# Japan was the future but it’s stuck in the past
source: https://ift.tt/UpPW5gY tags: #literature #geography #culture #japan uid: 202302201753 —
Think of Japan’s sleek bullet trains, or Toyota’s “just-in-time” marvel of assembly-line manufacturing system - and you could be forgiven for thinking Japan is a poster child for efficiency. It is not.
Rather the bureaucracy can be terrifying, while huge amounts of public money are spent on activities of dubious utility.
The geeks and oddballs love it for its wonderful weirdness. But it also has alt-right admirers for refusing immigration and maintaining the patriarchy. It is often described as a country that has successfully become modern without abandoning the ancient. There is some truth to this, but I’d argue the modern is more a veneer.
Thesis
When Covid struck Japan closed its borders. Even permanent foreign residents were excluded from returning. I called up the foreign ministry to ask why foreigners who’d spent decades in Japan, had homes and businesses here, were being treated like tourists. The response was blunt: “they are all foreigners.”
A hundred and fifty years after it was forced to open its doors, Japan is still sceptical, even fearful of the outside world.
pork-barrel politics
#definitions 202301222018