Abstract
This chapter discusses the relationship between the World Bank (henceforth “the Bank”) Group and Japan as the most important of Japan’s engagements with the international development banks, and also because the history of this relationship mirrors Japan’s revival after the World War II, its ascendance to an economic superpower, and sense of relative decline since the 1990s. The 60-year history of the relations between the Bank and Japan unfolds in three parts. Part I focuses on the Bank as lender to Japan after the World War II (1951–1966). Part II covers the period when a self-confident Japan turned into an economic powerhouse and key donor (most of the 1980 and 1990s). Part III observes the partners drifting away (the 2000s); and Part IV provides some suggestions by the authors for the way forward in the relations between the Bank and Japan. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.