In the years following WW2 Japan recovered from the devastation wrought by the war so rapidly and so effectively that by the 1960s it had the third-largest economy in the world, only smaller than that of the United States and the Soviet Union. However, this economic miracle was not predetermined and as such I would like to discuss: with a POD no earlier than 1945, how can Japan's development be derailed? Can it still happen even with the Marshall Plan aid? Could it happen via the disruption of Japan's democracy?