Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Trump says hasn't 'talked about' halting military aid to Ukraine yet
Simon Harris wants to remove the 'Triple Lock' - but what is it and what could replace it?
Tributes paid to woman who died after being hit by SUV while jogging in Tralee, Co Kerry
Japanese PM Yoshihiko Noda, centre front row, with his reshuffled Cabinet on 4 June. AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi
Opinion
Column How Japanese people interact with their state is the inverse of the Irish
Mark Boyle, an Irishman in Japan, says his home country and his adopted one have polar attitudes to government – and neither have been served well by their approach…
AT THE START of this month, Japan went through a process that in most other democratic nations is deemed of massive importance and cause for rigorous discussion and analysis by news media and some, more or less interest from the person on the street.
The first cabinet reshuffle of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda floated by without any of these things and in truth the whole exercise was little more than the J-PM’s attempt at consolidating party support for a modest tax hike in the coming months.
This simple political act is an opportunity to frame some of the things that set Japan apart other countries and in this observers opinion contrasts it closely with an Ireland that is suffering from the fallout of our own innocent national proclivities.
Cabinet reappointments of a government are often a way for a ruling party or coalition to revive flagging public faith perhaps tainted by failings of the past. In truth it rarely has the drama of an election but does at least often provide some topics of news for a week or so.
However in this ever-confusing part of Asia, the news was met with little more than a nod to the newcomers, a lot of solemn bowing and the click of the closing door as several career politicians marched back into relative obscurity.
I have made Japan my home for the better part of two years now and it surprises me not at all to see as much interest on the BBC website in this activity as I do amongst my co-workers and in the local media.
To understand the Japanese apathy to democratic politics it is important to remember two things. The first of these is that unlike so many countries that had to claw at each individual modicum of self-determination from a foreign colonial power, Japan has never had to fight for its democracy.
Japan had democracy forced upon it by the crushing defeat meted out on it by the Allied forces in World War II.
“Japanese people retain a certain submissiveness to authority”
Only after the complete capitulation of the country proceeding from the nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were Japan at the mercy of the American architects who guided the drafting of the new Japanese constitution. The main aims of the victors were twofold, to prevent further aggression by limiting the power of the emperor and encouraging stability by allowing the emperor to remain as a figurehead but moving legislative power gradually to the democratically-elected parliament.
The second thing to remember is that although Japan is undoubtedly a democracy, due to a whole raft of deep seated cultural and historical reasons, Japanese people retain a certain submissiveness to authority.
This is visible across the culture in myriad different examples, where seniority and authority command levels of loyalty and submission that would be deemed insulting and perhaps unhealthy in Ireland. Taking an example from my own subjective observation, the mothers of children who are in the same soccer club will be served tea by mothers of children who are the most recent additions to the team. It is simply the “done” thing.
For the vast majority of Japan’s democratic life it has been tethered to the fortunes of the Liberal Democratic Party who were in the majority in Japan’s Diet from 1955 up until very recently. Why would one party continue to be voted back in election after election regardless of policy successes and failures? Well people in Japan tend to believe what they are told and governments tend to tell people what they want them to hear ergo… over fifty years of almost uninterrupted control for the LDP.
Advertisement
“How Japanese people interact with their state is the inverse of the Irish”
However this figure is confusing as it does not show the revolving door that has left the average tenure of a Japanese PM at a meagre two years.
The real story is that the constant changing of faces and cabinets diluted the power of those in the public eye never leaving them in power long enough to influence policy. In this situation it was backroom party powerbrokers who held the real power and still largely do to this day.
In 2009 when the LDP were swept from power and replaced by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) it was seen as a seismic shift in Japanese politics.
The shift was never more than superficial and now Japan is having to fight against the old cronyism of the past to try and push through financial reforms for the future. It may be shown to be too little too late.
It is here that the magnifying glass turns into a mirror. For a time now I have been percolating the idea that how Japanese people interact with their state is the inverse of us Irish.
Let’s take a look at the evidence. Japan is an ageing population, with a strong manufacturing base which venerates obedience and a reserved nature. Ireland has a high birth rate almost no heavy industry and currently these guys are national heroes (although, to be fair, they made €20,000 for charity out of it later):
Both Japan and Ireland have financial problems with Japan’s debt to GDP ratio the worst in the world at well over 200 per cent. The attitude to these problems is once again where the two nations diverge.
Japan almost never talks about debt and spends lavishly on public works, military hardware, community services and education. A Canadian friend of mine watching RTE’s Spain versus Ireland coverage couldn’t understand why Eamon Dunphy couldn’t even talk about the fans without a quick nod to the financial crisis.
For years we have been ruled by our friendly nature and adversity to the stuffiness of officialdom, the electorate and TDs alike appointing people based not on their fitness for the role but on how much they were liked. Japan has appointed those already perceived to hold the reins and responsibility of power. Neither electorate have been served well.
As in all things, the best strategy is everything in moderation. The Japanese do not approach things the same way as us and in many cases their strategies and problems seem as flawed as our own. But taking a glimpse at the far extreme from ourselves perhaps tells us a little something about how off of centre we really are.
Mark Boyle is currently working with the Japanese Exchange and Teaching program, teaching English in rural Japan.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
@Motherofthree: Waiting since the beginning of April for my Ryanair refund but Aer Lingus seem to be getting a free pass for a similar offence against their customers.
@Football in the Groin: ya I’m the same, been waiting since the beginning of April, and all I’m wanting is the voucher as I know I have to travel with them again. Good to know I’m not the only one waiting. Has anyone actually heard anything from aerlingus since original contact made?.
@Motherofthree: Ian still waiting since April €1300 rang them a number of time on hold for 27 mins to be told its be locked into. Not never told when iam getting it.its tomevto drive out to the head office in dublin airport.
If you can, open a transaction dispute with your bank. I highlighted how I never received the goods I paid for and how Ryanair failed to refund multiple times in the times they quoted. It took just under 3 weeks, but much faster than waiting for Ryanair.
@Richard: just pray that you dont use the same bank as Ryanair. You can already see the conversion, “you start this charge back stuff and I will move my billions”.
@Richard: I’ve done this asked for a charge back on my card, as Ryanair are in Breach of the contract we had, by failing to deliver on their part, I asked for a charge back and got it within 2 weeks, and just so people are aware, this is not fraud as previously stated by a Ryanair employee, you are entitled to your refund and it’s faster with your credit card company or bank, and you can’t get black listed by Ryanair either.
@Nigel o’Neill: exactly Nigel! And the other thing I was thinking when reading this article. Why is there nothing like Which? in Ireland to conduct research on the Irish consumer base. Why are there no experts on IrelandAM every week guiding Irish consumers on what to do? Where is the outrage over this? So frustrating!
Backlog could be largely wiped out by one stroke of Ryanair Mick’s very sharp pencil by offering a voucher for already cancelled flight plus a 50%-off voucher for a second flight at a future date of his firm’s choosing.
With its excellent yield management business model, this shouldn’t be too taxing to plan for the nation’s largest airline.
To get a refund download chargeback form from your bank website,follow instructions and sit back and wait approx 2-3weeks for money to arrive back in your account. It worked for me!! Happy out. Works for debit card also.
You can raise a chargeback with your bank/card provider if the airline is dragging thier feet when it comes to processing a refund , gather all the emails pertaining to your booking and contact your bank requesting a charge-back for the transaction.
its a simple process , the merchant has a number of days to revert back to the bank/card provder in most cases you will get your money back .
well there’s a suprize wake up people you are using this kip of an air line and expect to be treated better , the man is a loon and expects to start flying in july not a cold day in hell would I fly with them you get what you pay for
Liz
@Elizabeth Eccles: It’s all airlines. The travel industry is short on cash if they refund everyone at the same time they will go bust so it will take months to refund everyone.
@Elizabeth Eccles: actually it’s not a kip of an airline. Its cheap n cheerful. I have to travel frequently to England and I couldn’t do it as often with any other airline. I’m damn grateful for it.
They gave people the option to change flights. I couldn’t change mine as I had checked in. Spent 4 days trying to get through to them over the home, social, email. I’d better get my money back. Absolute disgrace
I’m shocked that Michael O Leary never mentioned this yesterday when he was huffing and puffing about quarantine measures etc… it’s not like him to ignore the elephant in the room and launch into a tirade in order to distract the nation…. not one bit like him at all….maybe he has jet lag or something! ahem!
I’m still waiting a refund from ryanair after flight was cancelled. Then received an email saying that I can get a voucher. Have not put in for a voucher yet. Also i cancelled an aer lingus flight. And am still waiting for a refund.
If affected you should submit a complaint to http://www.Flightrights.ie the Aviation Regulator. I did 2 weeks ago waiting since March 15th for reply to refund request for flight not cancelled to USA but we could not travel due to travel ban. Simple process. Refund received within 3 days of Regulator contacting Aer Lingus on our behalf. Complaint made under denied boarding heading. Don’t wait submit a complaint.
Air lingus are the same.waiting refund of €1300 since april, ring them and be put on hold for 30mins .Not even send a email to say the flight was cancelled, but a load of emails up to the day before the cancellation of the flight saying we could take a voucher.
For Irish consumers where is the Irish Airline Authority, why aren’t they enforcing the law, why inst it too news on RTE, TG4 and others. Total silence from the Irish government to boot.
Seriously, can everyone just cop on. The airlines will all fail and go out of business if they are forced to pay out straight away on cancelled flights. Then you will lose everything. For God’s sake be patient, you will get it back when they get back to normal. And sure most of you will fly again anyway, so vouchers will do. This insistance on immediate refunds is childish and only causing you stress.
@Patricia O’Reilly: ok Patricia you think waiting 3 months for a €2k refund for flights to the USA is reasonable during a time when household incomes have drastically reduced. Never mind the fact that consumer law dictates the refunds are due.
Trump says hasn't 'talked about' halting military aid to Ukraine yet
Updated
1 hr ago
14.7k
triple lock
Simon Harris wants to remove the 'Triple Lock' - but what is it and what could replace it?
1 hr ago
3.5k
47
Anila Mucaj
Tributes paid to woman who died after being hit by SUV while jogging in Tralee, Co Kerry
13 hrs ago
47.5k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 153 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 105 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 137 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 79 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 38 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 34 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 39 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 87 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 97 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 69 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 51 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 85 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 65 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say