From: underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe)
Subject: Re: Japan/US comparison
Organization: Miners for a Heart of Gold
Distribution: na
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 92 20:09:45 GMT

In article <Bvw09w.5q8@ncifcrf.gov> masuda@fcs280b.ncifcrf.gov
(Michiaki Masuda) writes:
>In article <1992Oct10.000951.20083@leland.Stanford.EDU>
>underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe) writes:
>...
>>  As for outstanding
>>graduate institutes, the University of Tokyo would not be one of them,
>>contrary to popular belief.  Many of the graduate programs are poorly
>>funded and ill-equipped, by American standards.
>    Not always. Some labs are better-equipped than the most of the labs in the
>US National Cancer Insitute.

The University of Kyoto and the University of Tokyo are widely regarded by
the Japanese as the #2 and #1 universities in Japan.

I have seen the application materials for the graduate program in
computer science at the University of Kyoto.  I can't recall specific
research projects now, but at the time I noticed that the nature
of the research was comparable to what you would find at a mediocre
graduate school in the USA.

Not every Japanese research program in the graduate schools is worse
than the corresponding American program, but it's _generally_ true.

>>The best research university is the University of Tsukuba.
>>  It's entrance procedure is
>>strikingly similar to that for major research institutes in the USA.
>  Not quite. University of Kyoto produced several Nobel Laureates. 
>...

Note that the University of Kyoto has been in existence much longer than
the University of Tsukuba.

>... I sometimes feel that my living standard in Tokyo was much higher
>than mine here in the US.

This is an outright lie.

What Mr. Masuda feels doesn't change the fact that consumer prices
are higher in Japan than in the USA.

>>...
>>  The closed markets, too, have driven
>>consumer prices to levels that are 20-30% more than prices of similar goods
>>in the USA.
>
>   Which was partially effective in stimulating the domestic economy.

Here's another typical Japanese comment.  It partly evades the inequity
of closed markets and puts a positive spin on it.

Then, I presume that Mr. Masuda must feel that it's okay if America
increases the price of every Japanese automotive import by 180%,
the same effective price increase experienced by American vehicles
exported to Japan.

>>  There are lots of other annoyances, of which many Japanese are
>>aware.
>   And many of which are "greener grass of the next door."

Not to my knowledge.  Many Japanese who stay in America for 1 or 2
years for their overseas assignment don't want to go back to their
home company.  They'd rather work at an American firm.

As for "greener grass of the next door", that's an outright lie.
Very many Japanese who have never lived in America see it as a
3rd-world like nation riddled with crime, drugs, and gangs.  Why?
That's the way in which America is portrayed in Japanese newspapers.
The other thing that they mention is how America is an economic
bully that is harrassing Japan to open up it's markets.

Maybe, the Japanese do have 1 or 2 comments that might suggest "greener
grass of the next door", but the overall perception is just what I've
told you (only for those Japanese who have never actually lived here).

>>...
>>  The Japanese will begin to think more about the world beyond
>>its shores in terms that are not confined solely to economics.
>  They have already. Look at the innumerable Japanese tourists in New York,
>L.A., Paris, London, Melbourne...

Mr. Masuda, you don't know jack about what I'm talking about, do you?

I'm talking about setting up organizations like the Peace Corp.
I'm talking about overseas pure-charity aid (with no funny strings that
require the recipient to buy Japanese products) to undeveloped countries.
  *A good example is the following.  If I recollect correctly,
   Bangladesh recently lost several villages due to massive flooding.
   President Bush immediately authorized the US forces to deliver
   tons of food and medical supplies to the stricken areas.
I'm talking about acting as a peace negotiator among warring foreign
nations (without the USA/United Nations having to ask Japan to do it).

I'm talking about allocating half the room in the Hiroshima A-bomb
museum to graphic pictures (like the ones showing the A-bomb victims)
showing what Japanese soldiers did to Northeastern Asians during WWII.
I'm talking about acknowledging that WWII was a war in which human
lives were lost, not just Japanese lives.

>>(Then, it's time to boot China out of the permanent council of the UN
>>and to put Japan on it.)
>   Or to change the rule to put Japan without booting China?

Because we should not tolerate the presence of a nation that is an
un-democratic gross-violator of human rights, China should be booted out
--pronto.

By the way, the Japanese have a funny view of the world.  They can
note with remarkable clarity that the founding charter of the UN
identifies Japan as a warlike ogre; I agree with the Japanese that this
assertion should be stricken from the record because it's obviously
not true.  Yet, the Japanese seem to fudge and fickle about the obvious
omissions in Japanese history books on WWII.

"Well, that's the way the Japanese gov't wants it so ... shikata ga nai.
<blah blah>"

Yeah, right.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seikatsu no imi wa nan desu ka.            \|  |`      | Don't buy from Toyota;
Shitte itara oshiete kuremasen ka.          | -+-      | especially, don't buy
                                           /| / \      | from Capitol Toyota in
Copyright 1992.                 Disclaimer:  1 + 1 = 3 | San Jose, California.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american,soc.culture.europe,soc.culture.usa