Dogs and Demons
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Genius. Sheer horrifying genius.
This book is a marvelous complement to books like “The Enigma of Japanese Power”, “The Straightjacket Society”, and “Tokyo Underground”. Alex Kerr tears away the veneer of untouchability of the Japanese government and its war on its own nation, its natural resources, and its rich cultural and aesthetic history.
What this book offers the reader is a phenomenally well researched document on how Japan has grown, expanded, sacrificed, and de-evolved over the past 40 years. Kerr painfully explores and explains how the machinery of Japanese bureaucratic practice works, how such processes are in fact an evolutionary step for Japanese society, but also where a failure to abandon dangerous practices and modes of government seriously threatens the very culture and nation that it ought to serve and protect.
Dogs and Demons, although an odd and enigmatic title follows the theme of “reality” vs. “monstrosity” as the Japanese struggle, or fail to struggle against, with changes in how their economy, relationship with their natural resources, development of education systems, and implementation of government policy take place. It is a brilliant and insightful text into the intricacies of how Japan operates, how most of the nation runs on auto-pilot, and how leader-less is ruled by a hidden and unseeable bureaucracy.
What is marvelous about this book is that it has been described as an exercise of “tough love”. Alex Kerr has a profound and intimate relationship with Japan. As someone who has lived here a large part of his life, been involved in so many elements of his developing and changing community, articulate in the language itself, and mesmerized by the aesthetics that are unique to Japan, he responds only as a parent could to a wayward child. Strict, at times harsh, but with a desire and hope for change, and a deep feeling of unconditional love, Kerr¡Çs emotional responses, meticulously researched background material, and rational arguments are meant to serve the place he has called home for so long. And whereas many expatriates eventually leave Japan in frustration, hopelessness, and disillusionment, Kerr is still hopeful and optimistic that the voices of millions of equally frustrated Japanese will act, respond aggressively with their government, demand changes, and re-vitalize the elements of its cultural heritage that mark Japan as unique in the world.
I enjoyed this book tremendously. It is brilliantly written, sharp, articulate, rational, and empathic. For those of you who have had your fill of text that are sympathetic about Japan, that champions this country as the last bastion of civilization, Zen thought, and superior cultural and ethical development, this book is the other side of that coin.
I have to admit that reading this book also agitated me quite a bit. Kerr speaks much about how Japan is being destroyed by over construction, and how the ecology of the nation is on the brink of total oblivion. But from where this author sits, in sunny Ishikawa-prefecture, there is not as much construction and destruction of the hills and mountains that is described in this book. From my home there are still lots of hills, mountains, and beaches that are beautiful and very pleasant to visit. But I do feel the same sense of dread and uneasiness whenever I visit Tokyo or Osaka, and I never feel “in touch with nature” that the Japanese seem to universally pride themselves on feeling. It may very well be that the Sea of Japan side, although affected adversely in some serious ways so far, is slated for future over-development by the Ministry of Construction. If it true that the construction industry is truly on auto-pilot as Kerr suggests, we shall see that in time. At any rate, the thesis is quite convincing, and not out of keeping with many things I have seen here in Japan over the better part of the last decade.
For those of you who are interested in really educating yourself about Japan, this is going to be a must-read.
Highly recommended.
Mark Groenewold
Kanazawa, Japan
July, 2003
This page is Copyright ©2003 Mark Groenewold
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