Cartels of the Mind: Japan's Intellectual Closed Shop - Softcover

Hall, Ivan P.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393347761 ISBN 13: 9780393347760

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998

Synopsis

“A brilliant analysis of the most profound barrier―the core of the multi-layered onion―that isolates Japan from the rest of the world, Ivan Hall carefully documents how Japan systematically blocks access by foreign professionals to intellectual discourse and debate. Essential reading to understand the essence of Japanese exclusionism.” ―Glen S. Fukushima, Vice President, American Chamber of Commerce in Japan; Vice Chairman, Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission; and Former Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Japan and China.

An inside look at Japan's use of professional barriers, both institutional and psychological, against the entire outside world.

About this title

About the Author:

Ivan Hall has spent nearly three decades in Japan as a correspondent, cultural diplomat, and academic. He was the first associate director of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission and spent nine years teaching as a professor in Japanese universities. He lives in Tokyo.

Review:

Ivan Hall's Cartels of the Mind, had it come out, say, a decade ago, might have been read as just another take on the trade wars. It is that--partly. Hall writes with economy and grace about how Japan denies access to foreign attorneys, correspondents, professors and scientific researchers with the same systematic efficiency applied over the years to car parts, semiconductors, baseball bats and beef. He devotes a concise chapter to each of the professions just noted, explaining how each is part of the "closed shop" of his subtitle. But we have to read Hall's book differently now.... The intellectual closed shop, then, is also a social and political issue, and Hall does a good job of connecting the dots, especially with regard to Japan's new and grand ambitions. -- Nation, Patrick Smith

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0393347761
• ISBN 13: 9780393347760
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 210