The Japan That Can Say No: Why Japan Will Be First Among Equals

by Shintarō Ishihara and Akio Morita

Book Overview

The author, a leading Japanese statesman, asserts in this book that the balance of power has shifted and that Japan will no longer play polite sister to the US in world affairs. He claims that Japan could instantly overturn US military superiority by selling its crucial computer missile chip to the USSR. He therefore stresses that it is time for the US corporations to listen to Japanese advice on achieving long-term economic strength instead of relying...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671726862
• ISBN13: 9780671726867
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

An Unapologetic Defender of Japan's Militarist Past

Why Japan will be first among equals? Shintaro Ishihara has achieved an unusual and unqualified success for being honest in his opinions regarding Japan and its relationship with The United States of America. His Chapters, #2 ---"Racial Prejudice:The Root Cause of Japan-Bashing" and #6---"Japan and the United States: Partners or Master and Servant" is thought provoking. With this in mind, Ishihara contends [pg 29/30] that Americans, "with their scant few centuries of history have never experienced the shift from one major historical period to another". "They emerged as the premier world power only decades ago, toward the end of the modern era. That Japan, an Oriental Country, is about to supplant them in some major fields is what annoys the Americans so much." In this regard, Ishihara's book has demonstrated that people who have known domination, unequal treaties, Extra territoriality treaties, forced open door policy and racial oppression throughout the centuries do not interpret world events as those who have not. Further, Ishihara states that-- "the modern era is in its terminal phase. An awareness of its imminent demise has made Americans, the most powerful Caucasians since World War ll, increasingly emotional, almost hysterical, about Japan." Based on my review, Ishihara's book is a book to read, to study, Quote from and to share for he is one of Japan's best known Nationalist Politician and unapologetic defender of Japan's militarist past. In this connection, I quote---- "Rightist Tokyo Governor Ishihara says war kept Asia safe from White People". Taipei Times, Associated Press, Tokyo, Monday, October 04, 2004, Page 5. Accordingly, I highly recommend this book, because it holds similar views of many other "Decision-Making-Elites" within Japan and Asia Vis-A-Vis Western's opinions on Asia.

A fiercely nationalistic book every American should read

This book was a million-seller in Japan, and was translated into English in 1991. The author was a promininet Japanese politician. The book is dated, and history has not always borne out the author's views. Nonetheless, anyone attempting to understand modern Japan should read it. Some of the passages will be very surprising and disturbing. Author Ishihara avoids the conventionally polite Japanese protocol and forcefully states that Japan is the equal of the United States, that Japan should have its own defense forces, (and strong ones), that Japanese computer technology is second to none and should be used as a negotiating tool, and Japan will be the most influential power in dealing with Asian nations. Ishihara berates America for racism, and contends that the atomic bomb was not used on Germany because Germans were white, and Japanese were yellow. He asserts that nations colonized by Japan have been far more successful following liberation than those colonized by the United States. The book exemplifies the growing trend toward national pride in Japan, and also forcefully addresses the feeling by many Japanese that their nation is misunderstood. Plainly, the sentiments in the book foretell a troubled period in Japanese-American relations, and remind us that the Japanese have not forgotten Hiroshima any more than America has forgotten Pearl Harbor. Ishihara's call for a constructive dialogue between the two nations is well taken. Otherwise, the future looks cloudy at best. Very highly recommended, even if slightly dated.