A few weeks ago (Oct 16), the increasingly irrelevant and soon-to-be-an-afterthought like the rest of the dead-tree press New York Times published yet another controversial Japan article by the unflappable Martin Fackler.
On first read, without even looking into the data Fackler and the Times provided, it smelt of overkill and predictably included required specialized Japan story jargon such as "Godzilla." It has been analyzed and criticized quite a bit* by folk who know a hell of a lot more about that floating world known as economics than I.
But those critics are most likely clueless. After all, the NYT has fact checkers who would not allow inaccurate and/or overwrought nonsense through in anything other than an editorial.
In answer to these whining nitpickers who "object to exaggeration" especially in the publication that they believe to be "the last bastion of reliable journalism" (giggle-giggle Fackler's NYT?) , the Public Editor(s) published a response. Apparently, the biggest problem was the use of the word Godzilla, and calling Japan an "afterthought." Other than that it was all hunky-dory, I guess.**
The Regional Editor for East Asia, Kyle Crichton (no known relation to the Japan expert Michael Crichton***), agrees that Japan is an "afterthought" because the "Japanese economy is no longer a source of anxiety in Washington or anywhere else." Compare that to the 80s when Godzilla was buying up the US and you will understand like Kyle does.
Hmmm. Regional Editor for East Asia. (Note to self: Disregard all NYT reports from East Asia.)
Another Public Editor for the Times, Arthur S. Brisbane, acknowledged the problem Fackler faced of how to "bring alive" Japan's economic decline for a "wide audience." Since Martin was for some unknown reason unable to include homeless ninja in the article to bring it alive for the masses, he was left with Godzilla and selected interviews with ordinary people. The story was a tremendous success according to Art, for it was a page one story in the paper version and reached the top of the most e-mailed list. Wonderful!!!! Congatulations!!!! That is certainly more important than accuracy when one talks about success for the New York Times!!!! Whooo Hooooo! You go Gray Lady!!!
I feel for these guys. I remember the good old days, just 12 or so years ago when newspapers did not have to take time out to respond to riffraff. Back in those days, they never had to admit any weaknesses at all, except for an incorrect address or misspelled name. A simple "We stand by our story" was all that was required, no matter how obviously flawed, absurd, or insane.
Oh, the name of the article? Carrying the Facts too Far. What does that mean I wonder? How can you carry facts too far if they are facts? Is that sort of like exaggeration? And isn't an exaggeration sorta like inaccurate or even untrue to some degree? No problem, it is a Japan story after all.
*A check of NBR's Japan Forum (link in Japan Links) will give a taste.
**So as not be accused of carrying the facts too far, I have to say that they were responding to a reader who complained about the use of those terms and who had expected "at least a passing resemblance to the truth."
***Sorry, that was uncalled for. A cheap shot. Very childish of me.
1055PM: Edited
Thursday, October 28, 2010
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I think the article is more about Western perceptions of Japan (and what the story we believe to be true about Japan portends for us). The phrase 'from Godzilla to an afterthought' is not quantifiable, and therefore cannot be a FACT that is verifiable, or not.
ReplyDeleteI live in Detroit, and I remember the hysteria about the looming power of fearsome Japan. Racism ran high, to the extent that a Chinese man was mistaken for Japanese by some auto workers, and beaten to death.
Now, Japan is no longer on peoples' lips. Of course it's CHINA, CHINA, CHINA, CHINA.
So, of course Japan remains a huge economy and global power. But, to the man on the street (and, I'll grant you, fed by the echo chamber of the media, blogs, politicians, and conversation), Japan is indeed and afterthought.
Not sure what my point was above - lol. But I'm sure there's a thought buried in there.
ReplyDeleteWanted to add - not sure if people outside the US are aware, but Detroit has been getting TONS of press lately. From Time, NY Times, etc. etc. And, just as they do with Japan - such august papers as the Times tell the same old trite story again, and again and again. They interview all the same people that all the other media interviews, take the same pictures, and fly back home before sundown. The recent 'story' of Detroit in the national press lately is highly one-dimensional, and often seen by locals to be pretty unrepresentative of what's actually going on.
I'm sure locals from the world over can make this complaint about how their city / country is represented in the media.
I suspect that the loss of thousands of local papers and bureaus has a lot to do with that.
The consensus from the twitterati seems to be that though Fackler was talking out his backside, drawing conclusions from spurious data and absurd examples, the basic thesis - that Japan is not what it was and the Japanese are resigned to gradual decline - seems sound. But speaking as a subject of a formerly great, now languishing world power, may I just say that "decline" is not the same thing as "demise". It just feels like it sometimes.
ReplyDeleteDammit, D., Our Man was trying to stay off the internet to write his novel, but you sucked me back in.
BTW, should you find yourself at a loose end some Saturday night and fancy getting into hot water in Abiko, drop me a line.
I second Our Man in Abiko.
ReplyDeleteJapan has a fair ways to fall before it is down and out, though I must say that the visible signs of poverty have increased dramatically since my first stay in 1979. And even without the post-Bubble hollowing, much of the perceived strengths and superiorities of "Japan Inc." were simply a matter of unique historical timing not unlike America's post-war economic dominance - no nation remains No.1 or even No.2 forever. And the U.S., in spite of the numbers, is looking like number two more and more all the time. But I'm not convinced yet that China, though now the second largest economy in terms of GDP, will ever rise into even the top 20 in per capita GDP, which is, of course, a more meaningful measure of national wealth.
Anon:
ReplyDeleteI also think that to a large degree the article was about Western---esp US perceptions of Japan. The 80s Japan threat was blown all out of proportion (Japan was going to take over the world economy by destroying the economy of its biggest customer) just as I believe Fackler's article exaggerated the situation now.
I spent a few years in Japan just after the bubble burst, but before anyone really felt it. Lot's of older Japanese felt then that Japan could not hold its position and would soon drop back into mediocrity. At the same time the Clinton/Bush/Perot campaign was in full swing with Clinton rattling on about "the worst economy since the Great Depression." All I heard here was about the end of the "American Dream" whatever that is. Turned out not to be true.
Don't know what my point is either, but things ain't as bad as the article made it seem. Many of Facklers statistics are incorrect, and in at least one case he uses data from a source to support a conclusion the opposite of what the original data was used to support. The fact that Japan has become an "afterthought" might mean things have returned to normal since in the US most foreign countries in which we are not at war with are afterthoughts. (Japan? Is that the capitol of Taiwan?)
No doubt at all that folks complain about how their area---or anything they know well---is represented in the media. Right now, if I watch US news reports on the US economy, and the political movements there, I have to conclude that Japan is much better off economically, and has fewer lunatics in politics. I do suspect, however, that I am not getting a full, accurate picture of what things are really like there.
By the way, you mentioned you are in Detroit. Never been there, but from media reports that I have seen, I must assume you posted your comment from the back seat of a broken down Rambler sheltered in a decaying, abandoned factory. :)
Our Man: Yep. Know lots of folks who have that gloomy impression about Japan, but also know some who are more positive, and more who seem not to care one way or another.
I suspect that if the worst Japan does is decline to the level of a certain formerly great, but now languishing world power, it will be just fine.
I was actually invited to Abiko recently. Was going to go until I discovered that the cycling part included renting bikes to ride around some lake up there before going to an onsen. Wobbling around on a mama-chari did not fit my self-image as an "elite" cyclist, so I excused my way out. That might mean I'll have to take a trip up there some cold evening this winter...
Exactly, Jeffery. We are taking a unique period in history and holding Japan to that standard today. And I share your doubts about China.
ReplyDeleteD said:
ReplyDelete"Right now, if I watch US news reports on the US economy, and the political movements there, I have to conclude that Japan is much better off economically, and has fewer lunatics in politics. I do suspect, however, that I am not getting a full, accurate picture of what things are really like there."
My first summer in Japan was 1979, before the Iranian hostage crisis but smack in the middle of the second oil embargo. Carter also shook up his cabinet that summer. Being the pre-Internet days, my sources of news about the U.S. while I was away were Time, Newsweek and the Japan Times. Between the three, I was sure that I would be returning to a U.S. on the verge of implosion.
It's interesting that though we now live in such a "connected" world, reports from afar are often little better that they were 30 years ago. In fact, while it is more difficult to hide bad news, we now have something of a Rashamon effect - information, because of so many options, gives us a mosaic rather than a sharper image. Where are those damn gate keepers when you need them?
BTW, while we have fewer former athletes and entertainers in politics here, we have way more lunatics.
D said...
ReplyDeleteBy the way, you mentioned you are in Detroit. Never been there, but from media reports that I have seen, I must assume you posted your comment from the back seat of a broken down Rambler sheltered in a decaying, abandoned factory. :)
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Ha ha. No, but, erm, I am posting from my husbands PC since someone recently broke into our house through our downstairs neighbors' screen (while we were THERE! Sleeping!) and stole my laptop, among other things, such as the 75 cents change in my wallet, and my neighbor's potato chips (the thief left the empty bag in the backyard, along with my camp stove they changed their mind about.) Ha!
But, yeah, the reporting is pretty awful in general. And it's easy to be really credulous when it's a topic you're not familiar with. I originally read that Japan article quickly, took it at face value, and didn't question it, until I came cross your blog on it days later.
"...while we have fewer former athletes and entertainers in politics here, we have way more lunatics."
ReplyDeleteI was afraid of that...
"And it's easy to be really credulous when it's a topic you're not familiar with."
Which kinda makes it hard to believe anything. I hope the reporting on our wars is better than much of the stuff on Japan.