“Showa period: (1926-1989) Period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Hirohito, the Showa emperor. The Showa period saw the militarism of the 1930s and Japan’s disastrous participation in World War II, resulting in the nations complete collapse and ultimate surrender. The postwar era was one of rehabilitation, marked by such successes as its joining the U.N. in 1956, hosting the 1964 Olympics, and holding the Osaka World Exposition in 1970. Japan experienced a so-called ‘economic miracle,’ with growth averaging 10% in 1955-60 and higher in the years following. In the 1980s, the Japanese economy became one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated, with per capita income surpassing that of the U.S. Japanese society became increasingly urban, with one-tenth of the population living in Tokyo by the mid-1980s. U.S. influence on popular culture was very strong, and young Japanese emulated their U.S. counterparts in every way possible. The Showa period also saw more people living in nuclear families than in extended families, love marriage rather than arranged marriages, fewer children, and more opportunities for women. See also Hesei period, Occupation (of Japan).”
Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
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