(formerly titled "Cultural inertia regarding Japan")
2021-06-15 - Alternate history challenge:
What do you think about these notions of an unchangeable, status-quo-based, "deep seated" or "entrenched" culture within Japan?
That Japan had a xenophobic society and culture that didn't start with Tokugawa and "Sakoku," but came straight from the Jomon and Yayoi periods, and cannot possibly be changed unless they are completely colonized?
Or the idea that Japanese militarism and expansionism is always inevitable with no other option because of their "samurai warrior culture":
As I had posted my another thread asking about how Japan can become the fabled "technologically advanced society" as thought of in the 1980s (and for a while after the popping of the bubble), this 1999 article claimed that the lack of reforms and lag in innovation within Japanese businesses happened because they became complacent during the post-war miracle. But might we actually need a POD stretching far back in time in order for Japanese businesses to be more accepting of risk-taking, innovation, and adoption of new technology?
2021-06-15 - Alternate history challenge:
Even though Imperial Japan was defeated in WWII, institutional racism and sexism are still prevalent and major criticisms of Japan. So this is the alternate history challenge I have been recently wondering about: what kind of PoD is needed for Japan to have a society that is more tolerant of foreigners, and more gender-equal in the 21st century? It could still have a dark, imperialist past, but one that is more open to change by protests, civil rights movements, and other kinds of social reform. As well as unequivocal apologies for past atrocities.
Could the PoD be after WWII, or in the 20th or 19th centuries? Or does it need to be before or during the Sengoku period, resulting in no Sakoku/"closed country" policy? Does it require that Japan be colonized, or be an entirely different country starting from ancient history, like the post from CalBear [mentioned below]?
What do you think about these notions of an unchangeable, status-quo-based, "deep seated" or "entrenched" culture within Japan?
That Japan had a xenophobic society and culture that didn't start with Tokugawa and "Sakoku," but came straight from the Jomon and Yayoi periods, and cannot possibly be changed unless they are completely colonized?
Any thoughts on altering Japanese attitudes towards immigration?
I was thinking the Japanese government is willing to do some tough political things and lets in a whole bunch of, say, Hong Kong Chinese in the 1980s as a calculated attempt to get needed capital & deepen ties to China. A rapid influx of non-labour immigration might provoke a backlash in the beginning, but it may also break the ingrained, if mild, racist attitudes that the Japanese hold.
Once you let in a bunch of Chinese allowing Japanese descended South Americans is the next step, and after that I imagine South Koreans followed by other Asians & probably English speakers from the Commonwealth/USA is next.
That said, I'm not sure how plausible this is. It would require the government to be willing to stick through with unpopular reform, and it would need a fairly fast adaptation of Japanese culture. Not impossible, but there'd to be a solid reason—my current one is simply the government looking at birth rate trends and having some guts.
Sure, no problem at all. Simply reverse 30 centuries of culture and tradition in a stroke. You are planning to recreate an economy basis by the addition of a Central bank (which in itself would be a massive shift in the Japanese economy and would likely stifle the conditions that allowed the economic miracle in the first place) so changing the deep seated traditions of an entire people should be simple.
Things don't change that easily, not in the short term. Want to effect a cultural change? Try eliminating the Tokugawa bakufu around a year after the battle of Sekigahara and allowing the Portuguese to take over the Islands. Better yet, allow the Mongol invasion to succeed.
Things don't change because they would be nice, or simply to create a "happier" future. I would be delighted if Hong Kong was still British, and if Macau was still Portuguese. I would be even happier if the PRC was a liberal democracy, unfortunately, that simply isn't in the cards.
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Altering the Japanese cultural traditions governing outsiders will be at least an order of magnitude harder than altering the economy. It isn't that the Japanese do not understand the outside world (their business leadership probably understands foreign markets better than many of their local competitors understand their own neighbors), nor do they fear it; either of these would be easy to alter, it is that the culture as a whole likes the way things are and sees no reason to change. The people didn't see the need to change pre-Bubble, during the Bubble, or after the Bubble. Japan is a homogenuos society, it has been for at least two millenia, and like most such societies it will not change in a generation (or six).
Or the idea that Japanese militarism and expansionism is always inevitable with no other option because of their "samurai warrior culture":
Japanese militarism is the byproduct of japanese culture, history, traditions and religion. You cannot butterfly away militarism while keeping centuries of samurai tradition, shintoism, a divine emperor and all this stuff.
As I had posted my another thread asking about how Japan can become the fabled "technologically advanced society" as thought of in the 1980s (and for a while after the popping of the bubble), this 1999 article claimed that the lack of reforms and lag in innovation within Japanese businesses happened because they became complacent during the post-war miracle. But might we actually need a POD stretching far back in time in order for Japanese businesses to be more accepting of risk-taking, innovation, and adoption of new technology?
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