Japan Post World War II Development Turning Point

Abstract

World War II defeat was one of many calamities that affected Japan’s economic and spatial development. Japan had to rebuild from this calamity to move forward. It implemented various economic and spatial policies that made it one of the largest global economies and influenced its current spatial framework. The question I ask for my thesis is: How was the post-World War II era a turning point in Japan’s economic and spatial development? I investigated various practices (events, policies, concepts) and post-World War II urban development projects in Japan, focusing on the period of high economic growth but also recent developments. I drew the following conclusion: while entities in Japan implemented economic and spatial development policies that they felt would make it modern, often following Western or nationalistic “one size fits all” spatial approaches, other entities tended to reflect back toward Japan’s typical and indigenous spatial directions in community, spontaneity, and image. This framework can be applied to other contexts of the world.