Question
How the modernising of the economy started in Japan?
Solution
Funds were raised by levying and agricultural tax. Japan's first railway line, between Tokyo and the port of Yokohama, was built in 1870-72. Textile machinery was imported from Europe, and foreign technicians were employed to train workers, as well as to teach in universities and schools, and Japanese students were sent abroad.
In 1872, modern banking institutions were launched. Companies like Mitsubishi and Sumitomo were helped through subsidies and tax benefits to
become major shipbuilders so that Japanese trade was from now carried in Japanese ships. Zaibatsu (large business organisations controlled by individual families) dominated the economy till after the Second World War.
