“Okimashoo!!”
Every weekday morning at 5.55AM a small group of students is woken up in Chigasaki, one hour South of Tokyo. In barely one minute's time, everybody gets dressed in a gymsuit and start running to the inner court, spurred by the beat of a J-Pop hit.
Welcome to the Matsushita Institute for Government and Management (japanese: Matsushita Seikei Juku), a private school where a new generation of Japanese politicians are trained for political leadership according to the philosophy and spirit of Panasonic-founder Konosuke Matsushita. The institute's alumni increasingly find their way into the highest levels of Japan's politcal elite. One its former students recently got the top-job when Yoshihiko Noda was installed by the Emperor as new Prime Minister on behalf of the Democratic Party of Japan. His main contender, Seiji Maehara also studied at the Matsushita Institute, as did a number of other senior politicians both in the DPJ and LDP.
During the five months I spent at the Matsushita Institute as an “overseas intern”, I managed to get a rare inside glimpse of the training centre that's normally fairly closed to outsiders. Having been dispatched to the Matsushita Institute as a participant in the Dutch government's Japan Prizewinners Programme. I didn't really know what to expect there, but soon found that the rigorous daily routine at the Matsushita Institute primarily revolved around Japanese self-conciousness and the value of “interhuman relationships”. In practice, this means that a lot of time is devoted to the minute details of Japanese tea ceremonies. The exact right way of holding one's teacup and sitting cross-legged (behind the back) are of tremendous importance and with muscle-aching consequence. All students are immersed in weekly kendo (martial art) classes and calligraphy lessons. As a clumsy Dutchman, I was occassionally the target of mild ridicule during those hours, as I never really understood how to properly handle the pencil or sword.
Inspirator Matsushita's writings are carefully read and debated by the Institute's students. His most famous work, Peace and Happiness through Prosperity, gives rise to particular admiration and discussion. Matsushita was strongly convinced that a sound body needs a sound mind. That's why every morning the campus is rigorously cleaned by the students – every stray leaf has to be swept away. After breakfast, all students and employees recite Matsushita's life mottos during the morning appeal. The daily ceremony concludes with singing the Institute song.
The institute was founded in 1979 when Matsushita was 85-years old. Japan's economic growth seemed unstoppable and managementgurus from the US and Europe wanted to learn as much as they could about the Japanese model. To them Konosuke Matsushita was the undoubted managementgod. From a shed near Osaka, he started selling lamps and managed to expand his company to an electronics giant with tens of thousands of employees around the world.
Even though Japan experienced economic growth in the 1970s and 1980s, Matsushita reckoned the country's politicians were too stubborn and lacked adequate foresight. In Matsushita's opinion, Japan urgently needed more innovative political leadership. His aim was to open up political discourse from partisan and factional deadlock into a more productive debate focusing on the future and real solutions for the people. With a new generation of ambitious and smart future politicians, he wanted to explore questions like: can a country exist without imposing taxes, and what should be the role of commercial enterprise in wider society.
The March 11th tsunami and ensuing Fukushima nuclear disaster provide the Matsushita Institute-trained Prime Minister Noda with an opportunity to put some of Matsushita's ideals into practice. When the nuclear reactor went out of control, owner TEPCO's board of directors decided to provide only few details to the government in Tokyo about the gigantic problems at its facility. As the risk to ordinary people across the country increased, international and Japanese observers criticized Japan's closed managementstyle, which - as is often asserted - stifles crisismanagement and rigorous decision-making when it's most urgently needed.
As ciriticism against Japan's management style mounted both inside and outside of the country, the call for a new form of leadership has the potential to resonate stronger than ever. Perhaps more than in previous years, the enormous disaster that struck Japan last March and the resulting popular demand for reform, could spur real change in Japan's management style. Noda could be in a position to achieve some real progress. However, since he is the fifth Prime Minister in six years time, it remains to be seen whether he will have the political endurance to bring serious change to Japan's political system and its decision-making culture.
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Wouter van Cleef, September 2011
