An Economic Pearl Harbour

large-scale atomic devastation and proceeded to adapt itself to an entirely new set of circumstances. Before the Second World War, it had relied on the power of weapons. But after witnessing the destruction they caused, it relinquished their use and set about reconstructing the country along entirely peaceful lines. Having once adopted this course, the Japanese showed great versatility, resilience and assiduity, and their success has been such that Japan is now considered the third greatest industrial power in the entire world today. Its industrial output in 2016 was $ 1.368 billion. In the field of industry, the victors have been defeated by the vanquished. Simply by accepting the fact that aggression could not pay dividends and then channelling its potential into the field of industry, Japan has managed quite miraculously to supersede most of the other nations of the world. The Americans are greatly upset at this state of affairs and refer to the present ‘invasion’ of Japanese goods as an Economic Pearl Harbour. A book recently published in America, entitled “Japan Number One,” has become a best-seller. It clearly shows that Japan has far outrun the U.S.A. in business and will soon supersede Britain. So far as foreign exchange is concerned, Japan is the wealthiest country in the world, its foreign exchange reserves totalling 74 billion dollars in 1984 (The Times of India, June 13-14, 1985) How did Japan turn its military defeat into an economic victory? By encouraging patience and perseverance and