Talk:The Japan That Can Say No

Untitled

Seems like a lot is missing from this article, especially the part about the atom bomb. Here's a few reviews from Amazon.com:

A fiercely nationalistic book every American should read, August 5, 2002

This book was a million-seller in Japan, and was translated into English in 1991. The author was a promininet Japanese politician. The book is dated, and history has not always borne out the author's views. Nonetheless, anyone attempting to understand modern Japan should read it. Some of the passages will be very surprising and disturbing. Author Ishihara avoids the conventionally polite Japanese protocol and forcefully states that Japan is the equal of the United States, that Japan should have its own defense forces, (and strong ones), that Japanese computer technology is second to none and should be used as a negotiating tool, and Japan will be the most influential power in dealing with Asian nations.

Ishihara berates America for racism, and contends that the atomic bomb was not used on Germany because Germans were white, and Japanese were yellow. He asserts that nations colonized by Japan have been far more successful following liberation than those colonized by the United States.

The book exemplifies the growing trend toward national pride in Japan, and also forcefully addresses the feeling by many Japanese that their nation is misunderstood.

Plainly, the sentiments in the book foretell a troubled period in Japanese-American relations, and remind us that the Japanese have not forgotten Hiroshima any more than America has forgotten Pearl Harbor. Ishihara's call for a constructive dialogue between the two nations is well taken. Otherwise, the future looks cloudy at best.

Very highly recommended, even if slightly dated.

emblematic parochialism and obscure nationalist rage, September 19, 2006

I read this book in the CIA-translated version as a Senate aide concerned about the rise of Japan, which included as co-author one of the leaders of Sony (Morita). While interesting for scholars, as I glanced thru this version - which is watered down but still white hot with anger - I was struck at how far off base the predictions of the man seem today. Afterall, when it was written, Japan was at the crest of the bubble economy, it appeared as if Japanese computer chips (and its electronic industries) would confer great power on the country (they could refuse to sell components that went into US missiles), and the US was in a now-unimaginable phase of self doubt. As such, the way things have turned out, after nearly 16 years of stagnation and the rise of high tech manufacturer-competitors elsewhere, reveal the author to have been so badly mistaken regarding the trajectory that Japan would take as to be laughable.

In a deeper sense, it points to the fact that Ishihara did not understand the economic forces at work at the time and so was full of utterly baseless nationalistic bravado. Japan's economic rise was based upon the post-war reconstruction boom, then a relatively protected economy that allowed huge industrial combines to band together as cartels (gouging their won consumers to sell at low prices abroad to gain marketshare and crush competitiors), and lastly to a number of significant management innovations (TQM, just-in-time manufacturing, etc.) that are reflected in the fact that they make excellent cars. However, it was basically a follower economy making products that have become commoditized by cheaper manufacturers elsewhere in Asia - just as its innovations became widely emulated - and corrupted by the money generated in real estate speculation that eventually collapsed in a deflationary spiral. Meanwhile, its political reforms have been weak at best, and senselessly nationalistic at worst.

Ishihara understood none of this and casts no light on any of it of value. Instead, he drags out pre-WWII arguments about the innate superiority of the Japanese character and similar rather ugly arguments. He is also appalingly loose with the facts: for example, he claims that the US bombed Japan, but not Germany with the atom bomb for racist reasons (Japanese were yellow, Germans were not) - but if you know a minimum of history, which Isihara apparently doesn't, you would realise that at the time of the German defeat (April, 1945) the bomb was not yet completed (it was first test detonated the following July)! The book is full of this kind of sloppiness. What he does succeed at, however, is expressing the resentment that parochial Japanese nationalists felt at the time. In retrospect, his arrogance appears as breathtaking as it is ignorant. But his anger and resentment, and what they reflect of Japanese attitudes, is very real indeed. Seen this way, the book is one long crypto-racist rant.

Japan has a long way to go to understanding outsiders, the gaijin, such as why Korea and China find the official sanitising of its aggressive WWII history so offensive and outrageous. I mean, young Japanese students are taught that Japan was a victim of WWII and not just because of the atomic bomb - and their text books are being revamped to reinforce that!! If you read this, you can understand some of the reasons why, which is the greatest value of the book, more in spite of its content than because of what it reflects.

Silly rhetorical trash, February 28, 2005

The author of this trash wants to lecture Americans for their heavy-handed foreign policy, but at one point says that America hasn't been a good colonial master. This, coming from a country that gave us the occupation of China?

Then he proceeds to chide Americans for not dropping the atomic bomb on Germany in 1945, conveniently forgetting the reason - that the atomic bomb wasn't tested until July, 1945, and Germany surrendered in May of that year. Duh.

Frankly, if I'm going to be lectured, I'd like to be lectured by someone who has a clue what he's talking about.

Japanese Stateman Writes Book Full Of Campaign Promises, June 26, 1999

This review is from: Japan That Can Say No (Audio Cassette) The reason you should read this book is to become familiar with Japan's hostilies towards the US, and maybe to learn a bit about the trade and military agreements between the two countries. Mostly, the book is too vague to convincingly defend Ishihara's points of view, which makes me think it was just written to get an edge during an election, merely echoing popular Japanese sentiments.

--BillyTFried 08:58, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Title

What does the title of this book mean?! The article is amazingly difficult to decipher without that information. Saying no to what???? -Theanphibian ^{(talk • contribs)} 05:06, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

• Implied that it says no to the USA. WhisperToMe (talk) 19:57, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

Very early on-line bootleg hit

The unauthorized translations were a very early on-line bootleg hit, at a time when the Web as we know it didn't yet exist, few people outside of universities, the U.S. federal government, and large technology companies had Internet access, and many people were still using 2400-baud modems to dial into one-computer local BBS systems... AnonMoos (talk) 15:00, 13 January 2015 (UTC)

Needs clarification!

This part is very confusing. "The book caused controversy in the United States, and Morita distanced himself from the book." So is it an essay or a book? Going by the information available o the Japanese page, this is an essay, so where does the "book" come from? That talk of a book just appeared out of the book without any previous mentions.Pomodecon (talk) 05:33, 28 February 2022 (UTC)