Tag - japan-in-the-global-era

 
Menu
Search
 
April 25, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

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."
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Aug 26, 2002
Emphasize the beauty for grand objectives
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The best book on the modern Japanese political economy is the late Shigeto Tsuru's "Japan's Capitalism: Creative Defeat and Beyond," published by Cambridge University Press in 1993. Tsuru holds to the great original tradition of economics as a sub-branch of moral philosophy, not of mathematics (to which it has degenerated in many economics faculties today). His book, apart from providing an incisive analysis of the Japanese economy's postwar development, raises some profound questions not only about Japan's political economy, but also about both macroeconomics and capitalism in general. Almost 10 years old, it remains highly relevant, indeed visionary. In upcoming installments of this series, I shall refer to his book and to his vision.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Aug 19, 2002
Raze the barriers to inward investment
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The 21st century has not gotten off to a particularly brilliant start. Greed, corruption and dishonesty are pervasive. Scandals are rocking the world of business and politics in America and Europe. The chances of the Bush/Cheney administration becoming paralyzed by investigations into skulduggery arising from the two's past business practices in the oil industry are quite high. Europe, France in particular, is wallowing in murky dealings. Even such an erstwhile icon as Percy Barnevik, former chairman of Sweden's ABB, has fallen into disgrace.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Aug 5, 2002
'Sick man' of the intellectual community
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- In the 1980s and early '90s, there were efforts on the part of Europeans and Japanese to strengthen their bilateral relationship. Europeans were conscious that they had neglected Japan, while the Japanese were seeking to expand their international networks at a time when the U.S.-Japan relationship was particularly strained due to "trade friction." I participated in numerous colloquiums, forums, seminars and conferences aimed at bringing about this goal.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Jul 22, 2002
'Domesticists' rule amid idea drought
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- I do not live in Japan, although I first set foot (a rather small foot at 4 years old) on Japanese soil in 1949 and knew the country throughout the 1960s, '70s, '80s and '90s, when I either lived there temporarily or commuted frequently. My visits this century have been far fewer -- not more than once or twice a year and usually only for a few days (I shall explain the reason for this in a future article). I have no pretense, therefore, to being an "insider."
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Jul 8, 2002
Great country; pity about the institutions
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- My good friend Philippe Pons, the Japan correspondent for the leading French daily Le Monde, wrote an excellent article, "Au Japon, la crise n'est pas ce que l'on croit" (In Japan, the crisis is not what people think), for the newspaper's June 19 edition. Pons rectifies many stereotypes and misconceptions about Japan, and points out the many positive things about the Japanese people. I would endorse everything he says.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
Over 40% of Japan's municipalities at risk of vanishing, study finds
Of 1,729 local municipalities nationwide, 744 have been identified as being at risk of disappearing.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Tokyo issues strong warning on yen intervention as currency dips further
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks during a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on the sidelines of IMF and G20 meetings in Washington last week.
Princess Aiko makes debut at imperial garden party
Princess Aiko attends an imperial garden party in Tokyo on Tuesday.
For amateur sumo, a fresh start offers hope against time-wasting and gamesmanship
Wrestlers prepare for the start of a bout at the 2023 Sumo World Championships in Tokyo. Starting this month, placing one hand on the clay first is no longer allowed.
LDP veteran Nikai's youngest son expected to succeed him in Wakayama
Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced in March that he would not run in the next Lower House election to take responsibility for the political funds scandal that rocked his party and his own faction.
New workers name Shohei Ohtani as 'dream boss' for two years running
Shohei Ohtani has been overwhelmingly voted as the “dream boss” for people who started working in April, according to a survey.
A craft beer crawl through Tokyo’s top bars, brewpubs and dives
If all you drink is Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin, you're depriving yourself of some of the best craft beer Tokyo has to offer — and there sure is a lot of it out there.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass
Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER