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The Emptiness of Japanese Affluence
This work aims to show that Japan even at it's height of success, while the successful version of capitalism was blighted at it's core, being unsustainable. This revised edition features n introduction which gives an analysis of Japan's contemporary crisis.
368 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 7, 2020
A No-Punches-Pulled Look at Japan
In the 1970s and '80s, Japan seemed to be unstoppable. Its economy grew endlessly and rapidly. Japanese individuals and corporations bought up iconic companies and sites all over the world. Tokyo property values skyrocketed beyond all imagination. It was the Japan that could say "More". But after all the media attention and wild predictions of Japan being No. 1, what was the reality ? Was all this a miracle ? Was Japan the best model for a number of developing nations wanting to go for broke ?
McCormack, fluent in Japanese and deeply interested in the society he'd chosen to study for life, delves deeply into the underside of the economic "miracle" and--surprise, surprise--finds out that Godzilla might have feet of clay. But if anyone thinks that mine is a snide comment, let me hasten to say that he proves that he has every reason to doubt. The book is divided into several sections. In the first, he argues that "Japanese expansion has outrun the social and political structures necessary to determine social priorities and needs and has begun to threaten the fragile ecosystem." That is, such a giant boom was not sustainable. He analyzes three areas: construction, leisure, and farming, noting the way the first two impact the third. The use of state-financed construction of public works (whether necessary or not) and the encouragement of vast "leisure" areas for a population rather deprived of actual leisure time (areas whose construction helped destroy the environment of a not very large country) have wreaked havoc on the Japanese environment and depleted farming land. Though not an expert on these matters, I very much appreciated that McCormack used Japanese sources for his arguments and did not indulge in "Japan-bashing" from afar. The book goes on to discuss Japanese identity and the ins and outs of being a "peace state", that is, one without a formal military (though Japan's "self-defense force" is one of the major militaries of the world). I think this section is usefully connected to the first part of the book because knowing who you are and where you want to go help a nation to decide its long-term goals. The last part of the book, on Japan's treatment of its past, especially World War II, may be accurate and compelling, but seemed to me to be tangential to "the emptiness of affluence". However, a country that cannot unwind itself from its mid-20th century imperialist vision, that is led by people with the same mindset, cannot find a proper path to that more sustainable affluence that McCormack and many Japanese scholars envision. Now that China has become an enormous power---not really foreseen in this book---the chickens may come home to roost. This is a most serious study of Japan. If you'd like the background to Japan's current malaise, you've definitely come to the right place.
Disclosure: I was a colleague of Gavan McCormack's a few decades ago at La Trobe University. I have not seen him or contacted him in 30 years and so have no reason to praise without merit. He always seemed to be determinedly iconoclastic and not one to take sides easily. His view of Japan was not the usual one found in Australia. In this case, I think time has proven him to be right.
In the 1970s and '80s, Japan seemed to be unstoppable. Its economy grew endlessly and rapidly. Japanese individuals and corporations bought up iconic companies and sites all over the world. Tokyo property values skyrocketed beyond all imagination. It was the Japan that could say "More". But after all the media attention and wild predictions of Japan being No. 1, what was the reality ? Was all this a miracle ? Was Japan the best model for a number of developing nations wanting to go for broke ?
McCormack, fluent in Japanese and deeply interested in the society he'd chosen to study for life, delves deeply into the underside of the economic "miracle" and--surprise, surprise--finds out that Godzilla might have feet of clay. But if anyone thinks that mine is a snide comment, let me hasten to say that he proves that he has every reason to doubt. The book is divided into several sections. In the first, he argues that "Japanese expansion has outrun the social and political structures necessary to determine social priorities and needs and has begun to threaten the fragile ecosystem." That is, such a giant boom was not sustainable. He analyzes three areas: construction, leisure, and farming, noting the way the first two impact the third. The use of state-financed construction of public works (whether necessary or not) and the encouragement of vast "leisure" areas for a population rather deprived of actual leisure time (areas whose construction helped destroy the environment of a not very large country) have wreaked havoc on the Japanese environment and depleted farming land. Though not an expert on these matters, I very much appreciated that McCormack used Japanese sources for his arguments and did not indulge in "Japan-bashing" from afar. The book goes on to discuss Japanese identity and the ins and outs of being a "peace state", that is, one without a formal military (though Japan's "self-defense force" is one of the major militaries of the world). I think this section is usefully connected to the first part of the book because knowing who you are and where you want to go help a nation to decide its long-term goals. The last part of the book, on Japan's treatment of its past, especially World War II, may be accurate and compelling, but seemed to me to be tangential to "the emptiness of affluence". However, a country that cannot unwind itself from its mid-20th century imperialist vision, that is led by people with the same mindset, cannot find a proper path to that more sustainable affluence that McCormack and many Japanese scholars envision. Now that China has become an enormous power---not really foreseen in this book---the chickens may come home to roost. This is a most serious study of Japan. If you'd like the background to Japan's current malaise, you've definitely come to the right place.
Disclosure: I was a colleague of Gavan McCormack's a few decades ago at La Trobe University. I have not seen him or contacted him in 30 years and so have no reason to praise without merit. He always seemed to be determinedly iconoclastic and not one to take sides easily. His view of Japan was not the usual one found in Australia. In this case, I think time has proven him to be right.
May 16, 2016
Full review will go up later. For now, I'll say that it's a relevant diagnosis, circa 1994-5, of Japan's emerging post-bubble ills as well as those that had been festering in the years before. Doesn't theorize any common cause or ground for these problems, and it could be more theoretically coherent, but its arguments hang together pretty well and stand the test of time. Unfortunately, not much has changed in Japanese politics since the 90s.
January 24, 2023
Having appreciated a number of McCormack’s articles over the years in Japan Focus which is published by the Asia Pacific Journal I decided to read Emptiness despite the fact that it was written in the mid 1990’s. First, I was curious to see how well he would depict the issues described in the blurb about the book. Second, to what extent would his analysis apply to current day Japan?
The author’s training as an academic scholar allowed him to accomplish my first question quite well. He carefully reviewed and integrated an impressively wide array of primary and secondary sources, most of which were in Japanese, into a well organized, coherent, and for the most part readable argument. Chapters on a particular topic were broken down into sections. A handful of tables and graphs were used to underscore the points he made. Some photos enhanced my engagement as well.
Thus, the first part of the book on Japan’s Political Economy clearly and convincingly made McCormack’s point.
However, that was not the case with the second part on the issues relating to the country’s Identity as part of Asia and the third part on its handling of its Memory of its 1931-45 wars with China and with the West from 1941-45. Both of these sections were equally well organized and informative. And each one demonstrated how Japan’s relationships with its neighboring countries have suffered because of its myopic, self serving perspective. But he failed to prove how Japan’s ambivalence about being part of Asia and its denial of its aggression during the war years have contributed to the hollowness of its affluence.
On the one hand, Emptiness is an accomplished piece of work. On the other hand, it should probably have been two books rather than one. For that reason I will rate it as 4 stars rather than 5. I recommend it for someone who has a very deep interest in the country with the proviso that its thoroughness makes it slow going at times.
It saddened me to realize that the issues McCormack raised at the time of the publication of Emptiness in 1995 still apply today. The country has spent the last 25+ years still pursuing consumer prosperity while its standard of living has stagnated. Its birth rate has declined because many young people do not make a large enough salary to even afford to get married, let alone raise children.
Japan’s determination to continue to rely on nuclear power in the aftermath of the so called Triple Disaster at Fukushima in 2011 is a tragic example of its refusal to reconsider its investment in maintaining the status quo. In fact, McCormack was impressively prescient when he wondered if an earthquake related accident might occur at one of these facilities.
The country’s relationships with S Korea in particular but other Asian nations in general are still greatly troubled by its refusal to acknowledge its wartime aggression and to compensate the victims accordingly.
As I write this Japan is facing significant security challenges from North Korea and China and uncertainty caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Thus, its people are finally willing to consider the need to give up its pacifism in order to bolster its defense forces. However, its declining population will make it difficult to find the financial resources, let alone the manpower to accomplish this.
For those who wish to read some of McCormack’s more recent pieces on Japan these can be found at: https://apjjf.org
Two other noteworthy studies of Japan’s struggles with its memory of the war are Hashimoto’s The Long Defeat (2015) and Orr’s Victims as Heroes (2001). Whereas Hashimoto takes a sociological approach, Orr looks at these issues from a historical one. Thus, the two books compliment each other.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
The author’s training as an academic scholar allowed him to accomplish my first question quite well. He carefully reviewed and integrated an impressively wide array of primary and secondary sources, most of which were in Japanese, into a well organized, coherent, and for the most part readable argument. Chapters on a particular topic were broken down into sections. A handful of tables and graphs were used to underscore the points he made. Some photos enhanced my engagement as well.
Thus, the first part of the book on Japan’s Political Economy clearly and convincingly made McCormack’s point.
However, that was not the case with the second part on the issues relating to the country’s Identity as part of Asia and the third part on its handling of its Memory of its 1931-45 wars with China and with the West from 1941-45. Both of these sections were equally well organized and informative. And each one demonstrated how Japan’s relationships with its neighboring countries have suffered because of its myopic, self serving perspective. But he failed to prove how Japan’s ambivalence about being part of Asia and its denial of its aggression during the war years have contributed to the hollowness of its affluence.
On the one hand, Emptiness is an accomplished piece of work. On the other hand, it should probably have been two books rather than one. For that reason I will rate it as 4 stars rather than 5. I recommend it for someone who has a very deep interest in the country with the proviso that its thoroughness makes it slow going at times.
It saddened me to realize that the issues McCormack raised at the time of the publication of Emptiness in 1995 still apply today. The country has spent the last 25+ years still pursuing consumer prosperity while its standard of living has stagnated. Its birth rate has declined because many young people do not make a large enough salary to even afford to get married, let alone raise children.
Japan’s determination to continue to rely on nuclear power in the aftermath of the so called Triple Disaster at Fukushima in 2011 is a tragic example of its refusal to reconsider its investment in maintaining the status quo. In fact, McCormack was impressively prescient when he wondered if an earthquake related accident might occur at one of these facilities.
The country’s relationships with S Korea in particular but other Asian nations in general are still greatly troubled by its refusal to acknowledge its wartime aggression and to compensate the victims accordingly.
As I write this Japan is facing significant security challenges from North Korea and China and uncertainty caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Thus, its people are finally willing to consider the need to give up its pacifism in order to bolster its defense forces. However, its declining population will make it difficult to find the financial resources, let alone the manpower to accomplish this.
For those who wish to read some of McCormack’s more recent pieces on Japan these can be found at: https://apjjf.org
Two other noteworthy studies of Japan’s struggles with its memory of the war are Hashimoto’s The Long Defeat (2015) and Orr’s Victims as Heroes (2001). Whereas Hashimoto takes a sociological approach, Orr looks at these issues from a historical one. Thus, the two books compliment each other.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
January 25, 2017
An fascinating look into the workings of modern Japanese socioeconomics. Accessible to the layman.
October 22, 2015
Dreary. Read like a dry bone. The theme brought by this book was noble and supposedly it should invoke interesting debates but a good idea carried out in a poor way would only result in something like this: sad.
September 16, 2017
When it comes to consumption and wealth in 1990s Japan, you're unlikely to find an angrier analysis.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews