1996 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Validity of Japanese Model for Russia's Reforms
| Project/Area Number |
06451100
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Politics
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| Research Institution | International Research Center for Japanese Studies |
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Principal Investigator |
KIMURA Hiroshi International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Research Dept., Professor, 研究部, 教授 (80001767)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1994 – 1996
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| Keywords | Russia / Reform / Japan Model / U.S.model / Model / Gorbachev / Yeltsin / Nomenkratura |
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| Research Abstract |
In the former Soviet Union, particularly around 1989 through 1991, the Gorbachev leadership seriously tried to learn a lesson from Japan's success story Why did the Soviet intellectuals and even politicians become interested in the so-called "Japan model."? I have attempted to answer this question in this research project. My tentative answers are threefold : First, the Russians had a feeling of "closeness" toward the Japanese experience ; being a latecomer compared with the Western European nations and the United States, both Japan and Russia started their modernization around 100 years ago ; whereas Japan succeeded, Russia failed ; the Russians thought that if they adopted now the Japanese way, they could have quickly caught up with the West, as Japan did. Second, some Soviets regarded the Japanese as more advanced than the Americans and West Europeans in introducing in their economy the most advanced scientific and technological achievements. Thirdly, perhaps most important reason is political : the Gorbachev leadership preferred the Japanese model to the U.S.model, because the former would let the central government keep the power, while the latter would have deprived of power the Party apparatchiks and governmental nomenkratura.
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