Resilience and Autonomy in Prewar Wartime Japan

This book illuminates the processes by which industrial manufacturing organizations in Japan conducted collective actions and how, and under what conditions, industries interacted with each other and responded to government interference, particularly during the Great Depression and World War II. Resilience and Autonomy in Prewar and Wartime Japan: The Internal Governance of Industries (1925-1945) illuminates the processes by which industrial manufacturing organizations in Japan conducted collective actions, and how and under what conditions industries interacted with each other and responded to government interference. Surprisingly, the nature of the struggle between the authorities and the private sector in Japan remains the same today as it did during the prewar period. The private sector had been frustrated with impractical state policies and responded vigorously because its survival was at stake. This book specifically delves into the manufacturing industries and explores the extent to which industry groups collectively responded to crisis situations and interacted with the authorities. It highlights the remarkable resilience, leadership, and initiative displayed by the industry sector in self-governance and assertion of power over authorities, even when government controls were nominally in effect.