August 19, 2010
On the front page of today’s Nikkei was the second installment in its series “Slowing Growth: What Is Needed Now?”
In response to a reporter’s question—“There are limits to intervention by Japan alone”—the president of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation answered, continuing from the headline: “Japan should demonstrate a resolute stance against such preconceptions. Intervention by Japan alone is fine, even if it is a one-time intervention. What is being tested is how we protect the country and its companies from the violence of the market…”
Twenty years ago, our company’s main bank was the largest branch of Sumitomo Bank. At the time, Sumitomo had drive and decisiveness; it truly was Kansai’s No. 1 bank and one of Japan’s leading banks.
I feel as though I have heard Sumitomo’s voice for the first time in twenty years…
Although for the past twenty years I have continued to hold the prejudice that banking was no longer a man’s life’s work.
The large headline of the article reads: “Stop the Yen’s Rise—Show a Strong Stance.”
Prime Minister Kan is almost the same age as I am. At present, the public probably feels that “it would be troubling for prime ministers to keep changing so frequently,” and is putting up with politics being stalled by the Democratic Party’s leadership election, which is an internal party matter.
But if he lacks the ability to draw up a grand design that will bring about a fundamental recovery from “Japan’s lost twenty years,” and cannot even recognize that the bureaucrats—or perhaps he himself—were among those who created those twenty years, and if all he can do is listen to the opinions of bureaucrats and the scholars who agree with them, then we should announce to the world that this is why we are replacing him, and replace him.
I believe Japan should declare that it will build a form of capitalism for the twenty-first century and establish a stable market, and should take a resolute stance toward twentieth-century capitalism.
“China’s GDP Surpasses Japan’s in April–June”… From an article on page two of the Nikkei’s international section:
The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal published an article on the 17th titled “Japan, Number Three.”
It argued, “No country is born wealthy. Prosperity is brought about year after year through sound economic policies that bring out the potential of its people.”
It went on to say that while China today has become a confident country with underlying strength, Japan’s twenty-year stagnation is a tragic situation both for the world and for the Japanese people.
The New York Times of the 15th argued, “This milestone is the clearest evidence yet that China’s rise is real. The world must regard China as a new economic superpower.”
It reported that an atmosphere of resignation hangs over Japan.
This week’s Shukan Asahi has examined the matter and found that the hidden funds in the special accounts exceed 300 trillion yen.
A struggle between the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management faction and Ichiro Ozawa’s faction? None of that matters.
Who can draw up a grand design to restore what Japan lost over those twenty years?
Who can present it to the world? That is all that matters.
Media reports about their struggle for power are unnecessary and useless.
We need only watch to see who can present that grand design.
We must watch that question alone with uncompromising urgency.
That is what the media ought to do. And now is also the time for us to judge whether the media, which have behaved like emperors, truly possess first-rate intellect.