Constitution, Both the One Drafted

¶ … Constitution, both the one drafted during the Meiji Era and the one drafted during the Occupation Era were inspired from Western Constitutions. The former was of Prussian expression, with large powers awarded to the emperor as head ruler, active in making decisions and in the political scene. On the other hand, this power was mediated by a political elite who formed the Diet, a parliamentary body with legislative functions. Basically, the Constitution defined and regulated a constitutional monarchy.

On the other hand, the role of the emperor was quite vast and he was awarded, at least on a nominal level, all the three powers in state, combined with the fact that he was the Supreme Commander of both the Army and the Navy and that he had the capacity to name and revoke members of the Government.

The emperor's role remained entirely ceremonial according to the 1946 Constitution. He no longer is involved in the political life of Japan and can no longer take any decisions in his quality as head of state. Of American inspiration, the Japanese 1946 constitution has taken the form of a liberal democracy, with exclusive accents on the Diet as the form of popular representation. So, from this point-of-view, the 1946 Constitution was meant to delimit any possible future attempts towards military or political dictatorship.

Both Constitutions constitutionally encouraged, however, an openness towards the West and the fact that they were both of foreign inspiration is a reasonable argument in this sense.

From an economic point-of-view, both periods encouraged an economic surge and trade relations with the West. During the Meiji period, the once feudal economy transformed itself to become one of the successful industrial economies of the beginning of the 20th century. This progress was realized with the help of connections with the West and inspiration in terms of training, managerial perspectives etc. Nevertheless, we may point out that, because of the State subsidies and increasing role of national zaibatsus, a national trait characterized the Japanese economy as well. Western influences melded in a traditional, national approach in many economic sectors.

During the Occupation, the importance of trade and external commercial relations remained very high. Indeed, Japanese relied on imports of foreign raw supplies and high levels of manufacturing to restore their economy to previous levels. The zaibatsus were broken down after the war, but similar entities such as the keiretsus still ensured economic cooperation.

The interaction between Japan and the West was strong during both periods in the educational sector as well. First of all, the Japanese educational system was strongly influenced by the British and American ones, with the succession of the primary and secondary cycles. Second of all, during both periods, with an extra accent on the Meiji era, students were continuously encouraged to continue their studies in the United States or in Great Britain, so, from this point-of-view, we can sensibly show that there was a strong level of interaction with the Western culture and society that brought their influence on Japan.

II. Kata means 'forms' (De Mente, 1990) and it refer to the different manifestations and behavior patterns in the Japanese society and applied to the Japanese individual (De Mente, 1990). Three important katas that can be identified are the art of bowing, the importance of apology and the origin of the Japanese obsession for quality.

The art and importance of bowing is attributed primarily to its importance as part of the Japanese etiquette. Its origins are related to the significance bowing has as an act of humility. In this sense, you show your respect for the person in front of view by manifesting at the same time your humility in front of him. This act of humbling one's self turns into a sign of honour for that person and of respect. This is also why the degree of respect attributed to the person in front of you is determined by the degree to which the bow is made. A deeper bow shows more humility and more respect to the person.

In the same manner, the importance of apology is similarly tied to humility and the capacity of humbling yourself. This is also one of the reasons an apology generally comes together with a deep bow in which the person recognizes his or her mistake.

On the other hand, Japanese obsession for quality definitely has its roots in the Japanese obsession for perfection. Ever since its creation by gods, Japan was seen by its inhabitants as being a privileged, perfect nation. Such a nation could only produce, in its turn, perfect products. In modern times, this tendency to continuously strive for perfection was translated into the need for constantly high quality on all production.

Additionally, this is also tied to the sense of duty that goes back to the samurai and warrior tradition. As such, while working for your company, you can only give it your very best and the sentiment of honour cannot allow you not to abide by quality principles.

III. Sugimoto sustains that despite the outward appearance of Homogeneity, Japan contains many diverse subcultures for family, work and labour, popular culture and friendly authoritarianism.

In my opinion, Japan in the 21st century is already an entirely heterogeneous culture, with individuals that are more and more cosmopolite. The first argument we can consider is the emergence and penetration in the Japanese society of the Western pop culture. More and more, young people have adopted Western norms in terms of dress, music or behaviour. On the other hand, many of the individuals over the age of 40 have remained committed to traditional values in terms of family and entertainment, to mention just two examples.

Japan continues to dynamically transform itself while still retaining traces of previous characteristics in terms of business elements and managerial approaches. Just until a couple of years ago, almost all Japanese companies had a clear set of rules and customs that included lifelong employment, promotion according to age etc. Nowadays, many of the Japanese companies have found the need to revert or, at least borrow, Western business practices, such as promotion according to individual value, for example. Carlos Ghosn was 45 years old when he became chief operating officer of Nissan, an age where, according to Japanese tradition, he would have probably had to be somewhere in the mid-levels of company management. On the other hand, we still have companies that have retained previous traditions and still abide by them. All these types co-exist on the market.