How Japan friends China

OP-ED: Japan must shake off US-style globalization, By Yukio Hatoyama, Christian Science Monitor, August 19, 2009

An interesting indication of how Japan, with its soon-to-be-new-ruling-party, will talk itself into turning toward China versus the U.S.--a natural choice.

The joke is, of course, that Japan never trusted markets and barely used them. Ditto with democracy.

But again, a natural and necessary turn, so get used to it and ignore the rationales. The great Asian integration process--long delayed--is beginning to pick up speed.

Comments

[Petrer]

That guy doesn't make sense to me....he is trying to be different in that "Social Democratic" sense? Have the appearance of a different ideology when he is simply supporting different interest groups maybe, I really don't know...seems more along the lines of the popular US centered skepticism...."you helped us, and helped us learn how to grow economies, but we won't admit it, you arrogant Americans!"

[Petrer]

...oh wow"If we look back on the changes in Japanese society that have occurred since the end of the cold war, I believe it is no exaggeration to say that the global economy has damaged traditional economic activities and destroyed local communities."

Sounds more like the John Birch Society than a Social Democrat!

But then the internationalist comes through...

"Establishing a common Asian currency will likely take more than 10 years. For such a single currency to bring about political integration will surely take longer still."

I just get annoyed how people will not admit that true economic liberalization leads to freedom...no! they must be different and criticize the elephant in the room, and then support it through different words!

[William R. Cumming]

Supportive of your comment just follow the FDI figures for Japan vis a vis the US and vis a vis China! Startling.

[Louis Heberlein]

There is some similarity to the Japanese response to Christian missionaries. They were interested in the Christian thinking, friendly to missionaries etc. However, in most cases they were seeking insights into the other culture, tools that might be useful to Japan's development, and establishing connectivity with the outside world. They did not place adoption of a new faith as a high priority.

Many Western political economists seem to have a faith in the supremacy of an open market global economy. Others want to understand it, but see it as a tool they must evaluate to see if it fits their particular problem, or opportunity situations.

[William H Standley]

Hmmmm, the Greater Southeast Asia Co-Prosperity sphere, 70 years later minus the trouble of invading Manchuria, the Philippines, Malaysia, etc. etc. etc.