Japanese Politicians Worn Down by Overwhelming Helplessness

* This article was written as of January 30, 2020.

Since the war, Japan has consistently been a client state of the United States, and this remains true today. In exchange for depending entirely on the US militarily, Japan can be said to practise a kind of tributary diplomacy, handing over national interests of every kind.

Recently, following American demands, it has dismantled the postal service and agricultural cooperatives to the benefit of American insurers and seed companies, signed a Japan–US trade agreement that threatens Japanese industry, bought expensive missile-defence systems of limited use against nuclear threats from China, North Korea and Russia, and — despite 30 years of deflation — pursued austerity led by the Ministry of Finance (and, by extension, Wall Street).

Now Currying Favour with China, Too

Not content with that, it now seems ready to offer national interests to China as well: a Japan–China currency swap agreement, preparations to welcome Xi Jinping on a state visit, and media coverage that bends over backwards to accommodate China. Chinese government vessels approach the Senkaku Islands almost daily, practically unchallenged. Japan seems to have completely lost the will to stand on its own.

And the Japanese People Who Support Such Politicians

What is more, even after the consumption tax was raised to 10% and the economy took a hit comparable to the Lehman shock, the public kept supporting the Abe administration. For many Japanese, whether something is true or false no longer seems to matter; only immediate gain counts, and they have given up thinking deeply about politics. I believe a certain psychological condition lies behind this.

Learned Helplessness

The Japanese people as a whole can be said to suffer from learned helplessness. In other words, it is no exaggeration to say that everyone — politicians, bureaucrats and citizens — is worn down by overwhelming helplessness.

Simply put, learned helplessness is when, after prolonged and severe stress, people stop even trying to escape their situation. The story of the baby elephant chained to a post is a good illustration. A harsher example is a bullied student who never resists, simply enduring in silence and apathy.

This mirrors how politicians and bureaucrats silently accept American demands without resistance, and how politicians at home accept the Ministry of Finance's demands. And the Japanese public, however strange the politics or however many lies they are told, raise no voice and tacitly accept whatever politicians do. Even Japan itself seems to matter less and less to many people.

Can the Japanese Stand Up?

One could say the Japanese people are in a terminal state of mind. If this continues, all kinds of beautiful things in Japan may be dismantled and pass into foreign hands — the feelings, traditions and culture our ancestors protected for generations, the beauty of the Japanese spirit, our history — and Japan could end up as little more than a dependency of China.

It is becoming hard to change Japan's situation through the ordinary democratic process. Perhaps it will take nothing less than a shocking incident, such as an act of terrorism or a coup, to jolt the Japanese awake.

January 30, 2020 — sandragon965

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