Opinion

The park in 2002

By Roger Pulvers

The large part of Japanese society today seems sedentary, an old man sitting comfortably on a park bench, content because there is a soft cushion under him protecting him from the hard surface. He ignores the many people with problems in front of him and does not stand up for them - the cushion is still sufficiently comfortable. He will not involve himself in the dire cares of others.

I have chosen the metaphor of the park for this country in 2002 because a park is a peaceful and generally pleasant place. In most countries, when the economic situation is bleak, there is some kind of agitation: demonstrations or riots on the streets, protests, or public anger for all to see. People do not sit idly by when there is discontent. They become restless. They want action. They stand up for what they believe to be necessary.

But the Japanese people are not restless. And even though many Japanese people say they want some kind of action - progress toward changing the status quo - most of them, I am afraid, are actually quite content to stay on their bench, arms folded, waiting it out.

The reason for this is that their cushion is not only soft but full of money. In other words, most people have plenty of comfort, that is, "money in the cushion" or under the mattress.

I recently saw a daytime drama on television about a young middle-class couple of newlyweds. They were being shown around an apartment by a rather slick real estate agent. The agent told them that they could have the apartment for "only" ¥30 million. Suddenly the young woman looked sad. Obviously the couple did not have this large sum of money at their disposal.

But the man took his young wife aside.

"Listen," he whispered to her. "My grandmother told me that she would lend us ¥30 million if we needed it to buy an apartment. So let's borrow the money from her."

The young wife was elated ... and so, of course, was the real estate agent.

As for me, I actually chuckled out loud while watching this daytime drama and said to myself, "My God, that's amazing! Who's got ¥30 million in cash like that? I wish I had a grandmother like that!"

To a non-Japanese it is rather unthinkable that people would have that much money around to lend or give to someone, even if that someone is a grandchild.

In fact, as I travel around Japan these days, even outside the Tokyo area to places which are said to be suffering economically, I don't see the trappings of economic gloom, let alone doom. People seem to still be dressed in new, fashionable clothes (the women carry expensive brand-name handbags), and the restaurants are full of people ordering high-priced items from the menu. Luxury pervades the land.

Those who are suffering - the unemployed, the untrained and the unfulfilled - are not invisible. They are walking through the park before the eyes of others. But the Japanese who are comfortable do not want to notice them. Were they to see them, they might have to get off their bums - to return to the metaphor of the park bench - and move and take some action to change things.

But no. The cushion is soft, so why worry? I'm all right.

Shukan ST: Dec. 6, 2002

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