In 1945 Japan lay flattened and starving , yet within a single generation its economy had climbed to second - largest on Earth , overtaking West Germany by 1968 barely 23 years after total defeat had left its cities in ash and its people near famine

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• spacedaily.com In 1945 Japan lay flattened and starving , yet within a single generation its economy had climbed to second - largest on Earth , overtaking West Germany by 1968 barely 23 years after total defeat had left its cities in ash and its people near famine