IDENTITY CRISIS HAS JAPAN IN TURMOIL

If it had not been for the protesters, a passer-by might have mistaken the annual conference of the Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo yesterday for a mass funeral. Coaches and limousines disgorged thousands of mostly elderly men in dark suits, who pressed with an air of preoccupation into the Budokan martial arts hall. Their sense of unease, frustration and pessimism was palpable — and understandable.

As elderly grandees and regional delegates slowly filed in, the Nikkei average of the Tokyo stock exchange was plunging to 16-year lows, the yen was weakening to levels not seen since early 1999 and the opposition party was submitting a censure motion in parliament against the Prime Minister.

This conference had been billed as the last hurrah for the unloved premier, who signalled his intention to resign. But as Japan slipped closer to economic and political turmoil, many delegates acknowledged that it could also be the swan song for a party that has ruled Japan for all but one of the 46 years since it was formed.

"I think this will be the last convention of the LDP, unless we open up", said Taro Nakayama, a former foreign minister. "We've held on to power for too long. The whole nation is suffering from system fatigue".

The growing sense of self-loathing in the LDP reflects a na­tional crisis of confidence that has built up over the past 10 years of economic stagnation — a period widely referred to as "the lost decade".

In part, that anxiety is the product of globalization as foreign firms take over domestic giants like Nissan and Yamaichi Secu­rities, while new sounds, images and ideas flood into the country through the Internet and satellite channels. Equally, though, Ja­pan could be described as a victim of its own success. Having spent more than 150 years trying to catch up with the west, the economic bubble of the 1980s suddenly propelled Japan to su­perpower status. When that bubble burst, so did the national as­pirations.

"Japan simply lost its way", says Ryu Murakami, one of the country's most influential novelists. "We never thought about what we'd do after we achieved our goal".

For a nation that has long put a heavy priority on the need to teach a "way" for everything from bushido (the way of the warrior) to chado (the way of tea), the sudden loss of direction has been traumatic and liberating.

Most of the losers arc those who were once closely associated with the LDP. Office workers at large firms, who were once re­vered as corporate warriors and rewarded with jobs for life, now fret about resutora (restructuring) and falling social prestige.

Unemployment is at a record high of 4.9 %, bankruptcies are surging and the suicide rate among middle-aged men is alarm­ing.

A growing number of young graduates are shocking their par­ents by taking up part-time work that gives them more freedom.

The past few years have seen a rash of scandals surrounding bureaucrats who gave favours in return for trips to hostess bars, surgeons who killed patients by leaving implements inside their bodies, and police who continued with drinking parties rather than respond to urgent calls for assistance.

Confusion and turmoil have been more apparent in educa­tion. Amid record levels of violent juvenile crime, teachers are warning of a breakdown in classroom discipline and falling aca­demic standards.

Psychologists say that up to a million teenagers are withdraw­ing from society, holing up in their rooms where they feel more comfortable relying on their parents and playing with a comput­er than making friends and fending for themselves.

In response to such concerns, the LDP has flip-flopped in the past five years between pushing for more individualism and creativity — seen as crucial if Japan is to adapt to fast-moving global trends - and reviving the pre-war aim of nurturing so­cial morality and group consciousness — to counter what is often depicted as (he pernicious influence of the west.

Women have the most to gain from the changes taking place in Japan. Under traditional Confucian values, they were expected to obey their fathers and husbands and in the workplace they were often relegated to the status of "office flowers" whose pri­mary purpose was to be decorative.

In recent years, however, they have put off marriage and chil­dren and been more inclined to divorce. As a result, Japan's birthrate has plunged to 1.34 per each woman, one of the lowest lev­els in the world. The gerontocracy of the LDP have been slow to realize that women's bargaining power has increased sharply because Japan needs them to make up the gap in the workforce and to have more children.

Like Japan after the climax of its economic growth drive, the LDP is struggling to find a Plan B. One elderly regional delegate who declined to give his name said: "We've become a powerless people with no one to follow. Eventually Japan will fix itself, but it'll take 20 or 30 years".

By John Watts in Tokyo

Comprehension questions:

1. Have your predictions come true?

1. In what way does identity crisis manifest itself in Japan?
2. What has caused the present identity crisis in Japan?
3. Who suffers the most in the crisis in Japan? Why?
4. What are the signs of the crisis?
5. What measures have been taken by the country's authorities to alleviate the crisis? Did they work? How? / Why not?
6. Who has benefited by the crisis in Japan? How?
7. Do the Japanese see the situation as pessimistic or optimis­tic? Why?
8. What policy is it wise to pursue for Japan from your point of view?

Exercise 45

Find in the text the English equivalents for the following Russian phrases and words:

1) выдвинуть вотум недоверия

2) лебединая песня, последнее выступление

3) последнее «прощай»

4) волноваться о чем-либо

5) постоять за себя

6) геронтократия (власть стариков)

Exercise 46

Match the following adjectives with nouns as they appear in the text:

 

1) bargaining	a) arts
2) corporate	b) aspirations
3) economic	c) crime
4) juvenile	d) influence
5) martial	e) power
6) national	f) rate
7) pernicious	g) stagnation
8) political	h) status
9) suicide	i) turmoil
10) superpower	j) warrior

Exercise 47

Match the Russian word combinations with their English equiv­alents:

1) боевые искусства

2) политические беспорядки

3) экономический застой

4) положение великой державы

5) устремления нации

6) борцы за интересы корпораций

7) уровень самоубийств

8) детская преступность

9) вредное влияние

10) позиция на переговорах

Exercise 48

Use the word combinations to complete the sentences below.

1) The Russian President is a master of _____.

2) _____ inevitably leads to unemployment.

3) Russia has almost lost its _____.

4) Frustration and disappointment boosted the _____ among college graduates.

5) The statistics of _____ are stunning.

6) The government propaganda is indistinguishable from that of the rebels and its _____ is equally _____.

7) By raising the civil right issues, the Liberals contributed to women's _____ with the employers.

8) The President's assassination threw the country into _____.

9) The _____ of fascist Germany were fraught with extermination of other nations.

10) Permissive society stimulates _____.

Exercise 49

Open the brackets using the English equivalents for the given Russian words.

1. Some time ago the authorities tended to close down sports sections teaching (боевые искусства).

2. New tax measures led to (экономический застой).

1. China's (национальные устремления) are aimed at achiev­ing (положение великой державы).
2. There is a connection between a rising rate of unemploy­ment and a rising (уровень самоубийств).
3. (Детская преступность) is an increasing problem in urban areas.
4. Young and old suffer from the (вредное влияние) of drugs.
5. Consolidation helps to increase the workers' (позиция на переговорах).

Exercise 50

Learn the following verbs: to plunge, to take over, to revere, to surge, to nurture, to counter.

Paraphrase the underlined parts of the sentences using the verbs from the previous exercise.

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