Abstract

A good deal of Japan's recent success has its roots in what the Japanese learned from the U. S. and which the U.S. seems to have forgotten. Leaders of U.S. business and industry are currently making pilgrimages to Japan to try to uncover their secrets. The origin of many of their "secrets" lies in a piece of their history that extends from 1955 to 1962. From 1959 to 1962, during the U.S. Operations Mission in Japan, which was the designation for the U.S. foreign aid program during that time. It was first called the International Cooperation Administration and then the Agency for International Development (AID). A look at the growth and changes in the Japanese economy since that time provides an indication as to the success of the program. Of course, it would be naive to believe that all the changes could be attributed to that program. It is doubtful, however, that Japan could have achieved its phenomenal growth without the aid provided by U.S. business and industry through the AID program.