Japan’s State Learning in the Meiji Period from the Vision Perspective

This chapter analyzes the relationship between the reality of the industrialization vision launched by state leaders and the state learning process in the early stages of the industrialization of Meiji Japan in the late nineteenth century. Many countries proceeded with industrialization using this vision in the post-World War II era. While some countries succeeded, others promoted industrialization as one of their stated goals with benevolent and noble intentions, but finally failed to industrialize. In relation to this, it is inevitable that the direction and target level of industrialization that the vision aims for will diverge from the reality of the industrial sector in the early stages. This chapter traces the evolution of the Japanese industrialization vision, narrowing the gap, and what internal and external factors worked at what time and with what effect in this narrowing. It is shown that the intense interest and seriousness of state leaders in industrialization, their efforts to accumulate industrial knowledge within the government, and their high sensitivity to error correction factors are important. External threats to the building of consensus on the need for and direction of industrialization and the presence of a vibrant private sector are also seen to have accelerated state learning.