Why is modernizing Japan so darn tough?

6 comments

1. Welcome to Deep Dive from The Japan Times, I’m Shaun McKenna. There was a time when Hollywood depictions of the future were heavily influenced by Japanese culture, which led to many people, myself included, thinking that Japan was a very futuristic place. It’s not like Japan is not futuristic, but people who come here tend to be a bit amused at the use of fax machines, say, and cite them as often shattering their illusions of the country as a model for the future.

   Among the critics of Japan’s old-fashioned way of doing things is Liberal Democratic Party politician Taro Kono. Kono is the current head of Japan’s digital agency, a government body instituted in 2021, to oversee the modernization and digitization of Japanese society, starting with the central government and then local governments.

   However, his position means he’s also at the center of a current kerfuffle over the introduction of a new form of ID, one known as the My Number card. On today’s show, politics reporter Gabrielle Ninivaggi joins me to discuss the issues surrounding the My Number card, how it’s impacting the prime minister, and what it means for Kono, the man many know is Japan’s most popular politician.

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3. literally shared from a subreddit called “free ghosn” lmfao

4. Because a far-right party has been in power for many years and because it protects the emperor system.
   Immediately after the war, there was a view, especially among intellectuals, that the Emperor System would eventually be abolished (one example is Goro Shimura, professor emeritus at Princeton University), but in the end, it has remained in place.

5. I always wondered, what part of this is not modernized?
   You say fax machines are still in use, but when you arrive in Japan, you almost never use a fax machine.
   Even Japanese people almost never use fax machines.
   Japan has one of the fastest internet connection speeds in the world, and when you go to the West, you will be surprised at how slow it is.
   I think Japan is also modernizing in the way it builds its cities, and it is probably modernizing in the way it can get everything easily.
   How about the West? Which one is lagging behind in terms of modernization?

6. Because everything is still based on the mandarin test system and the OB network. Old farts who have never cooked a meal, gone shopping or changed a diaper are in charge of programs to help women, mothers, children. They have no idea what they are doing. Most political jobs are for show, they make speeches, attend funerals, speak at graduations, and ceremonies, ceremonies, ceremonies and more ceremonies. And rake in a ton of cash to do it, they don’t change or pass any new legislation, or even enforce old ones.