por admin » Lun Ago 16, 2010 8:07 am
Le importa a los Japoneses que China haya sobrepasado a Japon?
China Overtakes Japan. Do Japanese Care?.Search Japan Real Time
By Yoree Koh
Thus far, 2010 will be remembered in Japan’s history books as the year Naoto Kan became the nation’s 94th prime minister, the surprise heroics of its now beloved soccer team at the World Cup in South Africa, the hyped-up arrival of Apple Inc.’s iPad, and the twisted mafia-related scandals surrounding the once-revered national sport, sumo.
China is likely to unseat Japan as the world’s second-biggest economy — and Japan just shrugs. But following Japan’s sagging second-quarter GDP figures, it is looking increasingly likely that 2010 will also go down as the last year Japan could call itself the world’s second-biggest economy. China appears likely to unseat its smaller neighbor.
But Japan is taking the demotion with a shrug.
“It can’t be helped,” said Koichi Matsubara, 36, who works in real estate. “Business has been drifting overseas, our population is shrinking. We’re a small island, and given the size of our country, we were perhaps at the top longer than expected. I think we will continue to lose ground.”
But the fall is more often attributed to Japan’s lack of fighting power compared to the days of post-World War II yore when it was chasing after its more developed European rivals.
“Japan lost its momentum,” said Kazuyoshi Ono, a 58-year-old former banker. “The thinking in the past was, ‘If I work hard, the harder I work the more likely I’ll succeed,’ but we’ve lost that hungry spirit.”
Walking to a business appointment by way of one of Japan’s underground pedestrian tunnels hugging an upscale department store in Tokyo’s Otemachi neighborhood, Mr. Ono said he believes that the work-hard philosophy still exists, but is missing a competitive drive.
He believes the cause is in the faltering education system and the sway of the mass media, he added.
Meanwhile, Naoko Yokokawa said she thinks Japan’s decade-long economic doldrums has become all too familiar among her peers, which has led to a resigned mentality.
“We’ve gotten used to it after 20 years of being stuck in an economic slump,” said the 28-year-old finance worker, adding the lack of motivation at home becomes even more pronounced when she travels to nearby emerging powers like South Korea and Vietnam.
“When you walk around, you can sense that South Korea is so full of spirit. It’s completely different from the sense of calm in Japan,” Ms. Yokokawa said. “They have power.”
China’s increasing economic weight hardly comes as a surprise to those who don’t leave the country. “China is a completely different country compared to the past, in terms of freedom, daily lifestyle and economically speaking,” said Mr. Ono. “You can even tell from the types of Chinese tourists that come to Japan nowadays.”
Japan recently eased visa restrictions to give tourists easier entry, as the number of Chinese tourists has multiplied in recent years. “The image has changed quite a bit,” Mr. Ono said.