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Japan's economic recovery was marked by the Korean War. Japan profited indirectly from the war, through the dense exchanging goods and services which is assigned to Japanese suppliers.  In 1952, the whole economy started to gain its independence and embarked on the process of development and growth. The economic prosperity was shown in all aspects of their citizens' life, such as through the constantly high rates of annual growth. The agricultural sector was improved significantly due to the improvement of machinery and modern technology. As a result, it provided large ranges of products as fruits, vegetables, and meats. The population was successfully monitored and controlled through legalization of abortion in 1948 and encouraging family planning. Therefore, the slowly increasing population and steady economy contribute greatly to the high rate of employment and labor in the whole industry. Since the 1960s, Japan has experienced rapid growth economically, due to 2 factors. Firstly, based on Income Doubling Plan, the government's responsibilities focused intensively on domestic education, vocational training, and welfare. Secondly, emphasizing the importance of consumers in the economy and industrial policies launched by the government had led to their change in the structure of their economy, as they focused on high-quality products for both domestic and foreign markets. Other factors such as advanced transportation and decent domestic welfare also participated in the steadily growing economy in Japan.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/Economic-transformation

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The Korean War marked the turn from economic depression to recovery for Japan. As the staging area for the United Nations forces on the Korean peninsula, Japan profited indirectly from the war, as valuable procurement orders for goods and services were assigned to Japanese suppliers. The Japanese economy at the return of independence in 1952 was in the process of growth and change. Sustained prosperity and high annual growth rates, which averaged 10 percent in 1955-60 and later climbed to more than 13 percent, changed all sectors of Japanese life. The countryside, where farmers had benefited from land reform, began to feel the effects of small-scale mechanization and a continuous migration to industrial centres. Agricultural yields rose as improved strains of crops and modern technology were introduced, as household appliances appeared in remote villages, and as the changing patterns of urban food consumption provided an expanded market for cash crops, fruits and vegetables, and meat products. Efforts to control population growth, which had begun with the legalization of abortion in 1948 and included a national campaign to encourage family planning, showed considerable success, as the population stabilized and thereafter grew slowly. Gains in economic output, therefore, were not offset by a rapidly expanding population, and steady industrial growth brought full employment and even labour shortages.

Two elements underscored rapid growth in the 1960s. The first was the development of a consumer economy, which was given a significant boost by Ikeda Hayato's Income Doubling Plan of 1960. This plan reaffirmed the government's responsibility for social welfare, vocational training, and education, while also redefining growth to include consumers as well as producers. The second was the new industrial policy that emerged out of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) in 1959. Under these influences the structure of the Japanese economy changed to concentrate on high-quality and high-technology products designed for domestic and foreign consumption. The production of such products also emphasized Japan's need for stable, economically advanced trading partners to replace the Asian markets to which inexpensive textiles had been sent earlier. Improvements in transportation-e.g., cargo-handling methods and bulk transport by large ore carriers and tankers-helped to remove the disadvantage of the greater distances over which Japan's products had to be shipped. Most important, the large and growing domestic market was rendering invalid earlier generalizations about Japan's need for cheap labour and captive Asian colonies to sustain its economy. The era of high growth continued until the "oil shock" of 1973: the embargo by OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Nations). In the interim, Japan's output shifted with world currents, and its industrial expansion made it a world leader in shipbuilding, electronics, precision optical equipment, steel, automobiles, and high technology. In the 1960s Japanese exports expanded at an annual rate of more than 15 percent, and in 1965 Japan revealed the first signs that it had a trade surplus.

A number of factors greatly aided Japan's economic resurgence during the 1950s and '60s. One was the complete destruction of the nation's industrial base by the war. This meant that Japan's new factories, using the latest developments in technology, were often more efficient than those of their foreign competitors. The Japanese became enthusiastic followers of the American statistician W. Edward Deming's ideas on quality control and soon began producing goods that were more reliable and contained fewer flaws than those of the United States and western Europe. At the same time, Japan was able to import, under license, advanced foreign technology at relatively low cost. With the addition of a youthful and well-educated workforce, a high domestic savings rate that provided ample capital, and an activist government and bureaucracy that provided guidance, support, and subsidies, the ingredients were in place for rapid and sustained economic growth.

Social change

Two major changes were visible in the social life of the Japanese from 1952 to 1973. The first was the significant decline in the birth rate that stabilized the Japanese population. The second was the population shift from the countryside to urban centres. In addition to birth control, such factors as a more highly educated populace, postponement of marriage in favour of education and employment, and a desire for greater independence in early adulthood contributed to changing fertility patterns-as did the increasing conviction among many couples that it was in their economic self-interest to have fewer children. But even with a stable population Japan remained one of the world's most densely populated countries.

As population growth slowed and the economy expanded, Japan faced a labour shortage that drew workers from agriculture, as well as from small and medium enterprises, to the new large-scale industries of the cities. The resulting shift in Japan's population was dramatic. In the Meiji period the rural population of Japan stood at 85 percent of the national total; by 1945 it was approximately 50 percent, and by 1970 it had fallen to less than 20 percent. In the process, both village and urban life underwent significant changes. Factories were built in the countryside as industrialists tried to tap into the still-underemployed rural labour force. Agriculture itself became increasingly mechanized and commercialized. As sons, and even husbands, went off to the factories, women, children, and the elderly were often left to run the family farm. At the same time, the face of rural Japan changed, with hard-surfaced roads, concrete schools, factories, and sales outlets for automobiles and farm equipment replacing the once timeless thatched-roof houses. By 1970 the average farm household income had risen higher than its urban counterpart, providing considerable rural purchasing power. Television tied rural households to urban Japan and to the world beyond. Young men brought up on visions of urban life as projected by American television programs were eager to move to the cities after graduation from high school. Young women showed increasing reluctance to become farm wives, and in some instances villagers sought spouses for their sons in Southeast Asia. Rural solidarity suffered from such out-migration, and in many cases prewar village life ceased to be, as villages amalgamated into cities and struggled to develop new identities.

Cities also underwent rapid change. By 1972 one in every nine Japanese lived in Tokyo and one in four lived in the Tokyo-Ōsaka industrial corridor. As the national centre for government, finance, business, industry, education, and the arts, Tokyo became a magnet for many Japanese and the quintessential expression of Japanese urban life.

But while Tokyo and other large cities remained highly attractive, urban dwellers also faced serious problems, notably housing. Living space for most urban dwellers was infinitesimal when compared with Western societies. Although Japanese bristled when Westerners described them as living in "rabbit hutches," apartments with 125 square feet (12 square metres) of living space-often with shared facilities-were common. Such apartments were often found in drab residential developments that pushed out at greater distances from the inner wards of major cities and required increased commuting times. The dream of owning one's home, which most urban dwellers sought to keep alive, was already becoming increasingly elusive by the 1970s. In 1972 the price of land in or near Japan's largest cities was some 25 times higher than it had been in 1955, far surpassing the rise in the average urban worker's disposable income for the same period. While government and private industry were able to provide some low-cost housing, higher-priced housing in the form of high-rise condominiums, or "mansions," proliferated, and for most Japanese urbanites housing remained the chief flaw in Japan's postwar economic "miracle."

If urban life retained a number of density-induced drawbacks-which in addition to housing included few parks and open spaces, limited sewage systems, and an overcrowded transportation network of trains, subways, and buses that often required "pushers" and "pullers" to get passengers on and off-it also had its compensations in a rising standard of living and the entertainments that money afforded in splendid department stores, shopping areas, movie houses, coffee shops, bars, nightclubs and restaurants. The impact of American culture was everywhere. Young urbanites, in particular, took with gusto to jazz and rock music, pinball machines, American soft drinks and fast foods, baseball, and the freer social relations that typified American dating patterns. American fashions of dress and grooming, often set by movie and rock stars, quickly found bands of faithful imitators. Indeed, almost every American fad from the hula hoop to hang gliding had its Japanese supporters.

Urban life also brought about changes in traditional Japanese family and gender relationships. The position of women improved, as many more now went to high schools and colleges. Most found urban employment until marriage. As arranged marriages declined and "love" matches increased, marriage customs also changed. Urban living promoted the ideal of the nuclear family, particularly as housing conditions made it difficult for the extended family to live together. Urban dwellers found themselves less dependent on the goodwill of their neighbours. There was also less need for the conformity that typified rural life-although for many recent arrivals the city-based company and factory effectively restructured village values to support an efficient workplace.

The majority of villagers actually made the transition from rural to urban life with less social stress than was the case in Europe and America. Juvenile delinquency showed some increase, but overall crime rates remained low. So-called "new" religions such as Sōka Gakkai (Value-Creation Society), which strongly appealed to those feeling isolated or alienated, flourished in the 1950s and '60s. Disparities between the newly rich and the older generation living on fixed incomes and between a freer, franker, and often more egotistic and brash mass culture that appealed to the young and traditional taste set by what once had been the aristocracy often accentuated how generations viewed the postwar situation. For many of the older generation, the new culture epitomized moral decay, which they attributed to the postwar system of education; to the young, the older generation seemed out of touch with the new realities that Japan faced. Such a generational split was further dramatized in the universities, where older professors were firmly in control but where young people struggled to find ways of expressing their own positions, which, typically, were often far more radical than those of their teachers.

Political developments

With the restoration of sovereignty, politicians who had been purged by the occupation were allowed to return to public life. This included a number of prewar rightists who had been active in the 1930s. But the ideological right found few adherents among the postwar generation, and without military or big-business support the right wing played a largely dormant role during the 1950s and '60s. Occasionally disturbing incidents, such as the 1960 assassination of the socialist leader Asanuma Inajirō by a right-wing activist, revealed that the right was still able to intimidate; but rightists, for the most part, concentrated on campaigns to restore the use of the national flag, revive such national holidays as Foundation Day (February 11; succeeded in 1966), and restore state sponsorship for Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo (where Japan's war dead, notably those of World War II, are enshrined). The left fared considerably better. Communists who returned to Japan from foreign exile or who were released from domestic prisons played a vigorous role in the immediate postwar political arena. In 1949 the Japan Communist Party (JCP) elected 35 candidates to the lower house and garnered 10 percent of the vote. But by 1952 the Korean War (which had led SCAP to purge communists from public office), steady improvements in living conditions, and uncooperative Soviet attitudes in negotiations over the return of the Kuril Islands and over fishing treaties had seriously undermined public support for the communists, as did communist opposition to the imperial institution and extremist labour tactics. Still, Marxist, and later Maoist, ideas remained highly appealing to large numbers of Japanese intellectuals and college students, and the noncommunist left became a major voice for opposition in Japanese politics.

The year 1955 was highly significant in postwar politics. The right and left wings of the socialist movement, which had been divided since 1951 over the peace treaty, merged to form the Japan Socialist Party (JSP). Faced with this united opposition the conservative parties, the Liberals and the Democrats, joined to found the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP). Japan thus entered a period of essentially two-party politics. The dominant LDP, which inherited Yoshida's mantle, worked effectively to solidify the close ties he had created with bureaucrats, bankers, and the business community. As a result, ex-bureaucrats played significant roles in the LDP, often being elected to the Diet and becoming important cabinet members. Three of the next six prime ministers (all from the LDP) who succeeded Yoshida-Kishi Nobusuke, Ikeda Hayato, and Satō Eisaku-were ex-bureaucrats. These close government-business ties, which became essential to domestic economic growth, later were characterized as "Japan Incorporated" in the West.

Ideologically, the LDP combined a strong commitment to economic growth with the desire to return Japan to world prominence. The party depended on the financial support of business and banking, but its voter base remained in rural Japan. At the local level, LDP politicians established political networks that became the hallmarks of postwar politics and emphasized the role of personal "machine" politics over party platforms. But individual LDP Diet members realized that in order to provide patronage for their constituents they needed the support of party leaders with access to the bureaucracy. Factions therefore formed around such leaders, who vied with one another for the premiership and sought to have members of their faction appointed to important cabinet posts.

As the voice of the opposition, the JSP resisted rearmament, had a strong antinuclear stance, campaigned to rid Japan of the American bases and abrogate the Mutual Security Treaty, supported mainland China, and vigorously opposed all efforts to change the postwar constitution. The appeal of the JSP was directed both to urban intellectuals and to the working classes, and its financial support came largely from labour (Sōhyō). In contrast to the LDP's focus on economic growth, big business, and agriculture, the JSP concentrated on urban issues, on those bypassed by prosperity, and on the mounting problems of pollution and environmental degradation that accompanied accelerated industrial growth. Socialist influence was weakened, however, when the more right-wing JSP members split off to form the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) in 1959.

By the early 1970s urban issues also attracted the JCP, which started to substitute practical matters for ideology and won a number of mayoral elections. To the right of the communists and socialists appeared the Clean Government Party ( Kōmeitō; later renamed the New Clean Government Party), which began in 1964 as the political arm of Sōka Gakkai but dissociated itself from the religion by 1970; like its opposition counterparts, it focused on the urban electorate. On occasion, as in 1960 with the Kishi government and the proposed renewal of the U.S-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, the opposition could mount sufficient public support to bring down an LDP cabinet, but on the whole the era was one in which the LDP remained firmly in power.

Still, by the late 1960s and early '70s there also were signs of a decline in LDP support. Dissatisfaction with the party's handling of domestic labour issues, Japan's involvement in the Vietnam War, demands for the reversion of Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty, and extensive student uprisings on university campuses, combined with growing doubts about the effects of unbridled growth and the increasing dangers from pollution, all undercut the party's popularity. In 1952 the LDP had garnered two-thirds of the Diet seats, but by 1972 it controlled only slightly more than half. The effects of the so-called "Nixon shocks" in 1971, which allowed the yen to rise against the dollar and restructured the U.S.- China (and hence the Japan-China) relationship, were compounded in 1973 by the OPEC oil crisis that threatened the underpinnings of Japan's postwar prosperity and the LDP's political hegemony.

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Japan - Economic Transformation, Industrialization, Modernization: The Korean War marked the turn from economic depression to recovery for Japan. As the staging area for the United Nations forces on the Korean peninsula, Japan profited indirectly from the war, as valuable procurement orders for goods and services were assigned to Japanese suppliers.

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How did China manage the challenge of economic development?   by Angela

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How did China manage the challenge of economic development?   by Angela

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China’s economy prior to 1979 was isolated from the global world economy. At that time, their economy was centrally controlled and very poor. However, in 1979, China opened up for foreign trade and investment and started implementing free-market reforms. Since then, China become the world fastest growing economy.Now, based on a power parity basis, China has become the world’s largest economy, manufacturer and trader and ultimately major commercial competitor and trading partner of the USA.

One of the reasons for this success is the fact that the Chinese government has made innovation a top priority. The number of initiatives to upgrade and modernise China’s manufacturing through extensive government assistance allowed China to become a global player in many sectors.

In addition, China’s economic growth has been based on a resource-intensive manufacturing using low-paid labour and increased exports, investment and consumption.  Inflows of foreign capital, technology, and management knowledge greatly enabled China's economic rise. Substantial government spending and the regulations on foreign businesses have also influenced China's fast growth over the last decades.

There have also been significant improvements in access to health, education and other services.

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The story of the rise of Japan as an economic giant is certainly a fairytale. From a country torn by war into a worldwide powerhouse. The raise of Japan economically had been through a variety of different events. The first event was the Korean war, during wartime in the Korean peninsula valuable goods and services were ordered to be imported from Japanese suppliers which benefited the recently-destroyed economy of the country. Concurrently, the government of Japan issued land reforms that positively impacted the agricultural growth of the country. Also, the Japanese government made a lot of efforts in slowing the growth of the Japanese population giving the economy the chance to grow and cater to the needs of the population at that time by reforms like the legislation of abortion. Furthermore, the growth of the Japanese economy was also due to two very important developments which are: First, the development of the consumer economy which basically redefined the government obligation to the welfare, training, and education of its subjects. Moreover, the consumer economy puts obligations on both the consumer and the producer.
Second, the development of the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1959, which highly supported the growth of the Japanese economy by addressing the economic needs of the country as well as putting high standards on both the importers as well as the Japanese manufacturers and exporters to ensure all the products consumed in Japan, as well as those Japanese products consumed outside, are high quality, Hence are highly profitable.

Japan - Economic transformation | Britannica
Japanese Industrialization and Economic Growth (eh.net)

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The road to economic recovery started for Japan when the Korean war ended. In which it was in a economic depression since the start of the war, but they indirectly benefited from the selling of goods and services during the war.

In 1952, the Japanese economy started to grow, and a few years later the economy rapidly started to grow with an economic growth rate of 10-13 percent, which is very positive for a country that was in a war. During the economic growth of Japan, land reform for farmers were introduced which meant a higher quality of fruit and production can be produced as well as a higher quality which the Japanese could benefit as they could export it to other nations. Also, the population started to grow rapidly which saw Japan introduce the legalization of abortion in 1948, and as a result it was proven successful as the population started to grow at a much slower rate.

Therefore, as a result Japan is one of the strongest economies in the world as they have good job opportunities, good healthcare, good welfare and other good policies that are beneficial for the country.

Source:
https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/Economic-transformation

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Post-WW2 South Korea was fairly undeveloped, as it had just been independent from oppressive Japanese occupation. The Korean War 1950-53 further impacted the economy of the country due to high casualties and the devastation it brought about. In the 1950s, the South Korean economy was heavily dependent on foreign aid and was largely agrarian. However, due to the military dictatorship of Syngman Rhee and those who succeeded him, Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo Hwan 1960s-1980s, the government was committed to reforming the economy in what became known as 'miracle on the Han river'.

The next three decades saw South Korea's economic growth at an annual rate of almost 9%. The economy changed from agrarian focused to industrial and manufactured a lot of goods such as steel and petrochemicals to be exported overseas.

In the 80s, the manufacturing of electronics and automobiles further increased their economic development.

South Korea - Economic and social developments | Britannica

South Korea’s Economic Development, 1948–1996 | Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History

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In the 1950s South Korea had an underdeveloped, agrarian economy that depended heavily on foreign aid. The military leadership that emerged in the early 1960s and led the country for a quarter century may have been autocratic and, at times, repressive, but its pragmatic and flexible commitment to economic development resulted in what became known as the "miracle on the Han River." During the next three decades, the South Korean economy grew at an average annual rate of nearly 9 percent, and per capita income increased more than a hundredfold. South Korea was transformed into an industrial powerhouse with a highly skilled labour force. In the late 20th century, however, economic growth slowed, and in 1997 South Korea was forced to accept a $57 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-then the largest such rescue in IMF history. The country also wrestled with reforming the chaebŏl and liberalizing its economy. Nevertheless, its economy enjoyed a recovery in subsequent years, and the country entered the 21st century on a relatively firm economic footing.

South Korean society underwent an equally rapid transformation after the Korean War. The population more than doubled between the end of the war and the turn of the 21st century. Simultaneously, modern education developed rapidly, again with considerable government involvement but also because of the resurgence of the Korean people's traditional zeal for education after decades of repression during the Japanese occupation period (1910-45). The growth of educational institutions and of commercial and industrial enterprises in and around South Korea's major cities attracted an increasing number of rural people to urban areas. Seoul, in particular, grew some 10-fold to about 10 million people between the end of World War II and the early 21st century. There was a corresponding growth in communications media, especially newspaper and magazine publishing. An ambitious program was also undertaken to expand and modernize the country's transportation infrastructure.

The most conspicuous social change in South Korea, however, was the emergence of a middle class. Land reform carried out in the early 1950s, together with the spread of modern education and the expansion of the economy, caused the disappearance of the once-privileged (landholding) class, and a new elite emerged from the ranks of the former commoners. Another significant social change was the decline of the extended-family system: rural-to-urban migration broke traditional family living arrangements, as urban dwellers tended to live in apartments as nuclear families and, through family planning, to have fewer children. In addition, women strenuously campaigned for complete legal equality and won enhanced property ownership rights. Women also won the right to register as a head of family in a new family register system ( hojŏk) that took effect in 2008. Under the old system only men could register as family heads; thus, children were legally part of the father's family register, not the mother's. The new system increased women's legal standing in, among other things, divorce and child-custody cases. This system also granted adopted and stepchildren rights that were equal to those of biological children-for example, in matters of inheritance.

Rapid urbanization, the nuclear family system, the increase in women's active participation in the economy, and lengthening life expectancies meant that by the early 21st century South Korea had decreasing birth rates and an aging population. The overall population was expected to decrease over the next decades as well. The government was concerned that fewer children and an aging society would slow economic growth and destabilize the social security system in the future.
Young Ick Lew Hyug-Baeg Im

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South Korea - Economic and social developments

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South Korea - South Korea - Economic and social developments: In the 1950s South Korea had an underdeveloped, agrarian economy that depended heavily on foreign aid. The military leadership that emerged in the early 1960s and led the country for a quarter century may have been autocratic and, at times, repressive, but its pragmatic and flexible commitment to economic development resulted in what became known as the "miracle on the Han River."

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After the Korean War, South Korea's economic development was significantly affected by political disorder and corruption. It was only until the United States provided  $12.6 billion in economic assistance. South Korea's infrastructure started were rebuilt, the US also provided relief and food. In the 1960s, the US aided by providing technical training to South Korean citizens assisted with employment by providing them opportunities. After 1961, South Korea’s economy became dominated by huge business conglomerates who created and evolved big brands.

Their economy also improved due to the social changes of individuals moving from the countryside to the cities which provided them more employment opportunities. Schooling and education also assisted as more individuals were enrolling and the government introduced teacher-training programs.

https://www.asianstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/an-unpromising-recovery-south-koreas-post-korean-war-economic-development-1953-1961.pdf

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Germany's economy is mixed. In consumer products and commercial services, it enables for a free market economy. However even in such regions, the government establishes restrictions to safeguard its residentsTo begin with, Germany's rules made it impossible to lay off employees or reduce salaries. Second, with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the reunification of East and West Germany increased unemployment. Workers from the old Communist bloc have to be absorbed into the economy. the culture encourages people to save for a rainy day rather than spend to stimulate the economy.
If not for measures implemented between 1998 and 2005, unemployment in Germany would have been much higher. Businesses were sponsored by the government to cut working hours.

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China is currently undergoing a major restructuring of its economic model. Policies that were employed in the past to essentially produce rapid economic growth at any cost were very successful. However, such policies have entailed a number of costs (such as heavy pollution, widening income inequality, overcapacity in many industries, an inefficient financial system, rising corporate debt, and numerous imbalances in the economy).

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The rise of the Japanese economy began to occur after the Second World War. The initial industrial base built up from the 1800s was destroyed by the war. In an effort to re-industrialize the Japanese began to import and use the most modern and efficient equipment and expertise. Japan followed W. Edward Deming's idea that quality mattered more than quantity. This meant that by the 1960s Japan was able to produce products that were more reliable and overall greater quality than their western counterparts.

By 1965 Japan had achieved a trade surplus, this is a situation where a country exports more than it imports. There were not many countries during that time that could reach this achievement.