This essay argues that industrial and technological strength alone cannot protect a nation. Through the suppression of TRON, financial regulation failures, and the Toyota acceleration scandal, it explains why Japan must rise as a financial superpower in order to fulfill its civilizational role.

2017-05-08
What follows is a continuation of the previous section.
The original essay cited here was published on July 24, 2010, under the theme “Why Becoming a Financial Superpower Matters.”
Relying solely on being an industrial nation or a technological power is dangerous.
When Professor Ken Sakamura, then of Keio University, discovered and developed a concept that everyone acknowledged was superior to Microsoft Windows, and it was decided that it would be adopted for PC education in Japan’s elementary and junior high schools,
the following passage, marked by asterisks, is taken from Wikipedia.
TRON is a comprehensive project proposed more than twenty-five years ago in anticipation of a future computerized society.
Its proponent was Ken Sakamura, now a professor at the University of Tokyo.
Within the TRON project, the most internationally known component is ITRON, and what was developed far beyond the Windows concept was BTRON.
At the time of its proposal, BTRON took the world by storm and was on the verge of being adopted as Japan’s educational operating system, but it was abandoned after being placed in unfortunate adversity.
After lying low for more than a decade, TRON survived, much like a mammal surviving the age of dinosaurs called Windows, and finally began to see the light of day.
It is now sold under the product name “Cho-Kanji,” and at times even ranked within the top five of Yahoo Japan’s weekly sales charts.
Bill Gates, who sought to conquer the world and establish Windows as the global standard, together with the U.S. government, applied intense pressure on the Japanese government and refused to back down on this issue.
There were also those who carried water for Bill Gates and have since risen to the status of major businessmen.
Japan capitulated after being warned that if it did not comply, high tariffs would be imposed on automobiles and other industries that formed the core of Japan’s industrial economy.
Even if one were to assume that there was no intention in Europe or the United States to prevent Japan from growing further when Japan became an overwhelming economic power second only to the United States in GDP,
the timing of the BIS regulations—triggered by the collapse of Illinois Continental Bank according to Wikipedia—coincided with Japan’s mishandling of the end of the bubble economy and the accumulation of massive non-performing loans.
Had Japan at that time been a major financial superpower, with global markets moving in response to the Tokyo and Osaka exchanges alongside the NYSE and Nasdaq, it would have been possible to make Japan’s circumstances understood.
Even in sports, when Japan rose to the top ranks of ski jumping and swept the podium at the Sapporo Olympics, Europe hastily changed the rules so that Japan could never become champion again, basing ski length on height.
At that time, Japan’s opinion was likely treated as insignificant.
But had Japan possessed a stock market moving ten trillion yen daily and one hundred trillion yen flowing into shares of its leading companies, this would not have happened.
Economic competition is ruthless, and all nations prioritize their own interests above all else.
In the end, only when financial power, market capitalization, and technological strength are combined does a nation truly have a voice.
Military power exists as a last resort, but in reality, people and nations move according to economic power.
The Toyota incident was no different from McCarthy-era witch hunts.
When I saw a middle-aged woman from the Midwest testifying before Congress on television, I immediately thought so.
There are plenty of vote-seeking politicians even in the United States.
Toyota, a company that led Japan’s postwar growth for sixty years, is clearly recognized by anyone who has driven a car as one of the finest manufacturers in the world.
To subject the president of such a company to humiliating public hearings must never happen again.
If Japan realizes the missing piece—becoming a financial superpower—the world’s attitude will change instantly.
People strike the small but obey the large.
If this essay reaches as many capable people in Japan as possible, I am convinced that Japan can stand alongside—and complement—the United States as a civilizational leader for the next 170 years.
True global peace will not exist until the turntable of civilization next turns to Brazil and then to Africa.
Now is not the time for deception.
This is what Japan must do now.
(Excerpt ends.)