As I continue my extended stay in Japan, I’m struck anew by the contradictions that run through Japan society. Though I’m a big fan of Japan’s group-identity orientation that plays such an important role in its low crime rates, and remain impressed by the Japanese adherence to teamwork, company loyalty, and just plain good manners on a society-wide basis, I’m keenly aware that these wholesome tendencies underwrite a tedious “groupthink” and a near-total surrender of democratic principles.

Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing.

Japan has a functioning democracy. All its political representatives are elected following respected, transparent and fair electoral principles. That hasn’t stopped the Japanese from maintaining the same political party in power — with brief, meaningless exceptions — since it regained its sovereignty in the early 1950s.

In truth, Japan is ruled, as far as I can tell, by a tripartite form of government controlled to various degrees by the parliament, the bureaucracy and the corporations. When I asked my good friend Masaki who his favorite prime minister was, he surprised me by saying, “none. Japan is ruled by technocrats. Politicians just smile and wave and make promises. Bureaucracy rules Japan.”

Yet Japan has a transparent government that establishes apparently well-intentioned policy with the well-being of the people in mind. Though their single-payer, government-administered, health-care system is fraying around the edges because of the pressures of an aging society, the system has a track record of supporting the highest longevity rates on the planet.

On the energy front, governmental energy-policy position papers make clear that Japan is determined to reduce its dependency on foreign sources of energy — currently at about 80 percent — to more sustainable levels. Their target date seems to be 2030 for most initiatives. Japan believes its salvation rests on expansion of nuclear power, which currently provides about 30 percent of its electricity. Its goal is 40 percent nuclear-based generation by 2030.

This might surprise many Americans who have shied away from nuclear energy ever since our Three Mile Island disaster in the 1970s and the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl fiasco in the 80s. Japan, on the other hand, trusts what it calls its “quality assurance” program to deliver clean and safe power. If a nation can live up to that, it may be Japan.

The Japanese also want to expand alternative sources of energy. The national government pledges to support regional and local government efforts to incorporate innovative systems, including biomass and photovoltaic sources.

Japan also pledges to work with other nations, especially in the Asian region, to find solutions to world energy problems. Japan was a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, which was torpedoed when the U.S. failed to ratify it.

And yet a close examination of statements by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs makes it clear that Japan relies on “maintaining and strengthening friendly relations with Middle East countries” to preserve its oil stockpiles, which by law must be sustained at a 167-day supply.

Given its “special relationship” with the U.S., there are inherent contradictions in Japan’s energy modus operandi. I don’t criticize this outright. I only point out the gamesmanship involved in this kind of diplomacy.

A convoluted, interconnected set of relationships may be necessary for Japan to continue to function under its Peace Constitution, which invalidates war as a diplomatic option. I certainly applaud those efforts.

Ross can be reached at napanet.net. His Web page is napanet.net/—calross/