Reimagining Japan: The Quest for a Future That Works

Reimagining Japan: The Quest for a Future That Works

Earthquake, tsunami, and the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl: the <br />triple disasters of March 2011 hit Japan when it was already feeling <br />vulnerable, its confidence shaken by debt, deflation, and political <br />inertia. Yet those terrible days also revealed Japan’s strengths, most <br />notably the sense of community that created order and dignity amid the <br />chaos. In the short term, no one doubts Japan’s capacity to rebuild, but <br />the country still faces daunting long-term challenges. Its population is <br />aging and its workforce shrinking. In trade and diplomacy, it faces new <br />pressures from a rising China. Many leading Japanese companies have lost <br />global market share over the past two decades and struggled to become truly <br />global competitors. Japan still excels at manufacturing, but it has been <br />slow to develop its service sector. Meanwhile, the country’s education <br />system continues to emphasize rote learning and cramming at the expense of <br />innovation and creative thinking. <br /><br />For Reimagining Japan: The Quest for a Future That Works, McKinsey invited <br />80 men and women from around the world to contemplate the challenges and <br />opportunities facing the country as it recovers from the triple disasters. <br />Contributors include CEOs, economists, Japan scholars, foreign-policy <br />experts, authors, and journalists, as well as stars from sports and <br />culture. This unique and distinguished collection of authors shares <br />perspectives on Japan in essays that are insightful, thought provoking—and <br />sometimes contradictory. <br /><br />Notable contributors include Bernard Arnault, Ian Buruma, Gerald Curtis, <br />John Chambers, Steven Covey, John Dower, Bill Emmott, Victor Fung, Carlos <br />Ghosn, Pico Iyer, Bob McDonald, Stephen Roach, Masahiro Sakane, Masayoshi <br />Son, Howard Schultz, Klaus Schwab, Bobby Valentine, Steve Van Andel, Ezra <br />Vogel, Robert Whiting, Tadashi Yanai and more than 50 others. <br /><br />