Was Kakuei Tanaka a Pioneer of the 'Trump Revolution'?
The term "Reformocon", which supports Trump's seemingly chaotic high-tariff policies, is being heard more frequently. It is a translation of "Reformocon", and I was impressed by how Akimasa Senzaki took the time to explain it in detail on a TV program we appeared on together in April.
However, the Japanese word for "reform" (kaikaku) carries a strong "neoliberal implication" of leaving everything to competition in the global market, which was frequently used (precisely by conservatives) during the Heisei era, and is the exact opposite of Trump-style protectionism. Therefore, it is better to be creative with the translation.
I think it would convey the nuance better to translate it directly as "Reformism", just as the right-wing party rising in the UK, "Reform UK", is written in katakana. Oren Cass, a leading expert, spoke about his understanding of the current situation in an interview with Hirotsugu Aida:
Cass: The war on terror, which pointlessly sent young people overseas, was a failure, and expanding free trade even to communist China robbed the U.S. of jobs. As a result of continuing tax cuts even while piling up budget deficits, the current "U.S. local communities and families have been sacrificed". (Omitted) The average life expectancy of middle-aged and older people with low levels of education, especially white people, is dropping rapidly due to suicide, drugs, and alcohol abuse... A phenomenon comparable to this is the increase in the mortality rate due to alcohol abuse in "
Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union". It can be said that this is a phenomenon caused by the collapse of a nation.
(First published in the June 2025 issue of "Chuokoron")
Cass is a brain trust relied upon by both Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, and Vance in particular is known for his hit "famous autobiography" about his service in the "war on terror that pointlessly sent young people overseas." For such a person to compare the America that was supposed to have "won" the Cold War to the "lost" Soviet Union", it feels like the turning point of history has reached its limit.
It is fine for American conservatives, who "got carried away" after the end of the Cold War, to become humble, but the sight of them declaring that they can improve not only statistical trade deficits but also "individuals' health and ways of living" feels like a different kind of arrogance and is eerie.
Strictly speaking, it seems to be Japanese-made English, but what Japanese people associate with "reform" is "construction work to renovate" a dilapidated house (the original word "reform" is closer to a spiritual "conversion"). With a similar vibe, the executives of the Trump administration seem to believe that "social remodeling" is possible, returning a decrepit nation to the same state as its youth, just as one reproduces a clean house when one first starts living in it.
The famous "movie" from 1998 depicted the grotesqueness of such "social rejuvenation desires" as a parody, but it is chilling to see politicians aim for that literally and wield authoritarian power. Conversely, it shows how cornered the country of America is.
However, there was a time in Japan when people believed that every corner of society could be "remodeled according to the blueprint!" That was "Building a New Japan" (June 1972), a bestseller by prime ministerial candidate Kakuei Tanaka.
The "reading roundtable in "Ushio" magazine" that I have been introducing has concluded, and in the "July issue currently on sale", at the suggestion of Hiroshi Kainan, we discussed the contemporary relevance of Tanaka's book (other participants included Yoko Iwama, Toshinao Sasaki, and Kaijin Higashihata).
Generally, when people talk about Tanaka, they talk about him with the image of Reformocon, such as "redistribution to declining regions" through regulatory policies, but the tone of his book is surprisingly different. Quoting from my own remarks—
Arguments for "autonomous driving of cars" as a key to stopping regional decline became popular at the end of the Heisei era, but in this book, Tanaka writes that he would rather "use it to make urban life elegant". Expectations for technology are actually lonelier than in the Showa era. Revisiting it this time, Tanaka's writing style, which preaches the balance of the national land, has a stronger tone of "
overcrowding in the city center" is too dangerous, and you don't want it to stay as it is, right?" than "save the regions."
That is right. Japan at the time was roaring through high economic growth (though it had reached its peak), and the confidence that "financial resources are inexhaustible" made people think that "anything can be freely remodeled." This is completely different from the current U.S., which struggles every year to compile a national budget.
However, that confident Tanaka was easily defeated in the general election he had prepared for as prime minister (December 1972). This point is quite similar to the current situation in Japan and the U.S., where the public is tired of the choices offered by existing political parties, calling for "a mood of denying the status quo and a desire for a multi-party system".
As I wrote in Heisei History in 2021, there was a boom in re-evaluating Kakuei at the end of the Heisei era, with people saying things like "Kakuei could break the status quo." However, we don't really see politicians who are serious about once again "remodeling society" and chanting, "Bring back the golden age!" Why is it that such Japanese-style Trumps do not emerge?
In the roundtable discussion for "Ushio," I analyzed it this way.
If you force people to "make the nation great again!" and impose a dream on them, you end up with authoritarian politics like Trump's or Putin's. For better or worse, Japan is currently the opposite.
Rather, with things like consumption tax cuts or "increasing take-home pay," people are filling their own wallets individually, and no one is saying anything as intense as "let's all dream together." While such populism is peaceful, it also leads to an ultimate individualism where citizens have no interest in each other and do not care for one another.
While the United States, which has been considered the archetype of a country that prioritizes individual freedom above all else, has begun to shout, even while wielding state power, "Restore families and communities!," the Japanese, who have historically had strong collectivism and a tradition-oriented mindset, have conversely come to say nothing but, "Give me money!."
Over the 80 years since the war, and especially over the 35 years since the Cold War, Japanese and American societies have each arrived at a place diametrically opposed to their existing self-images. To confirm this, it is useful to engage with classics and look back at history.
The "Ushio" book club will come to an end with this installment (a closing manuscript is also scheduled to be published in next month's issue), but I think it was an actual discussion worthy of that. I hope that with the summer of elections now upon us, this will be an opportunity for many people to think.
Reference article:
(The header is from an NHK program at the end of 2023)