Kata by Boye Lafayette De Mente

Author:Boye Lafayette De Mente
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-8048-3386-8
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Kata in Politics

Not surprisingly, the form and order of Japanese politics follow traditional patterns of behavior, meaning that the system is based on groupings (factions) rather than true party lines or clear political principles; members of these individual groups are arranged in a hierarchical order; seniority and longevity generally take precedence over character and talent; and decisions are based on a consensus within the factions or among them when the cooperation of other factions is necessary.

The largest and strongest of the factions tend to monopolize the positions of privilege and power, but very little authority is invested in individuals or in offices. Government policy-making on both a national and prefectural level is more or less a group effort with several groups contending against each other, while the day-to-day administration of the prefectures and national affairs is left to bureaucrats.

This system obviously works well enough within the Japanese context of things that it—along with the whole culture—has survived for a long time. But it ranges from only partly effective to hopeless when trying to deal with international affairs because there is no central locus of power and the foreign side is unable to deal with it effectively.

At the end of the 1980s a series of scandals involving ranking politicians and businessmen resulted in a national outcry for a reformation of the Japanese political system. Any real change in the system will, of course, have to evolve along with the changing culture over a long period of time.

Some of the formulas used by Japan's Foreign Office in its relations with the American Embassy in Tokyo are indicative of how the culture is manipulated to benefit the Japanese. Virtually all of the Foreign Office personnel directly involved with the U.S. speak good or passable English.

The Japanese make sure that the joint study programs sponsored by the embassy and Foreign Office are conducted in English. Practically all of the informal conversations between Foreign Office and Embassy personnel at the continuous round of parties are also in English.

This makes it possible for Japanese diplomats to say what the foreign side likes to hear, but to keep their comments completely divorced from the reality of the Japanese attitude and position when it serves their purpose. Part of the psychology is that whatever they say in English doesn't count.

The same psychology generally applies in all situations. Bilingual Japanese regularly say and write all kinds of things in English and other foreign languages that they wouldn't dare express in Japanese. By the same token they customarily express opinions in Japanese that are strictly for Japanese consumption, and tend to become very upset when such comments are published in other languages.

Interestingly, the Japanese generally do not see anything immoral or unprincipled in basing their comments and behavior on the language they are speaking. Many readily admit that such duplicity is necessary because the Japanese side would not understand or would get angry—or in other cases, because the foreign side would react in an undesirable way.

The factor at play in

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