Thirty Years of Turmoil in Japan: Heisei Politics 1989-2019
by (japanese) Yuchu Taka, Written By Serikawa Yoichi
About This Novel
This book analyzes the ups and downs of the thirty years of the Heisei era from a political perspective. Learned researchers and senior journalists invite three theorists who understand the essence of Japanese politics to engage in a real political discussion: How should Japanese politics be viewed when looking back on the Heisei era. A reporter who has been conducting political interviews for a long time invited three theorists to think with readers, criticizing or looking forward to Japanese politics, and interspersed with anecdotes from bureaucratic ministers to present a vivid short history of Japanese politics. Where will Japanese politics go in the future, and will Abe remain in power? Who are the future Japanese politicians?
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What Readers Think
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Official(1)Scraped 2mo ago
Seeing only the trees, not the forest, let alone being down to earth.
The title is a personal intuitive evaluation of the content and characters of the book. This book is an interview. In fact, it is just a few people chatting awkwardly about Japan's Heisei politics. I personally think that these so-called experts and scholars have seen some external problems, such as Japan's electoral malpractice, government inefficiency, factional issues within the government and political parties, and power-for-money corruption, and have tried to come up with solutions. This is still true. But the problem with this book is that these people only see some superficial phenomena, but do not think about the essential problems reflected behind them. Therefore, their solutions are like scratching the surface and may even be harmful. For example, Ms. Hiroko Ohta actually proposed that the goal of Japanese political reform is to establish a revolving door system, but she did not know that it is the revolving door system that will cause more serious political corruption. The essence of Japan's problem is that Japan has never changed. It is a feudal and hierarchical society cloaked in capitalism. What Japan was like before the Meiji Restoration was actually the same after that, and it is still the same today. For example, someone in this book proposes that young people in Japan should be more involved in politics. But is it possible that in Japan today, young people have no way out at all and even supporting themselves is a problem? Who would care about politics like you old men? All in all, from the content to the characters in this book, I feel that the so-called experts are completely isolated from the lower class, do not understand the actual situation, and are not grounded. Therefore, this book can only be said to be barely average and I do not recommend reading it.
Rating
Community(0)
Official(1)Scraped 2mo ago
Seeing only the trees, not the forest, let alone being down to earth.
The title is a personal intuitive evaluation of the content and characters of the book. This book is an interview. In fact, it is just a few people chatting awkwardly about Japan's Heisei politics. I personally think that these so-called experts and scholars have seen some external problems, such as Japan's electoral malpractice, government inefficiency, factional issues within the government and political parties, and power-for-money corruption, and have tried to come up with solutions. This is still true. But the problem with this book is that these people only see some superficial phenomena, but do not think about the essential problems reflected behind them. Therefore, their solutions are like scratching the surface and may even be harmful. For example, Ms. Hiroko Ohta actually proposed that the goal of Japanese political reform is to establish a revolving door system, but she did not know that it is the revolving door system that will cause more serious political corruption. The essence of Japan's problem is that Japan has never changed. It is a feudal and hierarchical society cloaked in capitalism. What Japan was like before the Meiji Restoration was actually the same after that, and it is still the same today. For example, someone in this book proposes that young people in Japan should be more involved in politics. But is it possible that in Japan today, young people have no way out at all and even supporting themselves is a problem? Who would care about politics like you old men? All in all, from the content to the characters in this book, I feel that the so-called experts are completely isolated from the lower class, do not understand the actual situation, and are not grounded. Therefore, this book can only be said to be barely average and I do not recommend reading it.
