Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Blueprint of Ichiro Ozawa

"The constitution was not meant to be left untouched, sacred in its original form, through the ages. It sets forth the fundamental rules that enable us to live in happiness and prosperity. The circumstances surrounding Japan change, as do our own needs and desires. It is natural and appropriate that the constitution, too, should change with the times."

Ichiro Ozawa: Blueprint for a New Japan (1994)

Friday, December 25, 2009

Japanese Social Stress

"...American and Japanese respondents rank-ordered a list of "sources of daily stress (hassle)." The Japanese list strongly featured human (interpersonal or social) relations, whereas the American list focused more heavily on financial concerns. The differences suggest not only where people focus their attention, but also where they find their pleasure: if sociality (or the making of money) did not have some rewards, people would put less effort into it and so feel fewer stresses associated with it. In the case of Japanese society, then, sociality brings important satisfactions, but it also can hook people with undesirable obligations beyond their personal ability to control."

Takie Sugiyama Lebra: The Japanese Self in Cultural Logic (2004)

Monday, December 21, 2009

Ringi-sei [稟議制] | Ringi System

Ringi-sei, Bottom-up decision making process

"The "ringi" system refers to the process of making bottom-up decisions that is common in Japan, especially in the bureaucracy. Under this system, low-ranking officials (lower-level managers in the private sector) draw up an initial plan, which is then circulated among higher-ranking officials to receive their seals of approval. Although the "ringi" system may seem to be a democratic decision making process that achieves a consensus among those concerned before reaching a final decision, some people claim that it makes it difficult to determine who is actually responsible for a decision and its outcome because nobody seems to assume responsibility."

Essentials for Understanding Japan's Bureaucracy (1997)

Japanese Business Culture and Practices: A Guide to Twenty-First Century Japanese Business

Friday, December 18, 2009

Legalized Loan Sharking Japanese Way

"First-time visitors to Japan may notice "consumer finance" companies occupying prime real estate around nearly every train station. But few visitors realize these lenders inhabit the world's most vibrant legalized loan sharking market, where seven million consumers pay interest rates that can exceed 25% annually, a usurious figure by most standards."

Tim Clark and Carl Kay: Saying Yes to Japan (2005)

Monday, December 14, 2009

Why the Japanese say "I'm sorry" instead of "Thank you"

"...during my early days in America, when a psychiatrist who was my supervisor did me some kindness or other - I have forgotten exactly what, but it was something quite trivial. Either way, feeling the need to say something, I produced not "thank you," as one might expect, but "I'm sorry." "What are you sorry for?" he replied promptly, giving me an odd look. I was highly embarrassed. My difficulty in saying "thank you" arose, I imagine, from a feeling that it implied too great an equality with someone who was in fact my superior."

Takeo Doi: The Anatomy of Dependence

Friday, December 11, 2009

The Heritage of a Long Isolation

"Much of the pre-modern Japanese history can be understood as an interplay between the indigenous and the foreign - not as a mechanical interplay, with one rhythmically rising as the other rhythmically falls, but rather as a process whereby a stubbornly native element continues to assert itself despite a flood of borrowing."

LIFE World Library: Japan (by Edward Seidensticker). Original edition 1961, 1970.