common national aim of a people, who by the bonds of blood, of land, and of a long history have been formed into one great clan; collective discipline and self-sacrifice of the individual to the interests of the nation, simplicity and frugality in manner of living, and diligence. In the life of the average Japanese the conscious striving for profit is absent. On the contrary a marked indifference to money and to gain is to a great extent predominant, an indifference, which to western eyes is puzzling, and which can only be explained on the grounds of the traditional Japanese placidity, the fruit of Japanese ethics. This very placidity has enabled Japanese political economy to progress in so constant and steady a fashion. Added to this, is the great stability of the Japanese domestic market, arising from traditional ties, and providing a sold basis for economic expansion. In its industrialisation and economic expansion Japan was and is driven by non-economic forces, or by those outside its control: by its enormous overpopulation and the exclusion act passed by other lands against Japanese immigration, by the reconstruction and modernisation of its production apparatus after the earthquake of 1923, by the drop in the price of raw-silk as a consequence of the American depression, by the general depression of the last few years, which also affected Japan and especially Japanese agriculture, and finally, by the ever increasing pressure of foreign politics. The strength of the Japanese political economy lies in the close collaboration of all its economic elements for the realization of a strong political economy.