National Interest, Reputation, and Economic Development in an ‘Infant’ Country: The Japanese Response to Western Criticisms

Chapter 4 analyses the Japanese response to the criticisms made against Japan. It shows that the majority of Japanese appear to have accepted that the Westerners’ criticisms had a strong basis in fact, and acknowledged that even though the bad behaviour might only characterise a small minority, it could nevertheless be highly damaging to Japan’s international reputation. It was, therefore, in the national interest to address the problem. Measures including the expansion of commercial education, legislative change, and business missions were taken with a view to improving the behaviour of Japanese commercial actors and the country’s reputation. Most Japanese recognised that at least for the time being Japan had to play according to rules dictated by the West, and also subscribed to the assumption that commercial morality would improve as Japan moved towards industrialisation and ‘civilisation’. There was ongoing concern, however, about Japan being considered inferior in this respect to countries such as China.