Heisei Period
With the death of Emperor Hirohito (b. 1901) in January 1989, the Showa period, which had taken Japan from 1926 through the postwar recovery, came to an end. In its place came a new emperor, Akihito (b. 1933), and a new period, Heisei. Already the Heisei period has seen dramatic changes. The tremendous Heisei economic boom has taken a precipitous turn into lasting recession. Faltering financial institutions, crashes in land prices, and the erosion of the lifetime employment tradition have altered Japan's economic and social climate. International conflicts have thrust Japan onto the geopolitical stage, while domestic political changes have begun to rattle the established bureaucracy and disasters such as the great Kobe earthquake and the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack have further shaken the nation's nerves.
The Heisei Boom
The Heisei period started out with a boom, riding in on a period of economic prosperity that had begun in 1986 and would last until early 1991. Not since the Izanagi Boom (1965–1970) had the Japanese economy experienced such a long, uninterrupted period of economic expansion. Domestic consumer demand, helped by government monetary policy, boosted the economy. With the signing of the Plaza Accord in 1985, the Japanese government had pledged to encourage consumer demand, let the value of the yen better reflect the strength of the Japanese economy, and regulate against inflation.
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