CHARACTER BUILDS THE NATION

Character Builds the Nation ~ 310 ~ CHARACTER BUILDS THE NATION Toyota, a Japanese motor company, has been functioning for the last thirty years without a single day ever having been wasted, and without its production ever once having slackened. This is only one of the many examples which explain the fast development of industry in Japan. General Motors and the Ford Motor Company of the U.S.A. are the biggest motor manufacturing companies in the world. The annual production of these motor companies is, on an average, 11 cars per employee, while the Toyota Motor Company annually produces 33 cars per worker. Considering the non-existence or at least paucity of all the major raw materials of industry in Japan— coal, iron, petroleum, etc.,—Japan still manages to surpass all other countries in industrial progress. One might well ask why. A Hindustan Times commentator (25 August, 1981) attributes Japan’s success to “A national spirit of compromise and cooperation, and a willingness to endure short-term setbacks for the long-term good of the nation, company or family.”