...Kozo Yamamura Abstract The Zaibatsu are said to be reviving in Japan. In his widely-read Nippon Keizai Nyumon (Introduction to the Japanese Economy) Professor Nagasu wrote in 1959: The Zaibatsu have steadily built their power and have revived. No, more than that. Before the war, the Zaibatsu had...

...William W. Lockwood Zaibatsu Dissolution in Japan . By T. A. Bisson . Berkeley : University of California Press , 1954 . xi, 314 . Bibliography and index. Charts. $5.00. Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1954 1954 BOOK REVIEWS 115 interrelationship between...

...William V. Rapp Zaibatsu: The Rise and Fall of Family Enterprise Groups in Japan . By Hidemasa Morikawa . Tokyo : University of Tokyo Press , 1992 . 283 pp. $52.50. Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1994 1994 946 THE JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES he was motivated...

... the Supreme Command of the Allied Powers envisioned for Japan in the years 1946-1948 was to be free of highly concentrated economic power, either in the hands of Zaibatsu or of giant corporations, was to have an Anti-Monopoly Act to promote “the democratic and wholesome development of the national economy...

...T. A. Bisson Abstract During 1951, with the release of all but a handful of Japanese business leaders from purge designation, one of the more dramatic episodes in the occupation of Japan reached its conclusion. Like the broader Zaibatsu dissolution program, to which it was related, the economic...

... considerable autonomy within a zaibatsu. Shipping companies were more independent of their zaibatsu overseers than their counterparts in other industries. However, zaibatsu pressure to toe the line increased when the economy suffered. An "archetypal scientist-engineer" of Japan comes under the scrutiny...

... controlled one. KEN OKANO The Menninger Clink Zaibatsu: The Rise and Fall of Family Enterprise Groups in Japan. By HIDEMASA MORIKAWA. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1992. 283 pp. $52.50. Occasionally one is fortunate in receiving a book to analyze that is concise, well written, informative, enjoyable...

... century and the oil shocks of the 1970s and how bank credit shaped the formation and operation of prewar zaibatsu and postwar keiretsu corporate groupings. Ogura's study is the latest in a series of works to appear over the last decade which explore the development of the distinctive Japanese "main bank...

... the hope of so many Americans in the early occupation period and both see it suffering a slow brown-out as economic crises play into the hands of the zaibatsu and United States-Soviet differences recast Japan in a new strategic role in Asia and the Pacific. The air phases of the late war are treated...

... denial of a link between zaibatsu and the military in the 1930s. His interpretation is that profit-minded businessmen accepted the fait accompli of imperialism, but were nervous about militarism: 'Adapting to a changed environment and seeking profits is natural behavior" (p. 40). Nakamura does not pursue...

... Allen draws a vivid picture of a rapidly growing economy and covers what this reviewer considers the central facets of postwar growth and other unique aspects of Japanese economy, such as the Zaibatsu-domma.ted market structure (using it in the qualified sense that the author uses), intricate...

... extensive than it was among their prewar zaibatsu ancestors, the studies of Hadley and Yamamura do not show that the types of cooperative activities mentioned above no longer exist. While intercorporate stockholding within each of these groups varies widely and is often very small, Hadley's figures (n. 3...

... Mifflin , 1965 ), p. 602 . These authors take the position that zaibatsu wanted lucrative defense contracts but also wanted to retain their autonomy. Roberts John G. , Mitsui: Three Centuries of Japanese Business ( New York : Weatherhill , 1973 ), p. 341 , supports this interpretation...

... represented by Noguchi Jun, who combined an instinct for how to stretch the frontiers of the technologies of his day with a sharp sense of political and financial timing. The second wave is represented by the appearance of "new" zaibatsu, large companies in terms of production scale, but rather...

...): p. 343: “The zaibatsu leaders might have been able to obstruct Tojo's appointment or sabotage his cabinet by noncooperation, but apparently made no attempt to do so. One reason for their timidity was the fact that Tojo had assembled voluminous dossiers about the unsavory collusion between business...

... beginning with the dislocations of Meiji and the opportunities presented to a few entrepreneurs and wealthy families. In his paradigm, the zaibatsu evolved from initial core businesses involving political connections, mining, or finance. The first type, most notably Mitsui and Mitsubishi, used political...

... the myth of big business interests wallowing in the mire of political corruption. He presents in a welcome clarity of style the position that zaibatsu were politically as well as economically diversified. Opprobrium resulted from their failure to guide the solution of social problems. With Crowley's essay...

... and financial timing. The second wave is represented by the appearance of "new" zaibatsu, large companies in terms of production scale, but rather unsophisticated in organization when compared to the established zaibatsu like Mitsui and Sumitomo. Established zaibatsu companies, such as the latter two, make up...

... 1930s, when military-induced spending replaced public works as a stimulus to the economy. One of the most interesting topics Nakamura considers is the role of the zaibatsu. Using scale of employment in factories of four industries (metals, machinery, chemicals, and textiles), he shows that of the four...

.... A very interesting feature is the occasional emergence of tantalizing tidbits relating to the role of the zaibatsu interests in foreign policy, such as the glimpse of Ikawa, Seihin (of Mitsui) in the Drought-Walsh negotiations. Big business did want economic rapprochement with the United States...