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Japan was not alone in having a form of cultural protection; Japanese companies found the business culture of Europe difficult (Akimoto).
- In Japan the problem was not the government or regulations but the consumer, who demanded the highest quality in manufactured products (Akimoto).
The
Industry in Europe and the United States were plain scared of Japanese technological superiority. Japanese should not underestimate this.
It was a question of life and death for key industries (Hughes).
- Western businessmen in Japan had to speak Japanese and adapt to the culture. C Itho had grave doubts about encouraging Western civil construction contractors into the Japanese market, simply because the low standard of care and "consumer protection" in building projects in Europe would not be tolerated in Japan (Akimoto).
EASTERN EUROPE AND THE SOVIET UNION
6.
Mr Howell made the introductory remarks. He said that Eastern Europe was in a state of precarious instability unprecedented since the war. In many respects the developments were encouraging. Marxist/Leninism had lost all credibility; the demands from people themselves for elementary rights and freedoms were overwhelming; and the old glacis was breaking up. But there were hideous problems ahead. The key question was whether the peoples of individual countries in Eastern Europe would have the maturity to accept that the long road to recovery would involve, at least in the first phase, radical reform of price structures and a consequent reduction in living standards. There was no evidence so far that, either in Poland or in Hungary, this message was properly understood. As regards the Soviet Union, its problems were different from those of Eastern Europe. Its economy was a self-contained disaster area. We wished Gorbachev well. his task was Herculean. In response to questions about relations between East and West Germany, Mr Howell made clear that he did not favour reunification. Indeed, the prospect of a unified German state of 80 million people caused understandable and justifiable anxiety. Furthermore, the idea of a unified nation state was a an out-of-date concept, more appropriate to the 1960s.
1.
Other points:
But
Japan was not in a position to provide major assistance for Eastern European countries. The prime Japanese concern was a Soviet Asian policy which (in contrast to the smiling face turned towards Europe) was still based on "old thinking" and on Soviet attitudes to the Northern
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