Abstract

This paper critically examines Japan's recent drive to learn from the West. The paper first presents the historical setting and then goes on to develop future scenarios for Japan. The focus of the paper is learning and change following the collapse of the Japanese economic bubble, and the relevance of the US and Western models of corporate governance. The question it raises is what to change, and from which quadrant(s) of society this drive can be initiated and sustained. The paper proposes various paths to learning and change. It recommends that the most challenging and rewarding path is the eclectic-innovative path, which requires active and non-cosmetic management of change. The paper concludes that the West is but one source of learning for Japan. Japan needs to learn from its mother civilisation, from within which fresh challenges will arise again.