The World

I expected the Japanese to be feeling anxious about China, what with the much-ballyhooed moment later this year, when the Chinese economy will become larger than that of Japan. What I hadn’t expected to find was increasing alarm about South Korea – a poorer, smaller country that was once colonised by Japan.

But, as it happens, the Japanese are increasingly contrasting their own struggles with Korean success. The most recent cause of anxiety was the Winter Olympics. The South Koreans did brilliantly and came fifth in the medals table with six gold medals. The Japanese didn’t win any golds at all – and only got five medals of any colour.

To the Japanese, the Olympics seem unpleasantly symbolic. The South Korean economy also seems to be doing much better than Japan’s. South Korea managed to grow (just) in 2009, while Japanese GDP shrank by over 5%. In the latest quarter, South Korea grew by 6% while Japan was still in recession.

South Korean business is also excelling. While famous Japanese brands, most obviously Toyota, are struggling, the Koreans are excelling. Samsung is now the most profitable consumer-electronics firm in the world. Japanese analysts gloomily contrast its huge profits last year of around $10 billion, with the much less exciting performance of Sony.

Anxiety about South Korea even extends to politics. When Barack Obama visited Asia in November, he found it difficult to get along with Yukio Hatoyama, the Japanese prime minister, who seemed a little flaky and philosophical for the Americans taste. By contrast, he got on famously with Lee Myung-Bak, the South Korean president. The South Koreans even have the presidency of the G20 this year, just to ensure that they stay in the international limelight. It is all most galling for Japan.