- Series
- Japan: 1868-1968
- Air Date
- 1968-11-23
- Duration
- 00:28:22
- Episode Description
- Professor Maki discusses some of the changes in Japanese society since 1945, which he describes as a transition from a modern authoritarian to a modern democratic society, including constitutional freedoms such as human rights and universal suffrage; maintaining a policy of pacifism in the face of encroaching communism; the rise of agricultural development and land ownership; and the economic miracle of Japanese production and consumer affluence as a consequence of postwar reconstruction.
- Series Description
- A lecture series on the centennial of the beginning of the modernization of Japan, featuring John M. Maki, University of Massachusetts.
- Subject(s)
- Creator(s)
- WFCR (Radio station : Amherst, Mass.) (Producer)Four College Radio (Producer)
- Contributors
- Maki, John M. (John McGilvrey), 1909- (Lecturer)
- Genre(s)
- Geographic Region(s)
- regions
- Time Period
- 1961-1970
[00:05 - 00:10]
From WFC are five College Radio in Amherst Massachusetts. We
[00:10 - 00:15]
present Japan 1868 through 1968.
[00:15 - 00:19]
This year has been officially designated as the centennial of the beginning of the
[00:19 - 00:23]
modernization of Japan and this is the 12th of a series of
[00:23 - 00:28]
broadcasts with John a Machian professor of government and vice dean of the
[00:28 - 00:33]
College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Massachusetts. The title of
[00:33 - 00:37]
today's broadcast is Japan the new society.
[00:37 - 00:42]
Professor Markey in this broadcast I would like to discuss some
[00:42 - 00:47]
of the changes that have come over the face of Japan Society
[00:47 - 00:51]
sence 1945. In a sense
[00:51 - 00:57]
the last well approximately a quarter of a century has been what might be
[00:57 - 01:01]
described as the most recent chapter in Japan's
[01:01 - 01:06]
process of modernization by way of a general
[01:06 - 01:11]
introduction. I would like to take a quick look backward to
[01:11 - 01:16]
approximately the first quarter of Japan's modern century.
[01:16 - 01:21]
The period that I emphasized at the beginning of this series between
[01:21 - 01:26]
roughly 1870 and the end of the 19th
[01:26 - 01:31]
century. You will recall perhaps that I describe this
[01:31 - 01:36]
period as a transitional one one during
[01:36 - 01:40]
which Japan built the foundation for they transition
[01:40 - 01:45]
from a pre-modern feudal society to a modern national
[01:45 - 01:50]
society. I suppose that this period
[01:50 - 01:54]
from 1870 to 1900 could be described as one of
[01:54 - 01:59]
institution building. I emphasized that Japan
[01:59 - 02:04]
created a modern government a centralized bureaucratic form of government.
[02:04 - 02:08]
During this earlier period Japan built the necessary
[02:08 - 02:13]
foundation of industrialization for a modern economy
[02:13 - 02:18]
and that in a very real sense Japan created for itself
[02:18 - 02:23]
what could be described in the terms of 1900 as a modern
[02:23 - 02:28]
society. Japan did develop well modern cities. There were
[02:28 - 02:32]
a lot of non modern features about those cities at the time. On the other hand the
[02:32 - 02:36]
basic structure of a modern urban concentration
[02:36 - 02:41]
characterized Japan at that particular time. There was
[02:41 - 02:46]
also the building up of a system of mass communication and
[02:46 - 02:50]
going right along with it was the system of mass education.
[02:50 - 02:56]
And indeed Japan developed during that period and many new ways of
[02:56 - 03:01]
life ways of life that were strange to Japanese history and that certainly
[03:01 - 03:06]
had not been developed inside the country ways of life that obviously
[03:06 - 03:11]
were of western origin. On the other hand as I emphasized
[03:11 - 03:16]
earlier the foundation of this new society in Japan was
[03:16 - 03:21]
very definitely the traditional. There were many elements which were very
[03:21 - 03:25]
consciously kept by the leaders of modern Japan as
[03:25 - 03:31]
the core as the unifying Well theme around which
[03:31 - 03:35]
this new society in Japan was being developed.
[03:35 - 03:40]
Now this last quarter of a century that is from roughly
[03:40 - 03:45]
one thousand forty five down to today it has also been what
[03:45 - 03:50]
can be described as a transition period in Japan's
[03:50 - 03:55]
history. And this has been and indeed perhaps still is
[03:55 - 04:00]
a transition from a modern authoritarian society
[04:00 - 04:04]
to a modern democratic society. In other words
[04:04 - 04:09]
you might say that the general well the prevailing theme
[04:09 - 04:14]
of Japanese society has been shifting from
[04:14 - 04:19]
authoritarian to Democratic. And Japan's authoritarian
[04:19 - 04:24]
society was again an almost automatic development
[04:24 - 04:29]
out of Japan's traditional past and to call Japan's
[04:29 - 04:34]
modern society an authoritarian society is in many
[04:34 - 04:38]
respects a purely descriptive term and not a term well
[04:38 - 04:43]
known seeing the content of that society. On the other hand
[04:43 - 04:48]
certainly many things that took place in Japan from roughly 930 down to
[04:48 - 04:53]
1945 were just as authoritarian and therefore
[04:53 - 04:58]
I suppose worthy of a political denunciation as were things
[04:58 - 05:03]
in other authoritarian societies again during this 20th century.
[05:03 - 05:09]
Now I would like to outline some of the changes that have
[05:09 - 05:13]
come over the face of Japan in a very brief period of
[05:13 - 05:18]
slightly under a quarter of a century. In one
[05:18 - 05:23]
of the areas of Japanese life that has been perhaps most profoundly
[05:23 - 05:28]
affected by this change is the political area in which there
[05:28 - 05:32]
has been the development of a Japanese variation on the
[05:32 - 05:37]
theme of democracy. Japan's democracy is
[05:37 - 05:42]
not a perfect democracy. Japanese students of Japanese society
[05:42 - 05:48]
would perhaps be the first to say that Japan's democracy
[05:48 - 05:53]
has a long ways to go yet. On the other hand perhaps it could
[05:53 - 05:57]
be argued that no democracy is a perfect one. But on the other
[05:57 - 06:02]
hand it is a characteristic feature of all democratic societies
[06:02 - 06:07]
modern democratic societies that we have observed to strive
[06:07 - 06:13]
for perfection that is perfection as defined in democratic terms.
[06:13 - 06:17]
Now on the other hand I think it is clear beyond any question that
[06:17 - 06:23]
Japan does have the basic features of any democratic
[06:23 - 06:27]
society. Now under the constitution of
[06:27 - 06:32]
1947 which as I emphasized earlier grew out of
[06:32 - 06:36]
a desire on the part of the occupation to have
[06:36 - 06:41]
a democratic fundamental law for Japan but a constitution of
[06:41 - 06:45]
soul that became very rapidly integrated into the
[06:45 - 06:49]
Japanese political way of life. That Constitution
[06:49 - 06:54]
guarantees the Japanese people all of the fundamental
[06:54 - 06:59]
human rights that is all of the basic freedoms that are familiar
[06:59 - 07:04]
to any democratic society. Now not only does
[07:04 - 07:09]
that guarantee exist in the written document of the 1947 constitution
[07:09 - 07:14]
but it exists in real life. That is to say the Japanese do
[07:14 - 07:20]
enjoy the rights and freedoms that are guaranteed in the Constitution.
[07:20 - 07:24]
It is not simply this guarantee is not simply that it exists.
[07:24 - 07:30]
Well on paper. Now also Japan does
[07:30 - 07:34]
have a system of responsible government that is to
[07:34 - 07:39]
say the political and governmental leaders of Japan and the party that
[07:39 - 07:44]
they represent parties that they represent must regularly go to the
[07:44 - 07:49]
people for election. Now it so happens that
[07:49 - 07:54]
under the peculiar development of contemporary Japanese politics
[07:54 - 07:59]
a series of conservative parties have dominated Japanese government and the
[07:59 - 08:04]
political scene since the end of the second world war with one very
[08:04 - 08:09]
brief exception. Back in one thousand forty seven when the Socialist Party was very
[08:09 - 08:14]
briefly and shakily in power. Now many
[08:14 - 08:18]
Japanese observers of the Japanese political scene feel that it is a
[08:18 - 08:23]
weakness of Japan's system of responsible government that
[08:23 - 08:28]
conservative parties and particularly one conservative party the Liberal Democratic
[08:28 - 08:33]
Party have enjoyed. Well virtual monopoly on government.
[08:33 - 08:37]
Inside Japan. Now on the other hand this
[08:37 - 08:43]
party and the government that it has controlled both have been
[08:43 - 08:47]
responsible responsible in the sense that they have or their members have
[08:47 - 08:52]
regularly gone to the polls that the government has not attempted in any way
[08:52 - 08:57]
to control the outcome of either particular he lections or
[08:57 - 09:02]
of the election in general. And so it can be said very
[09:02 - 09:07]
definitely that the party that rules Japan has been in power
[09:07 - 09:12]
because it has been able to command the support of a
[09:12 - 09:17]
majority of the Japanese people. Now on the other hand it is
[09:17 - 09:22]
interesting to note that under Japan's political system the
[09:22 - 09:26]
dominant liberal Democratic Party failed for the first time
[09:26 - 09:31]
to win a majority of the popular vote. Polling just under
[09:31 - 09:36]
49 percent in the election last general election which was held almost
[09:36 - 09:41]
exactly a year ago. This result came about from the
[09:41 - 09:46]
fact that the rival minority parties were able
[09:46 - 09:51]
successful late to eat into the majority that the party had
[09:51 - 09:55]
been able to control. Up to that time. Now also
[09:55 - 10:00]
this system of responsible government that characterizes Japan's
[10:00 - 10:05]
democracy. Obviously it reflects another extremely important element
[10:05 - 10:09]
of any democratic political system namely the
[10:09 - 10:14]
responsible exercise of the right of suffrage by the
[10:14 - 10:18]
electorate of Japan. Now Japan does have a
[10:18 - 10:23]
system of universal suffrage. Women wear and franchised in one thousand
[10:23 - 10:28]
forty six at the order of the occupation but this
[10:28 - 10:32]
enfranchise much of the population is written into the constitution of
[10:32 - 10:37]
1947. Now the responsibility of the
[10:37 - 10:41]
exercise of the suffrage is well demonstrated among other things by the fact
[10:41 - 10:47]
that in all elections there has been an average turnout of between
[10:47 - 10:52]
70 and 75 percent. And this again indicates that
[10:52 - 10:56]
the Japanese electorate appreciates the importance of this
[10:56 - 11:02]
fundamental democratic political act of the casting of the ballot.
[11:02 - 11:07]
Now also this democracy new democracy inside
[11:07 - 11:11]
Japan is the other side of the coin of
[11:11 - 11:16]
authoritarianism. In other words as I emphasized in the previous broadcast
[11:16 - 11:21]
the authoritarian features of Japanese society
[11:21 - 11:26]
particularly the political system. These things were eliminated by
[11:26 - 11:31]
the occupation. On the other hand it was demonstrated very rapidly and
[11:31 - 11:36]
deed that the Japanese people themselves welcomed the elimination
[11:36 - 11:40]
of these authoritarian features. Indeed it was the very
[11:40 - 11:45]
strength of the rejection of the recent authoritarianism
[11:45 - 11:50]
in Japan that lent a great deal of the strength to the new
[11:50 - 11:55]
democracy that was introduced into the country. Now also
[11:55 - 12:00]
another extremely important political characteristic of Japan
[12:00 - 12:05]
since 1945 has been the extremely strong
[12:05 - 12:10]
wave of pacifism that has motivated Japanese society
[12:10 - 12:15]
almost without exception. In other words there has been this
[12:15 - 12:20]
very strong rejection as I indicated earlier of war war in
[12:20 - 12:25]
general. The resort to war as an instrument of national policy and of course
[12:25 - 12:30]
this feature of militarism that unfortunately was so characteristic
[12:30 - 12:35]
of the first three quarters of Japan's modern century.
[12:35 - 12:40]
Now this pacifism is not simply a moral failing
[12:40 - 12:45]
on the part of the majority of the Japanese. It is one of the most
[12:45 - 12:50]
important Well political considerations within the country.
[12:50 - 12:56]
No individual candidate or no political party in
[12:56 - 13:01]
Japan can afford to take a position that seems to
[13:01 - 13:06]
be a modification of pacifism. In
[13:06 - 13:10]
other words the Japanese people as a result of their bitter
[13:10 - 13:15]
lesson in the Second World War have felt that they can
[13:15 - 13:20]
do nothing which would bring them close to the brink of another conflict
[13:20 - 13:24]
whether it would be one inspired by acts of their own or by acts of a
[13:24 - 13:29]
government with which it might be associated. And indeed it is this
[13:29 - 13:34]
spirit of pacifism that has created inside Japan
[13:34 - 13:39]
a very considerable reaction against the security arrangement
[13:39 - 13:43]
with the United States a security arrangement that is as it has existed
[13:43 - 13:48]
since 1951. Now on the other
[13:48 - 13:53]
hand one of the more significant developments inside Japan over the
[13:53 - 13:57]
last couple of years has been an indication
[13:57 - 14:03]
that both the government and an important segment of
[14:03 - 14:07]
the Japanese population have been forced to
[14:07 - 14:12]
rethink their position on pacifism and particularly
[14:12 - 14:17]
on the state of constitutional disarmament
[14:17 - 14:22]
that Japan has been in now sense. Well 1947.
[14:22 - 14:28]
I say constitutional disarmament because of the fact that the Constitution in
[14:28 - 14:32]
the famous Article 9 of the Constitution provides that
[14:32 - 14:37]
Japan will have no land sea or air forces.
[14:37 - 14:42]
On the other hand Japan does possess today a military
[14:42 - 14:47]
organization which is referred to by the
[14:47 - 14:51]
title the self-defense forces. These are military
[14:51 - 14:56]
forces in everything save name. They are small but
[14:56 - 15:01]
they are efficient. But in addition to that they seem to be defensive
[15:01 - 15:05]
in other words it seems impossible that these forces could be
[15:05 - 15:10]
utilized for purposes of military aggression. As the old Japanese
[15:10 - 15:15]
military establishment was used. Now these forces came
[15:15 - 15:20]
into existence as a result of the development of
[15:20 - 15:25]
a very real and undeniable situation around
[15:25 - 15:29]
Japan. What I am referring to specifically is the
[15:29 - 15:34]
fact of the Korean conflict which went on from
[15:34 - 15:39]
1950 to 1953. A major
[15:39 - 15:44]
military conflict the fighting front of which was just a couple of hundred miles away from
[15:44 - 15:49]
Japan itself. Now this Korean conflict was not a
[15:49 - 15:53]
conflict carried out in a vacuum but it was a manifestation of the
[15:53 - 15:58]
confrontation as of the early 1950s between the
[15:58 - 16:03]
communist world and the so-called free world. And this
[16:03 - 16:08]
was has been of course in political terms and in military terms
[16:08 - 16:13]
the great fact of postwar international politics and Japan
[16:13 - 16:18]
has not been able to isolated itself from this international
[16:18 - 16:23]
situation and reluctantly the Japanese government did
[16:23 - 16:28]
create these self-defense forces in apparent violation of a
[16:28 - 16:33]
constitutional provision. Now these defense forces have been the source of a great deal
[16:33 - 16:37]
of controversy inside Japan but in general
[16:37 - 16:42]
their existence has been accepted although extremely reluctantly
[16:42 - 16:47]
by many Japanese. Now the complicating factor that I
[16:47 - 16:52]
referred to a few moments ago has developed across the way in China
[16:52 - 16:56]
where the Chinese communist government has been carrying out
[16:56 - 17:02]
atomic tests of its own culminating recently within the year in
[17:02 - 17:06]
the explosion of an H-bomb device of some kind.
[17:06 - 17:12]
Now the Japanese have regarded these developments with
[17:12 - 17:17]
a very great deal of concern and for the first time there have
[17:17 - 17:22]
been indications inside Japan that the country
[17:22 - 17:26]
may be considering a stepping up of its military
[17:26 - 17:31]
strength again in purely defensive terms. A few
[17:31 - 17:35]
Japanese have even very cautiously raised the
[17:35 - 17:40]
possibility of Japan's joining the nuclear arms club.
[17:40 - 17:45]
Japan incidentally has a well-developed atomic industry for
[17:45 - 17:50]
peaceful purposes but of course has for very obvious reasons not dared to
[17:50 - 17:55]
venture into the field of nuclear armaments. While I
[17:55 - 18:00]
stress this element of pacifism in the Japanese political
[18:00 - 18:04]
scene not simply because of its own intrinsic
[18:04 - 18:09]
interest but because it is another mark of the extent of change that has
[18:09 - 18:14]
come over the face of the Japanese political scene in less than a
[18:14 - 18:18]
quarter of a century. No I would like to shift away
[18:18 - 18:23]
from an examination of the order of political change inside
[18:23 - 18:28]
Japan and take a brief look at what has come to be
[18:28 - 18:32]
universally referred to as the economic miracle of
[18:32 - 18:37]
Japan. Now what are the general components of
[18:37 - 18:42]
this economic miracle. Well in the first place I
[18:42 - 18:47]
think the first element the could be should be emphasized
[18:47 - 18:52]
is something that is taken place and has already been completed.
[18:52 - 18:57]
And that was the period of economic reconstruction that took place
[18:57 - 19:01]
between the end of the war and approximately 1955.
[19:01 - 19:07]
Now considering the amount of devastation and
[19:07 - 19:12]
destruction that was visited on Japan's economic structure
[19:12 - 19:17]
by the end of the war in one thousand forty five. The fact that that
[19:17 - 19:21]
economy could be reconstructed could be gotten back into effective
[19:21 - 19:26]
operation in the space of approximately 10 years was
[19:26 - 19:31]
indeed a remarkable achievement. Now on the other hand
[19:31 - 19:36]
it is obvious that this economic operation was more or less
[19:36 - 19:40]
mechanical mechanical in the sense that certain physical
[19:40 - 19:45]
things in the way of reconstitution and reorganization had to be carried
[19:45 - 19:50]
out and were carried out successfully by the Japanese government by the
[19:50 - 19:55]
business sector herd the labor sector and the Japanese people in general.
[19:55 - 20:01]
Now as striking as that aspect the aspect of reconstruction
[20:01 - 20:06]
of Japan's economic miracle may have been what has captured the
[20:06 - 20:11]
attention of the world since 1955 is a
[20:11 - 20:16]
combination of other economic elements. Of course one of
[20:16 - 20:20]
the most outstanding features of
[20:20 - 20:24]
Japan's economy particularly since about 1955
[20:24 - 20:30]
has been the extremely high rate of economic growth. A rate
[20:30 - 20:35]
of economic growth that in very recent years the last four or
[20:35 - 20:40]
five years has been averaging around 10 percent per year.
[20:40 - 20:44]
And in the years before that from 1055 into the early
[20:44 - 20:48]
1960s was at an even higher rate.
[20:48 - 20:53]
Now this is one of the highest growth rates of any
[20:53 - 20:58]
economy in the world. And incidentally it was a
[20:58 - 21:02]
growth rate based on an already well developed economy.
[21:02 - 21:07]
So it is not the fact that a percentage increase in an underdeveloped
[21:07 - 21:12]
economy has hit a high level. But the fact that an already developed
[21:12 - 21:17]
economy has been going ahead very rapidly indeed. Now
[21:17 - 21:22]
one of the more obvious manifestations of this high rate of
[21:22 - 21:27]
economic growth has been the development inside Japan. Again since
[21:27 - 21:31]
about one thousand fifty five of a consumer economy of a
[21:31 - 21:36]
true mass market. Now in other words the
[21:36 - 21:41]
general health and well-being of the Japanese economy
[21:41 - 21:46]
taken in general has been reflected in the development
[21:46 - 21:50]
of a very high rate of prosperity for the people in
[21:50 - 21:55]
general. And well to sum it up very briefly indeed
[21:55 - 22:00]
the Japanese people today are better fed. They are better
[22:00 - 22:05]
clothed. They are well in a sense better housed Although housing is
[22:05 - 22:10]
still a problem inside Japan and they have more
[22:10 - 22:14]
material goods of every kind than has ever been true at any
[22:14 - 22:19]
time in all of their long history and beyond any question the
[22:19 - 22:24]
Japanese are the best off of any people in all of Asia at the
[22:24 - 22:29]
present time. And indeed the general level of their economic
[22:29 - 22:34]
well-being is not far below that of the so-called
[22:34 - 22:38]
advanced Western economies at the present time.
[22:38 - 22:44]
Now also another economic development of considerable
[22:44 - 22:49]
significance has been the extremely rapid rate of technological
[22:49 - 22:54]
advance technological and scientific advance that has been woven
[22:54 - 22:59]
in to this economic miracle. In other words the economic miracle
[22:59 - 23:03]
would not have been possible had it not been for technological and scientific
[23:03 - 23:08]
advances. But at the same time these advances have been made possible
[23:08 - 23:14]
by the rapid development of the Japanese economy in general.
[23:14 - 23:19]
Now what are some of the features of this economy this
[23:19 - 23:24]
economic miracle the major components of which I have just outlined.
[23:24 - 23:29]
Very briefly indeed. Well one thing that has been a matter
[23:29 - 23:33]
of very great significance both economic and political and
[23:33 - 23:38]
sociological has been the very high rate of land
[23:38 - 23:43]
ownership by the farmers. As I mentioned very briefly in an
[23:43 - 23:48]
earlier broadcast it was occupation policy to bring about the
[23:48 - 23:53]
so-called land reform enabling the farmers of Japan to own their
[23:53 - 23:57]
own land. Now this was one occupation
[23:57 - 24:02]
reform on which a significant amount of Japanese
[24:02 - 24:07]
attention governmental attention had been devoted. Prior to the
[24:07 - 24:11]
end of the war. The Japanese government for a number of
[24:11 - 24:16]
decades had been extremely concerned about the
[24:16 - 24:21]
poverty in the countryside and in general the backwardness
[24:21 - 24:26]
of Japanese agriculture. And there were plans on
[24:26 - 24:31]
paper plans worked out particularly from the late 1930s
[24:31 - 24:36]
onward to bring about a fundamental reform in the
[24:36 - 24:40]
Japanese countryside. But for obvious reasons namely the complications of the
[24:40 - 24:45]
Second World War the Japanese government had never been able to do anything about
[24:45 - 24:50]
the projected program of land reform. Now
[24:50 - 24:55]
this operation of land reform went ahead very rapidly in the
[24:55 - 25:00]
early stages of the occupation. Artificially low prices were
[25:00 - 25:05]
established for land and under the conditions of the time the
[25:05 - 25:09]
Japanese farmers had the money that enabled them to purchase their
[25:09 - 25:14]
land. Now this was an economic development of very
[25:14 - 25:19]
considerable importance not simply because of the fact that
[25:19 - 25:23]
some millions of Japanese farm families were able to own their own land.
[25:23 - 25:28]
But because it is generally accepted that this
[25:28 - 25:33]
is a foundation for the again unprecedented prosperity
[25:33 - 25:38]
that the Japanese farmer has been able to enjoy prosperity again
[25:38 - 25:43]
that has resulted in some fundamental changes both in the nature of
[25:43 - 25:48]
Japanese agriculture and the organization of well shall we call it rural
[25:48 - 25:53]
sociology. Now the Japanese farmer has
[25:53 - 25:57]
been enjoying as I just said an unprecedented degree of
[25:57 - 26:02]
prosperity resulting from the fact that prices for his
[26:02 - 26:07]
product have been good. From the fact that for the first time in Japanese
[26:07 - 26:12]
history the farmer has been able to work for himself because he has owned
[26:12 - 26:17]
his own land. And because of the very significant
[26:17 - 26:22]
developments in the well the general technology of Agriculture.
[26:22 - 26:27]
Now also there has been a significant degree of
[26:27 - 26:32]
unionization of labor union movement in Japan is
[26:32 - 26:37]
very strong and is very active active not only in matter in
[26:37 - 26:42]
economic matters matters relating to salaries and working conditions and so forth and so
[26:42 - 26:45]
on. But in political affairs as well.
[26:45 - 26:51]
Another outstanding Kerry touristic of Japan's postwar
[26:51 - 26:56]
economy has been public investment and public savings.
[26:56 - 27:01]
Japan all during the modern period has been noted. The Japanese people I should
[27:01 - 27:06]
say have been noted for their capacity to save savings
[27:06 - 27:11]
which have been important not simply in personal financial terms
[27:11 - 27:16]
but because savings constitute very obviously a source of capital
[27:16 - 27:22]
capital used again for purposes of the development of the economy.
[27:22 - 27:26]
Now finally big business has played an extremely important role in
[27:26 - 27:31]
Japan's suppost 1045 economic development. There is no denying
[27:31 - 27:36]
that the large corporation plays a very important role in the economy.
[27:36 - 27:41]
Now in the next broadcast I shall conclude this very rapid overview
[27:41 - 27:46]
of Japan since 1945 by saying a few
[27:46 - 27:51]
things about some striking changes that have come about in Japan Society as a whole.
[27:51 - 27:56]
You have just heard a broadcast on the topic of Japan the new society
[27:56 - 28:00]
the 12th of a series titled Japan 1868 through
[28:00 - 28:05]
1968 with John MRK professor of government and vice dean
[28:05 - 28:10]
of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Massachusetts.
[28:10 - 28:15]
The title of the last broadcast in the series is Japan a century of
[28:15 - 28:20]
change. Japan 1868 through 1968 comes to
[28:20 - 28:24]
you from WFC are five College Radio in Amherst
[28:24 - 28:26]
Massachusetts.
[28:26 - 28:30]
This program was distributed by the national educational radio network.
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