Months before the end of World War II, a committee of economists and other professionals commissioned by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs began meeting secretly to draft plans for the reconstruction of Japan after what by then was seen as the nation's inevitable defeat. This volume is a translation and analysis of their report, which was released in September 1946 after more than a year of deliberations under the leadership of Professor Hiromi Arisawa of the University of Tokyo. In retrospect, the report stands as a landmark document in the economic history of Japan and provides a new perspective on the spectacular economic growth that was to follow.