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A. Just listen to me first. If Americans who hold shares in Japanese companies demand American-style management at stockholders' meetings, we must clearly say no. That's what we did recently to T. Boone Pickens, a man with a disreputable reputation. America is in decline because of American managers who only care about their short-term gains so that they can boast about them at the next shareholders' meeting. Japanese managers use shareholders' meetings to explain their long-term plans and ask shareholders to bear with limited dividends. Japan has succeeded in rebuilding its economy because it has kept its idiosyncrasies, that is to say, management philosophy, labor- management relations and company-shareholders relations based on humane feelings. We don't have to change those characteristics just to please the Americans.
Q. Then why does Japan make concessions in response to U.S. trade demands?
A. It's because our postwar stepchild mentality hasn't changed. Because bureaucrats and politicians feel that Japan owes the U.S. so much in return for the country's postwar rehabilitation they acquiesce even when the Americans are unreasonable. I think it's time for Japan to move away from this slave mentality. Japan is the only country that is developing practical uses of superconductivity and, I believe, will master the technology in ten years. Then Japan will be at the center of industry. Japan must repel any attempt by the U.S. to prevent it from becoming more self-assertive.
Q. Are you saying that you expect Japan to take global leadership on the strength of its technology?
A. Yes, absolutely. When you look back at history, you'll see that new technologies build new civilizations. Technology determines the quality and quantity of the human economy. The medieval age gave way to the modern age because of the art of navigation, the invention of gunpowder and Gutenberg's art of printing. Now the modern age has come to a close because of nuclear power and electronics. I think Japan will be one of the major players that will build a new world history. It can't be done by Japan alone. Active interaction with other countries will enhance technological developments. In this respect the U.S. will remain Japan's most important partner. There's no doubt the U.S.'s position as a global leader will continue. But from the Japanese viewpoint, the U.S.'s desire to keep Japan or other countries in the palm of its hand is annoying. The Americans should dispassionately put the present world in historical perspective. Their failure to do so will jeopardize not only their future but also that of the rest of the world.
Q. In your book, you say that the U.S. dropped atom bombs on Japan but not on Germany because Americans were racially prejudiced against the Japanese.