Masahiko Fujiwara

The model of liberal democracy that Japan inherited is flawed, Fujiwara says. As well as putting faith in unreliable masses – he prefers a cool-headed elite – it overemphasises rationality. “You really need something more. You might say that Christianity is one such thing. But for us Japanese, we don’t have a religion such as Christianity or Islam, so we need to have something else: deep emotion.”

“I always say Japan should be extraordinary; it should not be an ordinary country. We became a normal country, just like other big nations. That’s all right for them. But we have to be isolated, especially mentally.”

Another plate comes – they are piling up on his side of the table – this one featuring scallop arranged as if by angels. “Chinese dishes, of course, are very delicious. But so far as beauty is concerned,” he says, as he examines the display before us, “we pay great attention to aesthetics. In writing we have shodo [calligraphy] and for flowers we have ikebana [flower arrangement].”

In England, he had been shocked to see esteemed Cambridge professors slurping their tea from mugs. “We have tea ceremony. Everything we make into art.”

Japan should learn from England; how to decline with elegance, how to decay with elegance.”

Lunch with the FT: Masahiko Fujiwara