"Flawed" Shmawed. Pure, unadulterated hindsight bull%$#%$.
Were there alternatives? Sure. Were any of them "perfect"? No. Would any of their imperfections have led to those alternatives to be characterized, in time, as "flawed"? Definately, if, as in the case of the plan that was put in place, the people of Japan and their democratic leaders did not improve on the initial set up; which they ahd all the democratic freedom to do. The only flaw has been with Japanese leaders.
Why didn't Japanese leaders unseat the bureaucracy sooner? Because, it's the economy stupid, and until the financial breakdown that led to Koizuma's first administration, Japan's economy had kept the people happy with things just as they were.
Whenever reporters or historians use the term "flawed" to describe some past event or action, be careful. Usually they are viewing things completely in hindsight and with little context to the circumstances of the time or the consequences of alternative actions at the time. They are great at telling you why some historical action was "flawed", but cannot tell you how "flawed" any of the alternatives may have become.
Whenever authors represent themselves as something substantially different than reality, also be careful. From above:
Ronald A. Morse is CEO of Japan Entertainment & Gaming Associates.If you follow that, you will also find he is chairman of something called the "Las Vegas World Affairs Council" and was previously affiliated with the "Economic Strategy Institute" in Washington, D.C. Following that will give you this brief bio (but not up-to-date) from us-japan.org
MORSE, Ronald A. Dr.Or this, from the "Japan Policy Research Institute"
b. 1938, US citizen
Terasaki Professor of Japanese Studies
University of California, Los Angeles
(snip)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Adjunct Professor, International Business, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1993-present; Visiting Fellow, East-West Center, 1993; Visiting Scholar, Institute for Posts and Telecommunications Policy, 1992; Executive Vice President, Economic Strategy Institute, 1990-91; Development Officer, Library of Congress, 1988-90; Director, Asia Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 1981-88; Strategic Assessments, US Department of Energy, 1980-81; Japan Analyst, US Department of State, 1977-80; Trade Team, US Department of Defense, 1974-77.
RONALD A. MORSE is the Tokyo Foundation Professor of Japan Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is also a Director and US Representative of the Sangikyo Corporation of Japan and the Chairman of the Las Vegas World Affairs Council. Morse is also a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.From 2100-2004, Morse was the Paul I. Terasaki Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA). From 1996 to 2001, he was Professor of Economics and Business Administration at Reitaku University in Tokyo, Japan.
In 1998, while living in Tokyo, he was appointed to an advisory committee of the Japanese government’s Economic Planning Agency. Since 1993, when he was a visiting fellow at the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Institute, he has followed wireless telecommunications issues and been a consultant to American telecommunication firms entering the Japanese market.
Morse is a well-known commentator on U.S-Asian affairs and the creator of the “Morse Target--a Guide to Washington's Movers and Shakers on Japan.” He is also the author or editor of over 20 books including: a reader on economic strategies, Powernomics: Economics and Strategy After the Cold War (1991); a guide to U.S. government statistical sources, DATA: Where It Is and How To Get It (1993); and an internet-based textbook, The Theory and Practice of American Politics Today (1999, in Japanese). In January 2002, he published Unconditional Success: American Security Policy Toward Japan and Tokyo’s Options (in Japanese), a book on the Bush administration’s Japan policy.
Morse was in Washington, D.C. for nearly two decades. He joined the Department of Defense in 1974 and in 1977 moved to the Department of State, where he covered Japanese domestic politics and foreign relations. Later at the Department of Energy (1980-1981), he worked on the Middle East and subsequently published several books on Asian and Middle East energy issues
From 1981 to 1988, Morse was Development Director and Director of the Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a presidential memorial in Washington D.C. From 1988 to 1990, he served as a special assistant for policy to the Librarian of Congress and established the Library of Congress fundraising office.
From 1990 to 1991, he helped establish and was executive vice president of the Economic Strategy Institute. From 1994 to 1996, Morse was the director of international fundraising (focused on China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan) for the University of Maryland, College Park.
Morse has a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, in Chinese studies. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1974. His dissertation focused on Japanese folklore studies. At that time, he also translated into English and published the literary classic of Kunio Yanagita, The Legends of Tono, a collection of folk tales and legends.
E-mail: ron@ramorse.com