Japanology 2005 Open Workshop : What can China learn from Japan’s culture of technology?

This is a transcript of an open workshop jointly sponsored by the Japanology Research Group and the Center for International Japan-Studies of Hosei University. It took the form of a dialogue between the Chinese specialist in comparative culture, GAO Zengjie, and ADACHIHARA Tōru, who has worked for many years to promote technological advance in China. The dialogue was mediated by KIYONARI Tadao, economist and President of Hosei University.In his comparison of the technological cultures of China and Japan, Gao suggested that the biggest turning point in the development of the two countries occurred at the time of Japan’s medieval age. In contrast to China, where society was led by a class of Confucian literati concerned above all with proper governance of their country under the emperor, the ‘son of heaven,’ Japan’s medieval age was dominated by the emergence of a military ruling class. Leaders in China, therefore, were occupied with issues that tended toward the philosophical, while leaders in Japan had to deal with more practical matters, primarily those of warfare, that led to a greater interest in technological development and the application of new technologies.Kiyonari then pointed out that Japan’s medieval age also brought with reforms in the fields of agriculture and economics, which were adopted and systematized in the feudal system of the Edo period. Only at this time did Japan adopt Confucian ideas of governance, but at a level that had little to do with the daily life of the people, thus producing a two-tiered social structure, with agricultural workers, craftsmen and merchants inheriting the earlier concern for technology. This paved the way for Japan’s quick industrialization after the Meiji Restoration, and helped it establish its reputation as an industrial power.In response to Adachihara’s query as to what China can learn from Japan’s culture of technology, Gao stated that Japan’s technological advances have been fostered by the Japanese concern for technical detail, the skills of Japan’s workforce, and the ‘spirit’that can be discerned in their concern for technical advance. While China is becoming successful at producing certain types of relatively simple products, its people still have much to learn with regard to their basic attitude toward technology and the mastering of technological advances