POSTCARD FROM JAPAN

I had spaghetti for lunch. And a hamburger for dinner. We passed by a Bob's Big Boy on the way to work today--I haven't seen one of those greasy spoons in years. Greetings from Japan.

On the surface, a grand intertwine between Japan and the U.S.--which has helped make Sony and Coca Cola household names in both countries--spans the ocean that separates us. It's physically more apparent in this hemisphere. With Seven-Eleven, KFC and bowling around, who needs sleepy Chestnut Ridge, N.Y.? And as for Japanese culture in America, I certainly remember watching kabuki as child--on an episode of "Alvin and the Chipmunks." And who can forget the educating Gilbert and Sullivan production of "The Mikado" at Harvard this fall?

The truth is, while we can talk about globalization all we want, it will take some well-spent cultural scrutiny on both sides of the ocean to understand our partners in capitalism. While Japan has already assumed many cosmetic changes to bring America into the marketplace--even the karaoke we borrowed from the Japanese is a tool for would-be Michael Jacksons and Madonnas here--we must be wary not to assume that cultural comprehension has been attained. Fundamentally, it will require more than the Golden Arches to bridge the Pacific cultural divide.

I am, I freely admit, a visitor--who doesn't even speak the language. I am a novice traveler. But consider one observation from my stay in the cosmopolitan city of Fukuoka.

While our younger brothers and sisters are lounging by the pool or even off at investment camp, Japanese high schoolers are still in school--and will be until July 20, when they receive a 40-day recess, their longest of the year. Students, dressed in uniforms, often travel to school seven days a week, preparing for the ultimate test of adolescence: university entrance examinations. While President Clinton has proposed making the "13th and 14th years of education as universal as high school" in America, Japanese students are fighting their way to a college education--enrolling in "crammer colleges" if necessary to help them stay ahead of the academic pack. Those who do not perform up to par are destined to loiter in Fukuoka's famed street for delinquents, translated to me as "Failures's Avenue" or "Parents' Unhappiness."

A culture of pressure--and shame--dominates the educational and professional ladders. The consequence of a fall from grace can be suicide, seen not as the ultimate tragedy but as an understandable or inevitable decision if linked to recent failure. Even prior to the news of Asia's financial crisis, the number of white-collar suicides was quite high. According to the National Police Agency, suicides in Japan in 1996 totaled about 23,000, more than double the number of traffic fatalities. Meanwhile, the reluctance to admit there are indeed problems has seeped onto the economic bargaining table in the most recent round of American-Japanese talks surrounding the falling yen. The New York Times reported that the two nations' leaders have two different conceptions of what change is necessary for financial problem solving.

Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin and President Clinton see fundamental flaws in a system that has led to banks facing more than $600 billion in bad or doubtful debt. But Prime Minister Hashimoto and top Japanese financial officials are in "stimulus package" mode, not "major restructuring" mode. As one young Japanese entrepreneur told me, if the trade negotiators craft a plan wherein no one is required to take responsibility for the flaws in the Japanese economic structure, "we'll do it." Otherwise, it is likely that nothing much will happen in terms of change.

I saw a political advertisement on television recently--for a candidate who spent his air time convincing viewers that he can be decisive. About what, he didn't say. To be decisive is apparently a rarity enough.

That's actually good to know. As a TOEFL and SAT tutor to several Japanese students who hope to attend American colleges, I am learning to develop more structured lesson plans; my students look at me blankly when I ask them if they'd prefer to review analogies or sentence completions at the beginning of the session. I'm not about to start "shaming" my students who perform poorly on a practice test, but I am beginning to understand why the student gets absolutely frustrated with himself (no girls being taught here--male chauvinism in Japan is a whole other postcard waiting to be written) when his answer should have been "their," not "there."

As Washington and Tokyo struggle to comprehend what action is necessary and what "action" even means in the latest crisis, perhaps we should examine our own cultural awareness as we prepare to embark into the ever-shrinking global village. While Gaps are opening up all around the world, let us not fail to mind the gaps in cultural education that extend beyond sushi and the french fry.

Andrew K. Mandel '00 is in Japan this summer, spreading the joys of subject-verb agreement and requesting "Opposites Attract" from the English-speaking radio station just for fun.