E Coli In Strawberries

Contemporary Japan

The long and silent Japanese depression

A walk through Tokyo does anyone - whether Brazilian or Swiss - think Japan ; is the perfect translation of a development. Public functions, the streets are clean, crime is low, children 6 years go by themselves to school and you have to look far to find a homeless. The country not seem to be experiencing a crisis. But she is and is not only economical, it is a tremendous identity crisis. Starring one of the most successful stories of the second half of the twentieth century, the Japanese are going through a quiet revolution. The world they knew is upside down.

In his third book on Japan, the historian Jeff Kingston presents an overview of the past 20 years and shows what went wrong in a country just time seen as a symbol of efficiency and productivity. "Contemporary Japan" (published by Wiley Blackwell, on sale at Amazon.com) binds a transition period that has had the effect of an earthquake on the day of the country, but to be gradual do not entice both international analysts currently mesmerized by the bombastic transformations that occur elsewhere in Asia, China.

From the historical point of view, two decades are nothing but this is perhaps the most interesting part of the plot fleshed out by Kingston, far deeper than the image that the West has gotten used to seeing, a nation fueled by technology, manga or oddities in general. "The reinvention of Japan is a work in progress," the authors write.

- Japan rose again after the war while minimizing any risks. Relations between the government and large corporations have created a system of lifetime employment and major reforms were avoided. But 90 years from the Japanese suddenly confronted with risks. And suddenly began to sink - explained Kingston, director of the Department of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo.

The Japanese growth miracle that transformed the country's second largest economy in the world - lost title to China this year - has created an iconic figure: the salaryman, a subject kill yourself working in the same company their whole lives, but is rewarded with a steady salary and a quiet retirement. The salarymen dressed the same - black suit and white shirt - and still seem ubiquitous in Tokyo, but this character is struggling and losing their little creative space in the XXI Century Japan .

Kingston's study is to clean the main facts of so-called Heisei era, which began in 1989 when Emperor Akihito took the throne. It was the end of the Cold War and the Japanese economy began to implode, with the bursting of a housing bubble and stock capable of killing the envy of Lehman Brothers. The Japanese refer to the year 1990 as "the decade lost, "but the century turned and lost more than ten years. Under the rubble, was the employment system that supported the> ita \u0026lt;salarymen. Today 30% of workers have no regular jobs without the benefits that were a pillar of society.

segurançae Evaporation of social equity - the difference between rich and poor is growing - has caused a dramatic waterfall effect, detailed by the American historian. With lower wages, the Japanese buy less and the country plunged into deflation. Fear of the future prevents couples from having children and birth rates plummeted. The divorce rate rose nearly 50%, as well as suicide (30,000 people kill themselves every year). And the party that ruled Japan for 55 years was thrown out of power in 2009. It's something like crazy for a people who, since World War II, was averse to risks.

But Kingston does not have a catastrophic view of the future and sees innovative alternatives being presented. Gradually, as the Japanese like.

- On the economic front, without a doubt the best days were back on the political front I do not see much hope. But I am optimistic about the potential changes brought about by civil society - said the historian, during a lecture in Tokyo

http://oglobo.globo.com/blogs/prosa/posts / 2010/12/11/a-longa-silenciosa-depressao-japonesa-348435.asp