Japan as -anything But- Number OneM.E. Sharpe, 1991 - 303 pages Is Japan No. 1? Well, maybe it is if you only consider those sectors where it is particularly successful. But not if you add many others where its performance is mediocre or worse. Is Japan No. 1? Well, maybe it is if you ask the foreign "friends" who have made a career (and sometimes a fortune) as apologists of Japanese causes. But, if you ask the Japanese themselves, you will find that they are anything but satisfied. Is Japan No. 1? Well, maybe it is if you are taken in by the tatemae, i.e. the official version or how its admirers like to picture it. But it does not look so great once you perceive the honne, i.e. the realities of life in Japan. Is Japan No. 1? Well, maybe it is if you take what is best in Japan and contrast it to what is less good in foreign countries. But it does not compare so well if you mix the good with the bad in both places. No, the author does not think that Japan is a horrible place or that its leaders have made a complete mess of things. But, if you look closely, it is certainly not the extraordinary success it is frequently claimed to be. It is closer to the mean, with many serious problems that will only get worse if people foolishly assume it is No. 1. |
Contents
Foreword | 7 |
SUPERIOR GRADES | 29 |
Japanese Companies The AllMighty Kaisha | 51 |
Industrial Policy Promoting And Meddling | 69 |
SATISFACTORY GRADES | 81 |
Education What Is Learning? | 99 |
Crime Integrating The Criminal Element | 125 |
UNSATISFACTORY GRADES | 141 |
Society Discordant Harmonies | 171 |
Internationalization Time To Join The World | 197 |
INFERIOR GRADES | 221 |
Amenities Be It Ever So Humble | 243 |
Welfare What Is There To Be Entitled To? | 261 |
Bibliography | 291 |
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Abegglen abroad academics achieved actually Admittedly amakudari American anese become better big companies biggest bosozoku budget bureaucrats businessmen certainly Chalmers Johnson claim costs countries crime developing economic educational system efforts elite employees exams Ezra Vogel fact factory Foreign Press Center/Kyodo friends gaijin graduates gurus hard Herman Kahn high school honne honne and tatemae industrial policy Japan Japanapologists Japanese companies Japanese management Jared Taylor Jon Woronoff kaisha keep keiretsu labor land leaders less live look market share Matsushita meritocracy Ministry MITI Mitsubishi Motors Nakasone nemawashi never panies perhaps political politicians prime minister profits projects reform Reischauer salarymen sectors simply social society sokaiya sort subcontractors suppliers Takeshita tatemae things Tokyo trade United virtually William Ouchi workers worse yakuza Yasuhiro Nakasone Yomiuri