The Development and Future of Management Accounting in Japan and the USA: A Comparison of Management Philosophies

Management accounting in Japan went through two main stages of development after the Second World War. In the first period the Japanese government gave an impetus to the import of advanced management and accounting from the West and it took root in private enterprises. Later many large Japanese companies, freed from government constraints, positively created and established a new Japanese-style management accounting: Genka kikaku (cost design) and Kaizen (continuous cost improvement). In order to review the past it is important to understand the present nature of Japanese management accounting.