BUSINESS ABROAD: Naka-Darumi in Japan

Japan's businessmen have a happy phrase to describe their resurgent economy: Jimmu kieki—the biggest boom since the days of the legendary Emperor Jimmu, who founded the Japanese empire in 660 B.C. In five years the gross national product zoomed 62.5% to $25 billion annually, while industrial production jumped almost 100% to 219 on the 1934-36 index. But last week Japan had two somewhat more sober phrases to quote: naka-darumi, meaning pause, and oi-uchi, meaning a tightening. The pause in the boom had been brought about by the credit pinching of Finance Minister...

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