“It’s Not a Mystery But…”~ The Culture of Japanese Organization ~

Chikafuji, Ryu(TAKA KONDO)

Last Modified: Jan/18/2010Nov/20/2009

~ Category Theme ~

❖Comparing the culture between the UnitedStates and Japan, people say that the UnitedStates is a heterogeneous culture, on the otherhand Japan is homogeneous.

❖America is:

❖Urban

❖Rural

❖Friendly

❖Hostile

❖Full of arrogance

❖Full of honesty

❖Selfish

❖Self-devoted

❖Rich

❖Poor

❖Innovative

❖Conservative

・・・

❖I used to agree with the argument that, “Japanis homogeneous”, before I started working inthe United States.

❖But, now I feel there is something weirdabout it.

❖Regarding the surface of things such asdemographics, of course, there is no argument,I agree with it 100%.

❖What I want to discuss here is the thinkingpattern and the process of decision making.These may be related to the emotional andpsychological aspect of a human and anorganization.

❖I don’t think it is homogeneous, but veryheterogeneous.

❖Dr. Ruth Benedict(1887~1948), Americananthropologist and author of “TheChrysanthemum and the Sword”, describedJapanese culture.

❖ When a serious observer is writing aboutpeoples other than Japanese and says theyare unprecedentedly polite, he is not likely toadd, ‘But also insolent and overbearing’.

❖When he says people of some nation areincomparably rigid in their behavior, hedoes not add, ‘But also they adaptthemselves readily to extreme innovations’.

❖When he says a people are submissive, hedoes not explain too that they are not easilyamenable to control from above.

(snip)

❖When he writes a book on a nation with apopular cult of aestheticism which gives highhonor to actors and to artists and lavishes artupon the cultivation of chrysanthemums, thatbook does not ordinarily have to besupplemented by another which is devoted to thecult of the sword and the top prestige of thewarrior.

Quoted from:✎ First chapter of “the chrysanthemum and the sword -

pattern of Japanese culture”, 1946

❖A lot of contradictions are described inBenedict’s book.

(Some criticize her work)

❖There are many good points in her bookeven though she had never been to Japan.

❖I was born in Japan, got an education inJapan and worked for a Japanese company.

❖However, I have had similar questions withDr. Benedict.

❖In this theme, “It’s Not a Mystery But…”,I’d like to discuss various aspects of theculture of Japanese organizations with caseexamples.

❖I’m hoping that my contents to be postedhere will give you some hints for your betterexperiences in interacting with Japaneseorganizations.

❖The following pages are a kind of trailerabout which I’m planning to write.

❖Each title and its abstract will be subject tochange. So, this slide will be updated asneeded.

“Histories of Digital Still Camera”❖ The Digital Still Camera (DSC) market has been an extraordinary

competitive market which included two different industries,camera and consumer electronics.

❖ DSC was the first full-fledged consumer digital product exceptpersonal computers. So, it required close encounters of AmericanIT industry such as Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google, etc.

❖ DSC market destroyed the film camera market, coincidentally,Camera Phone is creeping into this market.

❖ In the early stage, Japanese manufacturers had over 90% of theglobal share in DSC market, and they still have a major share inthis area.

❖ To review DSC market gives us a lot of suggestions to understandJapanese organization cultures, I think. So, first of all, I’d like towrite about the history of DSC.

#1

“Behind the Mystery”❖ Most Japanese people are not religious.❖ However, religions are still unconsciously influencing people’s

actions and way of thinking.❖ What makes Japanese culture so different from the rest is its quit

unique “religious system(*)”. Japanese religion is highly syncreticbeyond completely different religions.

❖ Not only religions, the ideas from “Bushi-do”, “Sa-do(tea cult)”,“Ka-do(flower arrangement)”, etc., are also blended.

❖ In this topic, I’d like to outline the above focused on the businessscene.

#2

(*) This expression might be eccentric for people who are monotheistic religion. First of all,basically, Japan is a polytheism nation like ancient Rome / Greek.

“It’s not a labyrinth, but…”~Decision Making Process~

❖ The decision making process of Japanese organizations,especially, big companies, is one of the most interesting things.There are big differences with American companies’.

❖ “Why does it take such a long long time?”❖ “Who is the decision maker?”❖ “What priority do they have?”❖ “Why do we have to repeat the same argument?”❖ “Why do they have a passive attitude?”etc.

❖ In this topic, I’d like to discuss their decision making processand how to deal with them.

#3

… to be planned.

❖Contents of this theme will be posted in thecategory of “English” on:http://www.frombayarea.com

❖If you have any question, please send an e-mail to chikafuji.ryu@gmail.com