In what has been called "the Japanese Miracle", the nation of Japan was catapulted from a devastated and defeated country to a world economic power, relatively overnight in the context of the rise historic and fall from power. The American occupation of Japan began on September 2, 1945 and lasted until April 1952; VJ day, or “Victory over Japan Day” (History.com_staff, 2009), was September 2, 1945. It lasted about 7 years and, unlike the European occupations managed exclusively by the United States, the United States was surprised by this abrupt rise of strength by Japan and other defeated nations. The Japanese economy was aided significantly by the protection of the United States which designed its constitution to prohibit rearmament and allow Japan to save large expenditures compared to if it had been militarily autonomous. The nation of Japan was aided in its rise as an economic power by the concerns of the United States in protecting the democratic way of life by stemming the spread of communism in Asia and Japan and denying other world powers such as the Soviet Union and the Republic of L China's access to Japan's resources. Finally, collaboration with the United States and the introduction of post-war policies to protect the nation of Japan and its ability to obtain natural resources allowed Japan to protect its industries and markets, stimulating the Japanese economy in such a way as to be able to quickly surpass the other world powers that were. rebuild their economies more slowly and quickly become a global economic power. Before Japan's declaration of war against the United States in December 1941, the Japanese economy had been operating efficiently for at least 10 years. The Second Sino-Japanese War, “a military conflict between… the United States and Japan, made the transition from a staggering exit from the postwar recovery to extraordinary high-speed growth. “By 1960 the Japanese economy was growing at a rate of about 10% per year, and many of its manufactured goods were highly competitive abroad.” (Forsberg, 2000) The Japanese economy was helped significantly by the protection of the United States in saving large defense expenditures; build trade relationships with Western nations and design and enforce a series of capitalist policies and practices. Motivated by concerns about stemming the spread of communism in Asia and Japan and denying other world powers such as the Soviet Union and the Republic of China access to Japan's resources, the United States remained focused on the rapid economic recovery of Japan, allowing that nation to recover quickly. surpass the rest of the world in terms of economic growth.