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  • Ezra Vogel - Japan As Number One

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    Ivana Turudic
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    International relations Japan

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    Ezra Vogel_Japan as Number One (1)

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    International relations Japan

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    52 views12 pages

    Ezra Vogel - Japan As Number One

    Uploaded by

    Ivana Turudic
    International relations Japan

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 12
    —— Jipanas Number One Lessons for America Ezra E Voce, Hanwano Usovsnstry Prtss Cambridge, Massachuses ‘London, England i A Mirror for America lean up some organization, quickly. 3 N 1916 WE. AMERICANS eclebtaed tur bicentenary with Siting Fanfare, bot swelee the year pss without serosal electing om the siabil- ity of ur insituions for the next century. Our pees and television have dramatized he dificle problems our nation is scraning.o comin, ba they offer litle analysis. We know that insiations that once served us well are now les effective but it Jsmore manageable and certainly more intersting vo personalize the cause, t atack someone's eneruption or secrecy’ or his failure to provide proper leadership, than to search for insti- ‘rion alteratives, Our response iso make 8 new props, ‘ect anew regulation, or bringin anew charsmatie igure 10 ‘We ate at loss to understand why these efforts are ot ‘more succesful. Publiespiried poicians although sensitive totheinadequacisof government, must respond toshoreange pola! pressures, having no mandate o consider fundamental changes. Busines leaders are acutely aware ofthe increasingly ‘comples problems ereated bythe pola, socal, and eco- omic enviroamene surrounding the erditiona business arena, ‘bute have neither the esrenoe the onganzaion to respond to them. Acidemics, falling vitim ro their own specialization A Japon a Naber One and having lle persona experience in management, are inde- quately prepared t confront problens which are in sence systemic and hole, ‘One of the best vantage poins for looking at our istiea- ions, for reexamining our assumptions and considering alter- rnaies, is from another place tha faces similar problems but finds diferent solusions. As world leadership shared by more ‘counties, we will have more 10 lern by sudying their successes. OF these other countries Japan, the worlds second largest economy, «modern democratic nation with a free centerprine system similar to our owa, offers us the best penpectv. Tn view of the nature and seope of Japan's succes, it j& remarkable how litle interest Americans have shown in profi from the Japanese example. As Japanese institusions begin eo function more effectively than foreign one, rat Japanese now return from forsign sudy tours discouraged thar they’ found so litle olsen, but the’ sil seour the world for useful lesons or hints of lesons. Where American istitu- tions lag behind, Americ i still unprepared to learn from countries ouside Furope. Japan issued by some Americans 2 a fiscnating culture with an iatereting history, 2 subdle Tteratre, nriguing eastoms, and profound religious hough Bue those who sek o lean fom Japan are from the world of ‘calure, not from the world of ais. Is perhaps undrstané- ble hat the Japanese in the habit of looking abroad for things to learn, continue seudyng, while Americans in the world of alfa in che hab of teaching che rest of the word, find it Aiffcae ro asume the posture ofthe student, even when such indiference to ot casual dismisal of foreign succes blinds ws to useful esos, ‘Japanese insieetions provide a particularly dluminating sirror for America for several reasons. For one, Japan, unlike ‘Wester counties, has consciously examined and restrucared ‘The Japosete Chiles A Mirror for Amores ll raiionalinsrution on the basi of rational considerations Americas polities! system was designed almest wo hundred yeats ago for a premodern agricultural society, and i hs not ‘undergone any consciously designed major reorganizations since then, New institutions have grown up piecemeal, with ‘80 overill coneeptusliation of their desirabiley. Japanese institutions have undergone rwo major explicit reexaninations in che pas 110 years to deermine which institutions were

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