On The Evolution Of The U.S.-Japan Postwar Science And Technology Relations

This thesis delineates the whole evolutionary process of the U.S.-Japan postwar science and technology (S&T)relations and their characteristics in each stage, probes into the factors impacting the U.S.-Japan postwar S&T relations, discusses the impacts of the U.S.-Japan postwar S&T relations on the economic development of the U.S. and Japan.The evolution of the U.S.-Japan postwar S&T relations is divided into four stages: In the beginning period of the U.S. - Japan postwar S&T relations(1945-1950),the main content was the Japanese S&T reconstruction in state of the U.S. occupation. In the lopsided cooperative period (1950's-1960's), the U.S. supported Japanese introduction of foreign technology. The primary aspect was the unilateral technology export from the U.S. to Japan. In the furious competitive period (1970's-1980's), Japan had caught up with advanced nations and achieved great progress in S&T. Japan challenged the U.S. and was in the offensive position. The S&T competition was the main content of this period. From the beginning of the 1990's, the U.S.-Japan S&T relations was in the period of rational development. The U.S.-Japan S&T competition appeared high-technology field. In the competition, Japan lagged behind the U.S. and was in the defensive position. The U.S.-Japan S&T cooperation is progressing intensively and extensively on the basis of the mutual exchanges in 70's and 80's and turns into the strategic factor of the U.S.-Japan S&T relations. The harmony of the competition and cooperation makes the U.S.-Japan S&T relations take on the rational tendency. The above mentioned will be discussed in chapter 1- chapter4.The evolution of the U.S.-Japan postwar S&T relations emphasizes particularly on lopsided cooperation in 50's-60's and furious competition in 70's-80's and harmony of the competition and cooperation after 90's.The factors impacting the whole evolutionary process were four: the pattern of S&T development, political relations and economical relations, international position and the law of S&T development. The various factors were interrelated and acted together on the evolution of the U.S.-Japan postwar S&T relations. The U.S.-Japan postwar S&T relations had an important effect on the economic development of the U.S. and Japan. The impacts were active as well as passive. Those will be discussed in detail in chapter 5.