Japan Times
READERS IN COUNCIL
May 24, 2000
Professor Sawa Takamitsu, in his article “Japan drifts without goals” (May 8) writes, “….42 years after the end of World War II, Japan became…the richest nation in the world. The goal of catching up (with advanced Western nations) had been attained.” Where Sawa derives his conclusion from is difficult for me to see. I currently take the JR Tokaido line for an hour each morning to commute to my workplace. The train is as packed as a cattle car during rush hours and sometimes I cannot get on it, even though “pushers” at the train platform valiantly try to get me on (I’m quite skinny, by the way).
I’ve been using these trains for mere than 20 years and don’t see any improvement. Furthermore, I know from experience that the Japanese still must pay prices for most food and for various services that would be considered inordinately high in the West. And affordable housing with a living-space area considered decent by Western standards, and which is within reasonable commuting distance from the workplace, is for the most part still unheard of in the Tokyo area.
I can say for sure, after having lived for many years in the Untied States and in Europe, tht Japan has still not caught up with the West in terms of living standards, as measured by the quality and affordability of housing, purchasing power for staples and services, commuting conditions and living environment. In fact, having also observed firsthand the living standards of people in Singapore, which is a so-called newly industrialized country, I’m afraid that Japan will have more than the West to catch up with now.
KO UNOKI
Fujisawa, Kanagawa.
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