Japanese History - Economic Aspects, Asian Studies - East Asia - Japan, Economic Conditions in Asia, Foreign Economic Relations - United States, Political Culture, Japanese History - General & Miscellaneous, Japan - Diplomatic Relations, Corruption & Scan
Log in to track your reading progress.
Overview
In 1998 the Japanese government was rocked by a series of scandals that seemed to threaten the entire postwar order. This book focuses on what these scandals meant for the Japanese system — & for the rest of the world. The largest scandal centered on Hiromasa Ezoe, the founder of the Recruit group of magazines, who spread millions of his unlisted shares among Japans powerful elite to gain influence. Holstein shows how hopes for political & social change in Japan in the wake of the Recruit scandal were dramatically overblown. Drawing on exclusive interviews with participants, Holstein provides an incisive analysis of U.S.-Japanese relations.Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
In this insightful, cautionary, detailed analysis, Business Week staffer Holstein explains how exclusionary cultural and socio-political characteristics make Japan a society ``where economic power is paramount.'' The country's auto and electronic exports to the U.S., factories and supply networks here, as well as large-scale banking and real estate investments are only the beginning of a drive to dominate economically the Pacific Rim and the Americas, according to the author. Yet, he notes, U.S. government and industry have responded to the challenge in an uncoordinated fashion. We must marshall informational, inter-industry, academic and bureaucractic resources, urges Holstein, to counterbalance the Japanese thrust. He offers one consoling surprise: Coca Cola makes more money in Japan that it does in the U.S. (Oct.)Library Journal
Holstein, an associate editor at Business Week, provides in the manner of numerous other works (e.g., Robert Christopher's The Japanese Mind, LJ 4/15/83) a standard overview of contemporary Japanese culture--stressing particularly major differences from the culture of the West, the place of women and minorities in Japanese society, and an analysis of the Japanese value system. Secondly, and perhaps most interestingly, he conducts a highly insightful discussion of the recent political scandals which have rocked Japan. Holstein also discusses the future of Japanese economic and political development, especially vis-a-vis the United States, and in a final section outlines his views for an American response to the Japanese challenge. Holstein offers an interesting discussion and integration of his topics, and his book can take its place among the spate of other recent studies of contemporary Japan. For general readers.-- Scott Wright, Coll. of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn.Book Details
Published
August 29, 1991
Publisher
New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Plume, 1991.
Pages
352
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780452266865