Seventy years have passed since the Imperial Japanese Navy was severely battered by the U.S. Navy in the Battle of Midway on June 4-7, 1942. With the loss of four fleet aircraft carriers, many aircraft and its most experienced air crews, Japan lost its dominance and strategic initiative in the Pacific, which it had enjoyed following its tactically successful attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 8, 1941. The battle offers valuable lessons to present-day political leaders, bureaucrats and company executives.
A big lesson is that a big success in the recent past can make people conceited and too sure of themselves, leading them to forget to prepare for new problems or challenges that may crop up. The apparent success of the Pearl Harbor attack may have had such an effect on some of the staff officers in command of the Japanese carrier strike force that took part in the Battle of Midway.
The same thing can be said about postwar Japan. During the high economic growth years, everything appeared to be going well. But political leaders apparently failed to prepare for the next stage. For example, they should have built a sustainable social welfare system while Japan was enjoying high growth so that the Japanese people could have a foundation on which to endure and overcome possible future difficulties. But they did not.