THE JAPAN EXPERIENCE

The realistic attitude on the part of the Japanese has seen them through all kinds of adversity and brought them to extraordinary heights of progress in modern times. Japanese visit Hiroshima every year to witness this spectacle. During conversation with the Japanese, however, one can sense the hidden feelings of hatred against Americans. But they do not let it rule their lives. By virtue of such temperament, they have scaled such great heights of progress in a very short span of time. Japan owns neither petrol resources nor mineral wealth. Most of its raw materials have to be imported. Keeping all these drawbacks in view, it is most amazing that Japan has dominated world markets. This is mainly owing to the superior quality of their goods. Mr Khushwant Singh also enquired about the prospects of the legal profession there. He was told that it was not a flourishing business. The reason being the fact that the Japanese preferred settling disputes on their own to suing in the courts. Willingness to admit faults by each party is the surest way to bring quarrels to an end. It is only when one party seeks to place the whole blame on the other side that the quarrel takes a turn for the worse. Whereas the very gesture of shouldering the blame softens up the other side, with the result that the dispute dies a natural death. This realistic attitude has greatly benefited the Japanese in many respects. For instance, this makes them place their trust in one another. They thus save the time and money they would otherwise expend on lengthy legal documents. There are over 1.3 million lawyers in the USA, while there are only 23 thousand in Japan. Such legal experts are just not in demand. Most of the commercial institutions trust in verbal understandings. Formerly, it was practised only among Japanese, but now foreign investors have also started to take advantage of this practice. Avoidance of unnecessary legal obligations invariably speeds up the work. Essentially, such an outlook gives rise to unity. It is undoubtedly the greatest force that contributes to the success of a nation. In the words of an expert of Japanese affairs, the secret of Japan’s success lies in: “Never quarrelling amongst themselves, always doing everything together.” (The Hindustan Times, April 1981) o