Page 6 RAIN Spring 1986 The Other Japan Interest has been growing recently in that entity called “the Pacific Rim." In his soon-to-be-released book. Pacific Shift, William Irwin Thompson describes how the center ofsocial and cultural innovation is shifting from the New YorklLondonl Paris axis to the Los AngelesISydneyITokyo axis. This would seem to be welcome newsfor those of us living on the West Coast—it sorta puts us in the thick of the excitement. Also, if we extend our sense ofbioregions to macroregions with common characteristics across borders, the question is raised: Why not look west to the East as well as east to the Westfor ideas and inspiration? Thefollowing special section has been put together by Steve Johnson based on his trip to Japan last September and October. Hefound that there is more to Japan than the "Japan Inc." image we getfrom most American media. Thefirst piece in this section, “On the Far Side of the Big Lake," is Steve’s own impressionistic look at “the other Japan," based on a tour of citizen action groups, progressive governments, and “new age" groups. Articles describing other elements ofJapanese grassroots activity have been contributed by people Steve met on his trip. Based on these new contacts, we hope that RAIN can increase its coverage ofJapan, and the Pacific Rim in general, in the future. —FLS On the Far Side of the Big Lake by Steve Johnson Last fall I travelled to Japan to follow up on a rejuvinated interest in Japan in the context of the Pacific Rim. I spent about 4 months there when I was 16 years old. This was 1962, one year before President Kennedy's assassination, two years before the Beatles landed in America. In Japan in 1962 there were less then 2 million cars, and most of those were taxis. When I returned in 1985 there were 50 million cars. My interest in Japan coincided with Japan's increased influence on our culture, from employment in the auto industry to clothes fashion and sushi bars. When an economics professor told us in 1962 that Japan would soon be a major economic force in the world, all we could think of was souveniers with that ubiquitous “Made in Japan.” Facing Japan from the Pacific Maritime region of North America, there is an ocean in front of us and rows of mountains and deserts behind us. A giant body of water, in which all tlie land of the planet could be tucked away with room to spare, separates us. But across that water we share a rim of dormant fire, the volcanos, and plate movement, the earthquakes. Also, as Gary Snyder pointed out, the wonderful nature woodcuts of Hiroshige have scenes that warm the cockles of a maritime inhabitant's heart. For over a year before I went to Japan, I employed traditional networking techniques to establish communication with Japanese. In fact, I started with a small list of RAIN subscribers. That small list seemed to have a life of its own as The Other Japan
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