Population in 2020: 126 million people
Perhaps the most glimmering piece of hope for saving the Japanese countryside came not from government or private initiatives, but the global Coronavirus pandemic that swept the world in 2020. The pandemic…
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Population in 2011: 128 million people
The countryside was all but forgotten until the 3.11 disaster, which put a spotlight on how already-shrinking communities were blindsided by tragedy. The Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster…
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Population in 1989: 124 million people
The 1989 stock crash marked the end of Japan’s exponential growth, and the real estate market was hit the hardest. Properties lost more than half of their value immediately following this economic disaster.
As…
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Population in 1980: 118 million people
As Japan became “No. 1”, popular media idolized the city life. The consistent success of economic powerhouses located in Japan’s major city centers gave people living in rural areas an increasing…
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Population in 1950: 82 million people
From the ashes of war-wrecked Japan came an economic juggernaut. While the American occupation was originally given instructions from U.S. President Truman to decisively weaken the Japanese state, General…
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One of the weirdest characters in this period is Ryoichi Sasakawa, whose life story is stranger than fiction. Born in Minoh, Osaka in 1899, Sasakawa rose to prominence in the 1930s during the Sino-Japanese War by amassing wealth through rice…
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Population in 1940: 73 million people
The Great Depression had a ripple effect on the Japanese economy, leading to an economic downturn that led to a political shift towards militarism and colonization of neighboring Asian countries as a way…
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Population in 1926: est. 60 million people
After the Meiji era came the Taisho era, which heralded a decade of peace and increased representation, similar to the Gilded Age in the West. As Japan’s economy became enriched from the trade and…
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Population in 1850: 32 million people
Population in 1900: 44 million people
Japan went from samurai, feudal warlords, and a largely agrarian society under the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period to men wearing western suits, Japan’s industrial…
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Pt. 9: 2020 Coronavirus and Beyond
Pt. 8: With Disaster came the Spotlight, but People Didn’t Stay
Pt. 7: The Lost Decade and Migration to Cities
Pt. 6: The Bubble Boom and Bust of the Japanese Countryside
Pt. 5: From American Occupation to Economic Juggernaut
Pt. 4: A self-proclaimed Fascist with a Story Stranger than Fiction
Pt. 3: From Budding Democracy to War-hungry Axis Power
Pt. 2: Taisho Democracy and the Seeds of Capitalist Democracy
Pt. 1: From Samurai to Steam Locomotives