Episode 12: Japan: The New Society

From WFC are five College Radio in Amherst Massachusetts. We

present Japan 1868 through 1968.

This year has been officially designated as the centennial of the beginning of the

modernization of Japan and this is the 12th of a series of

broadcasts with John a Machian professor of government and vice dean of the

College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Massachusetts. The title of

today's broadcast is Japan the new society.

Professor Markey in this broadcast I would like to discuss some

of the changes that have come over the face of Japan Society

sence 1945. In a sense

the last well approximately a quarter of a century has been what might be

described as the most recent chapter in Japan's

process of modernization by way of a general

introduction. I would like to take a quick look backward to

approximately the first quarter of Japan's modern century.

The period that I emphasized at the beginning of this series between

roughly 1870 and the end of the 19th

century. You will recall perhaps that I describe this

period as a transitional one one during

which Japan built the foundation for they transition

from a pre-modern feudal society to a modern national

society. I suppose that this period

from 1870 to 1900 could be described as one of

institution building. I emphasized that Japan

created a modern government a centralized bureaucratic form of government.

During this earlier period Japan built the necessary

foundation of industrialization for a modern economy

and that in a very real sense Japan created for itself

what could be described in the terms of 1900 as a modern

society. Japan did develop well modern cities. There were

a lot of non modern features about those cities at the time. On the other hand the

basic structure of a modern urban concentration

characterized Japan at that particular time. There was

also the building up of a system of mass communication and

going right along with it was the system of mass education.

And indeed Japan developed during that period and many new ways of

life ways of life that were strange to Japanese history and that certainly

had not been developed inside the country ways of life that obviously

were of western origin. On the other hand as I emphasized

earlier the foundation of this new society in Japan was

very definitely the traditional. There were many elements which were very

consciously kept by the leaders of modern Japan as

the core as the unifying Well theme around which

this new society in Japan was being developed.

Now this last quarter of a century that is from roughly

one thousand forty five down to today it has also been what

can be described as a transition period in Japan's

history. And this has been and indeed perhaps still is

a transition from a modern authoritarian society

to a modern democratic society. In other words

you might say that the general well the prevailing theme

of Japanese society has been shifting from

authoritarian to Democratic. And Japan's authoritarian

society was again an almost automatic development

out of Japan's traditional past and to call Japan's

modern society an authoritarian society is in many

respects a purely descriptive term and not a term well

known seeing the content of that society. On the other hand

certainly many things that took place in Japan from roughly 930 down to

1945 were just as authoritarian and therefore

I suppose worthy of a political denunciation as were things

in other authoritarian societies again during this 20th century.

Now I would like to outline some of the changes that have

come over the face of Japan in a very brief period of

slightly under a quarter of a century. In one

of the areas of Japanese life that has been perhaps most profoundly

affected by this change is the political area in which there

has been the development of a Japanese variation on the

theme of democracy. Japan's democracy is

not a perfect democracy. Japanese students of Japanese society

would perhaps be the first to say that Japan's democracy

has a long ways to go yet. On the other hand perhaps it could

be argued that no democracy is a perfect one. But on the other

hand it is a characteristic feature of all democratic societies

modern democratic societies that we have observed to strive

for perfection that is perfection as defined in democratic terms.

Now on the other hand I think it is clear beyond any question that

Japan does have the basic features of any democratic

society. Now under the constitution of

1947 which as I emphasized earlier grew out of

a desire on the part of the occupation to have

a democratic fundamental law for Japan but a constitution of

soul that became very rapidly integrated into the

Japanese political way of life. That Constitution

guarantees the Japanese people all of the fundamental

human rights that is all of the basic freedoms that are familiar

to any democratic society. Now not only does

that guarantee exist in the written document of the 1947 constitution

but it exists in real life. That is to say the Japanese do

enjoy the rights and freedoms that are guaranteed in the Constitution.

It is not simply this guarantee is not simply that it exists.

Well on paper. Now also Japan does

have a system of responsible government that is to

say the political and governmental leaders of Japan and the party that

they represent parties that they represent must regularly go to the

people for election. Now it so happens that

under the peculiar development of contemporary Japanese politics

a series of conservative parties have dominated Japanese government and the

political scene since the end of the second world war with one very

brief exception. Back in one thousand forty seven when the Socialist Party was very

briefly and shakily in power. Now many

Japanese observers of the Japanese political scene feel that it is a

weakness of Japan's system of responsible government that

conservative parties and particularly one conservative party the Liberal Democratic

Party have enjoyed. Well virtual monopoly on government.

Inside Japan. Now on the other hand this

party and the government that it has controlled both have been

responsible responsible in the sense that they have or their members have

regularly gone to the polls that the government has not attempted in any way

to control the outcome of either particular he lections or

of the election in general. And so it can be said very

definitely that the party that rules Japan has been in power

because it has been able to command the support of a

majority of the Japanese people. Now on the other hand it is

interesting to note that under Japan's political system the

dominant liberal Democratic Party failed for the first time

to win a majority of the popular vote. Polling just under

49 percent in the election last general election which was held almost

exactly a year ago. This result came about from the

fact that the rival minority parties were able

successful late to eat into the majority that the party had

been able to control. Up to that time. Now also

this system of responsible government that characterizes Japan's

democracy. Obviously it reflects another extremely important element

of any democratic political system namely the

responsible exercise of the right of suffrage by the

electorate of Japan. Now Japan does have a

system of universal suffrage. Women wear and franchised in one thousand

forty six at the order of the occupation but this

enfranchise much of the population is written into the constitution of

1947. Now the responsibility of the

exercise of the suffrage is well demonstrated among other things by the fact

that in all elections there has been an average turnout of between

70 and 75 percent. And this again indicates that

the Japanese electorate appreciates the importance of this

fundamental democratic political act of the casting of the ballot.

Now also this democracy new democracy inside

Japan is the other side of the coin of

authoritarianism. In other words as I emphasized in the previous broadcast

the authoritarian features of Japanese society

particularly the political system. These things were eliminated by

the occupation. On the other hand it was demonstrated very rapidly and

deed that the Japanese people themselves welcomed the elimination

of these authoritarian features. Indeed it was the very

strength of the rejection of the recent authoritarianism

in Japan that lent a great deal of the strength to the new

democracy that was introduced into the country. Now also

another extremely important political characteristic of Japan

since 1945 has been the extremely strong

wave of pacifism that has motivated Japanese society

almost without exception. In other words there has been this

very strong rejection as I indicated earlier of war war in

general. The resort to war as an instrument of national policy and of course

this feature of militarism that unfortunately was so characteristic

of the first three quarters of Japan's modern century.

Now this pacifism is not simply a moral failing

on the part of the majority of the Japanese. It is one of the most

important Well political considerations within the country.

No individual candidate or no political party in

Japan can afford to take a position that seems to

be a modification of pacifism. In

other words the Japanese people as a result of their bitter

lesson in the Second World War have felt that they can

do nothing which would bring them close to the brink of another conflict

whether it would be one inspired by acts of their own or by acts of a

government with which it might be associated. And indeed it is this

spirit of pacifism that has created inside Japan

a very considerable reaction against the security arrangement

with the United States a security arrangement that is as it has existed

since 1951. Now on the other

hand one of the more significant developments inside Japan over the

last couple of years has been an indication

that both the government and an important segment of

the Japanese population have been forced to

rethink their position on pacifism and particularly

on the state of constitutional disarmament

that Japan has been in now sense. Well 1947.

I say constitutional disarmament because of the fact that the Constitution in

the famous Article 9 of the Constitution provides that

Japan will have no land sea or air forces.

On the other hand Japan does possess today a military

organization which is referred to by the

title the self-defense forces. These are military

forces in everything save name. They are small but

they are efficient. But in addition to that they seem to be defensive

in other words it seems impossible that these forces could be

utilized for purposes of military aggression. As the old Japanese

military establishment was used. Now these forces came

into existence as a result of the development of

a very real and undeniable situation around

Japan. What I am referring to specifically is the

fact of the Korean conflict which went on from

1950 to 1953. A major

military conflict the fighting front of which was just a couple of hundred miles away from

Japan itself. Now this Korean conflict was not a

conflict carried out in a vacuum but it was a manifestation of the

confrontation as of the early 1950s between the

communist world and the so-called free world. And this

was has been of course in political terms and in military terms

the great fact of postwar international politics and Japan

has not been able to isolated itself from this international

situation and reluctantly the Japanese government did

create these self-defense forces in apparent violation of a

constitutional provision. Now these defense forces have been the source of a great deal

of controversy inside Japan but in general

their existence has been accepted although extremely reluctantly

by many Japanese. Now the complicating factor that I

referred to a few moments ago has developed across the way in China

where the Chinese communist government has been carrying out

atomic tests of its own culminating recently within the year in

the explosion of an H-bomb device of some kind.

Now the Japanese have regarded these developments with

a very great deal of concern and for the first time there have

been indications inside Japan that the country

may be considering a stepping up of its military

strength again in purely defensive terms. A few

Japanese have even very cautiously raised the

possibility of Japan's joining the nuclear arms club.

Japan incidentally has a well-developed atomic industry for

peaceful purposes but of course has for very obvious reasons not dared to

venture into the field of nuclear armaments. While I

stress this element of pacifism in the Japanese political

scene not simply because of its own intrinsic

interest but because it is another mark of the extent of change that has

come over the face of the Japanese political scene in less than a

quarter of a century. No I would like to shift away

from an examination of the order of political change inside

Japan and take a brief look at what has come to be

universally referred to as the economic miracle of

Japan. Now what are the general components of

this economic miracle. Well in the first place I

think the first element the could be should be emphasized

is something that is taken place and has already been completed.

And that was the period of economic reconstruction that took place

between the end of the war and approximately 1955.

Now considering the amount of devastation and

destruction that was visited on Japan's economic structure

by the end of the war in one thousand forty five. The fact that that

economy could be reconstructed could be gotten back into effective

operation in the space of approximately 10 years was

indeed a remarkable achievement. Now on the other hand

it is obvious that this economic operation was more or less

mechanical mechanical in the sense that certain physical

things in the way of reconstitution and reorganization had to be carried

out and were carried out successfully by the Japanese government by the

business sector herd the labor sector and the Japanese people in general.

Now as striking as that aspect the aspect of reconstruction

of Japan's economic miracle may have been what has captured the

attention of the world since 1955 is a

combination of other economic elements. Of course one of

the most outstanding features of

Japan's economy particularly since about 1955

has been the extremely high rate of economic growth. A rate

of economic growth that in very recent years the last four or

five years has been averaging around 10 percent per year.

And in the years before that from 1055 into the early

1960s was at an even higher rate.

Now this is one of the highest growth rates of any

economy in the world. And incidentally it was a

growth rate based on an already well developed economy.

So it is not the fact that a percentage increase in an underdeveloped

economy has hit a high level. But the fact that an already developed

economy has been going ahead very rapidly indeed. Now

one of the more obvious manifestations of this high rate of

economic growth has been the development inside Japan. Again since

about one thousand fifty five of a consumer economy of a

true mass market. Now in other words the

general health and well-being of the Japanese economy

taken in general has been reflected in the development

of a very high rate of prosperity for the people in

general. And well to sum it up very briefly indeed

the Japanese people today are better fed. They are better

clothed. They are well in a sense better housed Although housing is

still a problem inside Japan and they have more

material goods of every kind than has ever been true at any

time in all of their long history and beyond any question the

Japanese are the best off of any people in all of Asia at the

present time. And indeed the general level of their economic

well-being is not far below that of the so-called

advanced Western economies at the present time.

Now also another economic development of considerable

significance has been the extremely rapid rate of technological

advance technological and scientific advance that has been woven

in to this economic miracle. In other words the economic miracle

would not have been possible had it not been for technological and scientific

advances. But at the same time these advances have been made possible

by the rapid development of the Japanese economy in general.

Now what are some of the features of this economy this

economic miracle the major components of which I have just outlined.

Very briefly indeed. Well one thing that has been a matter

of very great significance both economic and political and

sociological has been the very high rate of land

ownership by the farmers. As I mentioned very briefly in an

earlier broadcast it was occupation policy to bring about the

so-called land reform enabling the farmers of Japan to own their

own land. Now this was one occupation

reform on which a significant amount of Japanese

attention governmental attention had been devoted. Prior to the

end of the war. The Japanese government for a number of

decades had been extremely concerned about the

poverty in the countryside and in general the backwardness

of Japanese agriculture. And there were plans on

paper plans worked out particularly from the late 1930s

onward to bring about a fundamental reform in the

Japanese countryside. But for obvious reasons namely the complications of the

Second World War the Japanese government had never been able to do anything about

the projected program of land reform. Now

this operation of land reform went ahead very rapidly in the

early stages of the occupation. Artificially low prices were

established for land and under the conditions of the time the

Japanese farmers had the money that enabled them to purchase their

land. Now this was an economic development of very

considerable importance not simply because of the fact that

some millions of Japanese farm families were able to own their own land.

But because it is generally accepted that this

is a foundation for the again unprecedented prosperity

that the Japanese farmer has been able to enjoy prosperity again

that has resulted in some fundamental changes both in the nature of

Japanese agriculture and the organization of well shall we call it rural

sociology. Now the Japanese farmer has

been enjoying as I just said an unprecedented degree of

prosperity resulting from the fact that prices for his

product have been good. From the fact that for the first time in Japanese

history the farmer has been able to work for himself because he has owned

his own land. And because of the very significant

developments in the well the general technology of Agriculture.

Now also there has been a significant degree of

unionization of labor union movement in Japan is

very strong and is very active active not only in matter in

economic matters matters relating to salaries and working conditions and so forth and so

on. But in political affairs as well.

Another outstanding Kerry touristic of Japan's postwar

economy has been public investment and public savings.

Japan all during the modern period has been noted. The Japanese people I should

say have been noted for their capacity to save savings

which have been important not simply in personal financial terms

but because savings constitute very obviously a source of capital

capital used again for purposes of the development of the economy.

Now finally big business has played an extremely important role in

Japan's suppost 1045 economic development. There is no denying

that the large corporation plays a very important role in the economy.

Now in the next broadcast I shall conclude this very rapid overview

of Japan since 1945 by saying a few

things about some striking changes that have come about in Japan Society as a whole.

You have just heard a broadcast on the topic of Japan the new society

the 12th of a series titled Japan 1868 through

1968 with John MRK professor of government and vice dean

of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Massachusetts.

The title of the last broadcast in the series is Japan a century of

change. Japan 1868 through 1968 comes to

you from WFC are five College Radio in Amherst

Massachusetts.

This program was distributed by the national educational radio network.