Reflections on the rise of Japan's great powers

A Review of the Rise of Japan's Great Powers

Why can Japan, a tiny country that was once ignorant and backward, oppress China with a vast territory and rich products for half a century? This has to arouse our reflection. After reading The Rise of Great Powers, I understand something: Because everyone in Japan has something that belongs to his own nation, that is, the "soul" of the Japanese nation-the national spirit. The following points are worth learning: (1) Keep learning, keep trying and keep innovating; (2) Inheriting excellent cultural traditions and carrying forward the national spirit; (3) Pay attention to education and cultivate talents; (4) Pursuing perfection and striving for perfection.

(1) Keep learning, trying and innovating. Japan attaches importance to science and technology education, is good at learning and innovation, and pays attention to the cultivation of talents. Japanese people's strong desire to learn is worth learning. For example, one night during the period when American general Perry forced Japan to open its doors by force, two Japanese youths secretly climbed onto the American black ship and told General Perry by hand that they would go to the United States with the ship to see why the United States was so powerful. It was legal to behead in Japan at that time. Perry was very surprised at their behavior. Perry wrote in his diary: "I was moved by the learning spirit of these two Japanese. If the Japanese are like them, Japan will become as powerful as the United States. "

Two young people eager to know the world were finally sent off the boat. But with the opening of the country, more and more Japanese people pay attention to the outside world. 14 later, a young man named Shibusawa Eiichi got a chance to go to Europe. 1827, he participated in the Paris World Expo and visited all neighboring countries. He was inspired, brought back brand-new ideas to the country, and later made important contributions to the development of Japan. Japan has been a nation that is good at learning since its founding. Since the Tang Dynasty, Japanese came to China to study Confucianism, medicine, Buddhism and tea ceremony. And absorbed a lot of cultural achievements from China, thus embarking on the road of learning from China and imitating the development of China. 1853, when U.S navy general Perry forced Japan to open a port for trade, he said to the Japanese envoy who came to negotiate, you'd better not resist, because once a war starts, there is only one outcome, that is, the United States wins. Although there was a debate in Japan about whether to establish a country or go to war at that time, they finally accepted Perry's request with a welcome attitude for practical reasons. Because Japan realized that closed doors can only lead to the decline of the country, only by opening its doors and absorbing advanced western science and technology can it embark on the road of becoming a strong country. Today, Japan has become a world power, but its spirit of learning and innovation has never stopped. Its national pillar enterprises, such as Mitsubishi, Toyota, Panasonic, etc., all learn advanced management concepts from the United States and other western countries, and then constantly try to innovate, and now they have become world-renowned multinational companies.

(2) Inherit excellent cultural traditions and carry forward the national spirit. The Japanese have bushido spirit and strong national cohesion. They are brave in struggle, innovation, perseverance and willing to learn. Japan has talents with great leadership and appeal in the process of development. During the Meiji Restoration, Toshiichi Kubo and Koichi Urugu reformed the country's economy, politics, education and military, and became the backbone of the reform, which played a leading role in Japan's development. Shibusawa Eiichi gave up a high official, Houlu, to go into business, and became the most famous entrepreneur in the 19 era, making great contributions to Japanese economic development. There is such a commentary in the documentary: "When suits are popular, kimonos are regarded as the most gorgeous dresses. There are many bars, and the tea room is still a spiritual clean place for people. Western operas began to sing, and functional operas and kabuki went to the extreme. When oil painting is dazzling, Japanese ukiyo-e painting has also become a major genre of world painting. " Churchill said: I would rather lose a London than a Shakespeare. It can be seen that the culture of a nation is the spiritual pillar of a nation, the baton that dominates a nation and the symbol of a nation! After Japan's opening to the outside world, it once copied the western model and even allowed its nationals to intermarry with westerners in order to improve its ethnic origin. However, due to the outbreak of social contradictions, they realized that their national culture could not be discarded, so they wrote their excellent traditional culture into the Constitution and passed it down, becoming the pillar of the national spirit.

(3) Pay attention to education and cultivate talents. Japanese education pays attention to quality. Their education curriculum consists of three parts: discipline, morality and special activities (including class activities, student union activities, group activities and school parties). Junior high school subject teaching

There are two kinds of compulsory trees and elective trees. Japan defines the development direction of education as: let children have "viability" and "ease and prosperity". Its main purpose is to cultivate the young generation's ability to adapt to society, emphasizing that education must adapt to the needs of society. Here, the focus of education should shift from imparting knowledge in the past to cultivating ability. In Japan, a ten-year-old boy can tell the proportion data of the distribution of the main natural resources on the earth, the basic composition of automobile exhaust and the chemical composition of harmful gases. He tried to find various environmental protection measures after listing all kinds of bad behaviors of human beings destroying the natural environment, but children in China did not have such ability. With the implementation of nine-year compulsory education, Japan has achieved primary education 100% and junior high education100%; The gross enrollment rate of universities is 40.3%, and the proportion of people with university education in the total population is as high as 48%, and the literacy rate is nearly 100%.

(4) Pursuing perfection and striving for perfection. Ji Tianmao, Japan's most famous post-war prime minister, said that the Japanese nation has a professionalism that stops at perfection. Unless you don't do it, you must do your best, which is deeply rooted in the blood of the Japanese nation. This is the main reason why Japan has been the second economic power in the world after the Meiji Restoration and the post-war economic miracle. Drucker also has a profound study of Japanese cultural spirit. At the age of seventy, he was honored as a professor of Japanese art and culture at the University of Tokyo, and he was proud of it. He believes that the real interest of the Japanese nation is the pursuit of perfection and perfection of professionalism. No matter what you do, you should strive for the best, focus on nothing and strive for perfection. Behind this spirit is an extremely humble learning attitude and an open mind that always absorbs the strengths of others. Akio Morita said: "The secret of Japanese enterprises' rapid progress in a short period of time lies in the fact that business operators always think that Japan lags behind others in all fields, thus creating a sense of urgency. They are willing to pretend to be European and American students, insist on paying tuition fees, learn business practices and attract new technologies. "In Japan, people always pursue the improvement of efficiency and productivity, even for a simple tool like a screwdriver. From design to processing, it has been carefully thought out and studied.

As the saying goes, everything has two sides, and the Meiji Restoration is a good example. Meiji Restoration brought a rapid leap to Japan, making Japan still one of the world's economic powers at the centenary of Meiji Restoration. However, the expansion of militarism brought by economic development has brought great disasters to the people of the world. Therefore, the country's political, economic and military development must be people-oriented, so as to truly make the country rich and strong and benefit future generations. As the saying goes, everything has two sides, and the Meiji Restoration is a good example.

Looking back from Japan. There were many splendid cultural and scientific products in ancient China, and its comprehensive national strength was one of the best in the world at that time. We regard ourselves as a powerful country in China and have been worshipped by all countries in the world, and Japanese is no exception. In the eyes of China, he is a humble neighbor.

However, the Japanese instinct soon realized the rigidity of the shogunate system and vigorously promoted the reform, transforming the political system into a constitutional monarchy. When our rulers were still dreaming of going to China in the Forbidden City and disdaining western high technology, even our Empress Dowager Cixi thought that trains were monsters that made a lot of noise, and even used horse-drawn trains. Japan, on the other hand, vigorously introduced western technology and talents. When our rulers will spend a lot of military money to build their own luxurious palaces; Japan is vigorously developing its military. When our people are addicted to opium and do nothing all day; Japanese people are trying to absorb knowledge? This series of behaviors is probably related to the different cultural habits of the two countries. China has played an important role in the world since ancient times. China defines himself like this. We have the most advanced ideological, cultural, economic and technical level in the world. We are a powerful country. Although many people finally proposed to learn from the West, they all died because of the incompetence and weakness of the ruling class. Japan, on the other hand, is a nation good at learning. When I saw the mighty China before, I learned from China and took China as my teacher. Later, when I saw the strength of the western powers, I abandoned China and turned to learn from the western powers. This learning ability has enabled them to rise rapidly.

In today's world, the rise of a big country depends on the level of scientific and technological development and economic development, so we should learn from the humiliating experience of the past 100 years. We should be brave in innovation, be good at learning, strive for progress, especially our new generation, and strive to improve ourselves in order to make our own contribution to the development of the country in the future. But in the process of development, we must also remember that we must seek development peacefully.

For Japan, we should learn from their advanced places and their excellent places, but we should also respect the objective reality of our country, apply what we have learned and implement it. What the Japanese can do is as successful as our China, and we can do better. The revival of the country is waiting.