The New Invasion of Greater East Asia

FROM transistor radios to whole steel mills, the Japanese have been able to sell the rest of the world just about everything--except themselves. A "hate-Japan wind," as it is called in Tokyo, has been rising as legions of Japanese tourists and hard-bargaining salesmen swarm into the rest of Asia. "Once it was 'the ugly American' who proved most conspicuous around here," says a Japanese correspondent in Bangkok. "Now it's 'the ugly Japanese.' And wherever he goes, bribery, the kickback routine, dumping practices, golfing and sex crazes go with him."

The Japanese are making steel in Malaysia, drilling for oil off Indonesia, building cars in the Philippines and assembling television sets in Taiwan. Half a million Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki motor bikes put-put along South Viet Nam's roads, and little Sony radios are to be seen everywhere. "The people feel that we are being invaded," says Thailand's Economic Affairs Minister Bunchana Atthakor, "this time economically."

The other Asians are uneasy at the speed, the size and the cost of the invasion. They tend to play down or overlook Japan's growing aid to the area. Tokyo is paying out $1.5 billion in World War II reparations, has given $220 million to the Asian Development Bank, and has lent $100 million to the World Bank. Japan's foreign aid, most of which goes to other Asian countries, totals $1.4 billion this year, second only to the U.S.'s $1.8 billion. The figure that most concerns Asians, however, is Tokyo's huge trade balance. Last year Japan sold cars, trucks and machinery worth $4.6 billion to East Asia, but spent only half as much for the purchase of timber, maize and other raw materials.

To the steamy, sleepy cities of Asia the Japanese bring the fast-paced temperament of Tokyo, and it is overwhelming. "No one can compete with the Japanese salesman," says a Chinese businessman in Taiwan. "If they don't finish talking business in the daytime, then they talk business at night." A Malaysian businessman notes bitterly: "Whenever we tell the Japanese that their prices are not right, they suddenly develop lapses in English and pretend not to understand."

Sometimes such reactions are born of sour experience; often, however, they simply reflect envy of Japan's drive and organization. Mitsui, a top Japanese trading company, "is better at information gathering than the CIA," swears one Singapore government official. "They send in 20 men to look at an investment. They read everything and they take down everything--even the jokes cracked at meetings." Japanese firms are famous for absorbing absurd losses just to get a piece of a market--which is why Toyota has 25% of the Philippine auto business.

As representatives of an alien culture, foreign businessmen and tourists are easily misunderstood and often resented--the more so if they come from an affluent, highly successful country. The Japanese are no exception, and in their case the resentment is compounded by bitter wartime memories. In Asian capitals, where groups of Japanese tourists are a common sight, marching behind a flag-carrying tour leader, their style and manner are often considered objectionable. They are famed as over-generous tippers and bad (but amiable) drinkers. They are also reputed to be single-minded in their pursuit of sex. Several Tokyo magazines carry frank whoring guides to Southeast Asia, complete with price lists, and all the evidence indicates that they are very well thumbed.

Above all else, the Japanese have acquired a reputation for being clannish and arrogant. Even more than the Americans, who are famous for bringing the U.S. along with them, the Japanese move in with their own beer, newspapers, chefs, wines, delicacies and restaurants. "They form an empire of themselves," said Thailand's Bunchana. "They play golf together, eat together, go to their own Japanese schools."

Many Japanese have an almost masochistic talent for selfcriticism. In Japan Unmasked, former Japanese Diplomat Ichiro Kawasaki ascribes the arrogance of the Japanese to what he calls their preoccupation with social rank. Writes Kawasaki, who was sacked from the diplomatic corps last year because his book created such an uproar: "The Japanese harbor an inferiority complex toward Europeans and Americans, while they tend to treat Asians with a superiority complex. This is why the average Japanese, while feeling at home in the company of Asiatics, often betrays arrogance and disdain."

Foreign Minister Kiichi Aichi attributes Japan's troubles abroad to the "social maladroitness" of an island people unused to dealing with others. The Japanese realize that much of the criticism is overdrawn, but it stings nonetheless, and they are pondering ways to improve their image. Indonesian Foreign Minister Adam Malik suggests a "Japanese Marshall Plan" for Asia. The idea may be worth exploring as a way to help Japan's neighbors through a crucial phase in their development. It is not necessarily the answer to improving Japan's image, however, as any ugly American will agree.

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