I’m reading the book titled “Strong men armed” by Robert Leckie. His story in the book as well as others (such as “Helmet for my pillow”) was featured in HBO mini-series “The Pacific”. It is interesting to know that the reason for Japan’s failure in Guadalcanal was attributed to bad information and piece meal commitments of troops. In other words, Japanese generals thought like lieutenants (they rushed to get a quick win without grasping the information about the whole situation) and made poor judgments.
Japanese side of historical accounts often characterize the failure as the result of significant numerical disadvantages. However, Japanese troops didn’t have significant numerical disadvantages in the beginning of the battle. If Japanese generals had planned the troop gathering and logistics carefully and realistically, the US marines would have had much tougher time winning the battle.
After many years since the end of the war, it seems that Japanese large organizations didn’t completely shake off the problem. In 90’s Japanese CEOs thought like managers and couldn’t grasp the changes in businesses and technologies. They made bad judgments and caused two decades of economic decline. Some Japanese business leaders try to hire more foreign employees and make English an official language of their companies. Although they are right moves they failed to address the key issue.
The core issue of Japanese organizations is the lack of meritocracy. They usually don’t demote bad managers and promote good managers quickly enough. As a result, you will see Japanese CEOs who think more like managers in organizations with a long history. In Japan once you hopped on the escalator of social promotion you will be OK for the rest of your career. Some people may say it won’t work that way anymore, but I don’t hear large scale layoffs of mid managers in major Japanese companies often.
The past efforts to introduce meritocracy in Japanese companies had mixed results at best. Some Japanese people seriously argue that it’s impossible to assess a person’s performance. To me, assessing the performance of workers based on their job descriptions and commitments is a basic task for managers.
Japanese companies should reintroduce meritocracy in the following ways.
1. Hire employees based on the job descriptions. Stop the outdated custom of finding employees fresh out of collages.
2. Make labor laws more flexible. Allow companies to lay off workers with certain amount of severance pay. It will create a more flexible labor market.
3. Set realistic and measurable goals for each worker so that managers can assess his/her performance. Each employee should be the advocate of his/her own career and demonstrate their skills and achievements to his/her supervisors and other managers.
4. End life time employment and social promotion.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Go with the flow
I believe that most of the Japanese people value the relationship with the US just like majority of them value the historical relationship with ancient Chinese dynasties. That is partly because Japanese people tend to go with the flow rather than sticking out like a sore thumb. Some Japanese people still have romanticized views about ancient China as if ancient China didn’t have any cold strategic calculation.
At the end of Tokugawa period, the demise of Chinese power caused panic among some Samurais. From there modern Japan was made by following the example of Britain. That was a time when Japanese people decided to go outward with their own will. It was a time not unlike the time when Nobunaga Oda, the medieval leader ruled Japan. From 1868, Japanese people learned almost everything from the west. Japanese students learned from English speaking professors in the newly formed universities.
As one can tell from the books written by Yukichi Hukuzawa it was a time of globalization. It is rather funny to read today’s arguments about English education in Japan since those arguments mirror a century old argument about English education (learning English is necessary for globalization vs. Japanese should just learn proper Japanese).
After the victory of WWI Japan turned toward nativism. In an aftermath of the Great Depression and the protectionism that followed, globalization lost its importance in Japan. When radical nationalists controlled Japanese military Japan got into the war with China and started the disastrous pacific war.
After WWII, there was a time when Japan enjoyed stability under American rule. It was as if the US became a new middle kingdom for Japanese people. Still now Japanese people above certain age view the US like a big brother. From the US side the relationship is the one bounded by contracts (such as the US Japan security pact) designed to counter the expansion of communist nations. It is rather surprising that some Japanese people expect the US to intervene the territorial dispute between Japan and China when the red army is not attacking Japan. I would say that a nation that cannot stand on its own cannot be view as a sovereign state.
In 70’s there was a high hope for globalization and young people were excited about the future when they can go anywhere in the world and be someone (you will see this sentiments in 70’s manga). However Japanese people started to be more inward looking from 80’s (you will see the trend in 80’s love comedies that I don’t like).
As the history shows globalization in Japan can enjoy the public support just for the short period of time. The idea of getting somewhere in the world on our own cannot be that popular among the risk-averse people. In the end nativists can win by taking full advantage of Japanese people’s nature to go with the flow (“nagai mono niwa makarero”).
At the end of Tokugawa period, the demise of Chinese power caused panic among some Samurais. From there modern Japan was made by following the example of Britain. That was a time when Japanese people decided to go outward with their own will. It was a time not unlike the time when Nobunaga Oda, the medieval leader ruled Japan. From 1868, Japanese people learned almost everything from the west. Japanese students learned from English speaking professors in the newly formed universities.
As one can tell from the books written by Yukichi Hukuzawa it was a time of globalization. It is rather funny to read today’s arguments about English education in Japan since those arguments mirror a century old argument about English education (learning English is necessary for globalization vs. Japanese should just learn proper Japanese).
After the victory of WWI Japan turned toward nativism. In an aftermath of the Great Depression and the protectionism that followed, globalization lost its importance in Japan. When radical nationalists controlled Japanese military Japan got into the war with China and started the disastrous pacific war.
After WWII, there was a time when Japan enjoyed stability under American rule. It was as if the US became a new middle kingdom for Japanese people. Still now Japanese people above certain age view the US like a big brother. From the US side the relationship is the one bounded by contracts (such as the US Japan security pact) designed to counter the expansion of communist nations. It is rather surprising that some Japanese people expect the US to intervene the territorial dispute between Japan and China when the red army is not attacking Japan. I would say that a nation that cannot stand on its own cannot be view as a sovereign state.
In 70’s there was a high hope for globalization and young people were excited about the future when they can go anywhere in the world and be someone (you will see this sentiments in 70’s manga). However Japanese people started to be more inward looking from 80’s (you will see the trend in 80’s love comedies that I don’t like).
As the history shows globalization in Japan can enjoy the public support just for the short period of time. The idea of getting somewhere in the world on our own cannot be that popular among the risk-averse people. In the end nativists can win by taking full advantage of Japanese people’s nature to go with the flow (“nagai mono niwa makarero”).
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Leaving Japan, then and now
I’ve been thinking lately about when was the best time to move from Japan to the US in the past decades. I think that the time between early 80s and early 90s was the best time for Japanese people to come to America. According to my Japanese friend who grew up in the US, the 70s was a tough time for many Asian immigrants. He was regularly taunted by other kids who made “Asian eyes” and shouted racial slurs. One might argue that this kind of thing can happen today, but he was in a good school (where Japanese corporate types send their kids) near a big city.
Most people from Japan that I know who successfully took root here moved between early 80s and early 90s. Some of them came here with their parents and others moved on their own (went to a college, transfer to a US office, etc.). I don’t personally know anyone who made it among those who came from Japan after 2001. I hope that the decade was not the last glimpse of American dream for Japanese people.
There are people who express their thoughts similar to mine. They say coming to America about 20 years ago was a right timing. The trouble is that it is hard to know when is the right time when you are about to move. In 1990, I went to an MBA Q/A session and asked about the prospect of finding a job after getting the degree. I was basically told that there is no guarantee to find a job in the US after the program is done and I should not count on the possibility of finding a visa sponsor. I like straight talkers and I took the advice seriously. I decided to give up the joy of studying for GMAT and sought the opportunity to work in the US HQ (it worked).
When I left Japan most people didn’t use internet. I didn’t even have a cellular phone. Back then voice mail systems seemed to be cutting edge. I bought a copy of “How to walk on the planet” (Chikyu no aruki kata) to get information about the city where I was going to live. At that time I was given the address of my corporate apartment, but the guy in charge forgot to tell me how to get the key! Well, everything is a good memory now.
Most people from Japan that I know who successfully took root here moved between early 80s and early 90s. Some of them came here with their parents and others moved on their own (went to a college, transfer to a US office, etc.). I don’t personally know anyone who made it among those who came from Japan after 2001. I hope that the decade was not the last glimpse of American dream for Japanese people.
There are people who express their thoughts similar to mine. They say coming to America about 20 years ago was a right timing. The trouble is that it is hard to know when is the right time when you are about to move. In 1990, I went to an MBA Q/A session and asked about the prospect of finding a job after getting the degree. I was basically told that there is no guarantee to find a job in the US after the program is done and I should not count on the possibility of finding a visa sponsor. I like straight talkers and I took the advice seriously. I decided to give up the joy of studying for GMAT and sought the opportunity to work in the US HQ (it worked).
When I left Japan most people didn’t use internet. I didn’t even have a cellular phone. Back then voice mail systems seemed to be cutting edge. I bought a copy of “How to walk on the planet” (Chikyu no aruki kata) to get information about the city where I was going to live. At that time I was given the address of my corporate apartment, but the guy in charge forgot to tell me how to get the key! Well, everything is a good memory now.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Overseas Japanese
How to call “overseas Japanese” is an interesting question. Some people say Zaigai Nihon Jin (literally “overseas Japanese”) and others try to come up with a new word like “Wakyou” (Japanese version of Kakyou “overseas Chinese”). I personally call ethnic Japanese people around the world as “Nikkei”. Still others come up with creative words like “Ahoujin”. Since I grew up in Tokyo, “Aho” sounds like the word “Bakka” (which means “stupid”) though. ;-)
How about “Zipangs” or “Wondering Yamatos (Sasurai no Yamato)”?
There are more than 3 million ethnic Japanese outside of Japan. There are 1.4 million Japanese Brazilians and 1.2 million Japanese Americans. During the WWII Japanese Americans in the mainland USA were interned in internment camps (that is what is called “we are found guilty for looking like enemies”). From the experience some of my people stopped learning Japanese and Japanese culture. I don’t blame them. It was a very unfortunate part of American history. I talked with some of those Japanese Americans who lived through the tough time. They couldn’t even go to a market without someone chasing them and shouting profanities at them right after the war. We must have the historical understanding and sensitivities for those who suffered.
I think that the common language for “overseas Japanese” will be English. Not only about half of the overseas Japanese are in English speaking countries, but also English is now the de facto global language. Some may argue that Japanese can be used for the communications between us, but for 2nd and 3rd generation of Japanese immigrants studying Japanese will not be easy. Also, there is no globalized version of Japanese that can be learned without knowing Japanese culture. From my experience of living in Japan, I think that most of Japanese people prefer to have communication difficulties rather than to speak in the simplified Japanese. Of course I could be wrong.
How about “Zipangs” or “Wondering Yamatos (Sasurai no Yamato)”?
There are more than 3 million ethnic Japanese outside of Japan. There are 1.4 million Japanese Brazilians and 1.2 million Japanese Americans. During the WWII Japanese Americans in the mainland USA were interned in internment camps (that is what is called “we are found guilty for looking like enemies”). From the experience some of my people stopped learning Japanese and Japanese culture. I don’t blame them. It was a very unfortunate part of American history. I talked with some of those Japanese Americans who lived through the tough time. They couldn’t even go to a market without someone chasing them and shouting profanities at them right after the war. We must have the historical understanding and sensitivities for those who suffered.
I think that the common language for “overseas Japanese” will be English. Not only about half of the overseas Japanese are in English speaking countries, but also English is now the de facto global language. Some may argue that Japanese can be used for the communications between us, but for 2nd and 3rd generation of Japanese immigrants studying Japanese will not be easy. Also, there is no globalized version of Japanese that can be learned without knowing Japanese culture. From my experience of living in Japan, I think that most of Japanese people prefer to have communication difficulties rather than to speak in the simplified Japanese. Of course I could be wrong.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Exodus from Japan
I’ve heard that many young Japanese people are considering the option of working abroad because of the dimming prospect of Japanese economy and the uncertainty of Japan’s future (also widely shared feeling of stuck in the mud). Especially for Japanese IT engineers who suffer from too long working hours and less income than American counterparts, moving to another country where the future economic prospect is better will be appealing. There are many web sites that will tell you generic information about how to find a job outside of Japan. I would like to talk about how I got out of Japan.
After I graduated from college, I worked for a Japanese subsidiary of an American firm. About 20 years ago, I found an opportunity to work at the HQ in America. After working 2 years or so as an “on loan” staff, I officially transferred to the HQ. I got my green card and citizenship. Later I started to work for another major US corporation. It may appear to be an easy transition of “bubble generation” guy, but it wasn’t always easy.
The first challenge was English communication. Even thought I passed Step test 1st class (Eiken ikkyu) and regularly watched American shows since high school, it was still challenging to conduct business in English with coworkers (mostly grew up in the US) in my first year. That was a humbling experience for a man who was always good at English in schools (when Japanese schools teach English like Latin it’s not totally surprising though).
One day my manger suggested that I should take training to correct English pronunciations which I did. I went to speech therapy sessions for non native speakers at a university for a year. That place had a very orthodox training. They started from practicing vowel and consonant sounds. Then they moved to practicing the pronunciations of words and phrases. After that I took another course that was focusing on rhythms and intonations for another year. That helped me speaking English a lot. I recommend Japanese people who didn’t grow up in the US to take English pronunciation courses.
Another challenge was the INS (now called CIS: Citizenship and Immigration Services) paper works. I was working for a large American firm and married with a US citizen, but I was compelled to hire my immigration lawyer. A friend of mine got really upset because INS lost the petitions for his foreign born wife and had to wait for extra years. It is sad, but not surprising.
One Japanese immigrant said: People asked me what it takes to live and work in a foreign country. They asked me “is it a language skill or a business skill?” I said “a working visa”. You need a permission to simply stand on the foreign soil.
After I graduated from college, I worked for a Japanese subsidiary of an American firm. About 20 years ago, I found an opportunity to work at the HQ in America. After working 2 years or so as an “on loan” staff, I officially transferred to the HQ. I got my green card and citizenship. Later I started to work for another major US corporation. It may appear to be an easy transition of “bubble generation” guy, but it wasn’t always easy.
The first challenge was English communication. Even thought I passed Step test 1st class (Eiken ikkyu) and regularly watched American shows since high school, it was still challenging to conduct business in English with coworkers (mostly grew up in the US) in my first year. That was a humbling experience for a man who was always good at English in schools (when Japanese schools teach English like Latin it’s not totally surprising though).
One day my manger suggested that I should take training to correct English pronunciations which I did. I went to speech therapy sessions for non native speakers at a university for a year. That place had a very orthodox training. They started from practicing vowel and consonant sounds. Then they moved to practicing the pronunciations of words and phrases. After that I took another course that was focusing on rhythms and intonations for another year. That helped me speaking English a lot. I recommend Japanese people who didn’t grow up in the US to take English pronunciation courses.
Another challenge was the INS (now called CIS: Citizenship and Immigration Services) paper works. I was working for a large American firm and married with a US citizen, but I was compelled to hire my immigration lawyer. A friend of mine got really upset because INS lost the petitions for his foreign born wife and had to wait for extra years. It is sad, but not surprising.
One Japanese immigrant said: People asked me what it takes to live and work in a foreign country. They asked me “is it a language skill or a business skill?” I said “a working visa”. You need a permission to simply stand on the foreign soil.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Japan’s lost decades
Many people already have talked about Japan’s lost decades started from early 90’s. Prof. Nobuo Ikeda described the situation as “doing only cosmetic fixes on the building with structural damages after an earth quake”. Even if the doors were fixes and walls were repainted, the building will collapse someday. I cannot agree with Prof. Ikeda more.
Beneath the symptoms such as stagnated economic growth, rapidly aging population, and massive public debt there must be a root cause of the Japan’s issues. I think that the root cause of these issues is Japan’s loss of its national cause.
After Meiji restoration of 1868, Japan’s national goal was to get rich and be strong. After WWII, the goal became to recover from the ruins of WWII and get rich. Living in Japan in 70’s I could sense that people had a sense of common goals back then. After Japan became the 2nd biggest economy and ordinary Japanese people started to enjoy the fruit of their economic successes, Japan lost its national cause.
After 80s, Japanese politicians and bureaucrats seem to have no goal. Without goals, there will not be any action plans and milestones, thus Japanese officials are just focusing on doing what there have been doing. They are like a motorist who doesn’t know where to go and just move around in a parking lot. The first step to get out of the situation is to admit that they don’t have a goal and start open discussions to come up with new national goals.
There are ideas such as making Japan like a mini USA (multicultural and multiethnic Japan with its strong market economy) or making Japan like an Asian version of the Netherlands (keenly adapting to global economy and forgetting about the past glory). There may not be a country model to follow.
Even if the government cannot change, Japanese people will. In the aftermath of WWII, Japanese people eagerly learned English and gained knowledge from abroad. When the situation changes Japanese people still can show their remarkable resilience.
Beneath the symptoms such as stagnated economic growth, rapidly aging population, and massive public debt there must be a root cause of the Japan’s issues. I think that the root cause of these issues is Japan’s loss of its national cause.
After Meiji restoration of 1868, Japan’s national goal was to get rich and be strong. After WWII, the goal became to recover from the ruins of WWII and get rich. Living in Japan in 70’s I could sense that people had a sense of common goals back then. After Japan became the 2nd biggest economy and ordinary Japanese people started to enjoy the fruit of their economic successes, Japan lost its national cause.
After 80s, Japanese politicians and bureaucrats seem to have no goal. Without goals, there will not be any action plans and milestones, thus Japanese officials are just focusing on doing what there have been doing. They are like a motorist who doesn’t know where to go and just move around in a parking lot. The first step to get out of the situation is to admit that they don’t have a goal and start open discussions to come up with new national goals.
There are ideas such as making Japan like a mini USA (multicultural and multiethnic Japan with its strong market economy) or making Japan like an Asian version of the Netherlands (keenly adapting to global economy and forgetting about the past glory). There may not be a country model to follow.
Even if the government cannot change, Japanese people will. In the aftermath of WWII, Japanese people eagerly learned English and gained knowledge from abroad. When the situation changes Japanese people still can show their remarkable resilience.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Why I write the blog
I started to write this free talk blog to talk about things that I don’t usually talk at work. Things like Anime, politics, etc. I grew up in Tokyo in 70’s. Back then the US seemed to be a brightest spot on this planet. (I seriously thought that news articles about Nam like “the US losing war” back then were misprinted. Lol.) Now America seems to an ordinary country and Japan seems to be kinda unique.
In 70’s Anime was known as “Manga movie” in Japan and largely considered as kid’s staff. At that time, American cartoons (Spider man, Bird man, Sabrina the witch, Jossie and the pussycats, etc.) were as popular among Japanese kids as Japanese Anime. Popular Japanese Anime shows were Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato, it was hugely popular), Battle of the planets (Scientific Ninja force Gatcha Man, I was good at mimicking Berg Katze’s voice), Tomorrow’s Joe (I still remember Joe’s line “What’s the matter? Hit me! Why don’t you hit me?”), and so on. I also grew up watching reruns of 60’s Anime like Astro Boy, Speed Racer, Cyborg 009 (the 1st series) to name a few.
In 1979, “Mobile Suites Gungam” became a huge hit. From there, it became common for late teens or even adults to watch Anime in Japan. At that time, people started to use the term “Otaku” (Nerd or Anime maniac). It is said that people like nerds or Anime funs refer to others as “Otaku” (I didn’t see that in a real world.) If I was asked if Anime and Manga will become popular in America at that time, I would definitely have said “no way!”
In 70’s Anime was known as “Manga movie” in Japan and largely considered as kid’s staff. At that time, American cartoons (Spider man, Bird man, Sabrina the witch, Jossie and the pussycats, etc.) were as popular among Japanese kids as Japanese Anime. Popular Japanese Anime shows were Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato, it was hugely popular), Battle of the planets (Scientific Ninja force Gatcha Man, I was good at mimicking Berg Katze’s voice), Tomorrow’s Joe (I still remember Joe’s line “What’s the matter? Hit me! Why don’t you hit me?”), and so on. I also grew up watching reruns of 60’s Anime like Astro Boy, Speed Racer, Cyborg 009 (the 1st series) to name a few.
In 1979, “Mobile Suites Gungam” became a huge hit. From there, it became common for late teens or even adults to watch Anime in Japan. At that time, people started to use the term “Otaku” (Nerd or Anime maniac). It is said that people like nerds or Anime funs refer to others as “Otaku” (I didn’t see that in a real world.) If I was asked if Anime and Manga will become popular in America at that time, I would definitely have said “no way!”
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