LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- For years the Japanese government has been arguing that, as one of the biggest financial contributors to the United Nations, it should have a permanent seat on the Security Council. Japan does indeed bring lots of money to the U.N., but it does not bring much else. One of the greatest deficits of Japan in the global era has been that of leadership. And one of the primary reasons for the leadership deficit is the deficit in ideas.
The crackpot pseudo-scientific theories that abound about the (unique, of course) structure of the Japanese brain, etc, notwithstanding, there is no genetic case to be made for the absence of innovative or international thinking in Japan today. To begin with, there are a handful of exceptions -- such as the journalist Yoichi Funabashi, the consultant Kenichi Ohmae, the "think tanker" Tadashi Yamamoto, economists Sahoko Kaji and Noriko Hama, and defense expert Masashi Nishihara, among others. One can also think of intellectual figures of international stature such as the political scientist Masao Murayama, while individuals of ethnic Japanese origin born abroad, e.g., Francis Fukuyama, or who have moved abroad, such as the economist Michio Morishima, have been at the leading edge in making major intellectual contributions to the world.
In an earlier article in this series (" 'Inbred' Japanese universities dragging Japan down," March 4), I pointed out that Japanese universities, especially in the social sciences, are mediocre, partly because of their narrowly nationalistic, indeed incestuous nature. In contemporary society ideas emanate primarily (albeit not exclusively) from universities or university-type institutions, such as think tanks and research institutes, and with a growing number of nongovernmental organizations also becoming increasingly intellectually active and innovative. Thus Japan's absence of international intellectual stature, let alone leadership, is in part due to the poor quality of its universities.