The first time I saw Tokyo

WHEN I first arrived in Tokyo as a beneficiary of a Japanese Government Technical Assistance Program, on a JAL jumbo flight from Bangkok, some years ago I was overwhelmed by the enormous warmth of the people who received me at the airport. It is not always that you see the same smile on the ground as the one you have left behind on board the plane. As I was being driven past the floating Tokyo evening traffic I felt as if the city was illuminating up for a special occasion.
The morning Tokyo traffic is a mixture of humanity coming in and out of the cities transport system, which is an efficient network of underground and surface railway services, taxis, buses and of course private cars. If you stand at the Singjiuku Central Station you simply wonder at the massive traffic arrangement for city traffic.
The people who pass by you are well-fed, well-clothed Japanese, who are extremely particular about manners and civic senses. The Japanese sense of aesthetics, beauty and decorum is for anyone to see in the streets, offices, departmental stores and apartment blocks. The general attire, the flower arrangements, the design and placements of pieces of furniture reflect a refined taste, choice and cleanliness.
Behind the Japanese prosperity lies meticulous planning and research innovations in science and technology, industrial growth, shipbuilding marvels, social security, national health, and social services developments. The Japanese are a homogenous nation of well-knit, well-organised, disciplined and industrious people who have, through sheer hard work and discipline, turned adverse natural conditions to advantages.
Japan is an island nation, consisting of three large islands in the Pacific Ocean, insulated from the outside world. The Japanese, therefore, remained cut-off from the rest of the world for most of the period in their past. With the Meiji Restoration, contact was established with the outside world and the foundation was laid for the development of Japan into an industrial state, and the present prosperity and development are a fruition of this past.
The total land available for habitat, agriculture and industry is still a mere 12 percent. But Japanese technology today has reclaimed land from the sea at the same speed as it has cleared mountains in the interior, and has set up industries with raw materials procured from sources round the world.
The present level of Japanese growth in science, technology and electronics is significantly indebted to a special relationship with the USA, and a guaranteed protection of the nuclear umbrella provided by the United States, when they could devote their undisturbed attention to economic growth.
The horrors of the Second World War are still fresh in Japanese minds, and they have incorporated a clause in the constitution to forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation (Article-IX). The post-war years have, therefore, seen a relentless growth of Japan's economy, until it, as a country, can lay claim to continuous trade surplus and achievement of one of the highest GNPs in the world. Peace, therefore, is essential for Japan to continue and sustain its present growth pattern.
The growth rate of Japan is both the model and envy of the rest of the world. Japanese consumer goods and electronics, from transistor radios to vacuum cleaners, from automobiles to micro-computers, have captured the imagination and market of the entire world.
Japanese respect for democracy is perhaps as strong as their love for the monarchy. They have a bicameral legislature known as the Diet, where national policies are debated and made. The members are elected through universal adult franchise.
The prosperity, the economic boom, and the industrial growth have given the Japanese people one of the highest living standards. This is only the fruition of the their own efforts. In their day-to-day life, the Japanese follow perfect work ethics. They have very nicely rationalised their activities, and follow a system and belief that ensure maximum growth and development.
The material prosperity, affluence and a high living standard have, however, taken away the thrill, the challenge and the spirit of adventure from young Japanese lives. There is, therefore, a noticeable mark of restlessness among the Japanese, specially the youth. They have begun to suffer from a longing for the romantic past, a craving after the Samurai spirit.
They hate to be known as workaholics and struggle often to get free of the "Economic Animal'' syndrome, and are increasingly trying to devote more time in leisure-time pursuits. They are, today, also worried about the worst consequences of industrialisation, such as the pollution of the environment, the increasing automation in the industries (with resultant unemployment), the soaring oil prices (oil shock), the stagflation, etc.
But, as a whole, the Japanese are an extremely pleasant people to be with, whose sense of humour and priorities are never at fault. I saw Japan twice in the mean- time, and my memory of the country has not faded. The intervening years have failed to erase the picturesque Japanese countryside, with its neat wooden houses seen from the window seat of a Sikansen (Bullet Train), from my mind. Nor have I forgotten the time I spent in Osaka, Nagua or Kyota. The thought of the taste and smell of Sukiaki or Kobe Beef I ate in Japanese restaurants still water my mouth.

Moinuddin Chishti is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star. The above is from a paper presented at JICA Seminar.