The Rise of the Japanese Specialist Manufacturer: Leading Medium-Sized Enterprises

Manufacturing forms the base of the Japanese economy and will continue to do so. It is supported by a host of specialists both in end-user products and intermediary components. Many of these specialists are not behemoths; they can be described as leading medium-sized enterprises, or LMEs. This book traces the rise of these LMEs. It shows how they forged their own course - often at variance with the ideas of the central authorities - honing their art of monozukuri, or making things. At each point in the historical narrative actual entrepreneurs and the LMEs they created are cited. Having contributed handsomely to Japan's industrial evolution from industrialization to the information age, these LMEs are now globalizing, and in so doing assuming a role as East Asian regional specialists.