Banter Without Borders

Japan's Election: Ties to Culture -- and Aliens?

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There is nothing like a national election for a close-up view into a culture's soul. Whether in the business of global coaching and consulting or intercultural talent development, where obvious links are apparent, or in areas where such connections are more subtle, elections re-align and refresh our focus as we examine the way a country operates both domestically and with the world at large. Japan's recent election of its new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, provides such an opportunity.

1.The Land of the Rising Sun is famous for its risk aversion and reluctance to change. Thus, the significance of selecting a prime minister from a party other than the decades-old incumbent LDP, not to mention a prime minister nicknamed 'the alien,' might seem groundbreaking. On second glance, when learning of his rather non-traditional marriage to an eccentric wife -- an actress and 'alien' in her own right, who "travelled to Venus in a U.F.O. in the 70's"* and had a mental rendez-vous with a Japanese Tom Cruise (!) in a former life -- this event borders on the downright bizarre. Upon a closer look, though, this all falls very much within the Japanese cultural fold. For one thing, as the grandson of a former prime minister and former LDP member, Hatoyama isn't exactly a renegade. [In a recent Reuters blog post, in fact, a photographer laments Hatoyama's utter lack of flair and charisma, significant in a country where public persona is everything*.] As for his wife, her non-conventional behavior and peculiarities highlight a distinction in Japanese culture. While change itself may not be embraced as quickly as in the U.S., for example, eccentricity is tolerated and is not unusual at all. As a New York Times blog states: "Ms. Hatoyama, 'a musical actress, cookery writer, clothesmaker and television personality,' is given a sort of free pass by Japanese voters because she falls into the category of public figure known as ‘tarento,’ or ‘talent,' who are expected to be kooky."

2. The huge growth of Japan's 'silver haired' population in proportion to its younger citizens has now put a distinctive stamp on its culture. Changes in the country's workforce dynamics, with possible diversity-related implications for the future, and shifts in family structures, with the growth of '3G' family living arrangements, are but two examples. There is no denying that this past election was very much about Japan's seniors flexing their political muscles.  As Michael Zielenziger points out in the Nikkei Weekly, Hatoyama's campaign was targeted to older voters, who cast far more votes than their 20-something counterparts in this and previous elections. This lies in direct contrast to the Obama campaign's aggressive marketing to America's youth vote. Through adroitly using Japan's election as an effective primer for those who wish to penetrate the country's market, Zielenziger advises companies to keep Japan's demographics in mind, for "as Japan rapidly ages, the elderly have the disposable income, the political power and stay longer on the job.*" Global marketing teams: take heed.

3. The all-important issue of relationships and their carefully cultivated networks, so much a part of Japan's cultural fabric, certainly played a key role in Hatoyama's triumph. [How else to explain this historic victory with such a lackluster public figure?] It would be nearly impossible to imagine anyone from the outside coming in and breaking through this tightly knit circle of networks and into the political arena, no matter how powerful his or her platform. This all-pervasive aspect of conducting any sort of business in Japan, political and otherwise, is not about to change any time soon. The primacy of "relationships over ideas," also mentioned in the Nikkei Weekly article, is often hard for foreigners to accept, and the cogent example is given of attempting to enter the Japanese market with a "hit product," only to be stymied by the country's impenetrable barrier of age-old distribution networks and accompanying reluctance to "disrupt the traditional order."

With so much attention now focused on Japan in its post-election phase, questions surrounding its relationship with its Asian neighbors, China in particular, with the U.S., and with the world in general, will continue to be on our minds. How the country's culture figures into the answers, and how business will in turn be impacted, will be surely interesting to watch.

*http://blogs.reuters.com/japan/2009/09/08/farewell-to-photogenic-aso/

*http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/japans-new-first-lady-not-from-venus-was-only-visiting/