Jean-pierre Lehmann - The Japan Times

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 4, 2016

If the Chinese believe that they are being thwarted from getting their due place in the global sun, their anger could fuel the rise of a populist leader.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Jul 26, 2015

Abe's move to beef up military role brings Asia closer to war

Given the unrelenting chauvinism that pervades Japan's political establishment, it is no wonder that in East Asia there is serious concern about the resurgence of Japanese militarism — and hence the prospect of war in Asia.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 14, 2014

Asia's democratic dramas

Socially and economically, Asia now stands roughly where Europe was at the start of the 20th century. One can only hope that its democratic journey will be shorter and less violent.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 4, 2013

The new cultural counter-revolution in China

The Chinese Communist Party's promotion these days of Confucianism and Western classical music illustrates the profound transformation this country has made again.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 25, 2003

So little done with so many

GENEVA — The outcome of the World Trade Organization ministerial midterm review in Cancun, Mexico (Sept. 12-14), was an unmitigated disaster. The United States, European Union and Japan share equal responsibility for failing to stand by the commitments they had made in the Doha Declaration of November 2001. As the rich countries seem determined to continue discriminating against developing countries — mainly, but not exclusively, in agriculture — not surprisingly a number of developing countries, led by Brazil, China, India and South Africa, formed their own alliance, the Group of 21.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Jan 21, 2003

Cultural powerhouse needed

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Sustainable globalization needs Japan to be actively involved, if only because of the size of its economy. For its part, Japan stands to contribute a great deal to globalization. The Japanese establishment, however, has hobbled the country with gerontocratic governance, obsolescent institutions and sclerotic thinking. What is most alarming is that while there is a proliferation of strident reactionary and chauvinistic voices and forces, those of globalism and liberalism are muted.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Jan 20, 2003

Intellectual alienation spawns hazy polic

WASHINGTON -- The main purpose of my visit to Washington at the beginning of 2003 was to carry out discussions on U.S. perspectives, policies and strategies for the Doha Development Round, in particular, and global economic policy in general. Meetings were held with U.S. government departments, foreign embassies, international organizations (including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the International Finance Corporation), academic institutions, think tanks, research institutes and the editorial offices of foreign-policy publications.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Jan 6, 2003

Atavistic racism: greatest impediment

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- A central argument of many observers of Japan, myself included, is that there has been very little change and no leadership. The two are interwoven: leadership is required to generate and manage change. The Japanese system that was quite appropriate, dynamic and robust in the 1960s and '70s, then stood still. The result is that while the world has changed a good deal, Japan has not changed.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Dec 23, 2002

Bleaker times may await the grandkids

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- In four weeks this series will have run for a year, and it will be time to bring it to an end. These last four articles, therefore, will constitute a combination of conclusions and parting thoughts.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Dec 16, 2002

Sicily's sobering message for grandparents

SYRACUSE, Sicily -- Sicily is an ideal place to ponder the fate of civilizations and to reflect on the future. This island off the boot of Italy, with a population of 5 million, has been a crossroads of civilizations for almost three millennia. The Greeks, Romans, Saracens, Normans, Catalans, French, Austrians and, of course, successive Italian regimes have all passed through and left their mark.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Dec 2, 2002

Women's creativity waiting to be tapped

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Several months ago, I mentioned I would be addressing the gender question in a future article. I received several letters urging me to do so. A couple of correspondents, however, argued that the question of women is a purely domestic affair and not relevant to the theme of "Japan in the global era." From various perspectives, though, the issue of women is global.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Nov 18, 2002

Benefits of opening up to foreign labor

HONG KONG -- In the previous article in this series, I asked whether capitalism would be sustainable into the 21st century. In the article before that, I emphasized that never had the world seen so many democracies, but warned that there were risks that the conditions for maintaining the momentum of global democratization would not be met. Another crucial question that needs to be asked -- the answer to which will have a significant bearing on the other two -- is whether free trade in global markets can be developed, indeed enhanced. In Greater China (China, Taiwan and Hong Kong) that is a matter of enormous importance.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Nov 4, 2002

Contributing to the crisis of capitalism

YAOUNDE, Cameroon -- During a conversation at a dinner in Shanghai recently with some Chinese friends, the comment was made that Japanese businessmen in China were now known quite willingly to accept various forms of bribes and kickbacks. The man who was making this comment, who knows Japan quite well through having done a lot of business there, remarked that while in the past Japanese businessmen in China were notorious for giving bribes, they did not normally accept them. Now, however, since they do not know what will happen to them upon their return to Japan -- with lifetime employment no longer secure and career prospects often bleak -- putting together a bit of a nest egg has its attractions.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Oct 21, 2002

Contributing to the spread of democracy

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- In a recent editorial, the Financial Times admonished the European Union and its member states, "(for) having consistently failed to grasp the broad historic significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall nearly 13 years ago." It is in fact an awesome event, the significance of which it will take years to distill.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Oct 14, 2002

Acute case of linguistic 'disconnectivity'

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- One of the best terms of the 21st century is "global connectivity." Composed of three elements -- (1) entrepreneurial and energetic individuals, (2) the Internet and (3) the English language -- global connectivity serves not only to exchange information and ideas but also to create wealth. A poor Bangladeshi entrepreneur of textile-design software, with no means to borrow, was able through "connectivity" to find clients in Washington State and Milan. Three years later his business is roaring, and some 150 jobs have been created.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Oct 7, 2002

Brainstorming to bring positive change

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- In an article on the IMF/World Bank meeting in Washington last month entitled "A Washington gathering of incompetents," Gerald Baker, while lambasting policyma- kers in the United States and the European Union, handed the first prize for incompetence to Japan. "Every time it seems that policy in that blighted country cannot get any worse, it promptly does," he wrote. The problem however is not only bad policy, but also often incomprehensible policy. The Bank of Japan's proposed stock-buying policy is one of the more recent examples.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Sep 23, 2002

Youth must lead creative destruction

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The turn of the century is an important opportunity to engage in questioning and re-evaluating some of the global community's basic tenets, assumptions, policies and directions. On these matters we are being well-served by some excellent books.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Sep 16, 2002

Foreign experts are part of the problem

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- One of Japan's problems in the global era arises from foreign academic experts on the country. The key qualification to be a foreign academic expert on Japan, or a "Japanologist," is to command the spoken and written language. Thus the late Professor G.C. Allen, who wrote some of the best pioneering work on the Japanese economy, does not fit this category, as he did not speak Japanese.

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Sep 11, 2002

Japan and Asia: facing the troubled past is a prerequisite to forging a better future

In two previous columns I quoted from one of the writers whom I most greatly admired, referring to him as the "late Shigeto Tsuru." It has been drawn to my attention that I was misinformed, as Mr. Tsuru, I am embarassed but really delighted to report, is alive and well. I offer my most sincere apologies to him, to his family, to his friends and to all others who may have been distressed by this unfortunate mistake. -- Jean-Pierre Lehmann

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Sep 2, 2002

Revival depends on openness, immigration

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The late Shigeto Tsuru's "Japan's Capitalism: Creative Defeat and Beyond," which I referred to and quoted in my Aug. 26 column, urged Japan to "work hard, through both aid and trade, to wipe out the poverty that plagues the Third World."

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