Kingston: Chapter 2 The Lost Decade
As you read this chapter you should also watch the short video clip in the Powerpoint on
Japan the Setting
Introduction
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Refers to the end of economic growth and stagnation starting in 1990 continuing today
Has caused great stress and revaluation
PM Koizumi (2001-06) many times associated with dismantling the social safety net as he pursued more free
market economic liberalism approaches – he had mixed successes
Economy Implodes
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How large was the implosion in reference to GDP? Does this compare with post 2007 US?
Seems to result in the worst of both worlds – business and social
o For business never bold enough moves to adjust to a new globalizing world, still stuck in a post WWII
rebuilding & protecting Japan
o For social safety net – casting the public and especially younger generation into the storm, sort of
lightening a shinking ship by throwing people overboard
What was it about Japanese baby boomers that caused so much suffering by generation X and Y? Could similar
things happen here over the next decade?
Might there be consequences for families?
Lessons from Japan
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If you have never heard of the tulip mania and bubbles look here
http://www.investopedia.com/features/crashes/crashes2.asp
According to Kingston what were the problems with the government during the first decade of this crisis?
What’s a zombie company?
Without going into great detail a liquidity trap is when people and banks have money but won’t spend it. The
result is business don’t sell things and the economy goes spiraling down.
Much of the discussion here is beyond the needs of our class, concentrate on the argument that the government
bungled things, don’t worry about all the details. Focus on the impact on families.
Media Awakens
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Aside – generally reading the English press in Japan is quite boring, all too often they simply repeat what the
government or politicians have said making it sound like the truth and whole truth. Just imagine if Fox new’s
Rupert Murdoch became president. – the good news is this has been changing slowly.
Two examples of how the press is becoming more independent are in regards to more accurately reporting on
abuses during WWII (only 60 years after the fact) and current food scares in Japan. – Still a long way to go,
perhaps the recent nuclear accidents will effect this.
Kisha system is basically that you have to invited by the government to get access to officials and this is limited
to a certain select few (the club). Further foreign reporters are not welcome.
CRITISISM OF THE JAPANESE MEDIA
MARK PHILLIPS: The media in Japan has its share of paradoxes. For instance, circulation numbers are huge
here. In fact, Japan’s top five papers are in the top ten worldwide. And the most read paper, The Yomiuri
Shimbun, has the world’s biggest circulation, almost twice USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The New
York Times, combined.
The paradox? The Japanese, who read more papers per capita than anyone, except Norwegians, almost always
describe their newspapers as boring.
[JAPANESE]
TAKASHI UESUGI VIA INTERPRETER: They go, Prime Minister Aso woke up at X hour in the morning.
He took a walk for four minutes and 30 seconds. He is headed for the bar at the Imperial Hotel at night. He eats
a hamburger, etc., etc.
[JAPANESE]
MARK PHILLIPS: Takashi Uesugi, a freelance journalist in Tokyo, has authored the book, The Collapse of
Journalism, which blasts Japan’s Kisha Clubs, and he’s in the position to know. He started his career as a
reporter working inside the Kisha Club system but then left to work in the government.
[JAPANESE]
TAKASHI UESUGI VIA INTERPRETER: When I was on the politician side, I thought, wow, what a
convenient system. [LAUGHS] Oh, I utilized it every day.
[LAUGHTER]
MARK PHILLIPS: Uesugi was a political aide in the Liberal Democratic Party, the conservative party that’s
held uninterrupted power here since 1955, minus a few months in 1993.
When Uesugi needed to release bad news, he spoke only to the press inside the Party’s Kisha Club, where a
club dynamic ensures one reporter doesn't print the story ahead of the pack.
[JAPANESE]
TAKASHI UESUGI VIA INTERPRETER: They like the convoy system; no one should stand out. If you are
the only one who gets the scoop, you are given the cold shoulder. If you are the only one who doesn't write it,
then you are condemned by your company.
If you want to hear the whole story just download the MP3 from this site, it is very interesting.
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2008/12/12/06
Time of Reckoning
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Disasters seem to be piling up and planning/preparedness falling short – give some examples regarding the
Kobe earthquake, might the current one reflect some of the same?
I suspect that you aren’t familiar with the Aum Shinrikyo attack on the Tokyo subway, then look at these short
videos
o Sixty Minutes story http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zW4UCORXVs
o Longer look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ3prE4sG3E&feature=related
Untrustworthy
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Does Kingston believe that the iron triangle of bureaucrates, politicians and businessmen has finally been
broken?
Transparency
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What has been happening with transparency? Does this have an impact on the ability of the government to
build infrastructure projects wherever they desire?
Disparities
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One thing that the press belatedly picked up was the “society of disparities” that was occurring in Japan
o http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060104f3.html
o impact on young people http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/careers/japans-economic-stagnation-iscreating-a-nation-of-lost-youths/19580780/
o we will be coming back to this issue in regards to demographics and Japan’s future
o there are many issues here worthy of a poster in regards to economics, family, demographics, youth…
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Is this a recent or long running trend?
Japan’s Quiet Transformation
Rule of Law vs. Rule by Law
An important distinction needs to be made between rule of law and rule by law.
(1) Rule of law is an intrinsically moral notion. Indeed, I don't see how one can have a consistent theory of rule of
law without appealing either to natural law theory or to some higher rule by law (e.g., divine command theory).
(2) Rule by law is very different, despite some superficial similarities. Rule by law is prudential: one rules by law
(properly speaking) not because the law is higher than oneself but because it is convenient to do so and inconvenient
not to do so. In rule of law, the law is something the government serves; in rule by law, the government uses law as
the most convenient way to govern.
http://branemrys.blogspot.com/2005/08/rule-of-law-vs-rule-by-law.html
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Notice that rule of law places something above the government, not so with rule by law, in Japan it is this later
approach that has been used where it can be used to further the goals of the government and not necessarily
the people
According to Kingston what four things are causing a reinvention of Japan? And which do many Japanese
believe is the largest threat?