Japan's commercial development of the electron microscope

Americans have a picture of Japan as a country which, in the years after the Second World War, was able to produce only inexpensive and shoddy goods. This picture is not, however, entirely accurate. For example, the first electronic product exported from Japan to America after the war was not, as most suppose, the transistor radio but a highly complex research tool, the electron microscope. Today, Japan manufacturers the majority of the world's electron microscopes. How could a country cut off from the West's scientific research establishment in 1939 and in economic ruin in 1945 be competitive as early as the 1950's in producing such complex technology? This short article, based largely on an interview with two of the founders of one important Japanese microscope manufacturer (JEOL) gives a few clues. Rather than present a detailed history of the company, the author identifies seventeen factors that contributed to the company's success.