Word: roote
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Unfortunately, not all analyses of America's problems are as sophisticated as Kunihiro's. When Yoshio Sakurauchi, the Speaker of the Lower House of the Diet, caused a furor in the U.S. two weeks ago by saying that the "root of America's ((trade)) problem lies in the inferior quality of American labor," he was reflecting a condescension toward Americans that many Japanese share...
...mind and stays there even after a Japanese outgrows blue jeans. American books, both pop and profound, can at times sell more in Japanese translation than back home in English. News is often seen through an American prism. Trends and movements sweep across the Pacific from America and take root. In Japan these days many people prefer whale watching to whale eating: environmentalism has arrived...
...mirror Japan's cultural and racial homogeneity, which they believe is largely responsible for the country's high degree of national harmony. The virtues of this harmony are probably overrated, and the disadvantages -- repression, numbing conformity -- are widely ignored. But the myth that racial homogeneity engenders unity is the root of discrimination against anyone who is not Japanese. Accustomed to the efficiency and uniformity of their own country, the Japanese are frightened and shocked by the seemingly chaotic nature of American society. They tend to believe that America's racial and cultural diversity are weaknesses, not strengths...
...campaign accomplishes little--and probably causes more problems than it solves. In its attempt to use feelings of patriotism (with lots of superimposed red, white and blue) to encourage Americans to purchase domestically made products, the Buy American campaign sidetracks Americans from the fundamental economic problems that are the root cause of our trade deficit...
...growing enmity is not entirely one-sided. Yoshio Sakurauchi, a veteran politician who heads the prestigious but largely ceremonial post of speaker of Japan's House of Representatives, said last week that "the root of the ((trade)) problem lies in the inferior quality of U.S. labor. The American worker doesn't work enough but wants high pay. About one-third can't even read." (In fact, about 15% of the adult work force would be considered functionally illiterate, meaning that they are unable to adequately perform in their job.) Stooping to Sakurauchi's level of discourse, Michigan Senator Donald Riegle...