Japan as Number One: Lessons for America, written by Ezra Vogel, an American sociologist, published in 1979, begins his inciting curiosity for his research from his background in Harvard where he earned a Ph.D. in Social Relations. Vogel set out as a social scientist seeking “generalizations about the family and mental health that would hold true cross-culturally” (Vogel, Pg.1). Later on this bled into his curiosity for Japan, where he would study its connection to America and other countries as one of the most different but critical countries to test his hypotheses about modern society. Although Japan isn’t atop the global leaderboard for large amounts of gross national product and isn’t a leading country politically or culturally at the time, Japan still is a conduit for success in
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Even though Japan was our foreign “mirror” to reflect upon, it took time for us to realize that our “little brother” had a few insights that America lacked. One of which is regarding the energy policies that Japan instilled to prevent shortages in the future, which America has just now caught on to. Throughout Japan’s history, their government has had to improvise and catch up with western powers through phasing out old industries and restructuring and modernizing laws and political structures. Japan is a fairly balanced country, their higher quality of life for the average person helps their nation from dividing while giving enough freedom to its citizens to not revolt or desire something elsewhere. Although Japan plans ahead and balances their resources carefully, they’re also the most susceptible to extreme resource and energy shortages due to the way trade policies are set up and their lack of natural resources, making them reliant on foreign trade rather than being self-sufficient in natural
Even though Japan was our foreign “mirror” to reflect upon, it took time for us to realize that our “little brother” had a few insights that America lacked. One of which is regarding the energy policies that Japan instilled to prevent shortages in the future, which America has just now caught on to. Throughout Japan’s history, their government has had to improvise and catch up with western powers through phasing out old industries and restructuring and modernizing laws and political structures. Japan is a fairly balanced country, their higher quality of life for the average person helps their nation from dividing while giving enough freedom to its citizens to not revolt or desire something elsewhere. Although Japan plans ahead and balances their resources carefully, they’re also the most susceptible to extreme resource and energy shortages due to the way trade policies are set up and their lack of natural resources, making them reliant on foreign trade rather than being self-sufficient in natural