Historical Trends, Case Study Example

The suggestion that historical trends that are assumed to move in similar directions everywhere, merely on the basis of how they moved in the West can be very misleading as demonstrated in the author’s article, Top ten things to know about Japan in the late 1900. It was assumed that social reforms and equality would flourish in post-war Japan given the increased influence of the Western culture. While change has occurred due to that very influence, the changes made have also remained rooted in the Japanese culture. As the author states, “modern Japan is a variant of a pattern of modernity”. While Japan includes “a capitalistic economy, a democratic politics based on representative parliamentary government, a large middle class as the social basis for both capitalism and democracy, and active engagement in global relations of power”, each has its own distinctly Japanese flavor rather than a Western milieu.

A capitalistic economy operates in a different manner based on a variety of factors, such as the “historical ecology of its surroundings”. The author points out that the American view of what capitalism is supposed to look like is not what the Japanese have. Instead, they have what is referred to as “moderated capitalism”, which involves a significant amount of government involvement in the private sector. When examined, however, it is shown that capitalism is operated differently in different places, and as such it is possible that national comparisons rather than western comparisons may more accurately depict capitalism in general. The Japanese have retained some of their original views within a capitalistic economy, rather than modeling exclusively on the western cultural influence.

Japan has a “democratic politics based on representative parliamentary government, as well as a large middle class as the social basis for both capitalism and democracy”. As far as social reforms and equality, capitalism and democracy are two of the most obvious areas to analyze in terms of change. While they may be the most obvious, they can also be the most deceptive. For example, nearly ninety eight percent of Japanese consider themselves to be middle class. Obviously, the entire culture could not be middle class, which indicates one issue with the democratic process in Japan as it relates to the western culture.  The underlying theme of all social reforms and equality in Japan appears to hinge upon social rather than political relationships and actions. This is in strong opposition to western cultural views of the same.

Social Empowerment as a worldwide trend was assumed to benefit the Japanese culture by revealing the Japanese differences and forcing change through empowerment of the people. While the Japanese people as a whole have benefited from this movement of empowerment in some ways, other issues have arisen from this very same area as a result. Issues such as “the current case of the falling birth rate”, where women have been so empowered that they are refusing to marry and bear children, could prove to be detrimental to the Japanese culture in the long run. While these, and other issues, are more at the extreme end of things, the actual pace of change varies and sometimes this change has profound effects.

As Japan “re-orients” itself towards the world, the worldwide trend of “social empowerment”, combined with the changes that social reforms and equality bring, will continue to bring forth gradual changes to the ever-changing but very Japanese culture within Japan. Despite the models of the western world, Japan will change, but at its own pace and in its own manner.