The Call of Japan: A Continuing Story-1950 to the Present Day 9781912961153

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THE CALL OF JAPAN

Hans Brinckmann, Autumn 2019

The Call of Japan A Continuing Story –

1950 to the Present Day Ç

By

Hans Brinckmann

THE CALL OF JAPAN A CONTINUING STORY – 1950 TO THE PRESENT DAY

First published 2020 by RENAISSANCE BOOKS P O Box 219 Folkestone Kent CT20 2WP Renaissance Books is an imprint of Global Books Ltd ISBN 978-1-912961-14-6 [Hardback] ISBN 978-1-912961-15-3 [eBook] © Hans Brinckmann 2020 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Set in Garamond 11 on 12.0 pt by Dataworks Printed and bound in England by CPI Antony Rowe Ltd., Chippenham, Wilts

Contents Ç

Preface Acknowledgements Introduction

xi xv xvii Part I

The Wooing (1950-1958) 1950 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Now You Love It… Should We Trust Our First Impressions? The Emperor and the General The Old Tokaido Line to Osaka Of Hot Baths and Fragrant Tea The Halfway-up Bank A Rhythmic Neighbourhood and the Broken White Soldiers The Midnight Whistle

1 2 6 8 10 12 14 17

1951 9 Work, Leisure, Home Life 10 The Floating World 11 Through a Paper Screen Darkly

19 22 25

1952 12 Punishment for Going Missing

31

1953 13 A Well-oiled Little Cogwheel 14 Those Restless Bones

36 41

1954 15 Joining the Kantomon 16 Upstairs/Downstairs in the Japanese Economy 17 A Tale of Two Cultures

47 51 54

v

vi

THE CALL OF JAPAN

1955 18 How to Fish and How to Say Goodbye

56

1956 19 Back in Holland… 20 A Fresh Start: Osaka

59 61

1957 21 22 23 24

65 67 73 75

The Teachings of IJsbrand Kyoto and the Magatama Attitude Another Way of Seeing More Kyoto Adventures

1958 25 Osaka Realities 26 Escapes and Escapades 27 Casting the Die

79 82 86 Part II

The Winning (1959-1966) 1959 1 2 3 4

Dark Rumblings Beneath a Pristine New Year An Orderly Wedding – and a Honeymoon of Sorts A Witch in the House Shifting Sands

1960 5 A Narrow Escape 6 Political Turmoil in Tokyo – and an ‘Economic’ Response

93 102 105 109 115 117

1961 7 ‘Getting to Know You…’ or What Went on in the Hot-springs

122

1962 8 Crisis Management (by the Seat of the Pants) 9 The Foul Smell of Success, and the Need for Faith 10 Capital Living

126 128 131

CONTENTS

vii

1963  7KH/RRPLQJ2O\PSLFV«DQGWKH2YHUÁRZLQJ&XS 12 The Seamy Side: Defeating the Yakuza

 139

1964 13 Nothing Changes, Except Everything Else 14 ‘See No Evil…’

141 146

1965 15 A Superior Society? 16 Chameleon Man

153 157

1966 17 A Thoroughly Ordinary Year

163

Part III The Waning (1967-1974) 1967 1 2 3 4

Beyond the Social Whirl Pornographic Chic The Seven Generations Curse: A Case History Falling Scales

165 168 173 175

1968 5 A Great and Alien Land 6 Kafka’s Ape and a Tower in the Air

180 184

1969 7 Amae or How to Have it Both Ways

186

1970  7KH*URZLQJ&RQÁLFW 9 Business as Usual 10 A Beautiful Death?

 192 196

1971 11 ‘Go Placidly Among the Noise and Haste…’

199

1972 12 Nixon in China and the Tanaka Phenomenon

202

viii

THE CALL OF JAPAN

1973 13 14 15 16

The Art of Evasion Decision Time The Good and the Bad: An Assessment (1973) An Unlikely Story

1974 17 Creeping Doubts 18 Trailing Roots

207 210 214 216 221 224

Part IV The View From Abroad (1974-2002) 1

Preamble

227

1974 2 Ageing Albion

229

1975 3 Pessimistic Nippon

230

1976 4 Back to Banking - in Curaçao…

232

1977 5 A Business TULSWR-DSDQDQG7ŇIXNXMLRevisited

235

1978 6 Japan Again - and Remembering the Departed

236

1979 7 The Final Months in Curaçao - and the Move to Holland

239

1981 8 Japan’s Lengthening Reach - and a New Start for Me

240

1982 9 AMRO’s NewYork Branch Opened - but Japan Still a Factor

241

CONTENTS

ix

1983 10 Walking the Bride Down the Aisle…

242

1984 11 Pulled Between Two Cities…

243

1985 12 U.S. Banks Upset by Japan’s Market Aggression 13 Last Rites for a Lady

244 246

1986 14 An AMRO Tokyo Conference - and Special “Service” at a Restaurant 15 A Memorial Service in Nagoya

247 249

1988 16 Goodbye to Banking - and Japan’s Bubble Economy

250

1989 17 The End of the Showa Era - and the Fall of the Wall

250

1990-1998 18 The Restless Years

254

1999-2003 19 In London - but Focusing on Japan

258

Part V Back on Familiar Soil (2003 to the Present) Preamble 1 The Difference 70 years make 2 Japan’s Fundamental Problems and Vulnerabilities (a) Lack of Natural Resources (b) Frequency of Earthquakes and other Calamities (c) Declining Population (d) Troubled Relations with its Neighbours (e) Lack of Decisiveness in Addressing Fundamental Problems

263 264 273 273 275 280 281 282

x

THE CALL OF JAPAN

3 4

My late Wife’s Unique Personality An Overview of my Writings and other Activities (a) My Writings (b) Photography 5 What We Can Learn from Japan Afterword

283 294 294 297 299 302

Glossary Index

303 307

Preface Ç

WHEN THE ORIGINAL shorter version of this book ZDVÀUVWSXEOLVKHGLQ 2005, in both English and Japanese, it met a surprisingly enthusiastic reception. Reviewers in many newspapers and magazines in both languages gave it high marks, as did readers in person and online. 6DLVKŇ+D]XNLDZHOONQRZQQRQÀFWLRQZULWHULQDUHYLHZLQWKH Asahi Shimbun MXGJHG WKH DXWKRU·V ´WKRXJKWV RQ -DSDQ«PRUH FRQvincing than those of any other commentator.” In another review, in the literary magazine Misuzu, she called it “a great book.” The VRFLRHFRORJLVW 0RULQRVDWR