From: clare@nynexst.com (Clare Chu)
Subject: Re: Interesting article about recession, politics and Japanese trade policy (2/2)
Organization: Nynex Science and Technology
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 92 18:10:00 GMT

This was posted to:
alt.politics.perot,alt.politics.bush,alt.politics.clinton,alt.politics.elections

In article <1992Oct14.171601.28433@midway.uchicago.edu> ar12@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>Part 2/2; JAPANYES (monu6.cc.monash.edu.au)
> 
>JAPANESE PEOPLE AND THE MARKET:
> 
>     The Japanese people are extremely kind and polite, don't go stealing
>things out of each other's houses nor do they go shooting each other as
>much as Americans do. They are however naive about the forces in their
>world around them (a point which probably can also be made about America's
>own citizens). There is little individual thought nor questioning of the
>government and companies, which is very dangerous. This is compounded by
>the fact that 1 political party (the LDP) has ruled the country ever since
>it has had a democratic constitution. Results of this include the fact
>that many cartels operate in the country yet no one seems to notice this
>occurs. Many Japanese aren't even aware that foreign countries make the
>same products that Japanese companies make. Formally, Japan has laws
>against cartels, but they are not enforced. Only one major cartel group
>has been prosecuted in the last 15 years (plastic wrap companies), and
>this was only after a lot of pressure from the United States. As America's
>power in the world diminishes, so will its ability to exert such pressure.
> 
>     Ordinary Japanese don't have much idea of why they can't buy foreign
>goods at reasonable prices in their stores. When I asked Japanese people
>why they don't buy American (or other foreign goods), they often say
>because they can't find them, or they are much too expensive. This is
>true.
> 
>     Foreign goods are often impossible to buy at any price and are
>usually very expensive when found. For example, I looked for, but found no
>Korean products at all in Japan even though this country is very close to
>Japan on the map (1000 miles max distance). Because Korea has little
>political influence, it cannot pressure Japan to allow their products in.
>As a consequence Korea cannot sell their products in Japan even though
>they make many of the same types of high quality electronics and
>automotive goods the Japanese make, but at a lower price. U.S. (and other
>foreign products) which must face a Japanese domestic maker are also
>extremely hard to find in Japan. Ironically, the American flags in the
>Tokyo-Shinjuku Mitsukoshi department store were also made in Japan.
> 
>    I realized that Japanese people would buy American goods if they could
>when I told them the prices of US and Japanese goods in America. I used
>some of the examples in this paper to try to explain why there was 'Japan
>bashing' in America. I also happened to have a US newspaper, so I showed
>them product prices of US and Japanese goods in America. I took them out
>into their shops and proved the differences to them.  When I finished,
>they were shocked at what I had just shown them. Japanese goods are
>sometimes cheaper in America than in Japan and non Japanese goods are much
>more expensive in Japan than they should be, especially if the good is in
>an industry targeted by the Japanese companies and government.
> 
>     For example, the major Japanese appliance manufacturers are planning
>to enter the US market for appliances (refrigerators, stoves, vacuums) in
>the 1990's. In a major Hiroshima appliance store (the only store I could
>find any foreign appliances), I saw a GE refrigerator selling for $3000
>(US). This was a very low end model you could buy here in America for
>about $600. The Toshiba right next to it was a high end model and sold for
>$2500. A comparable refrigerator in America would sell for about $1000.
>This didn't seem right to me. The government and more elite business
>people I spoke with already knew about these points and acknowledged that
>they could see it was a 'problem' for America.
> 
>ESCALATOR DOLLS AND OFFICE LADIES:
> 
>     An escalator doll is a young women in her 20's who stands by the
>escalator all day and welcomes you to the floor of the store or office
>building. She says goodbye and thank you when you leave. You find these at
>Mitsukoshi (the classiest department store I've ever walked into), the
>Toyota main showroom in Tokyo, the government offices and the corporation
>offices (Sony, Toshiba, Nissan..). Other women serve as temporary labor to
>bear the bumps generated by the economic cycle. It is these people (and
>foreigners) who get laid off in order to permit a system of lifetime
>employment for the Japanese males. Escalator dolls (and their counterpart
>within corporate offices, 'Office Ladies') must often sign a contract with
>the employer stating that they will quit when they reach the age of 25.
>The true purpose of these girls (besides serve tea and welcome guests) is
>to become mates for the men, who are at work for such long hours that they
>have difficulty to find women on their own.
> 
>     Young women in Japan are expected to marry by 25 year old. A well
>known quote in Japan makes the point bluntly: "Single women are like
>Christmas cake, after the 25th, useless, so they go for 1/2 price."
>Marrying by 25 is very important. If a women is nearing 25 and can't find
>a mate, chances are she will have a pre-arranged wedding to an eligible
>bachelor set up by the parents.
>     
>     I sometimes wonder how much of a willingness to change the system
>exists in Japan, even among the women themselves. While there, I met one
>of Mutsumi's friends, Hanako. Hanako went to university in America and
>studied in Political Science. I asked her what she thought of the way
>Japan treated their women. She didn't see a problem. In her opinion, the
>women should stay at home as it leads to family stability and enables the
>husband to concentrate on his work and not family affairs. I asked Hanako
>where she was working. She works at a Japanese company as a tea server
>(office lady). 'What would you like to do at your job in the future', I
>asked. She replied 'they told me that if I did a good job now, I could be
>a secretary in a few years and file things'. Hanako has a university
>degree.
> 
>     In Japan, the percentage of women who are managers of men is much
>lower than in America. Furthermore, women typically don't hold any
>positions of importance. They are more like office decoration or marriage
>material for the men. It may also surprise you, but almost all women in
>Japanese companies, regardless of professional status or level in the
>organization are required to prepare and serve tea daily for the men as
>part of their daily chores.
> 
>"BUSINESS IS WAR":
> 
>     This is a well known quote in Japan. It may be surprising, but this
>has more meaning to the Japanese than you may first think. The word
>'business man' in Japanese translates literally into English as 'Company
>Soldier'. Japanese businessmen do not have pictures of their family or
>loved ones at the office because they 'do not want to mix family with
>battle'. When a Japanese man joins a company, he usually does so for life.
>Loyalty is extremely high. For this, and other reasons, job hopping is
>very rare in Japan. This has some advantages, as well as some
>disadvantages. The man (and his family if he has one) will be housed in
>the company residence, use the company health center, and make all of his
>friends among those within the company. He will likely find his mate
>through the company if he doesn't have one already. His first allegiance
>is to this company and his team. The family is secondary in its
>importance.
> 
>     There are important drawbacks to be considered though. A man once
>hired, cannot without extreme difficulty and shame, change companies.
>Companies know that to hire away workers from other companies means to
>risk losing their own to the other companies. This would disturb the male
>employment stability which is important in Japan. The smaller companies
>are kept in line by the larger ones via the power they hold via the loans,
>terms of sale etc...over the smaller companies. This helps ensure
>stability in the work force at times of economic growth and contractions.
> 
>WHERE IT ALL BEGINS:
> 
>     While I was in Japan, I went to Mutsumi's elementary school to see
>her younger cousin participate in a kind of 'Olympic Sports Day'. This
>event though was quite unusual. There were no individual activities, and
>the theme of the day was extremely militaristic in nature. There were two
>main teams, the red and white teams symbolizing the country's national
>colors. They had big banners, taiko (battle) drums which the team leader
>beat on while chanting the team slogan. If one person made an error in the
>competition, the whole team would suffer. Rewards, and failure were shared
>among all members of the team. Stress and peer pressure were very high, as
>they are for most Japanese throughout their lifetimes. Before the
>competition, everyone on the teams sang the school anthem louder and more
>clearly than I ever heard a school anthem sung here in America. Their
>diligence and effort was quite remarkable.
> 
>     What we call individuality in America is called deviation (be it in
>school, or at work) in Japan. It is not tolerated nor tried very much. (In
>fact, kids who's hair is not black enough get it dyed so as not to get in
>trouble at school by the teacher). Anyone with an 'outsider's' mind is
>rejected by the others, even by the teacher. 
> 
>     A consequence resulting from this fact appears when families who have
>lived outside Japan for a few years return to the country. These people
>(especially the kids) have a lot of trouble being accepted and integrating
>back into the Japanese society. 
> 
>     'Peer stresses' in Japan lead to what could be considered 2 major
>problems. #1 is stress. Many kids can't take it and commit suicide before
>reaching university age. Mutsumi's best friend in high school did this.
>Many others suffer from a wide variety of stress related nervous ticks and
>twitches (if you ride the subway in Tokyo and look at the other riders,
>you will notice this very readily). The second problem, is shame:
> 
>     Other 'strategic markets' the Japanese have entered (or are doing so
>now) include: 
> 
>>machine tools (the world is now dependant on Japan for much of the most
>modern machine making equipment (imagine the importance of this if a real
>war broke out somewhere in the world where the US and Japan each supported
>the opposing parties). Japan has also made a strong effort in the area of
>power tools (Makita, Hitachi), again with some dumping (Hitachi...). 
> 
>>computer memory chips and semiconductors (Akio Morita (SONY CEO) and
>Ishihara, in their famous book "Japan that can say no! (to America)"
>stated that Japan was powerful because could alter the balance of power by
>selling its critical Japanese-made-only microchips to the Russians instead
>of the USA). They also claim that we dropped the A-bomb on Japan because
>we are racists. 
> 
>>high performance telecommunications equipment (see the final example)
> 
>>automotive (US auto plants were used in WWII to make bombers...today many
>of these plants don't exist anymore).
> 
>>automotive parts (Japanese cars made in USA are really assembled from
>parts which are all MADE in Japan). These are the cars' critical
>components. The high precision equipment and technology to make these
>parts reside in Japan, not here. That's why high precision machining and
>advanced manufacturing is usually done in Japan, and assembly here.
> 
>EXAMPLE, HOW ALL THIS WORKS TOGETHER:
> 
>     Buying a Japanese product, even in an industry unrelated to yours can
>cause you to lose your job! This is much more likely than one may think.
>Many otherwise smart people do not understand this so I will explain it
>with the following true example:
> 
>     AT&T is a large US telecommunications manufacturer that is well
>placed in the world market and hence pays its employees very well. Many of
>them like to buy Hondas, Acuras, Mitsubishis and Toyotas. Most of these
>Japanese companies are in one of the 6 or so keiretsus in Japan. 
> 
>     MITI and Japanese industry have made it a public national priority to
>enter and become the major player (today, they are a very minor force) in
>the telecommunications industry during the 1990s. In fact, they have a
>plan to wire every house in Japan with fiber optic cable within the next
>10-15 years in order to get good at making fiber and its associated
>communications hardware. 
> 
>     Japan will have to spend money to research and develop their new
>telecommunications equipment. This will be very expensive and they will
>need the help of the keiretsu banks to do it. Where do the banks get this
>money? From their biggest export of course, automobile sales. This means
>that although AT&T managers and engineers only bought cars, they are
>helping fund Toshiba's, NEC's, Hitachi's and Matsushita's effort to put
>them out of a job.
> 
>     Imagine one of AT&T's engineers recently bought a new Acura
>automobile. One day, that AT&T engineer will lose his job due to fierce
>Japanese competition in the telecommunications industry, get into his
>Acura, go home, yet never ever equate the two events!
> 
>     Let's continue this example a little further to summarize this paper
>so far. The Japanese want to enter a new industry, telecommunications.
>Based on previous experience, this is how they are likely to do it.
> 
>     Firstly, telecommunications in the future will be based on something
>called digital technology. This will enable those picture-phones you used
>to see on Star-Trek to be a reality. Fiber optic cable and data
>transmission are very important to do this too. This is why they want to
>put fiber cable all over their entire country.
> 
>    Today, the Japanese are lousy at making high quality major
>telecommunications equipment that your telephone company would buy. In the
>world market though, there is lots of money to be made in this, which
>right now AT&T mostly gets. Because Japan doesn't know how to make good
>telecom equipment, they will need to do three things:
> 
>>1) get some good telecom equipment so they can copy it and improve it.
> 
>>2) pick a very strategic but simple niche market in the industry and take
>it over completely (ie. dumping) to get a foothold so they can use it as
>an anchor to increase the market share in telecommunications (like the LCD
>screens)
> 
>>3) start small.
> 
>     It turns out they have already started to do these things. For (1),
>they promised some US big name telecom makers that they might get a piece
>of the Japanese telecommunications market in return for a small sale of
>their best equipment to the Japanese national telephone company. AT&T and
>other North American firms fell for this scheme (maybe the laid off TV
>maker executives went to work for AT&T). AT&T sold them one copy of their
>most advanced equipment for a promise to 'possibly' buy many more. This is
>pretty foolish as AT&T has just given their best equipment to a country
>which has made a public declaration to be the world leader in that
>industry. This equipment will get copied and show up as Japanese brands a
>few years from now.
> 
>     For (2), Japan already has acquired two main strategic industries.
>Firstly, as you know they have 100% market share in the small LCD screens
>that the new picture phones and tele-computers/tele-bank machines will
>use. If AT&T wants to make a picturephone, they have to get the screen
>from their competition who also makes these phones (which I saw when I was
>Japan). Imagine the laptop computer example above all over again. This is
>an other reason why these small LCD screens are so strategic. Secondly,
>Japan has made an effort to be the best and cheapest (via dumping) at
>making a highly specialized component of fiber optic transmission systems
>which America uses in its network. Now Japan's salesmen talk to every
>phone company in the world to sell them this part. Now on his future
>visits, he can use his existing contacts to sell them other things Japan
>will soon be making.
> 
>     For (3), you probably have already seen what's going on when you go
>shopping. Panasonic, Murata, Fujitsu and others all make very fancy
>electronic phones. They also make small telephone switching equipment
>(like AT&T's smaller products). Eventually, these will get bigger and
>bigger till they make the bread and butter items of AT&T. This is the same
>strategy they used to enter the car market too. They started with
>motorcycles, moved to cheap cars, then to trucks, then to sports cars,
>then to luxury cars. Today we know the results. Again, this is also true
>with TVs, first they made black and whites, then color TVs. Today the TV
>in your house is most likely Japanese (even if its a store brand). This
>was an industry which America had 100% market share about 25 years ago. 
>This is what is likely to happen to telecommunications too.
> 
>ITS NOT ALL JAPAN'S FAULT:
> 
>     American's behavior when trying to do business in Japan is not what
>it should be. After seeing how some American firms operate there, it is
>little wonder our success rate is often so poor. For example, something of
>annoyance (and also advantage) to the Japanese is American business people
>working in Japan who don't speak Japanese, or know nothing about the
>country they are dealing with. These included some people from Boeing whom
>I met at a Nissan factory, some from the Govt. of Wisconsin at a machine
>tools fair trying to attract Japanese industry to their state and some
>representatives from an Oregon company.
> 
>     The group of businessmen I met from the Oregon company I met in
>Roppongi (an entertainment/love-hotel district in Tokyo). These people
>were a disgrace to American industry and opened my eyes to why the
>Japanese are able to take such advantage of us in business. Firstly, these
>men spoke no Japanese at all (so they couldn't understand what their
>opponents at the negotiating table were saying) and knew nothing about the
>culture. They asked me what it was like to be a 'gringo' in Japan. It
>seemed that they thought the business adversaries they were negotiating
>against in Japan were running some 2 peso Mexican hot dog factory. My
>conversation with them was a real eye opener to many of America's problems
>when dealing with the Japanese in business.
> 
>     At least their company didn't send a women to do their negotiating
>though. This would have been a mistake of huge proportions. Japanese
>corporations and businessmen typically treat any company who sends a woman
>with ridicule. Its one of the best ways to lose a contract. Although
>Americans may dislike Japanese sexism, Japan is fast becoming the world
>economic power which means they get to make the rules, not us. This is
>part of the price Americans pay for buying all those Toyotas and Sonys for
>so many years. As Japanese industrial influence spreads throughout the
>world, expect to see more of this type of treatment of women by Japanese
>companies (as any women working in a Japanese transplant company in the US
>can attest). 
> 
>MILITARISM:
> 
>     In the book 'Japan that can say no! (to America)', by Akio Morita
>(CEO of SONY) and Shintaro Ishihara (an influential parliament member),
>the authors state that Japan has under development the world's most
>advanced military jet because American made planes are not suitable for
>Japanese terrain, which is 'different' because it has mountains. Mutsumi
>told me about one of her friends who quit the Fujitsu company partially
>because they were required to work on a nuclear weapons research project
>and didn't feel a Japanese company should be involved in such work. 
> 
>     In Japan, Fujitsu has built at least 2 nuclear breeder reactors (such
>reactors usually are used to enrich plutonium for nuclear weapons). The
>Japanese claim however, that they are for peaceful purposes.
> 
>     There is also a well funded extremist nationalistic movement of sorts
>in Japan which posts large posters at most major intersections and subway
>stations in Tokyo calling for restoration of the emperor as ruler and re-
>militarization of the country. Every day in the business and shopping
>areas of the city, vans drive around with huge loudspeakers blaring
>nationalistic music and making the above demands. Apparently, the older
>Japanese ignore this, aware of the west's generosity after the war, but
>feelings of the younger people who don't have the memories of Japan's dark
>past are more uncertain. What is happening today in Germany may be a
>foreshadowing of things to come.
> 
>     This may seem implausible at first, but not after one looks at
>Japanese elementary students' textbooks. In the texts, the sections about
>World War II are extremely distorted. In these books, Japan is played out
>as the victim to world aggression and the atrocities of the Japanese
>Imperial army are not mentioned anywhere. The massive US aid to rebuild
>Japan after the war is mentioned on only one line which went "America
>provided Japan with some help". Japan's postwar success is attributed only
>to the hardworking values of its people (partially true), and not to U.S.
>aid for reconstruction of its industries (paid for by American tax
>payers), free access to the U.S. market, and U.S. tolerance of Japan's
>closed market. Furthermore, after reading these books, one almost thinks
>that WWII was America's fault. It is hoped that the younger Japanese learn
>what really happened before their parents grow old and die, or America and
>Japan may face new misunderstanding and confrontation in the future.
> 
>EFFICIENCY:
> 
>     Japan is perceived by the outside world to be an efficient country.
>In actuality, Japan is a very inefficient country. The subway people count
>change out of tin plates. The valuable intellectual resource of women is
>wasted by giving them only the most menial jobs such as 'escalator dolls'
>and tea servers. The farming system is one of the most inefficient you
>will find in the modern world. Because of this inefficiency, there are a
>lot of people employed on the farms who otherwise may not have a job.
>Although this is an inefficient use of people and resources, it helps
>maintain a low unemployment rate. The protected domestic market keeps all
>this from collapsing. As a result Japan can be inefficient, yet still
>rich. It is now per-capita, the richest industrialized country in the
>world (and is expected to be the richest absolutely by the year 2000,
>surpassing America). It may surprise many people, but the most efficient
>country in the world is the United States, not Japan. Japan ranks a bit of
>the way down. In manufacturing though, they are best in the world.
> 
>     Inefficiency is also apparent in city planning. Tokyo seems to have
>the design of a 'rich' third world city. It is very crowded, chaotic and
>streets are extremely narrow and go every which way. Streets in Tokyo have
>no names in order to 'confuse the enemy' in the event Japan was ever to be
>invaded again. (The U.S. Army named some of the streets during the
>occupation, but these were removed shortly after occupying forces left the
>country). 
> 
>CONCLUSION:
> 
>     America's citizens have failed to realize that Japan practices a
>different kind of trade than America does. Japan practices adversarial
>trade, where the goal is to wipe out the foreign countries' industries in
>order to dominate them entirely. For the Japanese, business is in every
>sense of the word, like war. Americans who buy Japanese goods, unknowingly
>help them reach this goal. The Japanese are not our economic allies, they
>are our competitors.
> 
>     America often complains that Japan must change its ways to become
>more like us. This is not true as America is not number one anymore. It is
>not a request we can make. Today, the tables are turned. This time,
>America will have to change its ways to become more like the Japanese.
>Japan will likely surpass the United States to become the world's leading
>economic, technological and manufacturing nation by the end of this
>decade, even though they have only 1/2 the population of America. They
>will not have to change their ways to become like us, as tomorrow they
>will wield the power, not us.
> 
> 
>---------------------------------------
>List of companies:
>This is a list of some Japanese (or Japanese owned and controlled)
>companies. Some of the names that make this list may surprise you,
>depicted by '*':
> 
>  Acura (Honda Motor Company, cars)
>  Aiwa (consumer electronics, stereos)
>* B.F. Goodrich Tire (owned by Toyo Rubber)
>* Brother (electronic typewriters)
>* Bridgestone Tire Company (tires)
>  C. Itoh (computer printers)
>  Canon (laser printers, cameras, photocopiers, consumer electronics)
>* CBS Records/Columbia House Records (owned by SONY)
>  Citizen (watch company)
>* Columbia Pictures (owned by SONY)
>  Denon (cassette tapes, consumer electronics, stereos)
>* Dunlop Tire and Rubber
>  Epson (computer company)
>* Firestone Tire and Rubber (Bridgestone Tire Company, Japan)
>  Fisher Electronics (Stereo Maker)
>  Fuji Film (film and chemical products)
>  Fujitsu (nuclear and breeder reactors, consumer electronics, heavy
>           industry)
>  Geisha Foods (tuna and canned food products in the USA)
>  Hino (heavy truck maker)
>  Hitachi Industries (heavy industry, railroad, appliance and  
>  electronics)
>  Honda (autos, motorcycles, small trucks)
>  Infiniti (Nissan Motor)
>  Isuzu (autos)
>* JVC (Japan Victor Company; owned by Matsushita Industrial Electric)
>  Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Motorcycles, trains, industrial steel)
>  Kikkomann Foods 
>  Kenwood Electronics (Stereo Maker)
>  Komatsu (A heavy Equipment maker)
>  Konica (photocopiers, cameras)
>  Kubota (heavy equipment, backhoes, tractors, bulldozers)
>  Kyocera (computer and electronics maker)
>  Lexus Automobile (Toyota Motor Company)
>  Makita (power tools)
>  Maxell (cassette tapes)
>  Mazda (autos)
>* MCA Home Entertainment (tv show company;ie. Dragnet..etc)  (SONY)
>  Memorex (cassette tapes)
>  Michael Jackson (rock star, he works for SONY)
>  Minolta (copiers, fax machines, electronics)
>  Mita (photocopiers)
>  Mitsubishi (a huge keiretsu...banking, steel, autos, trucks, lead
>            pencils, electronics, bicycles...and on and on)
>  Mitsui (an other huge keiretsu)
>  Murata (fax machines and electronics)
>  NEC  (Nippon Electric Company; computers, cash registers, TV's,   
>        electronics)
>  Nikko (consumer electronics, stereos)
>  Nintendo Electronics (video games)
>  Nissan (autos, power boats, trucking and heavy transport vehicles)
>* Nomura Securities (financial firm)
>  Okidata (computer printers and accessories)
>  Olympus (cameras)
>  Onkyo (electronics and stereo maker)
>  Panasonic (Matsushita Industrial Electric Company)
>  Pentax (cameras)
>* Pentel (lead pencil company...Japanese have a huge share of the lead
>          pencil market, look at your lead pencil, its probably
>          Japanese)
>* Pilot (lead pencil company)
>  Pioneer (Stereo and electronics maker)
>* Quasar (Matsushita Industrial Electric Company) (Televisions, VCR's) 
>* Raven (computer printers, faxes and accessories) (Matsushita Industrial)
>  Ricoh (they make computer printers)
>* Roland (musical instruments)
>* Rockafeller Center (a Japanese holding company)
>  Sanyo (electronics)
>* Seattle Mariners Pro Baseball Team (Owned by Nintendo)
>  Sega (video games)
>  Seiko (Watches)
>  Sharp (copiers, faxes, TV's, electronics)
>* Shiseido (perfumes, cosmetics)
>  Sony (electronics, movie production)
>  Star Electronics (they make computer printers)
>  Subaru (autos)
>  Sumitomo (banks, heavy industry, ships, steel, electronics)
>  Suzuki (autos, motor bikes)
>  TDK (cassette tapes)
>  Taito (video arcade games)
>  Tomy (toy company)
>  Toshiba (electronics, eletrical, home appliances, heavy industry,
>           nuclear reactors)
>  Toyota (autos, heavy transport trucks)
>* Universal Pictures (Matsushita Industrial Electric Company)
>  Yamaha (motorcycles, musical instruments)Yokohama (Tires and Rubber
>  products)
>  Yokohama Tire and Rubber (tire and rubber goods)
>  YKK (zipper company (look at the zipper on your clothes, its
>       probably YKK as this company has an over 50% market share 
>       in the world))
> 
>---------------------------------------------
>Some U.S. products which are really Japanese (or other)
> 
>   Chevy Nova car (Toyota)
>   Chevy Sprint/Pontiac Firefly cars (Suzuki)
>   Dodge Colt car (Mitsubishi)
>   Dodge Stealth car (Mitsubishi)
>   Eagle Talon car (Mitsubishi)
>   Ford Mercury Villager Minivan (Nissan) 
>   GM's Geo cars (mostly Korean)
>   HP printers (some of them are Canon's)
>   Macintosh Powerbook Computer (SONY)
>   Sears Televisions and other electronics (Matsushita and others)
> 
> 
>*****Some articles referred to here are available 
>     via the Internet Computer Network at FTP Site:
> 
>monu6.cc.monash.edu.au   
> 
>in directory:  pub/nihongo
> 
>matsushita.pbs (Transcript of a PBS-TV special on the Japanese
>                television cartel)
> 
>japanno (The US. Department of Defense version of the text of Akio
>         Morita's and Shintaro Ishihara's book, "A Japan that Can Say
>         No! (to America)". Note the version of this book sold in stores
>         is a phony. 1/2 of the original version is missing (Akio Morita
>         removed his part fearing it would hurt SONY's sales in the
>         U.S.) and there is a new appendix specifically written for
>         American consumption, much of which is blantantly false). 
> 
> 
>Here are a few good books to read on the topic:
> 
>-->"Trading Places, How we are giving our future to the Japanese and how
>to reclaim it", Clyde Prestowitz, New York: Basic Books 1989
> 
>-->"The Enigma of Japanese Power"; by Karl Wolferen, 1989, Alfred A. Knopf
>Press (this book used to be given away when ever your bought a
>subscription to Forture Magazine. I'm not sure if it still is.)
> 
>-->"Unequal Equities, Power and Risk in Japan's Stock Market"; Zielinski,
>Kodansha International, 1991
> 
>-->"The Japanese Company", Rodney Clark, Charles E. Tuttle Company 1979
>(Yale University)
> 
> 
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>DEBT, AMERICA'S SUPERWEAPON OF SELF DESTRUCTION:
> 
>First, some definitions:
> 
>National Deficit: The amount of new money America borrows this year only
>                  ($400,000,000 this year)
> 
>National Debt: The total amount of money the government owes (a result
>               national deficits adding onto each other year after year
>               + interest)
>                  (The government has now borrowed a total of
>                   $4,000,000,000,000. Each American's share is $16,000) 
>             
> 
>     It should be noted that a lot of America's problems today are its own
>fault; a poor educational system, poor corporate management, lack of
>loyalty to our own country and its products and politicians who do exactly
>what we want them to in the short term. Perhaps America though it was so
>rich it could afford to be careless about its future. This all lead to the
>big issue, the national debt.
> 
>     For the last 10 years, our standard of living has been maintained by
>borrowing when it should have declined drastically as our imports shot up
>and our exports plummeted (eroding our national industries).
>Unfortunately, because of the massive borrowing, the cracks forming in
>America's national economy were not so visible. 
> 
>     Today, America is now a much weaker player in automobiles (the motor
>capital of the world is now in Toyota City, Japan, not Detroit), machine
>tools, motorcycles, consumer electronics, display technology, banking (in
>1970, 9 of the 10 largest banks in the world were American, today 9 of the
>10 largest banks in the world are Japanese) and materials. All of these
>industries today are dominated by the Japanese. All were dominated by
>America only a short time ago. Americans could not see the effects of
>losing industry after industry on their national strength and standard of
>living marketshare because of the borrowing... until now. 
> 
>     Today 1/3 of every American's taxes go to pay interest on the
>national debt. If the US didn't have this debt, everyone in America would
>be working 4 days instead of 5 and still have the same living standards,
>as this is the part of each person's taxes which go to the debt.
>Conversely, Every American's standard of living would be higher by 20%
>with 5 day workweeks but no debt. At the current rate, in 10 years, all
>Federal taxes collected will go to the debt. This all points to extremely
>bad things which will happen to the US economy in a few years. Already,
>America is in the longest recession since the depression with no sign of
>an end. If America tries to balance the budget now, it will likely trigger
>a much more severe recession or a depression as the US economy is
>extremely dependant on this borrowed money flowing in (1/3 of this year's
>federal spending was borrowed) to keep everything going. 
> 
>     Balancing the budget now isn't so bad though, because depressions are
>temporary and things would get better about 10 years later. After that,
>several decades of lower standard of living would take place as Americans
>pay down the debt back to a reasonable level (every American's debt share
>right now is $16,000). Balancing the budget is of course political
>suicide. Many of the politicians today prefer to commit national economic
>suicide as it lets them save their jobs for now.
> 
>Sadly, the (more likely) alternative is much worse:
> 
>     If America doesn't balance the budget now, but waits, then the debt
>and interest costs will get much higher than they are today. The
>government will start raising taxes and cutting services more rapidly than
>ever before, but will be unable to raise taxes so high to pay such
>interest. They will then resort to printing more money to pay the
>interest. This will lead to hyper inflation rates and rapid decline of the
>standard of living in the country. This results in a depression that won't
>go away. If it sounds unbelievable, one may read one of the many books on
>Latin American economic history in the 20th century. You'll see a play by
>play description of what is happening now in America. This is what
>happened to all those latin American countries who right now are wondering
>why America is so foolishly making the same mistakes they did in the 60s
>and 70s. This is compounded by the fact that alot of this debt is owed to
>the Japanese. Once America is in hock, Japan can tell America what to do
>as then, they literally own it. This is why the debt has people like Paul
>Tsongas and Ross Perot so afraid right now.
> 
>     Fixing the debt problem will require (for a short time) lots of pain
>that American's haven't experienced since the depression and tax hikes
>with the likes that have never been seen before. Americans will have to
>expect this and be tolerant. Gas will sell for $2.50, social security will
>be taxed and many loopholes will have to dissappear. For a time,
>American's living standards will plummet drastically. 
> 
>     On the other hand, not taking these measures will yield the same
>consequences a little later, but they will be permanent instead. America
>will be a very different place in 25 years should this happen. Its the
>choice of every American about what happens. We will have to face our
>future grandkids about it one day if we decide to do nothing about it now.
>There is still time, it would be wise for us not to waste it.
> 
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>THE END
> 
>The above file is available from FTP site: monu6.cc.monash.edu.au in
>directory: pub/nihongo, as JAPANYES.
> 
>"A Japan that Can say No" by Akio Morita (SONY CEO) is there as JAPANYES
> 
>The PBS FRONTLINE transcript about the Matsushita TV Company is there as:
>MATSUSHITA.PBS
> 
>     I'd welcome any comments you have about the article. It looked
>relevant to some of our problems today and seemed worthwhile to post.
> 
>     You see, Japan's government and companies have organized to fight an
>economic war against us which we are losing badly. What the ordinary
>Japanese people allow their government and companies to do is not
>acceptable. Outright discrimination against foreigners and treating women
>as 'non-people' is also not tolerable in the modern world. The Japanese
>government and industries have treated the America that helped them so
>much after World War II with utter contempt and insolence. We had accepted
>their closed market and opened ours to them so they could rebuild their
>country and become full members of the peaceful world. Instead, their
>government and their industries chose to use this generosity as weapons
>against us in order to destroy our companies, our jobs, and our national
>strength.
> 
>     I used to buy lots of Japanese products, probably for the same
>reasons you might now. Not everyone can go to Japan, so others may not
>know the full consequences of their decisions like you do now. Telling
>them is important. It just takes understanding and thoughtful explanation
>for others to understand. If you know an effective way to get this message
>out to people, then it would be wise to do so, don't wait for someone else
>to do it for you as by then, it may be too late. 
> 
>     America belongs to you and you have to do something for it once in a
>while. This is one of those times. If you have questions, please ask. Use
>this network and fax machines to organize yourselves to get this message
>out. Hang up copies of this article and others in lounges, or on the
>windshields of Japanese cars. Try to start an awareness newsgroup on the
>internet. These are all things which can be done.
> 
>     If you are a student, you probably realize much more than your
>parents do that your standard of living is likely to be a considerably
>lower than theirs. You are much more likely to have trouble finding a good
>job upon graduation than they ever had. That is how this problem affects
>you directly. As a result, you may wish to tell your friends and organize
>student groups to get the word out about this problem. If you don't act,
>its you (and your kids someday) who will suffer the most as a result of
>all this, so its up to you.
> 
>     In the meantime, one very good way to get people aware of the topic
>is to get them a copy of Rising Sun (by Michael Crichton) as a birthday or
>Christmas present. This is a very good factually based fiction book on the
>subject. All parts about Japanese business in the book are true and are
>backed up with a bibliography at the end. This book is a #1 best seller
>and is by the same author who wrote "Andromeda Strain", "Great Train
>Robbery" and other very famous and very good books/movies. I'm not sure of
>the publisher. It is a very good fiction/murder mystery book and is loaded
>with lots and lots of facts about this issue which are not exaggerated. It
>will convert the most ardent 'America Basher'. A movie version of this
>book is being made and should be out next year though it may not be as
>complete and factual as the book.
> 
>     If what you read in the articles above really disturbs you, you may
>wish to tell or fax your friends about this article or others you which
>find at the above FTP site or elsewhere. You could avoid Japanese products
>and expect the same from your friends and associates. If a salesman drives
>up to you in a Japanese car, you may wish to tell him you expect him not
>to visit you next time in one. Plenty of other countries who aren't out to
>destroy us make fine automobiles.
> 
>     Remember that a problem like this can be fought, one American at a
>time. Remember to be thoughtful and loyal to your fellow Americans and
>treat them as you would like to be treated. Exclusive self-centered
>thinking will only make problems in America worse than they are. That is
>the true lesson of the 1980's. Self centeredness doesn't work in the long
>run. If we were as loyal to each other as the Japanese are to each other,
>we wouldn't be in the economic and social mess we are now. Remember that,
>and expect it from your family, friends and associates. If you don't get
>what you expect, say so.
> 
>     Hopefully in the future, the economic war will be called off and our
>two countries will live peacefully and with co-operation. I look forward
>to that day.
> 
>-Andre
>ar12@midway.uchicago.edu


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