Japan Profile of a Postindustrial Power – Ardath W. Burks (English Review)
Autor: Venturelli | Publicado: 2016-02-28T16:19:00-08:00












&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Despite
the fact I deeply admire Japanese culture, I had never read a book that was
entirely about Japan. Because of this fact, an introductory book seemed to be
the logical solution for this problem.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What caught
my attention about Japan: Profile of a
Postindustrial Power was that not only it was written in the early 1980s (presumidly
before political correctness), but also the usage of the expression
“postindustrial”. The use of that term suggested a narrative more focused on
socioeconomic transitions and therefore generational change as well.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The
narrative starts by describing the geography of Japan, an island nation that
has only 90 percent of the size of California. To make things more challenging
to the Japanese, most of the main land of Japan is mountainous, unsuitable for
farming or habitation, leading to most of the population being concentrated
along the coastal areas. On top of that Japan has very few natural resources
and suffers from frequent and strong earthquakes.

  

   
  

   
   
  


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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Japanese
themselves are not native to modern day Japan, having probably migrated from
China. The natives of the land are called Ainu and there are very few that
still remain, most of them having some degree of admixture to the Japanese.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After
describing the geography and climate of the island, as well as how the modern
day Japanese arrived at that location, the author turns into a description of
the traditional Japanese: namely the Ancient and Feudal periods of Japan, the
most readily associated with Japan because of the samurais and other national
mythos.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mr. Burks
makes a fascinating description of the Japanese mindset by which the community
was far more important than the individual, the emperor was a paternal figure
and source of the benevolent government. Contrasting with Western Europeans, no
attempt of an universal moral code existed, the ethics being entirely based on
circumstances like social class and the benefit of the group. No separation of
religion and politics existed and it was a well understood fact that people are
by nature unequal.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Besides some
changes that were forced upon Japan by the American occupation (like the
separation of religion and politics and the role of the emperor) most of this
description is still accurate of the Japanese populace.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Other than the economics and psychology
of the traditional Japan, the book dives more deeply into describing the
Japanese culture from the architecture to pottery and from sculptures to
poetry. During the “classic period” of Japan, their cultural role model was
China.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A sudden
change happened when the Portuguese and later other Europeans set foot in
Japan. The whites soon introduce firearms to Japan and many other technological
advancements, which at first was very well received and then rejected by the
Japanese elites who saw them as a threat to their way of life.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; During this
transitional period that ends with the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan closed its
ports for most Europeans in an effort to preserve their traditions and way of
life, however, not shutting themselves completely of Western influence, as they
permitted the Dutch only to stay in limited areas of Japan. Many samurais also
went to study in the Netherlands and came back home with ideas of
modernization.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the
following Meiji Era (1868-1912) Japan unified itself as a nation-State,
throwing the old fractured power structure of Feudalism away. The country
quickly modernized and became an economic powerhouse. This was at first product
of importing technology and&nbsp;advisors&nbsp;from Europe, nevertheless the Japanese
were quick to learn&nbsp;and to modify the industrialization in their own taste and
desire.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The State
had a the leading role in the modernization process and the priority was given
to national security with a strong desire for self-sufficiency. The military-industrial
complex became extremely influential and, together with the Nationalist leading role
of the State, Japan became a Fascist country, like many others in the Interwar
period.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After the end
of the World War II Japan was occupied by the United States and is forced to
make many structural changes by its occupier. In certain ways the war was
advantageous for Japan in the long run because, paradoxically, the destruction of
the country’s industrial capacity did not remove the highly intelligent
population and skilled workers that later rebuilt the country much more
effectively, as the new industrial base of Japan had to be build pretty much
from scratch, allowing brand new machinery to be set in place without the slow
and painful process of modernizing obsolete material.

  

   
  

   
   
  


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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The American
occupation and later military guarantee of protection also allowed the Japanese
to keep a relatively low military spending and therefore liberated resources
and manpower to be utilized in other fields.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Japan also&nbsp;benefited&nbsp;from a very unified political system in which the very broad&nbsp;Conservative coalition called the Liberal Democratic Party had and still have almost
a monopoly of governing the country, allowing for a long term planning instead
of only short term planning for the next election where everything might
change.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The postwar
era had a tremendous impact in the country, as there was an unprecedented level
of economic growth and a heavy process of urbanization that almost completely
erased rural life in Japan. Surprisingly little was changed in the values
system of the Land of the Rising Sun when compared with the tremendous changes
that happened in North America and Western Europe.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The economic
behavior of the Japanese differs quite a lot from the United Kingdom and the
United States for example in the sense that the Japanese save a very high
proportion of their income, preferring safe and fixed capital funds instead of
investing in the stock market. Other major difference is the paternalistic
business model, which rewards seniority above anything else and the
relationship between employer and employee that feels almost like family, with
the employee expected to be loyal and work many years for the company and the
employer, on the other hand, expected not to fire its employees except for the
most dire circumstances while also looking to for the welfare of his workers.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The last two
chapters are dedicated into showing us how the Japanese are and how they are
perceived to be as a country in international relations.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It is
fascinating to see the polling data, as well as anecdotal evidence both of the
Japanese themselves as well as international observers in which we see again
how much more centered on the responsibility with the group the Japanese and,
despite the image they export to the outside world, how traditional Japan still
is.


Japanese students bowing to school teacher.




&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One good
example about how this mentality works taken straight from page 200 of the book
that can be shocking for individual centered societies like America and
Britain:





Sato Taro has
been described as bright and conscientious, a salary man who works in a
research laboratory for the Company, He has just made a technological
breakthrough. For this triumph he is given some credit, but his abilities will
not be valued far above those of his coworkers. Messrs. Suzuki, Takahashi, and
other workers in the field earned enough profits for the Company to finance the
successful research. Sato-san owes a great deal to those who assisted in the
lab. It is assumed that he achieved the breakthrough by means of cooperation
from all, including blue collar workers in the Company. Credit also goes to
Personnel, the office that assigned him to the project, and to his Director,
who supervised his work. If Sato-san comes to assume that it was his
accomplishment and he speaks out in this vein, he will elicit so much hostility
as to be uncomfortable remaining with the Company. No
matter how outstanding, he probably cannot get a job with the Other Company,
which certainly does not want a troublemaker.





&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This high
social cohesion where one is not expected to think too highly of oneself comes
also with an expectation for modesty and benevolence from the higher management
in business and/or high echelon political figures: the boss is the one who
ultimately decides and his decision is final with no room for complaining,
however, before the decision is reached, it is expected that the leader listens
to and take into consideration everyone’s opinions on the question at play –
which can result in a very slow process of decision making and implementation.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The last
chapter talks about the image that Japan as a country has around the world,
which is generally not a very sympathetic one as other countries tend to see Japan
as too nationalistic; in the sense of having a closed society and huge trade
balance surpluses because of their protectionist economic policies and high
productivity.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Because this
is the first book I have ever read fully about Japan, there is not much I can
compare it too. Nevertheless, Japan:
Profile of a Postindustrial Power seems to be a solid book with many
interesting and insightful passages about Japanese history, its people’s
mentality and culture, as well as the country’s economy and politics.


&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For those
looking for a good introduction book about Japan, here is a positive option to
look at.