The Japanese are Staid (part 1)

I know that sounds a little crazy. I mean, come on, it's Japan! Sony, Toyota, ummmm, well you know better than I do all the differnt brands that are out there. All kinds of technical stuff comes from Japan. But ask yourself this, how much of it is technological innovation? And how much of it is just a design that the companies here have taken and improved upon? I read in some guide book or another that the J used to take European inventions and copy them out exactely, even down to the design flaws like faulty wagon screws, for years and years. It took them a long time to have the group confidence to correct what they could see themselves was wrong.

I find this very interesting about these people. In some ways, ok in most, the Japanese society is very rigid. THere are defined roles for everything and everyone. Each specific social situation has a long code of rules, regulations, and behaviors that must be adheared to in order not to give offence. Back in the Tokugawa era (think samurais and ninjas people)this was such a feudal society that you could be executed just for giving some minor offence to your superiors. That's why the greetings for entering rooms or houses usually translates to 'I've commited a rudeness' or 'I will commit a rudeness.' You have to apologise before you go in because you certain to screw something up before you leave.

This rigid societal structure infused a healthy respect for tradition and prior example (I know there is a phrase I want to use by my English is going). The J have a hard time breaking out of their learned behavior. What has been for so many years remains the case in most places. Case in point, it took 2,000 years (well, however long they've been here) of civilization for the public schools to get air conditioning installed. Even the new schools were built without it until recently. We still don't have central heating and the corridors are not climate controlled.

So a lot of times you don't see the biggest, best, or newest things around. Some people have them, and we've all seen the J tourists with about a million cameras and gadgets strewn accross their work vests. But think about this: they're always with a Japanese-only tour group that eats Japanese-friendly food and gives the Japanese-style experience to the participants. What seems new and shiny on the outside is often just a trumped up version of the older model. I am looking forward to learning more about the Japanese business model to see if this rings true on that level.