Delegate for China

Kimihito Okubo

• CEO of EURO-RSCG Japan since August 1997
  
  

Japan revitalization calls for a return to the moral code of Knighthood

Japan’s property and stock market bubble bust in 1990, creating bad loans equivalent to about one-fifth of GDP.  The economy returned to some semblence of normalcy only twelve years later, and only in 2005 could Japan say it had put financial stress and debt-deflation behind it.  Even today the country’s nominal GDP remains below its peak in the 1990s – a brutal measure of lost opportunities.  Similarity exits between Japan then and America today, notably in the way that a financial crisis threatens the “real” economy. But the differences outnumber similarities.   Japan should indeed be a source of worry; not, however, because other rich countries are destined for the same economic black hole, but because it is the world’s second largest economy and it still has NOT tackled the fundamental causes of its malais. Government and industries were deeply complicit in puffing up the market and complicit, too, in hiding the ensuing mess for years. A few years ago, people hoped that Japan, which is still a bigger economic power than China and has some marvellous companies, would help take up some of the slack in the world economy if America tired; that now looks unlikely.  Japan needs a swath of reforms of every sort.    

Originally, Bushido comprised the rules of battle for the Kamakura period, a sort of declaration of the spirit of fair play on the battlefield. But in the course of the 260 year peace of the Edo period, Bushido was refined into the Samurai spirit, which via stories, ballad dramas, kabuki play, and historical narratives was communicated to both city dwellers and country people alike.  This was how Bushido, which had originated as the code of conduct for the samurai class alone, became the code of conduct for all Japanese. The samurai were respected by the common people because they were scrupulous in putting the virtues of the samurai spirit into practice. Their way of life expressed the elevated spirituality of the Japanese, who regarded morality as more important than money. Most central to Bushido is a way of thinking indigenous to Japan since days of old. The Japanese have instinctively possessed a moral view and code of conduct that decrees anything “base” to be wrong and that the strong must not bully the weak.  At the time of its origin, Chivalry was strongly influenced by Christianity, but as knights ceased to fight on horseback, new elements were added to it.  Similar to the way Bushido developed into a national code of behavior, Chivalry developed and deepened into the ethos of the gentleman.  Today, disappointingly, the Samurai spirit has gone into freefall and this decline is one of the primary factors behind Japan’s pain.  

There is the one thing that is common to every individual, relationship, team, family, organization, nation, economy and civilization throughout the world – one thing which, if removed, will destroy the most powerful government, the most successful business, the most thriving economy, the most influential leadership, the greatest friendship, the strongest character, the deepest love.  One the other hand, if developed and leveraged, that one thing has potential to create unparalleled success and prosperity in every dimension of life.  The one thing is TRUST.  Japan is missing this.  And the lost trust needs to be restored.  It is not possible to make this happen alone. But it can be regained with people who pay homage to the moral code of Bushido and esteem the moral code of Knighthood; /Vaillance, Loyalty, Largesse and Courtesy/ can open the door to a revitalized and respected Japan in world opinion.