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"SHOSHAMAN: A TALE OF CORP. JAPAN" (ARAI SHINYA).
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Political analysis of novel critical of corp. restrictions on workers & managers.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Political analysis of novel critical of corp. restrictions on workers & managers.
Paper Introduction:
This study will provide a political analysis of Arai Shinya's novel Shoshaman: A Tale of Corporate Japan. The study will argue that author Shinya is critical of the corporate political system, but he finally seems perhaps too much a part of the corporate world himself to fully and honestly portray the harsh and ruthless reality of that world and its destructive consequences for both the workers in the corporation and the corporation itself.
Shinya is the Executive Vice-President of Summit, Inc., and a Director of Sumitomo Corporation. With a book critical of the short-sighted political system of the corporation, he is clearly biting the hand that feeds him, but at the same time he is not biting it too hard. The central problem of his novel is the protagonist's search for a way to change the corporate political
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Another problem with the novel is that it is weak on style, deepcharacterization, and even imagination. Inaddition, the corporation itself suffers because it loses the potential ofmuch of its human resources. The political argument of the book is essentially thatthe structure and philosophy of the corporation is inefficient and counter-productive because it does not take full advantage of the potential of theworkers and managers. At the same time, through the frustration of Nakasato, we come to seethe costs to the corporation of this political system with its totalitarianimpulses. The translator's summary of the novel reveals that the book'ssubject, in capsule form, is no more exciting that the style or creativevision of the author. Thisphilosophy limits what he has to say about corporate politics, because,being far from a revolutionary and little to say of a concrete nature evenin terms of reform, he has little to offer as an alternative. The corporation robs itself of the fruits which it would gatherfrom its workers and managers if it had developed a more free and flexiblepolitical system. Chieko Mulhern writes: Shoshaman . This study will provide a political analysis of Arai Shinya's novelShoshaman: A Tale of Corporate Japan. Again, it is crucial to keep in mind that people (the "polis")form the heart and soul of politics. He acknowledges that the corporate world is aself-contained realm where politics are a means of keeping people dependenton the corporation. We read that "Decision-making power is preciselycircumscribed for each level of management" (185). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.----------------------- 1 The reader hopes that this rapturous description will introducesome sense of passion into the book, its characters, and/or its politics,but disappointment quickly follows. Man discovered a certain idea that'dnever existed on earth before and aspired to express it in a tangible form"(43). In that sense, for the worker connected to the corporation,the politics of the corporation are more meaningful than the politics ofthe government. When he makes his decision to leave, he feels "free from thestiflingly small corporate world with its tethers and intricately webbedhuman relationships" (167). But in the end they beat their usual path to the drinking holes, wherethey mourn the death of their short-lived dreams and pour out their heartsin criticism of their immediate superiors" (221). It is notsurprising to find little hope in his Afterword for much changes incorporate politics. Theyreflect the incredible self-centeredness of the leaders of the corporationin the novel, for both sets of individuals cannot see beyond their verylimited visions of reality, politically, economically, in terms of humanresources, or otherwise. At the same time, Shinya (and his protagonist) seem to wantto have it both ways. . Hoshino says that the cathedral"embodies the dream of the human race. A more comprehensive workwould have shown the restrictive relationship between Japanese governmentalpolitics and Japanese business. . Corporatepolitics restrict human development in many ways. BibliographyShinya, Arai. Of course, the individual workers, managers and entrepreneurssuffering alienation and frustration are not the only ones who pay a highprice because of the restrictive political system of the corporation. This is an important message which this novel delivers with onlypartial success. Shinya does not have a pro-corporation philosophy, but he does have apro-business philosophy. From the corporation'sviewpoint, such political control produces a smoothly running machine.However, a corporation is composed not of machine parts but of humanbeings. The corporation explored in this novel doesnot want to give its workers and managers the freedom that would lead toexpression of greater potential in those workers, because the corporationfears that such workers would leave the corporation to pursue otherprofessional avenues. Keeping in mind that the point of the book is the failure ofcorporate Japan to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit, we must accept thefact that economic, corporate and entrepreneurial power and prestige arethe primary values of the book and its author. . The problem with both the author and Nakasato andhis corporate bosses is that they seem too often oblivious to the humanaspects of their work and their lives. With a book critical of the short-sightedpolitical system of the corporation, he is clearly biting the hand thatfeeds him, but at the same time he is not biting it too hard. . . In addition, Shinya's sterile style creates wooden characters anddialogue which does not help the reader become involved with his politicalviews. .. Shoshaman. However, the ideas are not original nor freshly expressed.For example, Hoshino goes on at length about the wonders of the cathedralof Cologne. they've got no distinct corporate identity" (42).The problem with the book is that the people have little or no humanidentity. They both clearly have benefitted from climbing thecorporate ladder, but they seem at other times to suggest that corporatepolitics creates such misery that it should be completely changed: "Eachand every . However, the novel is so flat and dull in the artistic realm thatwhatever it has to say about the politics of the corporation loses much ofits power. In other words, they fail to put atthe center of their political concerns the people who form the essence ofall politics. Hoshino at one point says to Nakasato: "The third problem withAmerican Gourmet is . The centralproblem of his novel is the protagonist's search for a way to change thecorporate political system so to create an atmosphere in which thecorporation encourages managers to develop into entrepreneurs. This is a theme which is repeated throughout the book and finally inthe author's Afterword. The book does not have muchto say about the impact of the national political system on the economicessence of the corporation because, as the author makes clear, the loyaltyof the workers appears to be much more connected to the corporation than tothe government. . The political system of the corporation which hinders would-beentrepreneurs such as Nakasato, and as much as imprisons salarymen is not apolitical system based on creativity, freedom, encouragement, or the wiseand effective use of the potential of the human beings working for thatcorporation. The political system of the corporation, then, is one based onfear and the need for control. Shinya is the Executive Vice-President of Summit, Inc., and aDirector of Sumitomo Corporation. He never even considers that there might be aworld outside of the world of corporations and entrepreneurs. Every man who is under thedelusion that he made the greatest accomplishment in the world by simplybeing ahead of his peers in the promotion race" (166). It is, in effect, a glorified essayon those aspects of the corporation in Japan which encourage or discourageentrepreneurship. This is unfortunate, because Shinya's message is important,especially in the intensively workaholic culture of Japan. Japanese corporate politics restrict the creative and freedevelopment of the individual human being as well as the corporationitself. If the reader does not connect in somepowerful way with the people in the novel, then whatever the author istrying to say about the political short-sightedness and incompetence of thecorporate bosses will be seriously watered-down. focuses on the course of careers in senior management and in particular on the agonizing choices that management executives face---such as Nakasato's, between an assignment as the CEO of a subsidiary abroad and the coveted role of member of the president's trusted executive staff in the Tokyo headquarters of the parent company (xxii). They merely embody ideas, which does not make them compellingcharacters. We wait to see how he will connect this thought to the subject of thebook, but again we are disappointed: "Can't we turn American GourmetCompany into a Cologne cathedral of our own?" (44). It is as if the characters are computers without passion and withoutsouls. He notes in the latter that most salarymen inJapanese corporations "agonize" over their "impulse to quit the company. Inevitably, the politics which flow from such characters, and fromsuch a soulless corporate setting, are similarly without passion. To Nakasato the corporation is an "invisible monster" he seeks toflee. The study will argue that authorShinya is critical of the corporate political system, but he finally seemsperhaps too much a part of the corporate world himself to fully andhonestly portray the harsh and ruthless reality of that world and itsdestructive consequences for both the workers in the corporation and thecorporation itself. colleague was to be pitied. Of course, politics also involves ideas, and the book is nothing ifit is not ideas. Accordingly,the only politics in the novel are the politics of the corporate world. As a result of this fear, the corporation creates apolitical system which ties the worker to the corporation, makes him or herdependent on the corporation for life, and makes him or her afraid ofleaving the corporation for other pursuits. . The author and translator obviously believe that the reader who isinterested in such a choice, which certainly appears less than "agonizing,"will automatically be interested in a novel about such a choice.
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