Made in japan, the end?

Amongst many contemporary commentators on Japan's modern international affairs, the 1990s have been dubbed the 'lost decade'; a definition highlighted in the Japan Times of 1 January 2001. After years of stupendous growth the Japanese economy sustained a crippling deceleration and the nation was undermined by developing problems in political, economic and social life. Above all the country's politicians were ineffective in responding, particularly, to the economic melt-down and the political milieu was beset with scandals and setbacks largely unforeseen by the elected rulers.

Thus Jeff Kingston, Professor of History and Director of Asian Studies at Temple University, Japan, begins his discussion of Japan's social and civil changes with an examination of the 'lost decade' in which the nation's collapse was ubiquitous by 1995. Those who believe in kvocho (bad omens) took the devastation of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake which struck Kobe on 7 January 1995, and the release of sarin gas in Tokyo's metro, 20 March 1995, by members of the Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth Sect), as systematic of what was going wrong with Japan, especially when measured against the inept municipal and governmental response to the crises. Nuclear power 'mishaps' and political corruption in the Liberal Democrat party, as well as the machinations of the xakusa (Japan's mafia), all added to the unravelling of Japanese society.

The 'lost decade' introduced much unrest in Japanese society and put pressure on people in areas they had not experienced before. Suicides, student disaffection, divorces, domestic violence, job losses amongst the 40+ year olds, foreclosures of mortgages on householders, were only some of the aspects which led to a public reassessment of a post-war era that had spawned 'avarice, excess and slavish devotion to corporate life'.

All this, which received a welter of negative and pessimistic attention in Japan's media, has brought together a new driving force to achieve a seijukushakai (mature society) in Japan. What makes it most remarkable is that the force emanates from Japanese citizens rather than from the country's political leaders.

Prof. Kingston has chosen nine areas of research to present his analysis of modern Japan. As Ralph Nader said on a 1989 Japan lecture tour, 'information is the currency of democracy', so the author looks at how Japanese citizens are being given better access to local and national governmental information. He next tackles modern judicial reform and the role of non-profit organisations towards building a new civil society. He shows, too, how bureaucrats have fallen from grace and the 'down-sizing' of the construction state. Two chapters deal with HIV, leprosy and the struggle for human rights, and with food safety, BSE and whaling. Nationalism and identity also form two important themes with a closing chapter on social transformation in terms of family, gender, ageing and work.

Prof. Kingston also shows how Japan is becoming a more diverse and dynamic society and highlights areas he thinks are relevant to the promotion of this. After the collapse of the property market, housing is becoming more affordable. There are improved social services, and women in particular are benefiting from better childcare and care of the elderly support. There is a greater influx, too, of foreign business and a rise in (international) volunteerism, all helping to break down an isolationist 'mindset'. Food prices have also fallen (although still high by Western standards) and the author sees the beginnings of a 'lifestyle revolution' in which Japanese citizens are becoming more animated and content. Nevertheless there are some 'blackspots' in society and Prof. Kingston identifies racialism as one. During World War II Japan was derided as 'the most racialist society in the world' (ie, their policy of genocide in occupied China and Korea). Today Koreans are still discriminated against and there is still a large underclass of burakumin (hamlet people) who remain 'untouchables' or 'outcasts'.

As the author points out, there is a new 'atmosphere favourable to reform' in Japan despite the flaws. Thus the trend towards a more open society is pushing towards the reinvention of Japan. The solving of Japan's problems, from the economy to unemployment, is not going to happen overnight, but the flowing tides of administrative reform, legislative and judicial reorganisations are moving in the right direction. The old ways have been discredited; for Japan there is no modori nasai, turning back. For all those interested in the 'futuristic' trends for Japan, Jeff Kingston has provided a fine overview. Yet there is something here too for all who wish to observe the reinvention of Japan.

Japan's Quiet Transformation: Social Change and Civil Society in the Twenty-First Century. Jeff Kingston. Routledge Curzon. [pounds sterling]21.99 p.b. xvi + 358 pages. ISBN 0-415-27483-4