42 Quotes by Kenneth Henshall

The greatest boost for Japan's economy, however, came from another external source. In June 1950 communist North Korean troops crossed south of the 38th Parallel, the recognized dividing line between the zones of Korean Peninsula, and the Korean War started. Yoshida termed this a "gift of the gods".

Japan's economy continued to grow at around 4% during early 80's. Its trade surplus with America, which had started to develop since the late 70's, became massive, typically in order of US$ 40-50 billions.

Japan's total land assets at the time were equivalent to no less than 60% of the entire land value of the planet - 200 times the 0,3% of the planet it occupies in geographical terms.

Expressed another way, with different dates, crimes per 100k people in 1990 numbered 1'324, whereas in 200 the number had risen to 1'925.

The suicide rate expressed in terms of 100k persons in 2009 was 26, 3 times the rate in Britain and 2,5 times the rate in the USA.

In Japan the family has come apart and our sense of community has also disappeared... We are confused and lost. The response to that lostness is nationalism.

Regarding video games, Nintendo has had a huge influence on young people around the world. The company is in fact much older than many might imagine. It started in 1889 as a card company, exactly a 100 years before it produced the Gameboy.

Japan's main strengths, then may be summarized as :- pragmatism, especially flexibility and an ability to compromise and adapt- a respect for the power of learning, particularly learning strengths of others- a respect for ambition and achievement, including hard work- a strong sense of nationhood- an appreciation of the strength of the group- a strong resilience- an acceptance of authority- an acceptance of hierarchy and inequality among individuals.

In the 18th century Japan had the world's largest city, and world's most literate population.