"Japanese Industrial Governance uses a wide range of original Japanese sources to explore the evolution of Japanese developmental debates, arguing that the core of the industrial governance system was in fact the result of infant industry protection and high barriers to foreign entry. In response to international pressures, in particular penetration by Anglo-American multinational corporations, the "licensing system," as Sohn refers to it, was not purely an internal, domestic decision, as it is commonly regarded. Using primarily the cases of prewar petroleum and automobiles industries, the focus of this book lies mainly in the late nineteenth century when the Meiji leaders (1868-1912) established non-tariff protective mechanisms, which were strengthened by the massive entry of foreign multinationals during the 1920s. Combined with other industrial policy tools such as subsidies and other financial incentives, the licensing system helped to establish regulated markets."--BOOK JACKET.