- Maybe that's right. Then, what kind of state strategy should Japan have? Tachibana "First of all, I am not sure if Japan after the Second World War has had a state strategy. For a certain time after the War, it was hard enough just to survive, and after that period, people have pursued economic growth and a comfortable life - the acquisition of personal wealth - for several decades. In those periods, people did not realize the need for their nation to have a state strategy to be able to survive. Moreover, in the Cold War period, Japan could not have any other state strategy than depending on America. But since the end of the Cold War, America has been pursuing the New World Order and has stopped the paternalistic protection of Japan. Under these circumstances, Japan has had no choice but to realize the need for a state strategy. "I think we are in a period of time when a state strategy is needed for many reasons. Compared to the bubble economic period, Japan is in quite a tough economic situation, and it seems like this situation will continue for a while. The Japanese national finances have been bankrupt for some time, and bold national management cannot be done anymore. How will Japan survive this situation? How to fight our way out? What should Japan do now to find a national ability to survive? It is important to think about how to divide our limited resources (means and manpower), especially now, when our national capacity is diminished. "A state strategy in aerospace technology is essential from the beginning, because this industry is directly linked to our overall national strategy - it was an original element of it. But Japan has avoided this kind of thinking and has had only impromptu thoughts. I think the biggest problem is here." - Then, what Japan supposed to do? Tachibana "In the traditional governmental way, the flow is something like this: a national strategic research council on aerospace technology is established, appropriate intellectuals are asked to sit on committees, the head office is occupied by bureaucrats, discussion and draft plans are made under the initiative of bureaucracy, and drafts are submitted to the minister responsible. This is not very far beyond the bureaucrat's composition essay. "To break the pattern and develop a national strategy with wisdom better than a bureaucrat's, I think bottom-up discussion by volunteers among volunteers should be done thoroughly. I mean a forum for discussions should be prepared before establishing committee organizations. "First of all, I suggest creating something like a 'strategy concept forum' on a Web site, and let people argue for and against. Technically this Web site should have the space for that, and bureaucrats should ask JAXA to contribute the technical management and traffic control of that page. JAXA would set up some discussion threads to make it easier to follow, depending on how the argument goes, and ask guest speakers for contributions to the forum to start the discussion, but would strictly avoid spinning the conversation in certain directions. After a certain amount of argument is engaged, JAXA would hold an off-line forum (at a real place and in real time) several times, to let representative speakers throw out their opinions. I think it should only be after that any committees are established." |
|
