An interesting new book by Edo Period literary expert Takehiko Noguchi, "Bakumatsu Kibun" (The Mood in the Last Days of the Tokugawa Shogunate), details how shogunate officials and citizens of Edo indulged themselves in lavish consumption and entertainment as they faced the demise of the government.
The author says the situation was somewhat similar to today's Japan, where politicians, bureaucrats and the general public go about their business without a sense of crisis. Many pundits say Japan now faces great changes comparable to the Meiji Restoration, which heralded a time of national reconstruction. The present mood, however, reminds me of the pre-Meiji times of national decline.
In those days, shogunate officials were more concerned with self-protection than with the future of the nation and the threats from Western powers. People were amused by the utter confusion among high officials. In present-day Japan, politicians and bureaucrats often try to evade responsibility and protect their own interests on crucial policy issues, such as writing off banks' bad loans and preventing mad cow disease.