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Okita's Wartime Vision For A Technical Japan
- Okita Saburo predicted postwar Japan should focus on precision engineering rather than rearmament.
- He and a Tokyo Imperial University professor discussed becoming an "underground army" of scientific and business capability while American bombers flew overhead.
Continuity Of Bureaucracy Fueled Postwar Policy
- The prewar bureaucracy largely survived occupation and shifted toward Yoshida's camp after purges removed militant elements.
- Allies used existing institutions to govern, preserving technical expertise that the Yoshida government later leveraged for policy continuity.
Article 9 Freed Resources For Growth
- Article 9 allowed Japan to minimize military spending and redirect scarce resources to economic development.
- The unwritten rule limited defense spending to about 1% of GDP until the 1990s, enabling greater investment in growth sectors.