AbstractThis article outlines and partly explains the growth of the Japanese electronics industry. Wartime technical skills were initially applied to restoring the national telephone system (which encouraged new technology and quality) and to meeting consumer demands based on a broadcasting boom that followed deregulation (which encouraged diversity). The government largely ignored the industry until the mid-50s; much of the help thereafter was indirect (eg tax incentives). A mixture of competition and industry-wide cooperation, aided by fear of US technical domination, has built up an industry central to the economy and to many older industries (eg through automation). One goal is a sixth generation computer able to provide instant communication between people currently separated by a language barrier, and so to aid the cause of world peace.