Japan


 * East Asian in the Postwar Settlements**

New Divisions and the End of Empires MI: Japanese Recovery MI:
 * Post WWI => divisions of Asia were changed
 * island of Taiwan was restored to China, where it was ruling under the Nationalist Party => became a separaterepublic after the Communist took over
 * The USA took control of the Philippines and gave them independence
 * post war Japan was left in shambles but was able to rebuilt it all back with the help of US forces to reform and change
 * General Douglas MacArthur, American occupation government, lead people into bring down Japan's wartime political structure -> took till 1952 for Japan to sign all treaties
 * Democracy soon becomes the new political system in Japan; gender restrictives were being broke down; all of this was to keep Japan to have no "war potential"
 * Liberal Democratic Party- two moderate parties in 1955 that merged to create Japan's government where it was a one party control but educated was modified as well as gender roles

Korea: Intervention and War MI: Emerging Stability in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore MI: Japan, Incorporated MI: The Economic Surge MI:
 * 1948: United States sponsored a Republic of Korea in the South the match competing side where Soviet dominated the North. The North turn into a Communist state
 * June 1950: North Korean forces attacked the South where they hope attack could unify them however the USA took this as a communist aggression and issued a police action to support the South = > Korean war
 * 1961 - Southern Koreans took over rule of the country and had the American soldiers to leave
 * The conflicts between the North and South were continue but warfare was avoided
 * Taiwan was a new acquired land and now it needs leadership after all that military force that was brought over
 * 1955 and 1958 communists took over two small islands of Taiwan and use it as a threat and USA backed up Taiwan => USA offered economic help to Taiwan
 * Hong Kong after the War remained as British colony but was given back to china in 1997
 * 1971- The British dropped all colonies in Asian => Singapore became an independent nation in 1965
 * The politics that remain in Japan was the Liberal Democratic Party and Democratics were willing to negotiate with opposing leaders to keep the political unity; however in the 1980s several leaders were branded as corrupt
 * The political atmosphere showed how the state is strong with business here they encourage investments and production where it help the economy to grow
 * When the economy was growing, leaders continue to instill cultural ideas such as poetry, painting, films, novels etc
 * 1960s and 1970s Japan had become one of the top two/three leading economic powers, internationally (automobiles, electronics) known for high quality
 * educational expansion => growing economy
 * social activities among workers were to to promote trust and loyalty where the Japanese believed that it would ensure a better labor force
 * Leisure life in Japan was low compared to the West
 * feminist movements in Japan was also organized in smaller groups because non-conformists was known as shameful
 * The Japanese had a high percentage of people who were stress and would resort to either drinking of the traditional geisha houses
 * Japanese sports life mainly focused on tennis and golf; the government also supported the idea of everyone using chopsticks instead of forks and spoons
 * 1960s - pollution became a huge problem
 * 1990s - Japanese political corruption, economic recession -> low job rate

The Pacific Rim: New Japans?

The Korean Miracle MI: Advances in Taiwan and the City States MI: Common Themes and New Problems MI:
 * 1980s conservative politician won a general election after a series of political changes
 * The government placed a strong focused to work on economic group
 * 1970s growth rates of Korea began to match the ones in Japan
 * Korea where it had a surge of steel created advanced technology and skilled engineering sections and low wages to push for a larger industry
 * Hyundai: the creation of Chung JuYung where in the 1980s he had about 135000 employees with 42 overseas offices all around the world
 * However the large population rates and sizes had the government to encourage families to limits the offspring
 * agriculture and farming increase of economy in Taiwan
 * education became the focused of the government
 * traditional medical practices were still enforced
 * 1978 - USA tried to create diplomatic ties with Taiwan
 * However Taiwan did have some informal links with Beijing
 * When Minister Lee Kuan Yew took office there was one example of low reported crime rates but high amounts of political protest and it just shows the corruptness of the governemnt
 * Singapore - 4th largest port -> watched over banking, textiles, oils
 * Hong Kong remained as a major world port when it served as a bridge to communist China
 * ongoing industrialization => formation of the middle class
 * similarities - stressed group work and hard work, reliance on government planning and keeping everything stable
 * Pacific Rim changes => Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand had a rapid economic growth; high pollution and factories, and large cities
 * At one point the growth did stop and unemployment began to rose but they government did not pick up on the reforms that were needed