|
Literary Review
Understanding Japan
JAPAN is part of Asia, but is also, in a sense, apart from it. Japan resembles Britain in its insular aloofness from the mainland. Both countries pioneered a meteoric industrial-commercial course, though their histories took different trajectories. Both have clung to the United States as the mainstay of their security after the Second World War, Britain as the eclipsed ally, Japan as the vanquished foe turned partner.
Eye on Japan and Know Japan: Know the Japanese, by Prof. N. Krishnaswami go some way towards demystifying the enigma of Japan. He has long been Chennai's moving spirit in promoting Indo-Japanese friendship and understanding. There is not only compatibility, but also a clear complementarity, between India and Japan in political, economic, social and cultural matters. When the two can achieve so much together for their own people and for the good of Asia and the world, they have repeatedly failed to build a fuller relationship beyond standard pledges of goodwill, a modest level of trade and a few tokens of mutual esteem, like Indian ikebana and Japanese Bharatanatyam. The reason was mainly a mismatch of perception during the cold war, when Japan was wary of our friendship with the Soviet Union and India was wary of theirs with the U.S. Now that era is past and new possibilities have sprung up in the IT age. How to realise them is the challenge facing both countries.
These two short books address this question. They consist of insightful and analytical essays covering many aspects of contemporary Japan: its distinctive culture, language, economic malaise, bureaucracy, administrative reform, defence forces, nuclear policy, universities, Information Technology, religious background and, of course, relations with India. They can be read with profit by Indians transacting business with Japanese counterparts, by Indian visitors bound for Japan on contract, and by anyone who is fascinated by the idea of Japan. They originated as articles in The Hindu and Business Line over a decade, ending 2001 and appear here in revised form.
The author's admiration for Japan is not uncritical. His interpretations are pertinent and shrewd. Some pieces carry bits of unavoidable overlap and repetition, but read through as a series, they convey a clear and balanced picture of Japan's economic stagnation, the promise and pitfalls of Indo-Japan relations and the need for more vigorous cooperation between the two countries.
"The crux of Indo-Japan relations hinges on differences in perception" on matters "political, economic and even social", says Krishnaswami. For example, the Japanese consider Indians too voluble and argumentative, clever, but not cohesive in teamwork. As for the low Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Japan to India, despite the Indian policy of liberalisation since 1991, he points out that Japanese businessmen prefer "far more attractive off-shore sourcing bases than India" and laments that "India occupies a low priority in the Japanese scheme of things." The Japanese are critical of our bureaucracy, though anyone with experience of theirs knows how obstructive it can be to the entry of foreign business interests. Further, the Japanese prefer to invest in economies that are on the upward curve, like China's, or those they know well as good bets for commercial profit. Their reservations about India's policy of demanding progressive indigenisation of production in Japanese joint ventures are not discussed here.
Over the years Japan's Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) has been a valuable input in our economic growth. India is one of its largest beneficiaries. After our nuclear tests in Pokhran in 1998, Japan stopped ODA flows to India until it withdrew the sanctions on its own in October 2001. The author notes that this sharp reaction was due to the historical and emotional Japanese aversion to nuclear weapons, but also observes that it was overdone. In fact, there is an element of hypocrisy in Japan's nuclear policy, since that country is not only protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, but also conceals the full facts relating to it. Now, with North Korea's nuclear threat no longer a secret, it will be interesting to see whether Japan adheres to its doctrinaire position of never going in for the nuclear option. The author deals with Japan's ODA in a positive spirit, but does not probe the difficulties of Indian state governments and the Centre in utilising and disbursing committed aid for agreed projects. The pressure to procure capital equipment from Japanese firms and the high prices quoted by them are also impediments. A larger question is the addiction to ODA handouts that India should have overcome long ago.
The drawback of compiling articles is that events keep overtaking chronological record and commentary. Prime Minister Vajpayee's visit to Japan in December 2001 and the Joint Declaration signed then are barely mentioned. There is a desire to lift the relationship to a strategic level: "global partnership in the 21st Century" is the grandiose label. The incipient military contacts and the shared perception of terrorism as a threat to stability and prosperity are certainly promising areas to explore.
Japan is struggling to get out of its economic slough of despond: banks rotting with bad debts, unemployment at five per cent plus, national debt at 130 per cent of the GDP. This may distract its leaders from India, but even a somewhat humbled Japan, no longer an aspirant ichiban or No. 1 in the world economy, can be an excellent partner for India in its quest for a rightful regional and global role. Krishaswami's contribution eminently serves this purpose.
Know Japan: Know the Japanese, 2003, p.103, Rs. 175; Eye on Japan, 2003, p.102, Rs. 180; both by N. Krishnaswami, published by Indo-Japan Centre and German Book Centre.
A. MADHAVAN
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Literary Review
|
