Toyota, Sony or Honda are mythical brands for us in Europe, but they often started as the work of someone’s entrepreneurial spirit and even owe their name to that person. Do the founders of these companies exemplify the Japanese entrepreneurial spirit?
Yes, the examples you gave are exceptional companies. Sony and Honda emerged shortly after World War II, meaning the founders saw how to reverse the destruction around them. They had an entrepreneurial spirit, they were encouraged to think and act, and it was a time when no one could cut off their legs. At Sony, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita are together, but each in their own way, the typical Japanese entrepreneur. And even more Soichiro Honda, son of a blacksmith. Kiichiro Toyoda’s case was different: he created a company from others.
Can you explain it a little differently? Isn’t Toyota the product of one man?
No. Toyota is a very old company. The family started a textile business, which means they had a good system of doing things in the textile industry and used this business concept by applying it to other industries. This is how the automotive industry, the most famous today, was born. It benefited greatly from the tradition and knowledge in the communities.
The period after the Second World War was a period of great changes for Japan, which emerged from defeat after a few years as a major economic power. But the Meiji Revolution in the 19th century was also an era of great transformation, as it changed not only politically, but also economically. Japan?
Clearly. The Meiji Revolution caused the country to switch to a more European or American production model. At the beginning of the Meiji era, many Western technologies and systems were introduced. The political leaders tried to make Japan a Western country in the middle of the Meiji era, but then turned to a kind of Japanese tradition, which softened the effect of the transformations and restored traditional culture, especially in the Taisho period, which was a very important period. Japanese cultural model, but that did not last long, because then came the first period of the Showa era, the time of unrest, militarization and the Second World War. After 1945, a second period of the Showa era was one of democracy and economic development.
To understand how Japan became successful, is education a big part of the formula?
So far, yes.
And do we see this educational tradition even before the Meiji Revolution, in the 200 years when Japan was closed to the world after contact between the mid-16th and 17th centuries with the Portuguese?
No no. Before the Meiji Revolution, people were probably more relaxed in some sense. Since there were no strong industrial sectors during the Edo period, everything was more organic, which is why some people still like those types of periods. Without large manufacturing companies, without the industrial revolution, they were sustainable communities. But after the Meiji Revolution, Western ideas came and Japan transitioned into the modern world. To be in the modern world you had to do things like invest in education, have a strong military, and create industry through the government. Therefore, the perception of the Japanese as very obedient is that after the Meiji Revolution.
But do you still think education is one of Japan’s strengths?
Yes and no nowadays, because we are too obedient, which prevents us from creating new ideas. We need education that becomes more rebellious and creative, more independent and autonomous.
Do you consider this conformity in society as one of the reasons why economic growth in recent decades has been far below previous levels, consider that there were some years above 10% in the 1960s?
Yes, what happened was that after the Meiji Revolution, the Japanese had become an ingenious people and that was good for production, also for the military, but they lost the Second World War. There were a lot of unused resources, folks, when the war was over. Then these resources were freed up when companies like Sony and Honda came on board. Before the war, training was orderly, people were asked to be obedient, and this logic of obedience only really worked after 1945, perhaps for twenty years. What happened after the economic bubble burst in the early 1990s was that Japan stuck to the same winning theory, which was no longer suitable for changes in society. Therefore this obedience has become weakness; what we call this is over-adaptation to past successes. So when the Internet arrived and the world changed, Japan’s economic power became smaller and smaller and smaller, what we call three lost decades.
Do you think political leadership will be important to change this attitude, or will it have to come from within society?
Political leadership is of course important, but rulers do not exercise this power due to the complicated situation of Japan’s political system and its security relationship with the United States. What Japan learned was that without spending a lot of money on the military and investing this money in technological innovation was also a success factor. But now we have to spend more on the armed forces and so on, and this means that the system, even if it is not collapsing, is not working properly. It’s a complicated transition period, I would say.
Do you see Japan’s economic history as a model for South Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia?
Yes, in part the Japanese were a model, especially for Southeast Asian countries. Until 1995, everyone saw Japan as some kind of pioneer. East Asia’s current prosperity was created by Japan, but Japan is the country that benefits from it the least.
Is China among the supporters of the Japanese economic model, even though it is a communist country?
China did not believe in the Japanese model, but in a sense it had the critical insight to analyze Japan’s success and make the best of it. For example, in the case of white goods such as washing machines, they analyzed the organization of Japanese companies and adapted what they learned to their own revolution in business organization. Now they lead this area worldwide.
I recently looked at the number of patents per country and Japan is still number three, behind China and the United States, but with South Korea very close. Does this number of Japanese scientific patents mean that creativity is still happening in universities and companies, even with this tradition of obedience?
Japan is changing from obedience to disobedience, business is changing, I think young Japanese will not only become disobedient, but also be more creative and contribute to the changing society. But the point is that the entire Japanese system is under threat. They say Generation Z in Japan is 17%, and this is only half of the global average.
We are talking about the problem of an aging population. How can Japan combat this problem?
It is the most critical problem, there is still no solution. Governments are trying to introduce AI and robots and so on and also create the conditions for the arrival of foreign workers, but in the latter case still without success. The ideal is to open the country. Not just accepting foreigners, but going abroad and then returning, strengthening this interaction with other countries. That’s the best way, otherwise it won’t be enough if Japan stays the same and just starts telling people to come. We need to get out there and communicate.
Source: DN
