Straightjacket Society (お役所の掟)(Code of the Bureaucrats) by Doctor Masao Miyamoto is a collected and expanded volume of articles written for Monthly Asahi magazine in the early 1990's exposing the problems he saw in the Japanese bureaucracy while working for the Ministry of Health and Welfare. This review is based on the 2000 English language version printed by Kodansha.
Dr. Miyamoto, a graduate of Nihon University medial college, studied psychoanalysis in America at Yale University and then worked at Cornell University before returning to Japan as the assistant deputy director for the Ministry of Health and Welfare. While working in the government he came to learn that the mode of operation for this most powerful entity conflicted heavily with his personal beliefs. He felt these conflicts resulting in unneeded waste and stagnation in running Japan. The decade spent outside of Japan made the realities he faced when he returned more stark. While abroad he developed ideas and expectations about the boundaries between ones professional and personal time that conflicted with what was expected of him. He began a personal campaign making his disagreement known to those around him which in turn caused his career to implode. While he understood the terms and conditions he was faced with being employed in the government he wanted to get the word out to the public in hopes of beginning a dialogue on these issues. Issues that were unspoken but wholly recognized by many members of society in Japan. In order to help spurn this dialogue he wrote a series of articles for Monthly Asahi, even with the urging of direct superiors to stop writing and to even resign. Eventually he was forced out of the Ministry, professionally stubbed and would spend the last few years of his life touring Japan giving lectures about the problems as he saw them in the Japanese employment model. Dr. Miyamoto died from cancer in 1999.
Through a series of anecdotes and explanatory passages Dr. Miyamoto explains some of the situations he encountered during his years as a bureaucrat in Tokyo. He quickly learned that the Bureaucracy, not the Diet wielded the power of legislation in Japan. While Diet members were the public and elected face of the central government, it was the various Ministries that work with them to craft the laws of the land who held the power. Lending their 'expertise' to the legislation drafting process. In a cynical world this means that the Diet accept legislation drafted by the staffers of the various government divisions and in turn translated them into laws. Where this can become problematic is due to the Diet being elected representatives for their home districts. Their job is to represent a general consensus for their constituents when it comes to the laws that they will work to pass or fail. Instead according to Dr. Miyamoto's recollection of the things he witnessed, the members of the various Ministries provided legislation for the Diet members to present. This was done under the belief that the Diet was actually incapable of crafting legislation, which is one of their primary roles. People who were hired to their positions as any normal person is hired into a workplace were more capable of that role. Thus the people ultimately creating the laws and regulations are not necessarily representative of the citizens who voted for their Diet representatives.
While that alone is in it's self concerning, it can also be semi speculative, regardless of the things he was told and the exchanges he witnessed, though probably more accurate than everyone would like to admit. The majority of his writing focuses instead on the policies and culture of the Bureaucracy that conflicted with what he perceived as workers rights. Coupled with stagnant cultures where maintaining the status quo was prized above anything else, Dr. Miyamoto talks about issues that prevail through out Japanese society, not just the government. He details double standards when it comes to paid working expectations and unpaid working expectations. Lack of innovation and growth due to a rigid merit based promotion system. In the system if someone doesn't stand out or cause problems they will most likely advance in the organization. Those that innovate, stand out from the group or participate in behavior the group dynamic considers threatening will not advance. A world where people actively suppress their talents and extra-curricular motivations. When requesting vacation time, not only is the length scrutinized but where and how the vacation time is spent are as well. In one case the author lied about a two week trip to Europe. Instead he came up with a story about traveling to his home town to assist his ailing mother to a family funeral. His supervisor quickly shot back that two weeks was far too long given the jealousy his coworkers would feel. Imagine what the response would have been if he would have admitted it was to bum around Europe instead of fulfilling familial duties. The idea though that someones paid time off request would be refused due to speculation about his coworkers jealousy is absurd and counter to personal freedom.
Other subjects that are touched upon are; the problems women face in the workplace, from discrimination to rampant sexual harassment and social exclusion. Tedious tasks that do little more than create busy work in a system rampant with unnecessary and unpaid over time requirements. Extensive interference in personal affairs in a system that doesn't recognize personal time. Forced group outings that devolve into little more than episodes of drunken childish perversion. Systematic bullying and coercion in an attempt to maintain the group harmony and dynamic. Dr. Miyamoto solely speaks about his experiences working in the government and doesn't connect these tendencies with the majority of the rest of the working environments in Japan. A system that permeates throughout the nation and begins very early on in the hands off approach to schooling. In a system set up long ago, derived and remnant of old village living, the group is held far above the individual. When Japan was more agrarian than it is today the group dynamic of the village life was important to assure everyone's success and survival. That mentality was transferred into the national identity for a variety of reasons, some realist, other speculative. The result of this is a system in which mob mentality rules and becoming an outcast has very real and significant consequences.
The book was a quick and interesting look into the world of the worker bees in the Japanese government machine. Dr. Miyamoto does at times tend to complain a bit too much with the conditions he faces and it's a wonder he was able to keep up his antics for so long before ultimately being forced out of the job. In my opinion, he wrongly deduces that the difference in attitudes towards personal and group responsibilities lies in America being a predominantly Christian nation. I don't see that being legitimate and it seems rather speculative, perhaps even hopeful, of him to return again and again to this idea. Sadly it seems his efforts did little to change the landscape of the employed in the country. The problem with this and many other books in English that deal with the less glamorous side of life in Japan is they are getting older. This book is essentially 25 years old. It would be nice for newer authors, or previous ones, to revisit the themes found in this book and others like Dogs & Demons or Speedtribes, for the world that currently exists. Taking a look at modern Japan now into the 21st century and what things have changed since the collapse of the bubble in the beginning of the 1990's. Unfortunately, there are many problems that persist which are deeply entrenched in the cultural fabric of Japan. Regardless, this is worth a read and provides some good anecdotes along with some harrowing reminders of the unique reality of Japan. A reality that many Japanophiles and otaku have a hard time swallowing.
Dr. Miyamoto, a graduate of Nihon University medial college, studied psychoanalysis in America at Yale University and then worked at Cornell University before returning to Japan as the assistant deputy director for the Ministry of Health and Welfare. While working in the government he came to learn that the mode of operation for this most powerful entity conflicted heavily with his personal beliefs. He felt these conflicts resulting in unneeded waste and stagnation in running Japan. The decade spent outside of Japan made the realities he faced when he returned more stark. While abroad he developed ideas and expectations about the boundaries between ones professional and personal time that conflicted with what was expected of him. He began a personal campaign making his disagreement known to those around him which in turn caused his career to implode. While he understood the terms and conditions he was faced with being employed in the government he wanted to get the word out to the public in hopes of beginning a dialogue on these issues. Issues that were unspoken but wholly recognized by many members of society in Japan. In order to help spurn this dialogue he wrote a series of articles for Monthly Asahi, even with the urging of direct superiors to stop writing and to even resign. Eventually he was forced out of the Ministry, professionally stubbed and would spend the last few years of his life touring Japan giving lectures about the problems as he saw them in the Japanese employment model. Dr. Miyamoto died from cancer in 1999.
Through a series of anecdotes and explanatory passages Dr. Miyamoto explains some of the situations he encountered during his years as a bureaucrat in Tokyo. He quickly learned that the Bureaucracy, not the Diet wielded the power of legislation in Japan. While Diet members were the public and elected face of the central government, it was the various Ministries that work with them to craft the laws of the land who held the power. Lending their 'expertise' to the legislation drafting process. In a cynical world this means that the Diet accept legislation drafted by the staffers of the various government divisions and in turn translated them into laws. Where this can become problematic is due to the Diet being elected representatives for their home districts. Their job is to represent a general consensus for their constituents when it comes to the laws that they will work to pass or fail. Instead according to Dr. Miyamoto's recollection of the things he witnessed, the members of the various Ministries provided legislation for the Diet members to present. This was done under the belief that the Diet was actually incapable of crafting legislation, which is one of their primary roles. People who were hired to their positions as any normal person is hired into a workplace were more capable of that role. Thus the people ultimately creating the laws and regulations are not necessarily representative of the citizens who voted for their Diet representatives.
While that alone is in it's self concerning, it can also be semi speculative, regardless of the things he was told and the exchanges he witnessed, though probably more accurate than everyone would like to admit. The majority of his writing focuses instead on the policies and culture of the Bureaucracy that conflicted with what he perceived as workers rights. Coupled with stagnant cultures where maintaining the status quo was prized above anything else, Dr. Miyamoto talks about issues that prevail through out Japanese society, not just the government. He details double standards when it comes to paid working expectations and unpaid working expectations. Lack of innovation and growth due to a rigid merit based promotion system. In the system if someone doesn't stand out or cause problems they will most likely advance in the organization. Those that innovate, stand out from the group or participate in behavior the group dynamic considers threatening will not advance. A world where people actively suppress their talents and extra-curricular motivations. When requesting vacation time, not only is the length scrutinized but where and how the vacation time is spent are as well. In one case the author lied about a two week trip to Europe. Instead he came up with a story about traveling to his home town to assist his ailing mother to a family funeral. His supervisor quickly shot back that two weeks was far too long given the jealousy his coworkers would feel. Imagine what the response would have been if he would have admitted it was to bum around Europe instead of fulfilling familial duties. The idea though that someones paid time off request would be refused due to speculation about his coworkers jealousy is absurd and counter to personal freedom.
Other subjects that are touched upon are; the problems women face in the workplace, from discrimination to rampant sexual harassment and social exclusion. Tedious tasks that do little more than create busy work in a system rampant with unnecessary and unpaid over time requirements. Extensive interference in personal affairs in a system that doesn't recognize personal time. Forced group outings that devolve into little more than episodes of drunken childish perversion. Systematic bullying and coercion in an attempt to maintain the group harmony and dynamic. Dr. Miyamoto solely speaks about his experiences working in the government and doesn't connect these tendencies with the majority of the rest of the working environments in Japan. A system that permeates throughout the nation and begins very early on in the hands off approach to schooling. In a system set up long ago, derived and remnant of old village living, the group is held far above the individual. When Japan was more agrarian than it is today the group dynamic of the village life was important to assure everyone's success and survival. That mentality was transferred into the national identity for a variety of reasons, some realist, other speculative. The result of this is a system in which mob mentality rules and becoming an outcast has very real and significant consequences.
The book was a quick and interesting look into the world of the worker bees in the Japanese government machine. Dr. Miyamoto does at times tend to complain a bit too much with the conditions he faces and it's a wonder he was able to keep up his antics for so long before ultimately being forced out of the job. In my opinion, he wrongly deduces that the difference in attitudes towards personal and group responsibilities lies in America being a predominantly Christian nation. I don't see that being legitimate and it seems rather speculative, perhaps even hopeful, of him to return again and again to this idea. Sadly it seems his efforts did little to change the landscape of the employed in the country. The problem with this and many other books in English that deal with the less glamorous side of life in Japan is they are getting older. This book is essentially 25 years old. It would be nice for newer authors, or previous ones, to revisit the themes found in this book and others like Dogs & Demons or Speedtribes, for the world that currently exists. Taking a look at modern Japan now into the 21st century and what things have changed since the collapse of the bubble in the beginning of the 1990's. Unfortunately, there are many problems that persist which are deeply entrenched in the cultural fabric of Japan. Regardless, this is worth a read and provides some good anecdotes along with some harrowing reminders of the unique reality of Japan. A reality that many Japanophiles and otaku have a hard time swallowing.
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