There is a very thorough explanation on Japanese economic growth in the work by Asian scholar, Chalmers Johnson in his work Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire. In addition to a very well researched explanation on American actions and the intelligence community derived concept of "blowback", he provides a very detailed explanation on Japanese economic success (you would probably be interested in his work with a more direct explanation of the role of the MITI specifcally, MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975). His argument in Blowback is that in addition to the Japanese skill in industry promoted by the likes of MITI, much of their incredible growth was due to their ability to use their geopolitical surroundings to their benefit.
"From approximately 1950 to 1970, the United States treated Japan as a beloved ward, indulging its every economic need and proudly patronizing it as a star capitalist pupil. The United States sponsored Japan's entry into many international institutions... transferred crucial technologies to the Japanese on virtually concessionary terms and opened its markets to Japanese products while tolerating Japan's production of its own domestic market."
-Chalmers Johnson, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, p.177
One of the interesting points Johsnon makes is on his claim that "East Asian export regimes thrived on foreign demand artificially generated by an imperialist power...the strategy only worked so long as Japan and perhaps one or two smaller countries pursued this strategy." While the beneficial policies initially benefited both Japan and the US, the former as described above and the latter by providing cheap consumer goods and an example of the benefits of capitalism to be used in the ideologically driven conflicts ragging in East Asia. However, by about the end of the 1980's, the Japanese developed an overcapacity to produce goods aimed at the American market at the same time that American policies in Japan (and elsewhere) had hollowed out vital American industries, lowering employment opportunities and wages in the US and thus correspondingly lowering the ability for the US consumer to absorb Japanese products.
His argument is elaborated more in chapter 9 of Blowback, and I would really recommend that you check it out from your local library or buy it, if you want to know more.