The Japan That Can Say No

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Literature Hagakure (Recorded 1709–1716) Bushido: The Soul of Japan (1899) The Book of Tea (1906) "Shinmin no Michi" (1941) An Investigation of Global Policy (1943) Patriotism (1960) Sun and Steel (1968) ”The Japan That Can Say No” (1989) The Dignity of the Nation (2005)
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"The Japan That Can Say No: Why Japan Will Be First Among Equals" (「NO」と言える日本, "No" to Ieru Nihon)^[1] is a 1989 essay originally co-authored by Shintaro Ishihara, the then Minister of Transport and a leading figure from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who would become governor of Tokyo (1999-2012); and Sony co-founder and chairman Akio Morita, in the climate of Japan's economic rise. It was famous for its critical examination of United States business practices, and for advocating Japan's taking a more independent stance on many issues, from business to foreign affairs.^[2]

The title refers to the authors' vision—Ishihara's in particular—of a Japanese government that is more than a mere "yes man" to the United States. Many unauthorized translations were made and circulated in the United States. The authorized 1991 Simon & Schuster English translation by Frank Baldwin (out of print) did not include the essays by Morita. The book caused widespread controversy in the United States, and Morita distanced himself from the book.^[3] The book also inspired the similarly themed China Can Say No, a collection of essays published in 1996.