- The Annals of Anthroculture -
The artful science of raising humans for terminal incorporation

"CASTRATION"
THE MAJOR GOAL OF JAPANESE EDUCATION, AND
ITS RELATIONSHIP TO GOVERNMENT DEREGULATION

By Masao Miyamoto M.D.

PAPER PRESENTED AT
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD and UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
OCTOBER 20TH AND 23RD, 1995
OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND

Nancho Advisory: Dr. Masao Miyamoto has become an official Japanese nightmare or at least a nightmare for Official Japan. As a defrocked bureaucrat, stinging government gadfly and now best-selling author, he has fashioned a boisterous new career, internationally exposing the corruption, misfeasance and bullying totalitarian mentality in Japan's once sacrosanct bureaucracies. As a respected Western-trained psychiatrist and Establishment insider "gone bad", Miyamoto explains in telling detail how the Japanese system works to psychologically "castrate" both both the general public and the members of the Great Bodies that rule them.

In a wide range of essays, articles and speeches, he not only describes how and why this emasculation is carried out in Japan, he also skillfully correlates the consequences with local political events and social phenomena. In short, Dr. Miyamoto continues to make major contributions to the study of corporate anthroculture, and when the history is finally written, will doubtless be recognized as a true pioneer in the field.


EXCERPT: How do the bureaucrats manage to castrate the Japanese so effectively? The school system is the place where they conduct this process. In order to be a castrated individual one has to cultivate masochism, and this is why the concept of self-sacrifice has penetrated Japanese society to such depths. Self-sacrifice can be seen in such behavior as not taking a long vacation, a willingness to participate in unpaid overtime, the absence of a personal life and death from overwork.



Good evening ladies and gentlemen. This is my first opportunity to speak in England, and I am very excited about this experience. I have strong respect for the British for their ability to embrace change yet at the same time place importance on tradition. Japan also places importance on tradition, but one of the significant differences between Japan and England is that the Japanese psychological setting has not changed for at least the last 400 years. Let me be more concrete. Henry VIII distanced England from the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, which from a psychological point of view brought change to individuals. England, as a country, was able to become independent. Later, John Locke spread the philosophy of freedom, which had a strong political impact not only in Britain, but also on the formation of the American and French constitutions.

Individuals such as Henry VIII and John Locke who emphasized the importance of independence and freedom never appeared in Japan. On the contrary Japanese society, particularly for the last 400 years appreciated people who valued the status quo. Therefore it is fair to say that although Japanese society underwent significant changes in the last 100 years, they were only surface changes and the internal core retains its tradition of feudalism. 'The concept of freedom has never been a part of Japanese society.

I cannot tell you what one book does. "Straitjacket Society ", the book describing the Japanese bureaucracy has changed my life completely. Now I am asked to speak by many different organizations both in Japan and abroad, which I never expected three years ago when I first published this book. Through giving these speeches I have noticed something interesting, and that is that there is a significant gap between the places where I speak in Japan and the places where I in foreign countries. When I am invited to speak in Japan it is usually to small groups who are interested in changing Japanese society, yet they are on the fringe and so they have no power towards the bureaucracy. Yet in foreign countries I am often invited by major universities, research institutes or government organizations, where their opinion can easily be heard by the current administration. So the question is why is there such a big gap. It is because Japan as a system is ambivalent about embracing the concept of freedom.

In Japan, to be true to yourself, to be original, to be creative, to be independent is not perceived positively. In essence being free as an individual is a foreign idea for many Japanese.

30 years ago I was fascinated by the music of the Beatles. They revolutionized the world of POP music. The reason why their music has reached to that level was because of their originality; Richard Branson, the owner of the Virgin group, brought about a change. in the music and aviation industries. People can now fly with more comfort and less expense and purchase CD's for less money than before. What the Beatles and Richard Branson have in common is their ability to challenge the system.

When you think about Japan, is there any one individual or group who is equivalent. The answer is no, because the Japanese educational system discourages. people from challenging the preexisting order.

The topic of my speech today will focus on deregulation. Since deregulation is connected with challenging the existing order and more importantly, the concept of freedom, and the concept of freedom has been regulated under the Japanese educational system, what I would like to do is to point out the goals of the Ministry of Education and how this conflicts with deregulation.

Before going into the main subject I would briefly like to mention why I am here today speaking to you. In 1986 when I returned to Japan, I assumed the position of Deputy Director of Mental Health at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. For those of you not aware of my background, let me familiarize you with my battle with the Japanese bureaucracy.

It all started with my taking a two-week vacation to go to Europe three years after returning to Japan. This action was perceived as foreign, and in the beginning my superiors tried to talk me out of taking a long vacation. I refused to comply. Given that Japan is a hierarchical society with a kind of militaristic structure, not complying with my superiors gave them the impression that I was a rebellious misfit. However, my superiors and colleagues tried to rationalize my behavior by saying that I had been in America for too long. 'They tried to persuade me that since I was now back in Japan, I should alter my behavior and embrace the philosophy of sacrifice. I was also subtly threatened that if my behavior did not change, I would be subjected to a transfer to the Division of Quarantine, which is a dead end job for a career bureaucrat.

Two years after this vacation incident I wrote an article for Monthly Asahi, a magazine published by the Asahi newspaper company, about how difficult it is to take a vacation if you are inside the system. I never expected that this article would become a turning point in my life. The article received a positive response from readers, but the ministry's reaction was the exact opposite. When I showed a draft copy to my superiors, their response was, "Resign at once! Ask the newspaper company to stop printing!' After listening to my superiors' comments, I thought that their demands were a violation of freedom of expression, so I decided to put their comments together in an article for the following month's issue. Again I received a positive response from readers, so I was asked to write a series of articles. 'These were a clinical analysis of the psychology of the Japanese bureaucracy, and the major theme was the importance of freedom and individuality I began to receive both domestic and foreign media attention, including an interview with the independent and the BBC, and the more media attention I received, the greater the ministry's pressure on me to resign. The bureaucrats feared my thinking would be contagious, and they quarantined me as Director of Quarantine.

The publication of my first book in Japanese, which was published in English as 'Straitjacket Society" brought even greater tension with the ministry, because it revealed the bureaucrats' interpersonal exchange and daily lifestyle to non-Japanese. 'The modus vivendi of the Japanese bureaucracy is "see not, hear not and speak not" and I trampled on this taboo. If speaking the truth to the Japanese public brought shame, revealing these things to a foreign audience brought even greater shame.

Therefore, it was no surprise that the. Ministry of Health and Welfare was looking to got rid of me. They finally succeeded this past February after I went to Washington, D.C. to give a lecture at the National Press Club. I did not get permission to go abroad, and t ' he ministry used this technicality to fire me. But if I were to have told my superior, a staunch defender of bureaucratic tradition, that I was going to Washington to give a speech that was critical of the bureaucracy, permission would not have been granted.

It became apparent that my battle with the ministry, as the French newspaper liberation put it, is a fight between freedom and conformity. I agree with their assessment. However, the ministry stated that the reason they dismissed me was a matter of personality, not of principles, but if it was just a clash of personalities, there was no reason for the ministry to continue to pressure me after I was dismissed. There are many examples to illustrate my point, but since time is limited I am only going to describe one incident.

Last November I was asked to be the keynote speaker at a conference sponsored by the U.S. Library of Congress in April of this year, and I accepted. The Japanese bureaucracy expressed its concern to the organizers that "maybe Dr. Miyamoto is not the most appropriate speaker for this conference." They tried to have me removed as keynote speaker, and because of this pressure the Library of Congress almost canceled the conference.

This incident created an uproar to the extent that a U.S. congressman got involved and placed counter-pressure on the Library of Congress. The BBC also showed interest in this matter, and when a representative called the Library of Congress, the Library of Congress denied any pressure from the Japanese government and said the conference would be held as scheduled. But this was a lie because the BBC at that time had a document in hand which indicated that the conference might be canceled, that the Library of Congress was under great pressure.

This indicates that the bureaucracy is fearful of having the reality of Japan known to non-Japanese, and it is a sign that the system's existence is threatened.

'The bureaucracy is synonymous with regulations, therefore, deregulation would mean downsizing the bureaucracy. 8 years ago when I entered the Ministry of Health and Welfare, I was told by my superior that the most important thing as a bureaucrat was the maintenance of the system. Even if the position to which I was assigned was considered unnecessary, I was told that I should try my best to convince the budget department that my division was important. In other words you may have to come up with a good story, and if you can preserve the s stem, as a reward you will be promoted. What this means is that if you can come up with a justification for maintaining the system, even if it is a waste of taxpayers' money, it is okay to waste it.

'The word for deregulation in Japanese is "kisei kanwa". This is not the right translation. The right translation is "kisei teppai'. When you translate "kisei kanwa' into English it becomes relaxation of regulations. One might say that this is just a matter of translation, but since my profession is psychoanalysis, I place importance on details, and particularly the nuances of words. The question is raised why the translation is not deregulation but relaxation. I looked into the dictionary for the difference between "kanwa' and 'teppai". What became apparent is that "kanwa" or relaxation will maintain the present condition, whereas 'teppai" or deregulation brings a nuance of confrontation and dispute.

When you observe the communication pattern of Japanese society, you will recognize the ambiguity of yes and no. In fact you often will not hear "no". The reason behind this is because there is a belief in Japanese society that one should try to avoid any kind of dispute or confrontation. Perhaps one might say that this is the strongest belief of Japanese society.

Many of you are aware that the Japanese place importance on harmony. I myself respect harmony a great deal, but upon my return to Japan I noticed that what I think harmony is and what Japanese society perceives as harmony is quite different. In my mind the concept of harmony means an acceptance of differences, but when the Japanese talk about harmony it means a denial of differences and an embrace of sameness. Sameness in interpersonal relations means a reflection of the other, the basic concept of which derives from narcissism. When you want to attain harmony in Japan, people within the group must behave as if they were Narcissus staring at his reflection in the water. In the case of Narcissus' reflection a small ripple can destroy the reflection. For the Japanese, because the reflected image of sameness functions as a cohesive element for the group, even a small dispute or confrontation could shatter the narcissistic identification. This is the reason why Japanese society places such importance on harmony and why the Japanese do their utmost not to bring out aggression in interpersonal exchange, since aggression, just like the ripple, will destroy the reflected image. The Japanese are taught not to complain, to give up their desires and to communicate with ambiguity, all as a way to prevent ripples.

I do not want it to be thought that I advocate dispute, but when harmony becomes the final goal to the point that one has to close their eyes to reality or confrontation has to be avoided, then I think it is a problem since it means that the group can only function in a world of illusion. in order for society to change, confrontation and challenge are inevitable, which means that each individual must develop the capacity to deal with aggression.

When you took at the Japanese proclivity to avoid dispute, one could say that Japan as a system does not want to change. 'The Japanese want to stay in a world of reflected images, where the competitive principle or concept of freedom, which functions as a ripple, would not enter.

America and Japan have been trying to diminish their trade disputes, and for the last 20 years negotiations have been taking place, and with each negotiation statements have been given by both governments. I had an opportunity to read the statements of President Clinton and former Prime Minister Hosokawa in both Japanese and English. Theoretically the contents of the, statements should be the same. But I recognized that in the process of translation from English to Japanese nuances started to appear. When you read the English version of the statement you can feet a significant change will take place in the Japanese market, but when you read the Japanese version, substantial change will be left up to the bureaucrats. After all the statement was written by the bureaucrats and Mr. Hosokawa was merely the person who read . the statement in front of the TV cameras. I can we why trade negotiations hit a deadlock. In my assessment, for the last 20 years Japanese bureaucrats have been taking a protectionistic approach so major structural change, such as Japan becoming a free market, has not taken place. The bureaucrats function as a breakwater for the competitive principle and the concept of freedom.

When you analyze the words that Japanese bureaucrats use, there is a message given that as much as possible they want to keep the Japanese market closed to foreign competition. For the past nine years I was a part of the Japanese bureaucracy, and through this experience I have recognized how Japanese bureaucrats place importance on words and their nuances to prevent structural changes from taking place to keep Japan a state - first, people - second, society.

Let me give you an example to underline my point. When you hear Japanese bureaucrats saying the word positively, ardently, zealously, it means they will not do anything. For example, if a bureaucrat tells you we will seriously consider and zealously investigate the matter, nothing is going to happen. In other words the bureaucrats choose words so that they can manipulate the public, politicians and foreign governments. So let's go back to the words relaxation vs. deregulation. Using the word relaxation means that no significant change will take place in the Japanese market.

What is interesting about the Japanese bureaucrats is that when it comes to maintaining the system, their creativity is stimulated. Recently there was a demand from the public for deregulation, and the bureaucrats said they would make an effort for flexible enforcement of the regulations. But there is a trick in these words. Through the flexible enforcement of these regulations, in Japanese danryoku teki unyo, the regulations will not be abolished, and regulatory power will be retained in the hands of the bureaucrats.

Right now the Japanese bureaucracy is under pressure to restructure the organization, so they are trying to give a better image to the public by saying that they will be happy to be more flexible in the use of regulations. But suppose criticism subsides, things will revert back to the way they were. Furthermore, if the bureaucrats are determined to maintain the system they can come up with a defiant attitude saying that it is a policy not a regulation, and the public cannot argue since it is the bureaucrats who control Japan and right now nobody can dismiss them.

In Japan, although politicians are elected by the people, they are not the policy makers. 'The real policy makers are the bureaucrats. The major problem with this structure is that when people become unhappy with the bureaucrat's policy, since the politicians do not have power to dismiss the bureaucrats, no one can dismiss the bureaucrats.

I have come to recognize that through the analysis of the words relaxation and deregulation there is a significant difference in philosophy behind these two words. Deregulation fosters change, particularly fundamental social change, which will bring freedom to the Japanese people. And freedom will bring significant change to the system. On the other hand the philosophy behind relaxation is that bureaucrats can maintain a conformist environment.

When you took at the power structure of Japan, the bureaucrats hold more than 90% of the power. 'Therefore, the real purpose of deregulation is not just to relax the regulations, but to take away the bureaucrats' power in order to bring Japanese society in line with the democracy stated in the Japanese constitution. If deregulation takes place, people will live in a new environment that revolves around free competition. What this means is the downsizing of the bureaucracy. Furthermore, the concept of competitiveness, to which bureaucrats have an aversion, will spread throughout Japanese society. The major reason for the existence of the Japanese bureaucracy has been to protect the system. However, if the competitive principle is introduced into Japanese society, it will lead to the abolishment of protectionism, and the current bureaucracy will become obsolete. Japanese society will change and priority will be placed on people, not the system. This is the reason why the words "kisei teppai" or deregulation are not used.

It is important to recognize that the words "kisei kanwa" or relaxation are deceptive to both the Japanese and foreign businesses that want to enter the Japanese market. Relaxation will bring little change to society, but even relaxation faces resistance from the bureaucrats. So what happens if people start to use the words "kisei teppai,' the real meaning of deregulation? The degree of resistance will dramatically increase.

When the public demands freedom and uses the words "kisei teppai," the bureaucrats will no longer be able to hide behind ambiguity, and they will reveal that the system is more important than the people. The public must realize that the system can be manipulative and places more importance on itself than on the people. The best example of this is observed through the way people were victimized during W.W.II. Yet even with this devastating experience many Japanese have not developed the ability to question authority. Why do the Japanese behave so innocently towards authority? 'The answer is because the Japanese have been castrated psychologically through education.

Now let's focus on the Japanese educational system. Driving through the English countryside you see many sheep grazing on the hillside, which brings a feeling of peacefulness. This peacefulness is exactly what the bureaucrats want to obtain in Japanese society. But I want to emphasize that they want this peacefulness because their ideal image of the public is one where people are submissive and subservient. With such a group people are easy to control, and the system does not have to change. How do the bureaucrats manage to castrate the Japanese so effectively? The school system is the place where they conduct this process. In order to he a castrated individual one has to cultivate masochism, and this is why the concept of self-sacrifice has penetrated Japanese society to such depths. Self-sacrifice can be seen in such behavior as not taking a long vacation, a willingness to participate in unpaid overtime, the absence of a personal life and death from overwork. What self-sacrifice does to people is that because people, have a lack of free time, it becomes extremely difficult for them to accumulate knowledge. As Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power,' but the system prevents people from accumulating knowledge on their own, the kind of knowledge that has the capacity to lead to change.

This philosophy was clearly observed at a retirement party for one of my superiors. During his farewell address, he pointed out to the crowd that he had never taken any vacation days during his entire 25-year career. If he were to take all of his accumulated vacation days it would amount to two years off. It became very clear that he was proud of not having taken his vacation days, and most people listening to his speech admired his self-sacrificing ability. I myself thought he was crazy. I would like to point out that the philosophy of self-sacrifice is nothing new. Fifty years ago the same mentality led to the infamous kamikaze attacks.

When you remove the democratic cover of Japan you start to observe conformity, mercantilism and a communist-like society. But the Japanese socialistic and communist-like approach is a little different from the Soviet model. They try to communize ability. Let me explain. The Japanese educational system discourages creativity and originality. There is a famous saying that the nail that sticks out will be hammered down. People who are ordinary are given power to pull down those who have more ability than the others. Since this value prevails in Japanese society, it becomes extremely difficult for people to become creative or challenge the system. Envy is used as a powerful toot to castrate people who are talented.

Envy is a psychological energy. Beginning in the Edo period the Japanese government realized that condoning envy would preserve the system. To condone envy has been very effective since there is a limitation to one's psychological energy. If people are permitted to bring out their envy, it is very easy to lash out but at the same time they recognize they have to protect themselves from other people's envy. They end up using most of their energy to conform to the group's norms. People embrace the illusion that once they belong to the group their ability will be the same. This is where I view envy as a tool to psychologically castrate individuals. Through condoning envy, what happens is that people hide behind the image of sameness.

However, to reach the goal of communization of ability is not an easy task because the fact is that each human being is different. Ibis is where to teach that you look, think and act the same becomes important. This kind of sameness is clearly an illusion, so how can people embrace an illusion? Mind control is the answer, and the educational system plays a major role in this process. Once you belong to the educational system of Japan teachers reject the principle of individuality. What is frightening is that teachers are not aware that they are rejecting individuality. Despite molding students with conformity, they think that they are encouraging individuality. This means that mind control extends even to the teachers. Acknowledging individuality would permit the recognition that even if you are Japanese each individual can be different, and the illusion that the bureaucrats want the Japanese to maintain will be shattered. Let me illustrate how the Japanese educational system tries to discourage individuality.

One of my friends placed her child in kindergarten and the teacher instructed the mother that for lunch to bring steamed rice. She was confused with this instruction and asked the reason why. The teacher's response was, "If children bring fried rice or sandwiches some other child may want to have that, and it is not a good idea for children to feel they want something different. If everyone brings steamed rice then nobody is going to wish for something they cannot have.' Even at the age of four, the discouragement of individuality or the mind control of conformity begins. The message that the kindergarten gives to the child is that "we all eat the same food, take the same action and think the same." The idea of the communization of ability is drilled into you from early on in your life.

in order to achieve the goal of the communization of ability, in addition to mind control, to control the individual through regulations is very important. As all of you are aware, communist countries, such as the former Soviet Union, are countries of regulations. Although not to the same extent, the same principle applies to Japan. The Ministry of Education imposes regulations on schoolchildren, and the regulations increase as age increases. In other words, as the child goes through elementary school, junior high and senior high, the older they become, the tighter the school regulations. Universities are the only exceptions. There one is freed from regulations. However, by the time he reaches age 18, the Japanese child has become a perfect sheep. As sheep on the meadow are not concerned with freedom, to most university students in Japan, freedom as a concept is not important. One could say that Japanese universities are a place to finalize the goal of castration, and the proof of this is that critical thinking is not encouraged. Students are submissive and it is unusual for students to challenge their professors. When you took at this from the perspective of group psychology, which is based on narcissistic identification, since critical thinking will create a ripple it is understandable that professors do not encourage it. Japanese universities are a kind of oasis where few demands are made on the students.

There are many schools in Japan where the school regulations demand that boys have closely cropped hair. This regulation has a very strong psychological implication. One place I know where closely cropped hair is demanded is jail. Closely cropped hair is a sign of castration. Jail is obviously a place to be psychologically castrated. The Japanese educational system is obviously not a jail, however if one goes through this process, students will be behind invisible bars.

So what happens to the girls in terms of castration? As much as Japan as a system maintains the dogma that man is superior over woman, when it comes to psychological castration women receive equal treatment. For girls in junior or senior high the regulations range from hair length, skirt length, the number of pleats in their skirt, to the point that the color of their underwear is checked. Of course manicures or pierced ears are banned.

Psychologically speaking hair symbolizes power, and at the same time it is an expression of one's thoughts, emotions and conflicts. So there is a good reason for the Japanese school system to place importance on hair. For example, if a child, regardless of sex, has light colored or curly hair, he or she either has to dye their hair black or to have a straight perm, or to present a certificate from their parents that the condition of their hair is natural. Therefore, imposing regulations on hair has a significant implication for the process of psychological castration. As you may recognize, through hair, the educational system demands that students share the illusion that all Japanese are the same.

As I mentioned earlier, the goal of education is to castrate individuals and to make them obedient, yet this is a difficult goal to achieve. Therefore regulations extend beyond the school setting. The majority of Japanese junior and senior high schools have a regulation that students must wear uniforms. Some schools demand that students must ' wear their uniforms when they go out in public after school or on weekends. In addition, there is a regulation that even if students are thirsty on their way home from school, they cannot buy drinks from vending machines. They have to persevere with their thirst until they go back home. Many public and private schools in Japan observe a seasonal change in clothing, which has been set for June 1, for winter clothes to summer clothes, and October 1, for summer clothes to winter clothes. If either before or after these dates there is some significant temperature differences, if one feels either hot or cold, you cannot respond flexibly and wear the appropriate clothes. As you may recognize, uniforms are used as a way to teach perseverance and how to endure masochism, and to persevere together will unite the group. In Japan the uniform has been utilized as a toot for conformity. These are just a few examples, but you can find hundreds more school regulations to control students so that they do not have a chance to breathe the air of freedom.

The goal of castration is overseen by the Ministry of Education and their justification for this is that acknowledging individual differences will hurt the feelings of those students who do not have ability. 'The ministry thinks that it is preferable to avoid this kind of situation, and to place importance on being empathic with those children who are below average. The children with ability should persevere. I find this way of thinking to be strange since if you place importance on empathy, it is equally important to be empathic to those children who have ability. However, since castration is the goal, children who exhibit ability must suppress their talent. In fact, Japan is the only industrialized nation where people with ability or creativity become victims.

The problem with this kind of highly regulated educational environment is that students will not develop independence. 'The feeling of dependency will be perpetuated so that they will not move away from childlike grandiosity and students' pride will be inflated to an unrealistic level. So what happens is that students who receive a Japanese education place the most importance on not getting hurt. Self-protection becomes the major goal in their life. What fragile pride does to individuals is to prevent them from taking an action. From the bureaucrats' perspective, for Japan to be filled with this kind of individual is a plus because the bureaucratic goal of maintaining the status quo will be achieved.

Placing importance on the status quo can be observed through Japanese education where challenge is not valued. What is emphasized is memorization. When people go through the process of castration, their feelings become anesthetized, and although they may be able to recognize problems, they are unable to complain. So even if people are frustrated they cannot take any action. Furthermore, it becomes extremely difficult to encourage creativity or enrich one's individual potential.

One of the significant differences between Japan and the West is that art is not a part of everyday life for the Japanese. Some of you may argue that there is art in Japan, but it is not art that has the potential to change one's thinking or challenge the established order. Noh, kabuki and the tea ceremony are all art, but art that supports the current system, and it is only such art that can be a part of Japanese daily life. This indicates that there is a strong psychological castration within Japanese society. From a psychoanalytic point of view, what castration in education does to people is that their identity integration cannot mature, which makes it very difficult for people to control their impulses such as aggression. It is a well known fact that there is an ambiguity in Japanese yes and no, and this is connected to the fact that the Japanese have not developed a mature capacity to control their impulses. If people are confronted with no, it is inevitable that they will have a wish to fight back or to protect their opinion. In order to do this intelligently, one has to develop a capacity to debate issues in a logical manner. But in order to have this ability one has to have a capacity to regulate one's impulses.

When castration continues to be the goal of education, if people face competition, their dependency will be stimulated and they will develop anxiety. When people face competitiveness they try to remove themselves from the competitive environment and look for someone who can protect them. Therefore, the educational goal of castration further reinforces the bureaucracy. The system is astonishing in having successfully manipulated the psychology of people to control them, thereby preserving the system.

To be castrated is to be enslaved, and so far the Japanese have been enslaved under the system of Japan. I do not believe in what Plato talks about in his book "The Republic" where value is placed on totalitarianism. But I do think that the parable of the cave resembles the issue of freedom and regulation in Japanese society. Prisoners chained inside a cave are only permitted to see the shadows of objects on a wall. They inhabit a world of illusion. They are not allowed to turn their heads and see the source of light, or reality.

What happens if all of a sudden the prisoners are given freedom, and they can finally see the light? It will bring shock and distress. Reality will be too painful and they will wish to return to the cave.

Freedom demands responsibility. As Erich Fromm described in his book "Escape from Freedom," deep inside people's hearts there exists a tendency to escape from freedom and become blindly obedient to power. 'The Japanese bureaucracy has successfully manipulated this element through education, and does not allow the Japanese to develop the capacity to stand on their own two feet, which is why they are obedient and submissive to the bureaucracy. There is irony in the Japanese bureaucracy in that the system so effectively traps people in the cave, but at the same time enslaves the bureaucrats. In fact one could say that the bureaucrats are the biggest victims of all.

It is about time for the bureaucracy to accept the brightness of the light. Introducing perfunctory deregulation means going back into the cave. But this is not the answer. The answer is, as painful as it may be, the bureaucracy must accept the need for restructuring the system of Japan. There is only one way to restructure and that is deregulation, "kisei teppai," not 'kisei kanwa".

What will be demanded of Japanese society is for the Japanese people to liberate themselves from the psychological castration imposed by the bureaucracy. Therefore, instead of the bureaucrats controlling people, the people will develop a capacity to control themselves. After all the bureaucracy is there to enrich the lives of the people. The people do not exist to maintain the bureaucracy.

Thank you very much.


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