The Loathing of Japan
Author Michael Crichton has written a gripping thriller called "Rising Sun." A murder occurs in the U.S. headquarters of a major Japanese company, and the motive involves the transfer of a new high technology from U.S. to Japanese control. It could be a great movie, except for one possible production problem: The book's Japanese characters are such vile people that it's hard to imagine any self-respecting Japanese actor taking a role.</br></br>"Japan bashing" is rapidly becoming Japan loathing. Japan has been transformed into "the enemy" that threatens our economic future. All this is - quite literally - economic fiction. Japan's impact on our economy (though highly visible) remains modest. Our economic fate depends mostly on what we do for ourselves. Meanwhile, the growing venom against Japan is verging on hate-mongering. It distracts from our home-grown problems and legitimizes racism whose closest targets may be our country's 7.3 million Asian Americans.</br></br>The loathing of Japan differs significantly from the loathing of the former Soviet Union. We despised communism but not the peoples subjected to it. They were its victims as well as its defenders. They could redeem themselves, as they have, by rejecting it. By contrast, the Japanese are increasingly vilified as a people. From this, there is no redemption.</br></br>What's worrisome now is that these attitudes are being promoted by pop culture - a more powerful force than politics. Crichton's novel is a good example. With the exception of the main villain, most of the book's Japanese characters are not criminals. Yet, almost all of them are portrayed as creepy manipulators whose sinister influence is seeping into every aspect of American life. The Japanese are destroying our industries and infiltrating (usually via well-paid American lawyers and lobbyists) our political and cultural institutions.</br></br>"{D}on't talk to me about hating, man," says Tom Graham, a tough detective in "Rising Sun." "This country is in a war and some people understand it, and other people are siding with the enemy. Just like in World War II, some people were paid by Germany to promote Nazi propaganda." In an afterword, Crichton makes clear that his position, though less crudely put, is roughly the same. We are getting similar messages from Lee Iacocca and many politicians.