Cartels of the Mind - Japan's Intellectual Closed Shop

As Washington and Tokyo sort out their new power relationship and roles in post-Cold War Asia, Japan continues to block the access of foreign professionals, both Westerners and Asians alike.

These cartels of the mind--market barriers--serve neither the professed goals of Japan nor those of the United States. Despite repeated promises to open up, Japanese legal, media, academic, and research organizations run an intellectual closed shop. American lawyers are stymied in efforts to help U.S. firms enter the Japanese market. Foreign correspondents are systematically walled off from the most important sources.

Resident Western and Asian academics--even foreign students--in search of stable and productive careers and education find the roads blocked. Foreign scientists and engineers are kept out of Japan's state-of-the-art laboratories.