Keywords

Those who demand that others keep the social order should, if they are grateful for this order, aspire to improve and develop it (Watanabe 1993, p. 198)

Hito-zukuri: Fostering people useful for society (Matsumura et al. 1992, p. 1090).

1 The Concept of Hito-zukuri

The term hito-zukuri can be broken down into hito and zukuri; hito means people or human, and zukuri suggests making, forming, building. Hito-zukuri is often translated as “human resources development” in English, and is used in the context of international development, assistance and cooperation in Japanese. The term itself conveys a sense of action aimed at bringing about some form of change in a population or class of people. Some people may perceive hito-zukuri as desirable, with its implied associations with mono-zukuri [craftsmanship] and machi-zukuri [community design]. However, if we stop and think for a moment about the actual meaning of hito-zukuri, we realize that the term is not so clearly defined. It is therefore far from certain whether hito-zukuri can actually be translated directly into English as “human resources development.” In this chapter, I aim to examine and clarify the meaning and structure of hito-zukuri as a concept, paying attention to foreign and domestic development policies of the Japanese government.1

This effort to uncover the reality of the hito-zukuri concept reflects a focus on the Japanese government’s basic approach to international assistance and cooperation. This is because hito-zukuri, together with concepts such as “self-help,” the “request-based principle,” and “human security,” is an ideal pursued by the Japanese government in its assistance and cooperation efforts. Japan’s 1992 Official Development Assistance Charter sets forth a policy of extensive hito-zukuri predicated on the basic approach of supporting self-help efforts by developing countries to achieve socioeconomic development (MOFA 1999). The Charter states that “A priority of Japan's ODA will be placed on assistance to human resources development [hito-zukuri] which, in the long term, is the most significant element of self-help efforts towards socioeconomic development and is a basic factor for the nation-building [kuni-zukuri] of developing countries” (MOFA 1999). Likewise, the 2003 Official Development Assistance Charter states that “The most important philosophy of Japan's ODA is to support the self-help efforts of developing countries based on good governance, by extending cooperation for their human resource development [hito-zukuri], institution building including development of legal systems, and economic and social infrastructure building, which constitute the basis for these countries’ development” (MOFA 2004). This emphasis on human resources development [hito-zukuri] is reaffirmed as one of the “foundations of self-help efforts and self-reliant development” under the latest 2015 Development Cooperation Charter (MOFA 2015). The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japanese government’s international assistance and cooperation implementation agency, concentrating on technical cooperation, has also characterized its own stance in terms of “kuni-zukuri, hito-zukuri, and interpersonal connections,” hoping to build trust with people in developing countries (JICA 1994). When the appropriateness and consistency of the Japanese government's assistance and cooperation ideals are criticized (Udagawa 2017), only hito-zukuri is defended as consistent with the global dominant trend in international assistance and cooperation (Shimomura 2018, p. 502). This championing of hito-zukuri seems to indicate that it will continue to be one of the ideals for the Japanese government in the future.

The inclusion of human development in aid and cooperation ideals publicly communicates the importance of people in development. It sounds attractive. However, the brightness of an ideal does not guarantee the consistency of its underpinning concepts. Sometimes a dazzling ideal can obscure the substance of the concept. Even JICA, which characterizes its own initiatives as hito-zukuri, has pointed out the ambiguity of the term and has persistently engaged in efforts to clarify the concept, focusing on such aspects as its relationship with the concept of human resources development (JICA Institute for International Cooperation 1987, 1989, 1997, 1999). However, this fails to shed light on some aspects of hito-zukuri, such as its propensity toward moral education based on the Japaneseness and the stratified limitation of its object as discussed in the main part of this paper. Moreover, while these other aspects have been discussed elsewhere, existing studies have not sufficiently referred to the Japanese context. That is, efforts to define hito-zukuri in the existing literature have been far from systematic. In this chapter, I define hito-zukuri in the context not only of international development but also that of domestic development, which is more firmly structured in the Japanese society, and illuminate the unique characteristics of this concept. In Sect. 2, I trace hito-zukuri in Japanese government foreign policy, and in Sect. 3 I track it in its domestic policy. In Sect. 4, I synthesize these two aspects to further clarify what hito-zukuri is. Finally, in Sect. 5, I discuss what hito-zukuri should be.

2 The Popularization of Hito-zukuri

The first official use of hito-zukuri by the Japanese government in foreign affairs is said to have been at the fifth meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in May 1979 (Yamada et al. 2019, p. 169), when then Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) advocated the need for “international cooperation for the purpose of hito-zukuri,” as follows.

I want to emphasize that “hito-zukuri” is the foundation of “kuni-zukuri [nation building or national development].” Looking back over the history of Japan, during the past century our efforts to achieve modernization have focused on education amid scarce natural resources. We have made the development of human resources the pillar of Japan’s “kuni-zukuri.” [...] When attempting to transfer technologies to developing countries and ensure that they take root there [...] we consider it a priority to enhance basic school education and train specialist technical personnel who can directly undertake development (Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA 1980); author’s emphasis).

Three points can be discerned from Ohira’s speech. First, hito-zukuri is not a goal in itself, but rather a means to accomplish kuni-zukuri [nation building or national development]. Second, the Japanese government is attempting to rely on Japan’s own experience of development to guide its international cooperation. It could be said that Ohira presents a theory of modernization, of sorts, where Japan’s experience is considered the model of development. Third, hito-zukuri carries two connotations: enhancing basic school education and training specialist technical personnel.

The first two points formed the baseline for the subsequent development of the hito-zukuri concept. In the case of the third point, however, the emphasis on basic school education faded in foreign policy discourse, and hito-zukuri became synonymous with the training of specialist technical personnel with scientific and technological education. In the ASEAN hito-zukuri cooperation project proposed by the Japanese government in 1981, for example, the perception that economic development depended on human resources development in fields such as agriculture, industry, and energy was used as a reason to advocate the gratis provision of funding and technical cooperation to promote hito-zukuri (MOFA 1981).

According to JICA, hito-zukuri was already being implemented in the form of scientific and technological education even prior to the speech by Prime Minister Ohira in 1979 (JICA Institute for International Cooperation 1999, pp. 23–26). The Japanese government became directly involved in developing technical personnel after joining the Colombo Plan in 1954.2 It subsequently implemented systematic local personnel development initiatives, such as the ASEAN Human Resources Development Center. From around 1990 onward, it became necessary to “diversify” hito-zukuri from a concept targeting purely economic development into one that included basic education development3 and social development, in view of the “worldwide trend towards emphasizing basic education” (JICA Institute for International Cooperation 1999, p. 27). It was as if Ohira’s ideals had been reinstated.

Since the 1990s, the profile of the hito-zukuri concept has grown and shrunk in accordance with the political standpoint of those using it. At a social development summit in 1995, for example, then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama of the Japanese Socialist Party called for “social development that prioritizes human beings” over the economy and emphasized “the importance of hito-zukuri to develop the abilities of each individual citizen, including the socially disadvantaged such as those with disabilities, in the context of kuni-zukuri” (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and The University of Tokyo Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia 2023).

In general, Ohira’s political stance is regarded as conservative, and Murayama’s as liberal. They both make use of the hito-zukuri concept, but with different connotations. Certainly, both politicians use hito-zukuri as a means to achieve the greater goal of kuni-zukuri. However, Murayama shifts the focus of hito-zukuri onto people themselves, encouraged by the “worldwide movement” towards “human development” advocated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1990 (JICA Institute for International Cooperation 1999, p. 32).

In 2001, however, then LDP Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi advocated “the importance of education in kuni-zukuri” at the Genoa Summit, which led to the emergence within the Japanese government of “the perception that investment in education based on self-help was the most effective way to reduce poverty and promote economic growth in developing countries” (MOFA 2002). The Japanese government announced its policy of Basic Education for Growth Initiative (BEGIN) in the following year, emphasizing its focus on basic education from the perspective of “hito-zukuri for the sake of kuni-zukuri” (MOFA 2002).

In the context of BEGIN, “hito-zukuri for the sake of kuni-zukuri” is contrasted with the human development concept. Here, human development is understood as “the acquisition by each individual member of society of the knowledge and skills needed to live a fitting life for a human and autonomously choose their own future (empowerment)” (MOFA 2002). Human development, which emphasizes people rather than countries, recalls Murayama’s concept of “hito-zukuri to develop the abilities of each individual citizen,” and suggests that Murayama and Koizumi used hito-zukuri with more or less opposite connotations. The hito-zukuri concept allows for a certain fluidity of meaning.

From 2000 onward, the “human security” perspective, introduced partly through the involvement of the Japanese government, also became a point of reference in the context of hito-zukuri. “Japanese aid to the African region increased swiftly from 2010 onward, partly as a result of the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), with the implementation of vocational training for discharged soldiers in countries that had experienced conflict, and basic vocational training for socially disadvantaged people” (Shimazu and Tsujimoto 2021, p. 115).

In this way, the features of hito-zukuri have changed in line with global policy movements and political standpoints. It is a very malleable concept that can be adjusted to suit the intentions of the speaker. This adjustment has led to a proliferation of different meanings for the hito-zukuri concept. Hito-zukuri not only implies basic school education and vocational training but is also used to refer to concepts such as human development and human security. However, the more meanings are attributed to a concept, the weaker its fundamental essence becomes—reduced, in the extreme case, to a common theme of being “related to humans” in the case of hito-zukuri—and the more ambiguous it becomes.

The increasingly enigmatic tendency of hito-zukuri is also partially attributable to the fact that it is used to refer not only to the object of assistance and cooperation but also to the method employed. “Hito-zukuri as an object” refers to assistance and cooperation directly aimed at developing various human abilities, through education and vocational training, for example. On the other hand, “hito-zukuri as a method” refers to the transfer of skills and techniques considered necessary for the purpose of assistance or cooperation, whether it be in the medical field, the media, or elsewhere (Yamada et al. 2019, pp. 167–168). From the perspective of “hito-zukuri as a method,” any involvement in development by the Japanese government could be called hito-zukuri (Kayashima and Kuroda 2019, p. 401). If everything can be referred to as hito-zukuri, however, then it becomes unserviceable as a concept. Is hito-zukuri a floating signifier? Or does it have a hidden and common meaning?

3 The Domestic Origin of Hito-zukuri

Japan was defeated in World War II in 1945, and regained independence in 1952. In the 1956 Economic White Paper, the Japanese government stated that “the ‘postwar’ period is over” with the completion of rebuilding and revival after defeat in 1945, and proclaimed the launch of development under the name of “modernization” pivoting to economic growth (Economic Planning Agency 1956). Japan was a “developing country.”

The LDP’s Hayato Ikeda, who became Prime Minister in 1960, initiated a plan aimed at economic growth, referred to as the Income Doubling Plan. To achieve this plan, he also focused on measures such as the training of personnel to undertake industrialization. In August 1962, Prime Minister Ikeda used the word hito-zukuri for the first time in an official context in his general policy speech at the Diet (Ito 1962, p. 119). This was approximately 17 years before Prime Minister Ohira used it in a foreign relations context.

I am determined to strive to promote and renew education, and to make every effort for hito-zukuri, which is the foundation of kuni-zukuri. [...] I intend to implement education for our children that cultivates moral virtues, fosters a sentiment of love for the motherland, gives them the knowledge necessary for the progress of the times, and builds even finer and more outstanding Japanese nationals, able to contribute to Japan’s prosperity and promote world peace (National Diet Library 2022a; author’s emphasis).

After use by Ikeda, hito-zukuri became a popular term. While it succeeded as “a catch-phrase” (Itō 1962, p. 117), it also conveyed a nuance of “molding people into the desired shape” (Nagasu 1962, p. 101), probably associated with the underlined sections in the quote above. The people were to be strongly positioned as a means for kuni-zukuri [nation building or national development].4

In his policy speech of January 1963, Ikeda went on to attribute the “success” of Japan’s economic growth to “the ingenuity and innovation of the Japanese nationals,” arguing that “we have proven that the fate of a nation is determined not by the size of its territory or how much money it possesses but rather by our determination and diligence as Japanese nationals.” This, he claimed, “gives clear hope to the emerging countries still at early stages of development.”At the same time, however, he cited issues within Japan, such as income inequality and delays in the completion of social infrastructure, as well as a lack of “respect and affection for the Japanese nation, race, and tradition” and a lack of “public spirit,” advocating further efforts not only aimed at “promoting scientific and technological education” but also “enhancing moral education” (National Diet Library 2022b). On the one hand, Ikeda’s vision demands scientific and technological education to provide the knowledge and technology to contribute to economic growth and promote ingenuity and innovation. On the other, it demands moral education to encourage moral virtues such as determination, diligence, public spirit, and respect for the nation.

This relationship between hito-zukuri and education becomes even clearer when Ikeda’s hito-zukuri policies are considered in conjunction with his cabinet’s education plan. This education plan is presented in “The Ideal Image of the Japanese [Kitaisareru Ningenzō],” an appendix to the Central Council for Education’s report “Expanding and Enhancing Upper Secondary Education,” dated October 1966. The council bemoans the emergence of “egoism” and “hedonism” among “the Japanese people”—“a situation where only material desire grows without spiritual ideals”—precipitated by economic growth and technological innovation (Central Council for Education 1966). Not just compulsory skills development for individuals but also the promotion of moral or collective virtues such as “public spirit” and “authentic patriotism” are proposed as means to overcome this situation (Central Council for Education 1966). The goal of economic growth itself is left unchanged. Instead, the council prescribes the medicine of moral education to correct its perceived ailments. This can be described as “Japaneseness”, a morality that aims to recover spiritual ideals.

The logical structure of hito-zukuri becomes clearer when viewed against “The Expected Product of Education.” In other words, in order to achieve kuni-zukuri, including economic growth and industrialization, more was required of hito-zukuri than simply training industrial personnel. Ikeda’s concept of education that “cultivates moral virtues” and “fosters a sentiment of love for the motherland” was also indispensable (cf. Lee 2002). Scientific and technological education was an effective way to develop human resources to contribute to the economy and industry in the first case, while moral education was effective to cultivate moral virtues and sentiment—“Japaneseness”—in the second.5 The structure of the hito-zukuri concept can be presented in diagrammatic form, as shown below (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
A conceptual model encompasses Kuni-zukuri, emphasizing economic growth, technological innovation, and the development of moral Japanese citizens, and Hito-zukari, which integrates scientific and technological education alongside moral education.

Structure of the concept of hito-zukuri (prepared by the author)

Full size image

However, hito-zukuri is still used as a catchphrase even today, without any clear, systematic explanation from those who use it. For example, in the Technical Intern Training Program for foreign nationals launched in 2016 under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), hito-zukuri is used in the following way.

The Technical Intern Training Program is aimed at transferring skills, technology, and knowledge to developing countries and cooperating in the hito-zukuri of those who will undertake economic development in developing countries, to fulfill Japan’s role as an advanced country and facilitate the harmonious development of international society (MHLW 2022).

No more explicit explanation of hito-zukuri is provided.6 The Act on Proper Technical Intern Training and Protection of Technical Intern Trainees, which formed the legal basis for the Technical Intern Training Program, does not use the word hito-zukuri. Article 1 states the purpose of the Act as follows: “promoting international cooperation through the transfer of skills, technique, and knowledge […] to developing countries and other regions through human resource development.”

Hito-zukuri could be expected to refer to moral education as well as scientific and technological education. However, whether intentionally or otherwise, the Act contains no mention of morality. This phenomenon—the omission of moral education—also occurs in the context of international development. Given Japan’s history as a colonial power, Japan is not in a position to openly advocate education in morality for other countries, precisely because of its links with culture and value perceptions.

4 The Distinctiveness of Hito-zukuri

If hito-zukuri were synonymous with personnel training limited to skills, techniques, and knowledge, then it would overlap with the concept of human resources development. Human resources development, with its background in human capital theory, is generally explained as “both the aim and specific methods used to grow human resources, including the development of human abilities, skills, and techniques, and the fostering of leadership” (International Development Journal 2014, p. 165). Human resources development is the same as hito-zukuri in terms of its involvement in human skills and techniques, and in the way it perceives humans as resources for development. It is also possible to regard hito-zukuri as identical to the concept of capacity development (JICA Institute for International Cooperation 1995, p. 48). Certainly, recalling the case of the ASEAN Human Resources Development Center (the “ASEAN Hito-zukuri Center” in Japanese), both hito-zukuri and capacity development share the feature of “including not only personnel training but also the development of organizations and systems” (JICA et al. 2013, p. 2).

Regarding Japan’s domestic development, however, hito-zukuri has a different meaning from terms such as human resources development and capacity development. Hito-zukuri contains an element of moral education that is absent from human resources development and capacity development. In fact, this difference has been pointed out before in the context of practice and research on international development. Hito-zukuri “cannot necessarily be fully understood in terms of human resources development from an economics standpoint. It is a uniquely Japanese concept, connoting multi-faceted elements;” it emphasizes personal interaction and mutual understanding in assistance and cooperation activities (Kanda and Kuwajima 2005, pp. 3–6). Moreover, hito-zukuri embodies “Japan’s traditional techniques and spirit” or “the experiences and feeling of pride in history that Japan has fostered” (JICA et al. 2013, p. 163). This spirit and feeling can be conveyed only through personal interaction. Hito-zukuri is further characterized as “the integration of practical learning, linked directly to work and life, with moral education as a member of the nation and society” (Yamada et al. 2019, p. 167; author’s emphasis). Its aim is summarized as “the acquisition of practical knowledge and techniques as well as character building” (Yamada et al. 2019, p. 167; author’s emphasis). Hito-zukuri aims to improve the recipients of assistance and cooperation, not only technically but also “morally” (Yamada 2016, p. 194).

The international development debate was not, in fact, based on the historical background of hito-zukuri in the context of Japan’s domestic development. Nevertheless, the international and domestic development debates concur on two points. First, they both emphasize involvement in the internal, or psychological, life of recipients—including spirit, morality, and character—in addition to skills, techniques, and knowledge, and both summarize hito-zukuri in terms of education, using Japan’s experience as a model. As far as “models” are concerned, it is also possible to view hito-zukuri as the transmission of case studies in the “failure” of Japanese domestic development. Within Japan, hito-zukuri was glorified in hindsight to make up for development “problems.” Therefore, internationally, it could be proposed to avoid these “problems” before they arose.7

Second, in both cases, hito-zukuri does not simply target people in general but, specifically, those seen as undeveloped or uncivilized. In the context of domestic development, this term was attached to children, youths, and others who fell below certain threshold of independence. In the context of international development, hito-zukuri targets so-called developing countries, not G7 nations. In 1964, hito-zukuri was used in the context of policies for foreign students (Saitō 2011, p. 7), but in this case, it was students from Asian countries, not the United States, that the policy-makers had in mind. The Technical Intern Training Program, although ostensibly targeting all foreigners, is in fact an international cooperation policy targeting developing regions. French nationals, for example, are not the “foreigners” envisaged by the program’s authors. Yet nobody would suggest that developed countries no longer engage in economic growth and technological innovation. One can only conclude that, in terms of the selection of targets, a system of stratification is at work in hito-zukuri.

Recalling the fact that hito-zukuri comprises both scientific and technological education and moral education, it is therefore implied that the Other at whom hito-zukuri is targeting not only has an insufficient level of skills, techniques, and knowledge but is also considered to be morally insufficient. At the same time, hito-zukuri is predicated on the assumption that the initiator is able to improve the target, not only in terms of skills, techniques, and knowledge but also in terms of morality. The content of the skills, techniques, and knowledge, and also of the morality—the “Japaneseness”—is derived from Japan’s own experience of development. It is expected, then, that hito-zukuri based on this content will be implemented not only through school education and vocational training but through all aspects of the Japanese government’s assistance and cooperation efforts. If one were to rephrase this in the form of an implicit hito-zukuri ideal, then it would be something along the lines of “become like a Japanese person.”

5 When the Hito-zukuri is Justified: An Ethics of Development

The meaning of hito-zukuri in Japanese boils down to the combination of education in science and technology and education in morality. However, the term “hito-zukuri” is not used interchangeably with “education.” Given Japan’s history as a colonial power, education is not something that can be openly promoted in other countries. Moreover, the moral education incorporated into hito-zukuri is rooted in specific culture and value perceptions. The substance of this morality is “Japaneseness,” which means not only valuing private exchange and mutual understanding in development activities and respecting Japanese experiences and technology, but also paying homage to the Japanese collectivist spirit.8 This is not something that Japan can advertise as its guiding motivation. It is for this reason that the moral education aspect of hito-zukuri is not openly explained in the context of international development and international cooperation. The difficulty in translating the term hito-zukuri lies precisely in this enigmatic, two-sided nature: the blending of education in science and technology and education in morality, with the morality aspect obscured. Hito-zukuri is not simply human resources development; nor is it capacity development. Translating hito-zukuri as such further obscures its morality aspect. Morality is the semantic condition that defines the term hito-zukuri against alternatives such as human resources development.

The target of hito-zukuri could be added as an objective condition. Although hito-zukuri contains the word hito—people in general—in the international context it actually refers specifically to people in developing countries. The adult populations of developed countries—including Japan—are excluded. A tacit limitation exists on who is eligible to receive hito-zukuri. In this chapter, I have called this limitation a “stratification.” People in developing countries lack not only skills, techniques, and knowledge, but also morality, and the Japanese government can supplement this lack—this is the premise on which hito-zukuri, with its morality and stratification, is established.

Based on these two empirical conditions, semantic and objective, I would like, in conclusion, to propose one more normative condition for hito-zukuri: an ethical one. If one understands “morality” as a term used by the group to force individuals to adapt to its dominant behavior, and “ethics” as resistance by individuals to group morality (Ebisaka 1997; Tsurumi 1997), then hito-zukuri is indeed moral. It is not, however, ethical. Of course, neither development nor education is ethical per se: both, to a greater or lesser extent, look at the other by one’s own standard, and seek to bring the other up to that standard (Hashimoto 2018). Hito-zukuri is not unique in this sense. However, hito-zukuri’s morality and stratification make it prone to a heightened attitude of self-righteousness originally found in development and education. It is precisely because of this fact that, when targeting others with assistance and cooperation in the name of hito-zukuri, it is vital to constantly review the desirability of one’s own standards. We must question the ethics of hito-zukuri: not of those who receive it but of those who deliver it. When we discuss and practice hito-zukuri, we should not be satisfied with pointing empirically that hito-zukuri has morality and stratification; each of us must normatively reflect what the ethics of hito-zukuri is for oneself.

Notes

  1. 1.

    There is an expression “hito-zukuri kyōryoku” in Japanese, meaning “hito-zukuri cooperation.” This expression suggests indirect involvement in hito-zukuri in another place. In this chapter, I refer only to hito-zukuri, and seek to elucidate the hito-zukuri concept. This is because in order to clarify hito-zukuri cooperation, it is first necessary to clarify hito-zukuri itself.

  2. 2.

    The Japanese government embarked on hito-zukuri in an era when human capital theory was becoming a focus of worldwide attention and when the importance of the role played by education in economic development was gaining recognition.

  3. 3.

    The Japanese government’s increased focus on “basic education” did not necessarily imply a focus on the human rights of individuals or individuals as the purpose of development. “Education is by no means simply a tool for economic development. Education is concerned with the formation of ‘knowledge, skills, and values,’ and in that sense is deeply entwined with national cultures. Schools are not simply places that teach ‘reading, writing, and arithmetic.’ What is important is to nurture the qualities needed by members of modern society. Training within the school organization—taking part in progressive lessons from the appointed starting time to the appointed finishing time, while remaining attentive to the directions of the teacher and the rest of the class—is largely responsible for teaching students judgment as members of an organization: an understanding of aspects of work such as preparations, planning, and procedure. In other words, schools are places where, in addition to learning reading, writing, and arithmetic, students engage in group training. Schools are irreplaceable as modern organizations in developing countries, where there is a lack of such organizations” (JICA Institute for International Cooperation 1989, p. 2). This passage shows a collectivist understanding of schools. Likewise, it has been pointed out that “human security,” which was subsequently proposed with the aim of respecting individuality, was subject to a collectivist interpretation in Japan, far removed from its original meaning (Kaldor 2011).

  4. 4.

    This chapter examines the Japanese government's use of hito-zukuri. It does not go into detail on how Japanese citizens accepted or resisted it and how the private sector utilized it. To give just one example, a contemporary of Hayato Ikeda, Yasuzaemon Matsunaga, who was involved in the electric power business, developed a discussion of the “excellence of the Japanese people” in a book entitled Hito-zukuri (Matsunaga 1965).

  5. 5.

    Ikeda’s hito-zukuri has been assessed as a “duality of economics and spirit” or “a two-horse cart pulled by education in science and technology on the one hand, and moral education on the other” (Nagasu 1962, p. 101).

  6. 6.

    The Keidanren Japan Business Federation (2013) also uses the term hito-zukuri without any explanation.

  7. 7.

    There is an apparent tendency in the education and development fields to engage in the international transmission of recent ostensible successes of schools, universities, and corporations in one’s own country, and to link this with opening up markets in developing countries. In Japan too, bodies including the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) are promoting EDU-Port Japan, a public–private initiative “to proactively introduce Japanese-style education overseas.” There is no clear indication of the criteria for assessing the success of this initiative, however, and its design and operation remain somewhat arbitrary (Hashimoto 2019). In order to learn from hito-zukuri, not only its successes but also, equally, its “failures” should be disclosed. Of course, as argued later in this chapter, pressuring others to accept these experiences as models, either of success or failure, should be avoided.

  8. 8.

    Hito-zukuri is sometimes characterized as collectivism (Sato 2021, pp. 189–216).