This fully revised and updated third edition of Japanese Economic Development looks at Japan's economic history from the nineteenth century through to World War II, reassessing Japan's economic past in the light of fresh theoretical perspectives in economic history and development. Francks draws out the background of Japan's post-war economic miracle and provides a comparative framework within which Japan's case can be related to development worldwide. Taking a thematic approach, this textbook shows that studying the first example of Asian industrialisation can provide an alternative, non-western narrative of development. It is an important resource for courses on the Japanese economy, and comparative economic development and economic history more generally.

Preface1. General Introduction PART 1: JAPAN'S DEVELOPMENT PATH AND THE STATE 2. Introduction: Industrial Revolutions, Development Paths and the State 3. Growth Before Industrialisation: the Tokugawa Economy and the State 4. Industry, Trade and the State in the Meiji Period 5. Internationalisation, Imperialism and Industrialisation: the State and the Economy in the Interwar Period PART 2: THE RURAL ECONOMY IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 6. Introduction: from the dual economy to rural-based development 7. Agriculture and Economic Growth 8. The Rural Household, the 'Traditional' Sector and the Path of Development 9. The Rural Problem: Agriculture in the Industrial Economy PART 3: INDUSTRIALISATION 10. Introduction: Technology, Institutions and Modern Economic Growth 11. Modernisation and the Growth of the Urban Industrial Economy 12. The Technology of Japan's Industrialisation 13. The Institutions of Industrialisation: the Creation of an Industrial Labour Force 14. The Institutions of Industrialisation: Capital, Corporate Governance and the Organisation of the Business World Guide to Technical Terms References