JAPAN FACES DISASTER IN THE NEXT CENTURY UNLESS IT MAKES RADICAL CHANGES IN ITS POLITICS & MANAGEMENT

In a New Book, a Japanese Businessman Calls for a Diminished Role for the Emperor and Greater Freedom for its Workers
_______________________

(March 1998, Philadelphia PA) "Wearing a democratic face before the world community, Japan remains a feudal state, which stifles creativity and promotes submissiveness," says former Casio Computer executive Toshihiko Abe (AH-Bay), whose new book, Japan's Hidden Face, will be published in June 1998.

The work calls for revolutionary changes in the political and management structure of Japan based entirely on the Western democracies to allow for greater innovation and freedom for its employees. It also calls for an end to the Japanese Plutocracy that consists of a triangular relationship among politicians, bureaucratic officials and businessmen "which subjugates the citizens of Japan," according to Mr Abe.

The book is being published by BainBridgeBooks, an imprint of Trans-Atlantic Publications, Philadelphia.

"Democracy should be our nation's supreme ideal, and not the emperor institution, which fosters a vertical society steeped in historical myths that stratify and stultify the majority of Japanese citizens," he says.

During the 1970s and 80s, Mr Abe directed American & European trade operations for Casio Computer Ltd, as well as all foreign trade for the company. During his assignments in New York and London, he witnessed the free flow of ideas that abound in democratic and capitalistic nations. "While in England, I saw a monarchy that did not interfere with freedom, and believed that Japan could flourish under such a political structure," he says. Mr Abe states that "Japan's ideologies are in opposition to Western values. Her decisions are based upon misinformation and mythological history and, regrettably, we still carry the servile spirit of 'adapt to the ways of the master' even today."

He continues: "If Japan wants to stay in Western society and keep her prosperity in a free market, then she must change her social constitution and switch from the current constitutional monarchy to a democracy with a symbolic emperor. This will require Japan to change her whole system and ethics-it will be a revolution to liberate Japan from supporting a 'man above men' vertical society."

Mr Abe wants to make Japan a true Republic "where capitalism and democracy replace the existing socialism and feudalism pervading the nation. Japan, Inc. has failed its workers and must be replaced by the American management style, which offers a wide range of opportunities and freedoms for its workers. Japan, Inc. coddles its employees and abides by a strict code that values a man's standing rather than his opinions and ideas."

The Japanese government, Mr Abe claims, "rarely admits mistakes in policy and never takes radical measures to correct problems. The disaster looming for Japan in the next century can be averted if she joins the Western democracies by truly opening its markets, allowing Westerners on the boards of its multinational companies, rewarding innovation rather than submissiveness, and, above all, shedding its feudal past so that freedom prevails for all its citizens."

Mr Abe was born in Kamakura, Japan, in 1931. In November 1944, his father, the proud captain of Japan's premier aircraft carrier, was killed when the ship, on its maiden voyage, was torpedoed and sunk by a US submarine. Throughout his book, Mr Abe questions the Japanese ethic of "loyalty at any cost" and the suicidal morality of the samurai myths that contributed to his father's death along with some 20 million soldiers and civilians killed by Japanese militarism. He believes that if the Japanese had a better understanding of their history, the rise of feudalism and anti-democratic actions could have been avoided.

Mr Abe left Casio in 1986 to form his own business consulting firm. He lives in Tokyo with his wife, son and two daughters.

Japan's Hidden Face provides a wide-ranging re-evaluation of Japanese history, politics, and commerce, as well as the story of a Japanese businessman whose love for freedom and democracy propels his criticisms of Japan to make it truly free from its feudal past.

The book sells for $27.50 hardback and will be distributed nationally by Ingram Book Company and Baker & Taylor Company. It will be available in most college and trade bookstores, as well as the internet through Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com. Mr Abe will appear at national book fairs and speak on radio and television programs.



# # #

NOTE: A review copy to the press is available upon request.