Are any of the companies you deal with from Japan? John mansfield
posted this from Timebomb 2000 q&a forum On October 5, in response to the topic "Is Japan in
final meltdown even without y2k?," there was a poignant response that was attibuted anonymously to
someone who had worked in Japan for 6 years. It was called "Japan: Saving Face by Losing Time."
The author discussed the concept of "saving face" and its implications for lack of y2k readiness in
Japan. It was also posted on Gary North, and made a big impression on me. The author was
supposed to have written further articles. Anyone seen anything like this? Asked by Steve Francis
(sfrancis@sympatico.ca) on December 16, 1998. Answers I speak, read, and write fluent Japanese.
I've studied the nation and culture for decades. I can tell you: Japan as a world economic power is
toast. And we with them. But: due to their greater social discipline, willingness to accept suspension
of individual interests, near-term memory of wartime hardships, the people will survive. Below is the
post to which you refer: ----------------------------------------------------------------- In
May,1996, I was doing a walk-through of an automated production line of one of the 3 largest
companies in the world. My Japanese associates were well-versed in every intricate efficiency tuned
into "their" personal part of the process. I was asking questions about inter-departmental
connectitvity and the silence made me stop in my tracks. Process efficiency was microscopic, not
macroscopic. If everyone focused on their tiny section, the complete department would function
beautifully, but dependent on a single manager to pull it all together...based on his experience and
knowledge only. I asked about the "millennium bug," since y2k had not really been coined yet and it
is referred to as the "ni-sen mondai" in Japanese. As I probed further, I realized that they were
clueless. The next day, I started asking( in a gentle, Japanese style) people closer to the top about
timetables and understanding. There was a plan in place to begin work the 3Q of 1998. That night, I
stayed awake all night to research other company timetables and planning. Not much was really
available to research and I forgot about it for a year and a half. The "Wired" magazine article early
this year kept me awake again for 2 nights as I hit the net. I was always reluctant to spend too much
time on the net because it costs about $6.00 per hour for local phone calls here in Japan. Anyway, in
May of this year I realized that Japan is doomed because of the cultural propensity to hide the bad
news and murder the messenger. Japanese toast. Answered by PNG (png@gol.com ) on December
02, 1998 -RC Answered by Runway Cat (runway_cat@hotmail.com) on December 16, 1998. RC
Thanks for the post. Actually, here's the text I was referring to:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Japan: Saving Face by Losing Time I
have lived and worked in Japan for 6 years (for one of the world's largest companies) as an engineer
and global business consultant. As a 45 year old executive with a career built on rational problem
solving, I am faced with an irrational situation that is almost too horrible to talk about. To understand
the Japanese mindset and interpret the true nuance of the language and culture is somethings
Americans are not good at. 1. 100% of all government surveys and corporate statements are for
saving face and "image" only. This does not mean that they are lies in the Japanese image of lying. In
the western image, they are false statements. In the Japanese image, they are hopes for the future. To
discuss bad news is culturally equivalent to suicide. You can read the "whys" of this in the near future
from other articles I'll be writing about the Japanese approach to y2k-only the Japanese would make
a cartoon of a smiley face on a computer screen and call it y2k awareness. Suffice it to say that effort
is being made by major utilities, telecommunications, international transportation and international
banking to maintain the external image of Japan. The problem is that Japanese industrial and
manufacturing strenght is based on automated production to minimize direct material costs. The major
manufacturering executives are still in denial and assesments of automated systems have only started
recently -- this year. 2. As electronic and industrial parts makers to the world, many Jpanese
companies are falsely issuing "no problem" compliance satements to any customer who asks for
component compliance information. I have personally witnessed a major industrial automation and
control manufacturer give an international customer a "fully compliant" report on a 7 year old building
automation system without ever testing the system. The Japanese phrase "mondai nai" or "no
problem" is the traditional Japanese business style of answering any request from a customer. If
problems happen later, it is considered an opportunity to build a better relationship with the customer
by solving the problem together. However, you must never let the customer worry before the
problem happens...I know you think I am kidding, but I am deadly serious. So, the resulting
problems for global manufacturers using Japanese electronic parts, components, and relying on JIT
(Just in Time) delivery are going to be in for a global shock when the Japanese manufacturers are
unable to deliver just in time because of the breakdown of their own networks of vendors who have
also failed to remediate their automated production lines. The volume of PCBs (Printed Curcuit
Boards) delivered to American companies by Japanese vendors is enormous. These cannot be
manufactured by hand. They will not be delivered on time and it only takes a few days without parts
to stop a complete industry. . . . Remember, the current Minister of Finance has stated that the first
priority to improve the Japanese economy is to begin clearing the massive debt. He said the same
thing when he was Prime Minister in 1993. Things move very slowly here when action is required,
but many Japanese companies will not make it to the year 2000 because the global market forces at
work now will force the Japanese economy to implode before then.
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