When you think about the cost of living in Japan there’s only one word that comes to mind: EXPENSIVE. However, that is a good sign for the Japanese economy because when the cost of living is high it just means that they’re truly one of the world’s most powerful and most richest countries to have been able to tip the exchange rate scale that high.

Japan hasn’t always been a super power, everything just started in the 19th century when the industrialization of the Japanese economy has started. Through the industrialization of the Japanese economy, the people of Japan were able to enjoy a lot of opportunities. Many Japanese corporations were able to provide the locals with lifetime employment with great company benefits. Zaibatsus are what the Japanese call those family-run corporations that have been utilizing their other small to medium-sized businesses. The four powerhouse zaibatsus in all of Japan are Sumitomo, Yasuda, Mitsubishi and Mitsui corporations. There are also a new breed of zaibatsus that are out to dominate the Japanese economy starting with Nomura, Nissan and Fujitsu (formerly known as Furukawa).

In spite of the positive notes that the emergence of industrialization has brought to the Japanese economy, it has also brought about a lot of negative business practices that are known to still be part of the Japanese economy today. There’s a rampant discrimination of prices against the outside companies. Having lots of political influence as well as giving out cash payments for politicians in order to get good favors for the business is another common practice of these zaibatsus. It is also a rampant business practice in Japan for these zaibatsus to have their pick of the best possible employees out of the lot because of the many attractive benefits that they can offer thus leaving other small and medium scale businesses to settle for employees who are not that skilled, women – who are often discriminated by major corporations, as well as foreigners who don’t expect higher pay.

There have been so many social changes that have taken place not just in the Japanese economy but also in the country as a whole. After the war and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were the darkest periods in Japanese history, the industrialization of the Japanese economy has also caused it to have a serious pollution problem in the 1960s. As far as social welfare is concerned, there have been lots of attempts to be able to provide for each and every member of the society and the income that was being distribution has always been fairly equal. It was in the 1990s wherein the Japanese economy has been able to see a lot of dynamic changes wherein a lot of business and employment trends have emerged and was the start of Japan’s uphill climb to being one of the world’s financial super powers.