revolution in Japan

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Joichi Ito <jito () neoteny com>
Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 06:00:52 +0900
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: fyi - revolution in Japan

Hi Dave,

Sorry to miss you in Japan. I think it was better that we didn't meet
though. I had a nasty flu that I know you didn't want to have...

I've posted a draft of an essay that will probably be published in a
few places. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated and I'll leave
it up to you as to whether it would be interesting to IP'ers or not.

http://joi.ito.com/archives/2003/02/05/
my_draft_essay_about_the_revolution_in_japan.html#003851

My draft essay about the revolution in Japan [ Stories from Japan  ]
by Joichi Ito at February 05, 2003 05:26 AM

--
People call the last 10 years "Japan's lost decade." There is debate
after debate about the cause of the Japanese economic downturn and what
should be done about it. Nobuyuki Idei, Sony's Chairman, calls it
Japan's middle age crisis. After the war, Japan was young and low-cost.
Targets were set and everyone worked very hard to build Japan into the
world's second largest economy. Now Japan is expensive and aging. It
has to change from "young and single-minded" to "old and rational".

In post-war Japan the targets were clear. The ruling political party
promised to double everyone's income. Japan could compete in
manufacturing because of its able and low-cost labor force. As the
large automobile and consumer electronics manufacturers competed
globally and earned money for Japan through exports, the bureaucracy
distributed the wealth evenly in Japan and protected the domestic
industries from foreign as well as domestic competition. The central
government's mission to double the income of all Japanese citizens
meant that it was necessary to channel the funds from Tokyo to the
rural districts of Japan. As the costs in Japan increased, these funds
were used to subsidize agriculture as well as fund public works
spending to feed the citizen for whom farming was no longer a viable
option. This flow of funds created the basis for the current political
structure where rural Japan relies on the central government for funds
and has a much higher representation in the Diet due to the weighting
of voting system.

While Japan was growing, it could afford to fund the ever-growing
political machine. It could also afford not to change. Aging Japan is
now faced with an increasingly competitive Asian manufacturing sector
and a change in direction and a reallocation of resources focusing more
on services is required. Japan is stuck with a system pointed in the
wrong direction without the ability to change the direction. The
domestic services sector is inefficient and unable to compete globally
since it has been protected by the bureaucracy and has never had to
compete with anyone. The markets are dysfunctional and unable to
reallocate resources. The political system is unable lead the nation.

Professor Lawrence Lessig points out that in a true democracy, there
are multiple points of authority, the ability to criticize power
without fear of retribution, critical debate and a competition of
ideas. This is rather inefficient when there is a consensus on the
direction of the country, but democracy is essential when a nation
needs to change. Post-war Japan consolidated power in the ruling party.
People were educated to be obedient. Harmony was maintained by
co-opting or disabling people or organizations that could threaten the
system. Diversity in the media, a strong judiciary, diversity in
education and political diversity were stifled for the purpose of
maintaining harmony. This harmony that once protected the happiness of
the citizens of Japan is now the primary barrier to change.

At one time Japan was viewed as a competitive threat to the United
States. "Revisionists" in the United States tried to force policy
changes in Japan. Many Japanese have very bad memories from this
period. In addition, Japanese generally do not enjoy discussing
domestic issues with the outside world, feeling that the issues are
either too complicated for non-Japanese to understand or fearing
external pressure on internal issues. Japan is no longer a competitive
threat to the world. Japan's inability to recover from the economic
crisis is a threat to the global economy. Japan needs build a true
democracy to execute the reallocation of resources required for a
long-term recovery. Japan would benefit greatly from exposing the
domestic core problems to the Japanese public as well as the rest of
the world. Japan's core problems are its dysfunctional democracy and
the lack of diversity. The system is self-perpetuating and is extremely
resistant to change. It hides behind the powerful and complex
bureaucracy and the monolithic media that does not represent a
diversity of opinions.

Because the system is no longer able to change itself, a revolution is
required. Japan must install a modern democracy and empower the people
to participate. Revolutions to install democracies do not occur through
negotiation with bureaucrats or academic debate. Revolutions involve
people becoming upset and forcing change. Revolutions in the 18th
century involved bloody wars and uprisings. 21st century revolutions
will involve a public debate, which changes the ethics of the people.
Japan has a constitution and almost all of the laws required to be a
functioning democracy. What it lacks is the attention of the people and
the ethics to execute on the rule of law.

The "Boston Tea Party" kicked off the American war for independence
when the people of American, upset by taxation without representation,
threw a shipment of tea into the Boston harbor in protest. The Japanese
people are also beginning to show their unhappiness. Governor Tanaka of
Nagano, an independent promising to shut down public works and crack
down on corruption, was voted into office by people who were upset by
the corruption and were willing to suffer short term pain in order to
fight the corruption.

The combination of increasing public debate on the Internet and a
global dialog will help the Japanese people become aware of the
domestic problems as well as the context and responsibility of Japan
globally. A new sense of global responsibility to achieve a higher
ethical standard will help the Japanese people create a modern
democracy capable of solving the domestic problems and allowing Japan
to participate in the global geo-political arena as a true global
entity. The revolution in Japan will be a ethical revolution about the
people become aware that they are actually in charge.
--
Blog http://joi.ito.com/
Blog JP: http://joi.ito.com/jp/


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