06/15/98 CAN JAPAN CHANGE ITS MIND-SET? (int'l edition)

CAN JAPAN CHANGE ITS MIND-SET? (int'l edition)

I wish to comment on ''Why Japan won't act to save itself'' (Commentary, May 18): Yudan tateki is a phrase, translated as ''carelessness is the enemy,'' that was uttered some 50 years ago by Admiral Nagumo, who was responsible for the fleet during the Pearl Harbor attack. After discovering the success of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the apparent unpreparedness of the U.S. military, many younger subordinates were pushing Admiral Nagumo to attack again and knock out America's capability of using Oahu as an offensive base. But fearing for his fleet, Nagumo cut the attacks and went home.
Historians argue that this inherent conservativeness greatly hurt Japan, because the U.S. Navy was able to rebuild itself, and retribution came swiftly--at Midway.
Having lived and worked in Japan for 2 1/2 years, I have witnessed this subtle conservativeness at first hand. Living on islands with no raw materials and with continual natural disasters breeds a hierarchal, disciplined society in which carelessness is always the enemy. There is no one to depend on but yourselves; mistakes are not tolerated. The root cause of the problems and the successes of Japan is the Japanese mind, and it will take an abrupt revolution to change it, like the Meiji restoration.
Ross Aiello
Selangor, Malaysia