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Shame to Vengeance: The Grand Cliché of the Japanese Superstate

Shame to Vengeance: The Grand Cliché of the Japanese Superstate Alternatives 29 (2004), 219-238 Shame to Vengeance: The Grand Cliché of the Japanese Superstate Marie Thorsten* In a nation where watching the gross national product is a gross national pastime, trade representatives come close to being culture heroes. Departing from Tokyo's Haneda Airport for their three- to six-year assignments in the field, they are usually seen off by dele­ gations of colleagues waving banners and shouting "banzai!" Their exploits are publicized like battlefield heroics, and a truly dedi­ cated shosha-in [company man] can get national recognition. —Newsweek, 1970 Across Asia, Japa n is doing with money what it did with guns 50 years ago. —U.S. National Public Radio, 1999 Th e attempt to demystify Japan' s postwar metamorphosis has often invited a free fall into the grand cliché of the economic superstate: Japa n lost the war but won the peace. Shame, defeat, and leftover wartime fervor were channeled into economic success without chang­ ing the national modus operandi, the creation of a Japan-le d Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. This cliché alerted the world that Japanes e economism was no t politically innocent. The intention in this article is neithe r to deny such a general truth nor http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Alternatives: Global, Local, Political SAGE

Shame to Vengeance: The Grand Cliché of the Japanese Superstate

Thorsten, Marie
Alternatives: Global, Local, Political , Volume 29 (2): 20 – Mar 1, 2004
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References (25)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© 2004 SAGE Publications
ISSN
0304-3754
eISSN
2163-3150
DOI
10.1177/030437540402900205
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Alternatives 29 (2004), 219-238 Shame to Vengeance: The Grand Cliché of the Japanese Superstate Marie Thorsten* In a nation where watching the gross national product is a gross national pastime, trade representatives come close to being culture heroes. Departing from Tokyo's Haneda Airport for their three- to six-year assignments in the field, they are usually seen off by dele­ gations of colleagues waving banners and shouting "banzai!" Their exploits are publicized like battlefield heroics, and a truly dedi­ cated shosha-in [company man] can get national recognition. —Newsweek, 1970 Across Asia, Japa n is doing with money what it did with guns 50 years ago. —U.S. National Public Radio, 1999 Th e attempt to demystify Japan' s postwar metamorphosis has often invited a free fall into the grand cliché of the economic superstate: Japa n lost the war but won the peace. Shame, defeat, and leftover wartime fervor were channeled into economic success without chang­ ing the national modus operandi, the creation of a Japan-le d Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. This cliché alerted the world that Japanes e economism was no t politically innocent. The intention in this article is neithe r to deny such a general truth nor

Journal

Alternatives: Global, Local, Political – SAGE

Published: Mar 1, 2004

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