Almost everyone starts much too late in trying to explain Japan's unique
development among non-Western countries. Japan had a transition from feudalism
to capitalism similar to that of Europe, and with similar timing. By the time
Japan came back into the world-system from its two centuries of isolation, it
was already substantially developed. The twentieth century developmens built
on the developments of the past several centuries.
See S.K. Sanderson, "The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism: The
Theoretical Significance of the Japanese Case," Fernand Braudel Center Review
17:15-55, 1994.
Stephen Sanderson