Boom Years
The 1970s and 1980s were a boom time in Japan. Thanks to the
development of Japanese industry and exports, the country was more
prosperous than ever before. Nearly everyone enjoyed a share of the
wealth. The standard of living shot up.
By the mid-1980s, Japan was investing widely aboard. As the yen
rose in value against the dollar, the Japanese were able to buy more
and more foreign land goods. Japanese companies astonished the world
by buying Western art for staggeringly high prices.
By the end of the 1980s the Japanese were making a third of all
the world’s cars, steel and ships; two-thirds of all the computer
chips and consumer electronic products; and more than half the
robots and machine tools installed in the world’s factories. The
economy continued to grow and grow.
