The Japan Myth Reconsidered

The image of Japan today is ambiguous. On the one hand there is the rather threatening image of the samurai country that turned out to be, for some mysterious reason, an economic giant; on the other there is the attractive model of the superindustrial society that has successfully solved many of the difficult social problems still being faced elsewhere. The former is a popular view, promoted by the media, widely held in business circles, and often supported even by governments; the latter is an opinion recently articulated by some Western experts who advocate learning from Japanese institutions for the purpose of remolding their own societies. In Asia, the" Japanese threat" has been interpreted in various ways. During the Cultural Revolution, Chinese officials talked much about the potential threat of "revived Japanese militarism," while in Southeast Asia, Thai students and Malaysian intellectuals are warning of ruthless exploitation of natural resources by Japanese companies. In South Korea, those opposing the dictatorial regime have been criticizing Japanese and American support of the military government as an indirect threat to their basic human rights. There is everywhere in Asia a sense of alarm concerning Japanese economic domination coexisting with an expectation of Japanese help for local industrial development. In North America and in Europe, the" Japanese threat" is the massive invasion of industrial products into the home markets and into other areas where, traditionally, Western products once prevailed. Hence the trade conflicts between the West and Japan, which in turn have enhanced the popular image of aggressive Japan, the country of samurai armed with modern technology. Against this oversimplification, some experts have offered a more sophisticated view, explaining the mechanism that supposedly brought about the coun-