POST-WAR ASIA AND JAPANESE CORPORATIONS (Iwanami Paperbacks)   by Hideo Kobayashi April 2001, 175 x 105 mm, 208 pp., 680- This book outlines the economic relationships between Japan and its Asian neighbors during the 55-year period following the end of World War II. Japanese companies began relocating their operations to other Asian countries in the 1950s as part of Japan's postwar reparations. Their Asian business expanded as the Japanese government provided yen credit and other types of financial assistance. Tracing this course of development in chronological order, Kobayashi analyzes from a historical-economic perspective the discord with other Asian countries caused by: rapid business relocation and expansion; the strong yen; Japan-U.S. trade friction's effect on Asian economies; Japanese corporate activities in Asia during the bubble economy period of the 1980s; and the key factors behind the Asian currency crisis of the 1990s. The author then turns his attention to the fact that manufacturers have always composed the majority of Japanese companies that relocate their operations to other Asian countries (with the move of financial institutions to follow their lead beginning only relatively recently). Based on this observation, he clarifies the Japanese corporate strategies behind business relocation to other Asian countries, and speculates how they will change in the future. Contents Introduction Chapter 1: The Situation Immediately after Japan's Defeat in WWII   (a) Repatriation and Detention of Japanese Technicians (b) How Japanese companies were seized and liquidated Chapter 2: Seeking to Re-enter Asia — the 1950s   (a) Keen Interest in South Asia (b) Postwar Reparations and Financial Assistance to Southeast Asian Countries Chapter 3: Cultivating Markets with Yen Credit — the 1960s   (a) New Developments in Overseas Construction Projects (b) Economic Exchanges with South Korea and Taiwan (c) The Emerging Concept of an “Asia-Pacific Economic Zone” Chapter 4: Moves toward Direct Investment — the 1970s   (a) The Steep Rise in the Yen and its Impact (b) Escalating Discord and the Search for Solutions Chapter 5: Japan-U.S. Trade Friction — the 1980s   (a) Relocation of Production Bases Abroad (b) Financial Institutions and Their Business Launch in Other Asian Countries Chapter 6: Development of an Asian Economic Zone and the Bubble Economy — the 1990s   (a) End of the Cold War and Intensified Competition (b) Japanese Automakers and Their Strategies Chapter 7: The Asian Currency Crisis — 1997-98   (a) How did the Currency Crisis Occur? (b) How Japanese Corporations and Their Local Subsidiaries Responded to the Crisis (c) Characteristics of the Asian Currency Crisis and the Reform Plan advocated by the IMF Chapter 8: The Future of Japanese and Other Asian Corporations — from 1999 on   (a) The Current Situation for Japanese Corporations Operating in Other Asian Countries (b) Asia's Future and Japanese Corporations References Conclusion About the Author Hideo Kobayashi was born in Tokyo in 1943. After graduating from Tokyo Metropolitan University in 1966, he became a professor of economics at Komazawa University. Kobayashi is currently a professor at Waseda University, where he teaches modern Japanese history and Asian economics to graduate students conducting research on the Asia Pacific region. Books by Kobayashi include The Formation and Collapse of the ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ (Ochanomizu Shobo); The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (Iwanami Shoten); Japanese Companies in Southeast Asia (Nihon Hyoronsha); and Asia Under Japanese Military Rule (Iwanami Shoten).