Japan - Overview of economy  Once a predominantly agrarian
society, Japan began its industrialization in the second half of
the 19th century by adopting Western technology, and developed
itself into a major industrial power by the first decade of the
20th century. Its economic and military power continued to grow
in the following decades, enabling it to emerge as an expanding
global power in the 1930s. The Japanese entry into World War II
(1939-45) led to a devastating defeat marked by the U.S. atomic
bombing of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Apart from the
destruction caused by the atomic bombs, the war devastated  the
Japanese economy and destroyed most of its industrial base and
infrastructure .  Thanks in part to U.S. support during the
postwar occupation, Japan began restoring its free-enterprise
economy and industries in the 1940s. The Japanese economy began
to expand in the 1950s and continued its impressive growth as a
highly modern mature industrial economy until the early 1990s,
when it slowe