Description
This book by the Washington Post's former corre spondent in Tokyo is an incisive account of the reali ties of present-day Japan; it attacks the stereotypes- and, in particular, the myth of her Westernization. The distinguished scholar George Sansom predicted long ago that while Japan would continue to adapt Western machines and commercial practices to her own use, she would never become Western in the es- sence of her national character. Halloran shows, in comprehensive and knowledgeable detail, that San- som was correct.
The image of Japan's bustling cities, booming economy, and modern technology, her jazz, television, traffic jams, and Coca-Cola, is an illusion, reflecting only the surface. In a remarkable analysis of the rul- ing elite-descended from the oligarchs who seized power when Japan was first opened to the West-and the complex decision-making processes of govern- ment, Halloran demonstrates that the essence of Japanese life flows from ideas, ethics, customs, and institutions that are anchored deep in Japanese culture and history.
He reveals the wide discrepancy between form and substance in politics. The Japanese talk of their free- enterprise, capitalistic economy; but, like the political system, it is not what it seems. He shows what holds the world's most deftly guided economy together, how it works, and the ethics and motives of the people who make the decisions. In a chapter entitled "An Isolated Outlook," he delves into the maze of Japanese foreign policy, or the lack of one. The days of Japan as a client state of the United States are visibly draw- ing to a close, and after a brilliant analysis of the na- tional character, Halloran offers some very timely and informed speculations on our future relations with the Oriental nation.
His book is a study in depth, and this alone signals its difference from all other recent books about Japan. It should appeal strongly to anyone interested in for- eign affairs, and should become the vade mecum of businessmen, politicians, bureaucrats, and others who find themselves dealing with the Japanese.
