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Response Paper: " The Land: The Construction State" (2001) by Alex Kerr

In the first chapter of Alex Kerr’s book of Dogs and Demons, titled “The Land: The Construction State” (2001), he presents to the reader a seemingly glaring yet most of the time ignored situation in Japan– that is the excessive construction projects that have boomed over the recent decades and continue to do so, even to the point of wearing thin the land and the people. He explains that one major problem lies on the government policies, the budgeting of the ministries, and the expectation per government division that must replicate the same, if not more, of what they have attained in the previous years. This creates a burden to land, especially when previous construction projects have already finished and further projects can no longer be accommodated in the natural way – that is to say, in an orderly manner required by circumstances, as opposed to simply filling in content for document reports. Kerr also adds that industrial development, or any physical development for that matter in Japan, was not a solely Western influence, with records from literature attesting to its employment even before the forceful opening of the country during Commodore Perry’s expedition. As an introduction to the book that seems to want to offer a different point of view to Japan, first through its landscape, I would agree that Kerr’s narrative is successful in relaying such strong messages to the reader– that this would be a different take of viewing Japan, of giving this subject matter a deeper reading and a critical thinking. There were some instances, however, that I feel that he was overly bearing with his message– such as citing a deeper interconnectedness between agencies. On the one hand, it would be interesting for those who are familiar with those agencies, but on the other hand, it could turn out to be a long drawl on a part of his subject matter, which begs the question as to who is his targeted audience, and to what category would be place this book into. Aside from that, though only the first chapter of the book, there was little explanation with historical literature that he used to substantiate his claim, and perhaps he may have avoided discussing the evolution of Japan’s own religious and philosophical thought over the centuries which could give an answer as to why the country had come to have such (according to him) a “controlling” Wakon or Japan spirit. Indeed, Japan may have been influenced by numerous countries over the centuries, and should be no different from other developed countries, but unlike the ‘dualist western thought’ –of which Kerr may be inferring with, particularly when he presents questions to the reader that seeks to have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but never an ‘undefined’ answer– Japan’s own philosophical nature is steeped with ‘fluidity and flexibility’ that when a call for stasis is in order, the most logical approach would be to return to what has worked and continues to work, and therefore be applied to “further continue to work”.

(May 07, 2016)

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