this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2025
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[–] Envy@fedia.io 27 points 4 days ago (5 children)

Yeah their whole shtick has been mimicking American corporatism et al since before the 80s. Aint working out for them.

Actual steps? We have books about that since the 1800s. Usually involves overthrowing the bourgeoisie, arming the proletariat, and dismantling their networks of propaganda

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 10 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

They haven't been mimicking American corporatism, they were set up that way after the war. You could almost call them a commonwealth since we have military bases there and protect them.

Edit: Compare them to Puerto Rico except the part about being an American citizen that can't vote, and you'll see that they're very similar.

[–] Envy@fedia.io 8 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Key aspects of American influence on Japanese capitalism:

Post-WWII Occupation and Reconstruction:
The US occupation, led by General Douglas MacArthur, introduced significant changes to Japan's economic system. This included: 

Land Reform: Breaking up large landholdings to benefit farmers and reduce the power of wealthy landowners. 

Breaking up Zaibatsu: Attempting to dismantle the large, powerful business conglomerates (Zaibatsu) to promote free market competition. Promoting Free Market Capitalism: Shifting the Japanese economy towards a more free market model, inspired by American ideals.

And they're not a commonwealth of ours. If you think the US would defend Japan or Taiwan in the next few years, you're as big of a fool as those that doubted a lying populist like Trump would win.

I won't be arguing any further. You do you chief. Sorry that the facts dont add up and you wanna squabble over things neither of us can change. You seem to have found a good home on shitjustworks, the vibe suits you

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 days ago

Key aspects of American influence on Japanese capitalism:

Post-WWII Occupation and Reconstruction: The US occupation, led by General Douglas MacArthur, introduced significant changes to Japan's economic system. This included: Land Reform: Breaking up large landholdings to benefit farmers and reduce the power of wealthy landowners. Breaking up Zaibatsu: Attempting to dismantle the large, powerful business conglomerates (Zaibatsu) to promote free market competition. Promoting Free Market Capitalism: Shifting the Japanese economy towards a more free market model, inspired by American ideals.

I think we're agreeing, we set up the Japanese markets. Not sure why you're getting so antsy about this.

And they're not a commonwealth of ours. If you think the US would defend Japan or Taiwan in the next few years, you're as big of a fool as those that doubted a lying populist like Trump would win.

I didn't say they were one, I said they're almost like one. Do you think the trump administration would defend Puerto Rico? He threw paper towels at them when they had a disaster. Again, not saying Japan is a commonwealth, but trump sticking up for them isn't a guide either.

[–] echolalia@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I'm not coming to argue you on your main point. As a Communist, I think communism would be great in Japan, and a lot of other places.

However, you are completely wrong about the USA not defending Japan. Unlike taiwain there are several large american military bases in Japan, and actually Japan is not allowed to have a large military of its own through its constitution (I edited this, corrected)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Mutual_Cooperation_and_Security_between_the_United_States_and_Japan

article 9 of Japanese constitution involving its military

Okinawa is one base a lot of people have heard of, but there's like 20 american military bases there. Japan depends on the USA for its foreign defense.

Since Japan is the largest foreign holder of american government debt (bonds) it might be appropriate to call them a vassal state.

[–] blazeknave@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Finally looked it up recently. Et al is for names of people. Etc for everything else.

[–] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 2 points 3 days ago

Yeah their whole shtick has been mimicking American corporatism et al since before the 80s. Aint working out for them.

There absolutely was an effort in Japanese businesses to imitate American businesses in the 1980s, but it was also very much a two-way street and it's important to keep this in mind. Some of the toxic work culture elements that exist in the US corporate world today were imported. Also keep in mind that learning about other businesses was more difficult at the time because the Internet wasn't a thing yet. Computers were barely getting local proprietary networks in very few, leading-edge businesses. If you wanted to learn about business operarions in another country you'd have to buy physical media (newspapers, industry journals, commentary books) or visit in person. It was slow and expensive.

Ultimately a lot of what you're referring to tracks back to Theory Z which was also called "Japanese Management".

In fact there has been a lot of cultural crosstalk between Japan and the US, going back a long time. For instance, baseball

Baseball was introduced to Japan in 1859 and is Japan's most popular participatory and spectator sport. [...]

The Japanese government appointed American oyatoi in order to start a state-inspired modernization process. This involved the education ministry, who made baseball accessible to children by integrating the sport into the physical education curriculum. Japanese students, who returned from studying in the United States captivated by the sport, took government positions. Clubs and private teams such as the Shinbashi Athletic Club, along with high school and college teams, commenced the baseball infrastructure.

When the digital electronics revolution came in the 1970s, Japan was both a competitor and a partner for the US. In the 1980s Japan's economy rivaled the US. Frankly, a lot of it did in fact "work out" for them, though it's difficult to separate the economic success from the electronics industry boom (how much of the rapid development of electronics was dependent on the corporate culture that had developed during the previous decade? how much of the business success was a result of the demand for the electronics products? how much of the demand was created internally by the businesses themselves? how would you even go about drawing lines between them?). The exploding popularity of video games (a side effect of the electronics revolution) resulted in a massive cultural export from Japan to the rest of the world, including the US.

And really the rabit hole goes way deeper. I highly recommend this video: Kawaii: Anime, Propaganda, and Soft Power Politics. by Moon Channel

So what you said is true, technically, but it is really a half-truth which projects the idea that the relationship was somehow one-sided, when in reality it was very much not.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Not working out: Going from being completely flattened to the 4th largest economy in the world. Fucking failures.

[–] QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

You know that the American corporations took a ton of lessons from Japanese companies in the 1980s, right?