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Straitjacket Society: An Insider's Irreverent View of Bureaucratic Japan
An insider's anecdotal critique of Japanese bureaucracy and Japan's educational system cites the flaws in the nation's parochial group system, seven-day work week, lawmaking policies, and Parliamentary procedures.
197 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
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September 21, 2011
Masao Miyamoto’s fascinating expose, Straightjacket Society, was listed as a source in Michael Zielenziger’s equally fascinating analysis of contemporary Japanese society, Shutting Out The Sun. Unfortunately this book, published in English by Kodansha, in 1994, is out of print. However, I think a lot of what he describes about Japanese bureaucracy is still true today. Miyamoto was a very atypical bureaucrat-he is an American trained psychoanalyst who lived and worked in America for 10 years. He returned to Japan as Deputy Director of the Mental Health Division of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. It is no surprise given his background that he had a hard time fitting in the government bureaucracy and decides that he will try to set precedents and makes a crusade for more progressive ways of serving the public. He eventually begins to write a series of exposes on the problems of the bureaucracy and is demoted and eventually fired for his outspokenness. I respect him for taking on a thankless and, in my opinion, impossible task.
One of the more interesting aspects of this book is about how Japanese government and laws are made. There is no true separation of powers like in the US and despite the fact that it is written into their constitution. His description of the process, the inefficiency, deal making, and waste of budgets is disquieting. I think there are traces of this kind of inefficiency and being in bed with producers everywhere in the world but the Japanese system is wholly geared for the producers rather than the consumers and has no sign of changing at any time in the near future. In fact, earlier this year there was another expose of government follies by Aki Wakaybashi called The Bizarre World of the Public Servant, which describes many similar wastes, abuses, and inefficiencies. I think many of these inefficiencies can be seen in the educational institutions and city government that I experienced on my two years on the JET Program and that are mirrored in the private universities I have mainly worked in since
Miyamoto may come across as a jaded foreigner, but he really does understand his culture and find aspects of it lacking in contrast of other societies. But his understanding and analysis of Japanese culture and society is spot on. I like how he becomes the devil’s advocate when recounts a conversation he has with an American working for a Japanese company. In this section he defends and explains the complaints and criticisms of the American. However, he does agree with the American about some of his conclusions. It seems that Miyamoto’s biggest criticism is that Japan is a collectivist society and as a very individualistic person this bother him greatly since he doesn’t buy into the collectivist mentality.
Miyamoto describes a company trip to a hot spring and it struck me how uniform those trips are. It was almost the exact same experience I had going on a teacher’s trip when I was working at a junior high school in Koshigaya circa 1998. Everything from the passing out beers at 9 a.m. on the train –to the planned night activities (different groups singing karaoke, mahjong, etc…) resembled the trip Miyamoto regarded as work. In fact, after that trip he started demanding compensation time off if was expected to take part on these company trips.
One of the more interesting aspects of this book is about how Japanese government and laws are made. There is no true separation of powers like in the US and despite the fact that it is written into their constitution. His description of the process, the inefficiency, deal making, and waste of budgets is disquieting. I think there are traces of this kind of inefficiency and being in bed with producers everywhere in the world but the Japanese system is wholly geared for the producers rather than the consumers and has no sign of changing at any time in the near future. In fact, earlier this year there was another expose of government follies by Aki Wakaybashi called The Bizarre World of the Public Servant, which describes many similar wastes, abuses, and inefficiencies. I think many of these inefficiencies can be seen in the educational institutions and city government that I experienced on my two years on the JET Program and that are mirrored in the private universities I have mainly worked in since
Miyamoto may come across as a jaded foreigner, but he really does understand his culture and find aspects of it lacking in contrast of other societies. But his understanding and analysis of Japanese culture and society is spot on. I like how he becomes the devil’s advocate when recounts a conversation he has with an American working for a Japanese company. In this section he defends and explains the complaints and criticisms of the American. However, he does agree with the American about some of his conclusions. It seems that Miyamoto’s biggest criticism is that Japan is a collectivist society and as a very individualistic person this bother him greatly since he doesn’t buy into the collectivist mentality.
Miyamoto describes a company trip to a hot spring and it struck me how uniform those trips are. It was almost the exact same experience I had going on a teacher’s trip when I was working at a junior high school in Koshigaya circa 1998. Everything from the passing out beers at 9 a.m. on the train –to the planned night activities (different groups singing karaoke, mahjong, etc…) resembled the trip Miyamoto regarded as work. In fact, after that trip he started demanding compensation time off if was expected to take part on these company trips.
August 10, 2014
This book is a case of something simple morphing into the profound. After a distinguished career in the United States, Dr. Miyamoto took an exalted post back in Japan in the health and welfare ministry. He rose steadily through the ranks, but slowly began to feel the pressure of the stifling bureaucratic life, which he summed up in capsule form as, "Don't take vacations, don't be late, and don't initiate anything new."
When first published in Japanese, Miyamoto's book created a sensation. He was one of the first, if not the first, of the country's privileged bureaucrats to speak out on the oppressive and manipulative practices of the country's de facto leaders, and for that he suffered greatly, especially after the success of this book. His revelations are sometimes astounding and at other times illuminate what seem such childlike practices—unless the reader is Japanese, or has come in contact with any Japanese institution for a length of time. Then it all begins to make sense. The stuff of farce and nightmares.
Now out of print, and perhaps somewhat dated, this book is still worth seeking out. Film director Juzo Itami's foreword is a perfect fit for this volume, and demonstrates the director's brilliance in a different genre. Ably translated by Julie Carpenter.
DISCLAIMER: I was involved in the English-language version of this book and had the privilege of meeting both men, Miyamoto on a handful of occasions, Itami on one long, lingering afternoon in the back room of a coffee shop tucked away down a Tokyo back street. The translator, Juliet Winters Carpenter, is one of the best Japanese to English translators around.
When first published in Japanese, Miyamoto's book created a sensation. He was one of the first, if not the first, of the country's privileged bureaucrats to speak out on the oppressive and manipulative practices of the country's de facto leaders, and for that he suffered greatly, especially after the success of this book. His revelations are sometimes astounding and at other times illuminate what seem such childlike practices—unless the reader is Japanese, or has come in contact with any Japanese institution for a length of time. Then it all begins to make sense. The stuff of farce and nightmares.
Now out of print, and perhaps somewhat dated, this book is still worth seeking out. Film director Juzo Itami's foreword is a perfect fit for this volume, and demonstrates the director's brilliance in a different genre. Ably translated by Julie Carpenter.
DISCLAIMER: I was involved in the English-language version of this book and had the privilege of meeting both men, Miyamoto on a handful of occasions, Itami on one long, lingering afternoon in the back room of a coffee shop tucked away down a Tokyo back street. The translator, Juliet Winters Carpenter, is one of the best Japanese to English translators around.
June 4, 2023
This was written in 1994, so it is a bit dated in some regards, but fundamentally it is massively on point. After reading this, so much of the mentality of many of my coworkers and the management at the Japanese organization I work at makes total sense. Dr. Miyamoto is very courageous for writing this book, and he did lots of Japanese people (and foreigners working here) who are suffering in the masochistic, self-destructive work-culture of this country a massive favor. This book absolutely damaged his own career after it was initially published in the Asahi Weekly paper, but thanks to him, we now have the means to understand all of this incomprehensible behavior, which is very powerful.
If you are interested in Japanese culture or society, this is a must read.
If you are interested in Japanese culture or society, this is a must read.
August 25, 2013
One of the funniest and most insightful books ever written by an insider about Japan's mind-boggling bureaucracy. His time in the US has clearly corrupted his mind with foreign ideas, making him no longer suited for the hive-mind found in government and corporate organizations. I see this everyday in the Japanese corporate world (Dilbert World). Like receiving compliance training on the handling of client information when our department has no contact with clients~ The episode he describes about taking vacation is priceless!
May 8, 2019
Straitjacket Society was first published in 1993 in Japanese, then translated into English and first published in 1994. This was less than a decade after I moved to Japan in 1987 and shortly after the collapse of the economic bubble period in which Japan Inc. dominated the global economic stratosphere. But while the seemingly bulletproof armor of Japan's elite corporations had lost their luster, most of Japan and much of the world had yet to recognize the meaning and impact of the collapse, nor had it uncovered the otherwise thin and transparent skin covering Japan's steroid-induced samurai muscles.
Dr. Masao Miyamoto's insider's view of Japan's bureaucracy was, as advertised, an irreverent challenge of Japan Inc. It was some time after the book was published, around 1995 or 1996, that I read the book the first time. I bought it in an airport, in the United States, for $95, and the price tag is still affixed to the back cover of the stained outside jacket. The book was priced at ¥1270 in Japan. I've no idea why I would buy the book at such an outlandish price, even if I was desperate for reading material while traveling, but I'm guessing that it was difficult to find the book in bookstores in Japan.
Despite being published in English to an audience of outsiders, who had, by design and definition, no access to nor influence upon the insiders the book is about, it seems likely that the book would have had great difficulty finding bookstores in Japan that would carry it. Despite being originally published in Japan as a series of editorials in The Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's giant daily newspapers, boasting at that time a daily circulation of well over 10 million, as well as an English edition published by the respected publishing giant Kodansha, a book as critical of the ultra right-wing political hegemony as this would have been as closely marked as dangerous and pornographic as Playboy or Hustler. But since words alone couldn't be censored without substantial backlash from a wide range of activists and opportunists, it would be much easier instead to convey to the major bookstores that the book was considered a "social liability."
While the previous paragraph is speculative, my suspicion is that some people conspired to keep the book from widespread appeal. Still, the result of that was that it was sought out by many outsiders, making it less available in Japan. And since the Internet wasn't as easily accessible back then, nor online stores as reliable, I think that when I bought it I was happy to have found it.
Though none of this is really relevant in a "book review," it might shed some light on the extent to which the book was "irreverent" in its views and revelations. In fact, in Japan at that time, it was reasonably scandalous, that a bureaucrat would air such "dirty laundry" while still employed by the national government.
In turn, because of the scandalous nature of his revelations, Dr. Miyamoto became a minor celebrity among non-Japanese in Japan, as well as internationally among those who have been critical of Japan's insulated government and corporate culture. Consequently, not only did his book gain prominence, but Dr. Miyamoto became a popular speaker about the subject and about Japan's struggle with internationalization and leadership.
For long, I thought of the book as one of my "favorites," not only because it helped me to understand and reinforced my observations of the country I've lived and worked in now for more than 30 years. But it sat, first, on a bookshelf, then got passed around to a variety of friends who were as intent on understanding the incomprehensible foundations of contemporary Japan as I was. Finally, after several rounds, the book returned to me last year.
In April 2019, after a medical incident and during an extended hospitalization, I reread the book. While some of the details are now outdated, the gist of the words are as relevant today. In fact, not only does it underscore how little has changed, fundamentally, in the Japanese bureaucracy, but despite 30 years of economic doldrums in the Heisei Era, Japan has embarked in Reiwa with the same broken systems and practices that characterize the society Miyamoto describes.
On the book's jacket cover are a smattering of quotes taken from reviewers. One of them is taken from a review by Karel van Wolfren, author of The Enigma of Japanese Power. He says, "if the bureaucratic authoritarianism that Miyamoto so lucidly describes is Japan's only future, we will all suffer." This is, perhaps, the most astute observation from the time, as it perfectly forebodes the "Lost Generation" of the early 21st Century, post-Lehman "shock" stagnation, and the perpetual "recovery" after the 3.11 Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. We've all suffered, indeed.
If you are interested in contemporary Japan, especially if you want to do business here or with Japanese companies, I highly recommend reading the book. There's much in it for you, especially if you have already run into some "red tape" or more "silent" stumbling blocks. There's also a lot for you if you are Japanese or a Japanese "veteran," determined to make Japan more open, international, and help develop leadership. To move forward, its always good to know where things stand, even if the ground is murky.
I'm confident that Japanese society is starting to shed its straitjacket. But it's still wearing blinders, like a thoroughbred. Horse tack helps a race horse focus only on what is in front, preventing it from being distracted by what is behind, or to the side of it.
But the world's affairs are on all sides. It's a globe, after all. Even if the world were a flat surface, wearing blinders is by nature limiting. Today, the limits imposed by wearing blinders are far greater hazard than the challenges faced by the unknown.
Dr. Masao Miyamoto's insider's view of Japan's bureaucracy was, as advertised, an irreverent challenge of Japan Inc. It was some time after the book was published, around 1995 or 1996, that I read the book the first time. I bought it in an airport, in the United States, for $95, and the price tag is still affixed to the back cover of the stained outside jacket. The book was priced at ¥1270 in Japan. I've no idea why I would buy the book at such an outlandish price, even if I was desperate for reading material while traveling, but I'm guessing that it was difficult to find the book in bookstores in Japan.
Despite being published in English to an audience of outsiders, who had, by design and definition, no access to nor influence upon the insiders the book is about, it seems likely that the book would have had great difficulty finding bookstores in Japan that would carry it. Despite being originally published in Japan as a series of editorials in The Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's giant daily newspapers, boasting at that time a daily circulation of well over 10 million, as well as an English edition published by the respected publishing giant Kodansha, a book as critical of the ultra right-wing political hegemony as this would have been as closely marked as dangerous and pornographic as Playboy or Hustler. But since words alone couldn't be censored without substantial backlash from a wide range of activists and opportunists, it would be much easier instead to convey to the major bookstores that the book was considered a "social liability."
While the previous paragraph is speculative, my suspicion is that some people conspired to keep the book from widespread appeal. Still, the result of that was that it was sought out by many outsiders, making it less available in Japan. And since the Internet wasn't as easily accessible back then, nor online stores as reliable, I think that when I bought it I was happy to have found it.
Though none of this is really relevant in a "book review," it might shed some light on the extent to which the book was "irreverent" in its views and revelations. In fact, in Japan at that time, it was reasonably scandalous, that a bureaucrat would air such "dirty laundry" while still employed by the national government.
In turn, because of the scandalous nature of his revelations, Dr. Miyamoto became a minor celebrity among non-Japanese in Japan, as well as internationally among those who have been critical of Japan's insulated government and corporate culture. Consequently, not only did his book gain prominence, but Dr. Miyamoto became a popular speaker about the subject and about Japan's struggle with internationalization and leadership.
For long, I thought of the book as one of my "favorites," not only because it helped me to understand and reinforced my observations of the country I've lived and worked in now for more than 30 years. But it sat, first, on a bookshelf, then got passed around to a variety of friends who were as intent on understanding the incomprehensible foundations of contemporary Japan as I was. Finally, after several rounds, the book returned to me last year.
In April 2019, after a medical incident and during an extended hospitalization, I reread the book. While some of the details are now outdated, the gist of the words are as relevant today. In fact, not only does it underscore how little has changed, fundamentally, in the Japanese bureaucracy, but despite 30 years of economic doldrums in the Heisei Era, Japan has embarked in Reiwa with the same broken systems and practices that characterize the society Miyamoto describes.
On the book's jacket cover are a smattering of quotes taken from reviewers. One of them is taken from a review by Karel van Wolfren, author of The Enigma of Japanese Power. He says, "if the bureaucratic authoritarianism that Miyamoto so lucidly describes is Japan's only future, we will all suffer." This is, perhaps, the most astute observation from the time, as it perfectly forebodes the "Lost Generation" of the early 21st Century, post-Lehman "shock" stagnation, and the perpetual "recovery" after the 3.11 Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. We've all suffered, indeed.
If you are interested in contemporary Japan, especially if you want to do business here or with Japanese companies, I highly recommend reading the book. There's much in it for you, especially if you have already run into some "red tape" or more "silent" stumbling blocks. There's also a lot for you if you are Japanese or a Japanese "veteran," determined to make Japan more open, international, and help develop leadership. To move forward, its always good to know where things stand, even if the ground is murky.
I'm confident that Japanese society is starting to shed its straitjacket. But it's still wearing blinders, like a thoroughbred. Horse tack helps a race horse focus only on what is in front, preventing it from being distracted by what is behind, or to the side of it.
But the world's affairs are on all sides. It's a globe, after all. Even if the world were a flat surface, wearing blinders is by nature limiting. Today, the limits imposed by wearing blinders are far greater hazard than the challenges faced by the unknown.
January 8, 2009
Miyamoto is one of the few Japanese critics of Japan, at least those who are daring enough to say anything other than behind closed doors. He gave me a whole new perspective on the way Japanese people think and how their society works (or doesn't, as the case may be), which was very helpful while I was living there. A must-read for anyone who wants to know more about Japan and its people, or is part of the JET program.
September 26, 2010
Miyamoto accounts his time spent in bureaucratic Japan and all of its problems: Confucian principles of seniority that stifle efficiency and employee development; karoshii (death by being overworked); amakudari (bureaucrats being shadily given public jobs once old age hits); and the overall work ethic of bureaucrats (late-night drinking sessions, an odd, inefficient system of groupism, public school hazing, etc)
February 7, 2011
Gives a wonderfull insight in the way Japan's inner workings, both in the way politics is run, and how Japan views those who have ventured outside the bounds of Japan and returned, as experienced by Miyamoto himself.
Read
August 11, 2011A little dry and the writer sems to have too much of an axe to grind with Japanese bureaucracy,but still an interesting look at what makes Japanese politics (and society) tick.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews