Inside Japan's Powerhouses

"Kevin Rafferty, who has spent 25 years living and working in Asia, has been granted privileged access to the powerhouses of Japan's economic miracle and has talked freely to the key figures, including grand opera singer Yoh Kurosawa of the Industrial Bank of Japan, Hampstead-born and Harvard educated Minoru Makihara of Mitsubishi Corporation, shogi master Fumio Sato of Toshiba and the Toyoda car making brothers, Shoichiro and Tatsuro, perhaps the most powerful men in Japanese industry. In a country where open and vigorous argument is often avoided, these men talk frankly about their achievements and the problems ahead." "But the author has gone beyond the powerful companies, like Matsushita, Nippon Steel, Toshiba, Toyota and the aerospace and banking giants. He examines the much-vaunted education system to assess the future challenge. He has also talked to the almighty mandarins of the finance ministry and the all too frequently corrupt politicians. The result is a cool appraisal of how different Japan really is, of the price paid for economic maturity and a strong yen, the need for political reform and most vital for the rest of the world - whether Japan can become a 'normal' nation sitting at the top political table."--BOOK JACKET.