Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Sunday, July 20, 2025
    961
    Instagram Facebook LinkedIn TikTok
    • Breaking News
    • Guides
    • Food & Drink
    • Listicles
    • Join the Team
    • Whatsapp
      • 961
      • 961 News
    Advertise with Us Get the App
    961
    Home»News»World News
    3 Mins Read

    Expert in Japanese Society Revealed Ghosn ‘Was Too Big’ Not to Fail In Japan

    By Jasmin Lilian DiabFebruary 7, 2020Updated:February 21, 2021
    Facebook WhatsApp Copy Link

    Professor Ian Buruma at Bard College -and author of numerous books, including Inventing Japan: 1853-1964 and The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan, discussed in his latest op-ed to the NY Times the downfall of Nissan’s one and only Carlos Ghosn. 

    Carlos Ghosn, our very own French-Lebanese-Brazilian former CEO of the Nissan and Renault motor companies, has spent millions of dollars to avoid being tried in Japan for financial misconduct.

    And after he was infamously smuggled out of the country to seek refuge in Lebanon, he has been at the center of multiple legal and financial debates – even ones which prompted Japan and the world to delve deeper into the Japanese legal system itself.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B8QAVnDgIq-

    Mr. Ghosn justified his escape from Japanese justice by depicting himself as the victim of “bias.” He further insisted on multiple occasions that he had no other choice, as he claims the Japanese legal system is “rigged” and “unjust.”

    He also insists that his Japanese colleagues at Nissan had “colluded with the prosecutors to oust him” because they were afraid that the French company Renault would swallow up its Japanese counterpart.

    In his opinion article Carlos Ghosn Was Too Big Not to Fail in Japan, Buruma writes: “The Japanese justice system is flawed, to be sure, but the Ghosn saga stands for more than an illustration of its failings. The rare appointment of a foreign C.E.O. at the head of a venerable Japanese company had seemed like a sign that things were changing in Japan.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BY6eh1vBUF-

    “In fact, Mr. Ghosn was as much a victim of his own arrogance as of his failure to realize how little Japan had changed,” he said. “Japanese prosecutors place too much store in getting confessions.”

    “Their power to jail someone for extended periods without charge increases the chance that confessions are neither voluntary nor accurate.”

    On the Japanese legal system, he further elaborates: “The conviction rate hovers at 99%, too high not to be fishy, especially considering that convictions are often based on confessions.”

    “Mr. Ghosn, who was used to being treated with exaggerated deference, was shocked to be locked up, interrogated for long hours, and deprived of contact with his family,” he points out.

    Mr. Ghosn, as Buruma puts it, was a highly “unusual” CEO in Japan. Brought in to “save” Nissan from going bankrupt in 1999, he succeeded at making this happen beyond expectation and cemented himself as one of the most powerful and influential businessmen in the world. 

    View this post on Instagram

    A post shared by Riyo Niimoto/新元良一 (@riyoniimoto.tracks)

    Buruma claims throughout his opinion piece that Ghosn was treated differently and more severely for the mere fact that he is a foreigner who did not fit into the typical image of what a powerful figure is in Japan.

    On this point, he stresses: “Powerful figures in corporate Japan or in politics may on occasion engage in worse corruption than the crimes Mr. Ghosn is accused of — discreetly behind closed doors.”

    He added, “Lucrative positions and other financial rewards are exchanged for political favors, but such transactions are handled quietly between faceless men in dark suits, out of the public gaze.”

    So was Ghosn’s celebrity the problem? Ghosn was applauded by the Japanese, and by foreigners, who were hoping that Japan would become a more open, inclusive and less isolationist society. 

    But as Buruma concludes: “The vindictiveness of Japan’s prosecutorial system and the conservatism of Japanese corporate culture will do much to slow that process down.”

    Carlos Ghosn Japan
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email

    For You

    massad boulos

    Massad Boulos Was Just Appointed By Trump As Senior Advisor for Middle Eastern Affairs

    donald trump 961

    Donald Trump Just Won The US Presidential Elections

    Amal Clooney Among ICC Experts For Netanyahu & Hamas Arrest Warrants

    Iran Launches Direct Attack On Israel

    Argentina Finds Iran & Hezbollah Guilty For 1994 Jewish Center Bombing

    More Sanctions Just Hit Hezbollah And Other Iranian Proxies

    shark tank Lebanon

    Shark Tank Is Officially Coming To Lebanon – Here’s How You Can Get A Chance To Pitch Your Idea

    lebanon jounieh cyprus by ferry 961

    You’ll Soon Be Able To Travel Between Lebanon & Cyprus By Ferry

    June 8, 2025

    This Lebanese Descendant Has His Eyes on the Haitian Presidency

    December 13, 2019

    20 Celebrities You Probably Didn’t Know Had Lebanese Roots

    April 22, 2019
    whish pay lebanon 961

    You Can Now Use Whish Pay At Shopify Stores

    June 13, 2025

    Lebanon’s Shawarma Is Going Viral in The Philippines

    April 21, 2019

    20 Typical Lebanese Slang Expressions

    April 21, 2020

    How Mia Khalifa Became One Of The Most Outspoken Advocates For Lebanon

    August 13, 2020
    Lebanese boutiques

    25 Boutiques In Lebanon To Find Your Dream Evening Dress This Wedding Season

    June 9, 2024

    Meet The 30 Lebanese Family Dynasties In Africa

    March 1, 2021
    961 Logo
    Facebook WhatsApp TikTok Instagram

    Popular Topics

    • Guides
    • Eat & Drink
    • Listicles
    • Lebanon News
    • Diaspora
    • Explained

    961

    • About
    • WhatsApp Channel
    • News WhatsApp Channel
    • Corrections Policy
    • Ownership & Funding

    Services

    • Advertise
    • Careers
    • App Waitlist
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletter
    961™ | All Rights Reserved ©2025
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.