Kazakhs and Japanese. Fortitude and perfection. Almaz Braev

respect, the nomads have a great expanse to ride over the endless distance. Who’s going to stop him? There is no one a thousand kilometers ahead. Ride as much as you want, and no one will limit you. The nomad must move as far as possible and use the entire territory to be overcome. Maybe that’s why even a modern Kazakh boss seems to be alone in his office; no one else is around, but they are. Kazakhs need to designate their territory by themselves, by their presence, by their importance, so to speak. The Arab Abu Ziad was asked jokingly how the Kazakhs walk. He must have seen them when they made the Hajj to Mecca. The observant Abu Ziyad laughed and walked forward, waving his arms and spreading his legs apart as if not one but two people were walking to show their territory – he was joking.

      Meanwhile, this does not give anyone dignity. As the Prophet said, may Allah bless him and grant him: “Do not walk the earth proudly.” In general, there are 128 million Japanese in Japan and 9 thousand officials. In Kazakhstan, 82 thousand civil servants account for 19 million people. There are obvious shortcomings with the ergonomics of power.

      Chapter 9

      The quality of bureaucracy

      Amakudari (literally “descent from heaven”)

      “Officials are people who want to surround themselves with as many subordinates as possible. The more subordinates there are, the more stable the official’s position is and the more opportunities he has for further advancement to the top.”

      Hiroshi Fujiwara

      In 1945, Japan lay in ruins. Everyone knows about the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In fact, the damage from the nuclear bomb was only a tenth of the carpet bombing by the American Air Force. Squadrons of 500 B-29 bombers burned down all Japanese cities in two years. When the emperor addressed the nation, all the Japanese could stand at the radios. Young Akio Morita, the future founder of the legendary Sony company, stood at attention in the uniform of an officer of the Imperial Navy with a sword. Yes, the Japanese bureaucracy itself was one of the ingredients of success (the other most important factor of the Japanese miracle was the highest discipline and diligence of the Japanese people. The unwritten and little understood by others, the strict practice of amakudari (“descended from heaven”), of course, requires clarification.

      What is amakudari?

      This is a lifetime contract of an official with the state. There are a lot of applicants, but there are few high government posts. So, officials of that age did not stay too long in office; thus, they could find work in commercial firms. The pension was good because the work in a commercial company will also be recorded in the work experience. At the age of 50—53, high officials leave for business structures, that is, long before retirement age. They go to private companies, where they are invited as top managers. Although they have modest salaries in the ministries, they, as a rule, do not steal – they know that they will honestly take their own in the private sector. There is, of course, an opportunity for patronage and corruption because the “favorite” company, for example, will not check enough. But this does not greatly affect Japanese corruption in general. Corruption in Japan is very low. Suspicion of corruption for a modern Japanese official is the same indelible shame as for a Japanese during the shogunate. The Japanese just mortally do not want to be a laughing stock in front of society. That’s the positive legacy the Japanese received from the shoguns.

      In Kazakhstan, they try not to check the companies in which relatives of big officials work. This is not accepted. Any inspection of a large firm or a large bank is authorized only from above, and any errors are excluded. Basically, inspectors check small businesses, and everything is already possible there. Small businessmen are better off not contradicting and agreeing with everything with small officials; otherwise, it will be more expensive.

      Thus, all power is tied to big business. You need to have large relatives in the executive branch to have an unsinkable business. The higher the position in which an official sits, the bigger his business affairs are, and this is almost a rule.

      If the government changes, then, of course, the whole pyramid changes. They select “their own people”, their own team. There is also a redistribution of large businesses’ assets. Therefore, power cannot be lost in any way. Every official knows this. Therefore, no one wants to leave voluntarily. Disloyalty to the regime can serve as a reason for dismissal, so no one wants to get involved with the opposition. No one wants to be overly active, say, in work, but everyone tries to praise the course of the current president, and the president himself should always be praised (for example, give to streets, parks, and squares the president’s name). If an extraordinary event occurs in the controlled territory of a big official, enemies and competitors for a lucrative place immediately take advantage of it, and they quickly inform the leader. The official is first checked for loyalty, and then everything else is checked.

      The culture of power is always linked to culture in general. The desire of a nomad to occupy more space around himself is quite understandable. This is an eternal desire. Even minor officials from the former nomads do not tolerate objections. In Japan, for example, no one takes a step without instructions; Japan is generally a country of instructions. In Kazakhstan, almost no instructions are needed. The officials do this under the motto I am the boss – you are a subordinate, so complete subordination. If an official has a relative, a “roof” on top, he does not care who is sitting in front of him. He knows he has protection. The pathetic babble of a journalist is pathetic because there is no free press, although everywhere, they talk about some kind of commitment to democracy. Well, it’s true; if there is a market around, then there should be a free press. Not with us. The authorities decide everything. Therefore, everyone wants, especially the extremely conservative Kazakhs, to get into power. But the government has its own selection. And this selection is far from meritocratic principles in general. The whole press is under control almost like in Japan (with one difference: the Amakudari principle helps the Japanese). That is, a Kazakh with a reliable roof is not afraid of anything.