tury. When government control of business became more common during the twentieth century, Japan proved to be in the vanguard of this world-wide economic trend; and, because of long experience, the Japanese government was better prepared than most others for periods of war in which modern governments take over complete control of almost all economic life.
As the first Asiatic land to adopt the industrial and commercial techniques of the West on a significant scale, Japan found itself in a unique position in the economic world. Western science and cheap oriental labor made an excellent combination for low-priced production. The rest of East Asia had cheap labor but as yet lacked scientific knowledge. Europe and America had scientific knowledge and far greater natural resources than Japan, but also much higher standards of living and therefore correspondingly higher wages. This discrepancy between Eastern and Western standards of living, and the lag in the industrialization of other Asiatic lands, gave the new Japanese industries and commercial enterprises an exceptional chance for rapid growth. Japanese factories and business concerns soon became adequate for the essential economic needs of the country, and Japanese business men began to push out into the markets of Asia, where the inexpensive goods made possible by cheap labor were welcomed by all the natives.
Industrialization and scientific progress slowly raised the standard of living of the average Japanese well above that of his Asiatic neighbors, but this improvement was scarcely commensurate with the rate of industrial and commercial development. This was proba-