Reflection

As I mentioned in the first post of this blog, Japan was a big deal for me. I have experienced many Asian cultures first hand in my years growing up through an International school as well as time spent teaching English in Taiwan.However, in all that time the Japanese culture eluded me. Now as I check it off my bucket list I think back to a few of the major things I took away from the trip.

1. The Japanese consumer is like no other. They are a highly sophisticated, intelligent, and focused group. Through some of the business meetings we attended while in Tokyo we learned that the Japanese are among the hardest to please. Quality is more than a big deal to them, it is absolutely required to even sell a joke of a product. That being said, businesses have had to step up their game and undoubtedly tighten their control over suppliers and activities leading to production. Perhaps one of the strongest reasons for the popularity of the Keiretsu (Japanese Conglomerate) is the control vertical integration affords one over quality control.

That being said, the Japanese consumer may be changing. With many macro economic issues and changing cultural values pushing the youthful Japanese in a different direction, it is not outside the realm of reality to see the Japanese market start to accept cheap foreign imports, namely Chinese, in favor of their domestic counterparts. It will be interesting to see which budges first. The Japanese obsession with quality or their rapidly shrinking savings accounts.

2. The Japanese business is like no other. The Keiretsu is truly a remarkable model that assuredly would only work in Japan. Our visit to Itochu was very informative about the nature in which the business seeks out its employees, trains and places them in one of its countless operations that reach from the farm to retail. I was amazed at the process by which employees are found. They are hunted based on exam scores and education level. Personal interest in a specific area did not seem to be an important factor in determining who would be hired. The competitiveness for jobs is very tight (less than 0.5% are hired from the applicant pool). After being hired, the company places this blind faith that you will succeed no matter what the position. In fact, moving between positions at a company occurs on a 3 year cycle. Even more incredible is the environment which you work. A row of desks linked together with the manager at its head.

3. The Japanese is like no other. Although other Asian cultures are similarly collectivist and relationship based the Japanese are like no other. The fact that on multiple occasions I witnessed people randomly pick up garbage off the street and pocket it until they found a garbage can is incredible. The fact their language has three levels of politeness, they engage in contests to see who can bow the most frequently and treat their job as if it was a matter of national pride is all reflective of a society who has collectively made a decision to be the best. For all the comments I've made or could make about the xenophobic, pretentiousness, superiority complex of the Japanese and how I've seen them treat Filipino's, even I can't deny they have a will like no other group on earth. One thing you can take to heart when dealing with the Japanese is that they will be more prepared, more determined and more confident than anyone you've ever met.