Globalization has greatly impacted the international development of the world markets. One of the nations most influenced by this process of Japan. Following World War II, the US, with the help of General Macarthur, rewrote the constitution of Japan. Part of this national policy included that Japan was limited to the number of troops in her standing army. The Japanese dominated most of the Pacific until World War II. Since the time of the changeover to American Influence, Japan has greatly wielded to the mold of American pop culture.
Asia has been known as the sleeping giant. Mentioned in brevity throughout my elementary education experience, the east had been distinguished as lagging behind the development of Europe and the US. The “New Emerging Japanese Economy” provides greater understanding to the traditional society and its dualist market that has emerged complementing the traditional with the modern. Japan is not stuck in the old paradigm, industry has emerged setting new standards and protocol for capitalistic nations.
Political history clearly demonstrates the stronghold Japan had on the Pacific until World War II. Lack of diplomatic communication brought Japan to a great halt at the end of WWII. Japan has been recovering from their imperial losses since that time under the close guidance and direction of the US government and military.
In addition to Japan’s growth and development, Asian powers are now rising on the global scale. The development in the east is exponential. The phase of growth has developed in decades from what took the western world centuries.
While traditional development of the west evolved entirely as a whole while moving east, Asian nations were not as heavily impacted by industrialism on the same scale that Europe and the US.
Traditional systems and modern industrial practices have simultaneously existed in nations like Japan. Development of both scales is of great interest and importance for business and marketing. The product yielded of Japanese capitalism exhibits quite a different due to traditional influences in the island region.
Technology has been approached with the mores of century old Japan. On these principles economic growth was achieved with great determination and success. While the ethics move forward, some of the traditional subcultures have fallen to the backburner.
Japan fixated their focus on economic development through growth of all production levels regarding products, employees, and policies to maintain balance throughout the work force. Lower class urban workers take up the once undesirable just that were once left for the outcasts.
Japan has adopted American ideals, however added their own traditional values to keep their culture relatively intact. Attempts to maintain the more pristine environments, regulations have been imposed restricting certain activities. Indigenous people residing on such lands have developed somewhat separately from popular urban culture.
Burakumin is the name of class of Japanese people that are considered subhuman. Today they are more commonly referred to as the Dowa. The views of the Dowa greatly differed from popular Shinto beliefs. Shinto Buddhism views certain practices as impure such as blood-to-blood contact; also they avoid contact with pollution.
Dowa lived at the edge of cities and perform the rites that the Shinto’s looked down upon. Dowa traditionally hold monopolies on markets regarding butchering, leathers & furs, well digging, grave digging, and street sweeping. Other more transient jobs such as begging, prostitution, animal training and entertaining are carried out by the Dowa people.
When referred to in colloquial context, it is blatant that Dowa were not looked upon as equal status human beings. Counter words are used in Japanese similar to words in English; for example three sheets of paper or 2 cups of sugar. Japanese references to Dowa denote the population with the same term used for animals, not humans.
Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan is bordered by a maritime boundary of Russian. People native to this region are revered to as the Ainu. The current population is roughly twenty-five to forty thousand. Traditions of Ainu were non-agricultural. Predominantly foraging societies, the Ainu have special customs for fishing and bear hunting.
Japan’s adoption of American ideals has proven it a challenge to keep the Ainu in tact. Attempts to maintain the more pristine environments, regulations have been imposed restricting certain activities. Bear hunting and fishing are no longer permitted through the native foraging techniques for sanitary reasons.
Modern cultural preservation is made possible through tourist attractions established in Hokkaido for visitors to learn of the culture. The people are able to maintain their language, rituals, and lifestyles to an extent thought the essence of the culture is subjected to the influence of the globalized world that comes to their doorstep.
Okinawa is an island in southern Japan that is part of the Ryukyu Chain. Home to the Okinawan culture. Okinawan tradition is a fusion of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. Dietary and ritual practices are more closely related to that of the Chinese, however, Okinawa is part of Japan.
Modern urban culture maintains a somewhat suppressed underground society of gangsters called the Yakuza. Young recruits are known as bosozoku. Their terrain covers the “water world” of bars, clubs, prostitution, drinking, gambling and firearms. Jobs that are not taken care of by the rest of society are taken care of by the Yakuza. Day laborers, hiyatoi rodosha, are managed under their authority.
Other groups such as extortion artists are called the sokaiya. Loan sharks, or sarakin, have a very intimidating role. Personal loans, not granted by the bank, are kept with sarakin. Unpaid debt is often accompanied by harassment of children en route to school, sound trucks parked in the front of the house that blare obnoxious sirens throughout the night, or calls received every ten minutes through the night.
Certain populations that do not fit into the modern model seem to be left out of the industrial loop. New groups such as the yakuza have evolved with the times, opening a market where no one else stepped in.
The model of Japan is very conscious of the needs of the people and the regulations have been put into place to take care of citizens. It is interesting for me to see how this has been achieved under the protection of the American forces though we lack the fundamentals to provide such services here.
American corporate interests, the car industry for example, demonstrate great fiscal growth throughout the 1990’s. The monetary gain is contributed to the Japanese production of manufactured goods. It is important to note that the manufacturing of motor vehicles in Japan is done primarily for export and does not facilitate the needs of its own constituents.
Markets in Japan are greatly diversified as compared to what we are accustomed to here in the US. There is a strong modernized field that focuses primarily on exporting goods. Maintaining proficiency and leading edge designs is crucial for Japan to keep up in the global marketplace. The traditional model is more evident in domestic labor and production. Japan’s internal affairs are governed through protectionism. This has been what allows for the traditional reputation to remain.
Understanding the current situation is often times appreciated more holistically when examining the past. The relationship between Japans corporate entities and government is explained through the historical foundation. The corporate entities work with the government policies to protect capitalism. The development of Japan is credited for its global footprint.
Like that of other developing nations environmental impact at home, in Japan, does not take into consideration the lost cultures and traditions. Old ways are forced out of existence through new policies and redistricting land.
Development of Japan is appreciated through the arrival on the global market scene. Playing a bit of catch up with the US and European nations, Japan was forced to learn quickly from mistakes. Retail, manufacturing, trading, and all other business and economic details have been modeled off of the new economic situation.
The modern economic situation, analyzing the old, seeing the growth, and the struggle Japan encountered in spite of other nations. Solutions to conflicts are examined in restructuring of politics and the market today and how Japan has become a competitor on the forefront, while the values at home are merging more closely with the American ideals.
Modern business models demonstrate how Japan has adapted. The popularity of Starbucks and McDonalds are key examples. Japan’s liberalization has opened doors for entrepreneurial positions. Individuals are taking upon themselves to develop and be creative to expand in their fields.
The arguments are hard to contend with. As an American, it is hard to comprehend a nation without the popular cultural influence. The spread of our national culture, business franchises, and merchandise has become so mainstream abroad. Here the occurrence of such things is normal for my generation. Superiors of mine certainly have a greater perspective of what the world was like before Starbucks were on every city corner, but I don’t know a world like that. Hearing that Japan, too has Starbucks and McDonalds seems to be second nature nowadays.
