The Temperament of Japan

THE TEMPERAMENT OF JAPAN The Japanese are deeply committed to quality. They strive to excel in their endeavours, often prioritizing perfection above all else, even at the expense of personal and family life. I met a gentleman from Singapore who was a business manager. I asked him why he came to Japan. He replied that he came solely to learn. I asked again what it was about Japan that had impressed him so much that he travelled here to learn. He said he had heard and read a lot about Japan’s industrial development, but there was one incident he read that deeply moved him and made him decide that he must go to Japan to gain something from there. I inquired what that incident was. He opened his briefcase and took out an English magazine. It was the following incident: “A story is told about an expert from Sweden who went to Japan to study worker participation in management. While at a factory, he was very impressed when he saw a Japanese worker start to cry spontaneously in response to one of his questions. When he did not receive an answer from the worker, he inquired about it from the supervisor. After hearing the entire story, the supervisor explained that the real issue was that when the expert informed the worker that their company was not meeting export demands as it