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David Golombek\\
21F.030\\
Journal \#8\\\\
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In his article ``Mr. Atomic, Mr. Mercury, and Chime Trooper: Japan's
Answer to the American Dream'', Ron Tanner proposes that ``the
Japanese had nothing to lose after World War II --- because they were
starting from scratch --- they could easily welcome the future.
Conversely, it makes sense that the Americans, who had so much to
lose, would want to buttress the status quo, to hold the line, even at
the risk of stagnation''.  From this proposal, he begins to talk about
the differences in visions and expectations of technology and the
future between Japanese and Americans.  And indeed, this sounds like a
very nice thesis, looking back at things from over forty years later.
Looking back, we can trace the rise of Japanese production and see the
economic miracle that they managed to pull off.  Looking back, we can
see that American industry allowed itself to rest on its laurels
(especially in the car industry), allowing Japan to catch up, and
later surpass it in quality and quantity.

However, at that time, things were very different.  Americans
(businessmen and consumers alike) were amazingly high on themselves,
self-congratulatory about ``saving the rest of the world'' and very
proud of the ability they had displayed during the war.  American
business had received a tremendous jump start from the war,
experiencing a phoenix-like revival from its death during the Great
Depression.  American businessmen suddenly had a huge manufacturing
system that had been paid for by the government to rapidly build up
the military during the war, and business was quick to convert it towards
peacetime production.  Suddenly automobile production jumped, and the
era of mass consumerism began in America.  America was high on itself
and on the future --- they were on top of the world, and were going to
remain there.  The Russians weren't yet the great enemy (although
events were certainly heading that way), and the Germans and Japanese
were crushed.  America was far from preserving the status quo ---
America was racing forward into its own bright future, where everyone
had their own home, car, refrigerator, and TV.

Meanwhile, Japan had a rough time in the years immediately after the
second world war.  The Allied military occupation, initially run by US
General Douglas MacArthur, was very effective at rebuilding Japan
physically without further crushing its spirit.  Rebuilding the
government, educational system, physical infrastructure, and economic
system all at once, MacArthur came close to redesigning and
redefining Japan.  But its people remained the same, and they
remembered their history.  It wasn't until 1955 that the Japanese
economy was firmly established again, reaching a ten percent annual
growth rate, and until 1960 that local consumers began to feel the
real effects of this growth (due to the Income Doubling Plan of that
year).  All unions were banned, and a large part of Japan's success
was due to worker's acceptance of long hours and low pay.  This is not
a Japan that was racing into the future --- this is a Japan that was
fighting to restore its dignity and rebuild itself.

Thus, initially after World War II, Tanner's assertion that Japan was
dreaming and looking into the future is only partially true, and that
America was only interested in preserving the status quo is false.  It
was only after 1965, when Japan began to have a large trade surplus,
and the corporate profits had begun to reach the mass populace, that
Tanner's thesis could begin to be viewed as valid.  This is the
beginning of the Japan pictured in the film \underline{Japan
Dreaming}, a Japan that was wildly optimistic about its own future and
the technology that was driving it forward.  Technology (and Japan's
particular way of creating it, driven by Deming's quality control and
the limited resources available) was now a savior, and anything that
showed off its technology was good.  Meanwhile in America, a trend
towards less flashy technology was beginning, in which technology was
still good, but only when less blatant.  This was the beginning of the
hippie counterculture in America, with its emphasis on peace,
friendship, and experimentation.  This new culture talked a lot about
seeking to avoid dependance upon technology, but still craved the
comforts provided by it.  A careful balance was reached, in which
technology was still present, yet impinged less on daily life by being
less obvious.  This trend has had many different influences, including
new demographies in both countries (World War II massively disrupted
age patterns in both countries by thinning out a generation of young
males), the effects of mechanization on the labor force, and the
popular media.  Thus, Japan's positive experiences with technology
encouraged further exploration into the sciences, while America's
anti-technology backlash from the hippies discouraged blatant
technology, although corporations (and some universities) still
pursued science and new inventions.

This trend continues to this day in certain respects, in that Japan
still has a much higher mass-consumerism of technological ``toys''
than America does.  However, technology in America has experienced a
strong resurgence in the last decade and a half, as proven by the
tremendous popularity of science fiction movies and books.  American
science fiction has been for the most part upbeat about the future
(with the notable exceptions of \underline{Blade Runner} and the
\underline{Terminator} series), in such films as \underline{2001} and
\underline{Star Trek}.  Meanwhile, a possible increase in distrust of
technology is emerging in Japan, as seen in \underline{Akira}, where
technology (and the mutants created by it) has destroyed Tokyo.
Although Napier, in his article ``Panic Sites: The Japanese
Imagination of Disaster from Godzill to Akira'' sees the movie more as
an artistic masterpiece, the backdrop of social revolt, a decaying
city (even Neo-Tokyo), and destruction show in the film can't help but
be seen as a negative future.  If the current economic troubles
continue in Japan, it is likely this trend will continue, as a bright
hope in the future is always strongly linked with positive feelings
about the present.  Both Japan and America have always seemed to match
current strength with expectations of the future --- when things are
going poorly, they are expected to continue that way, and the future
looks to be dark --- when things are going well, the future will be
good too, just like today but even better.

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