The aim of this book is to analyze Japan's high-growth economy in particular to clarify the
kinds of changes in people¿s lives that were generated by high growth. The present volume
focuses not on the macro-economic mechanisms that expanded the scale of the economy but on the
micro-economic changes that were effected in everyday life. The emergence of a mass consumption
society as a result of economic growth suggests that people's lifestyles and consumer behavior
changed in various ways. The first chapter focuses on the apparel industry's expanding market
as it corresponded to changes in consumer behavior. Even as consumer life became more
comfortable and abundant consumers were becoming uneasy about the environmental deterioration
associated with high growth. The second chapter examines how the Japanese government addressed
emissions regulations while drawing on the lessons of America's experience with the same issue.
The change in industrial structure brought about by economic growth inevitably resulted in the
decline of other industries. Chief among these was the coal-mining industry which with the
onset of a full-scale energy revolution lost its role as energy supplier owing to the import
of cheap crude oil. The third chapter discusses the government's industrial policies as they
addressed the coal industry's adjustment in the high-growth era concluding that they reduced
such problems as stagnation unemployment and local industrial decline. The adjustments in
employment practices contributed positively to the gradual shift of labor from declining
industries to growth industries. The fourth chapter investigates changes in labor management in
the steel industry which was one of the high-growth era's leading industries. This publication
will serve as a valuable resource for those who are interested not only in the post-war history
in Japan but also in high growth economies in recent East Asia.
