I initially intended to keep this blog in both English and Japanese, or posting the entries 50% in English and 50% in Japanese. However, as it is by far easier for me to keep it in my first language and also because my input and output through discussion on Twitter are in it, the recent entries have been all in Japanese. Today's intention is just to try writing something... literally anything in English only to balance the ratio between these two languages.
Then, what should I write about? Perhaps I can try summarizing what I have written in the last few entries, which are all about the challenges facing my beloved home country, Japan.
Japan is an interesting country. It's geographically far from the US and Europe, or the Western world, and the first country which developed as a so called 'modern' nation in the 19-20th century. Despite the fact that it had been a country of Samurai soldiers which was closed to the rest of the world until the 19th century, it rapidly increased its economic and technological presence in the international world. Overcoming the devastating damage from the WWII, the Japanese people rebuilt the country's society and developed it to the second largest economy in the world only in 20 some years after the war.
The recovery and growth of Japan was based on various attributes. The relatively large population which now stands at 127 million, the group-oriented and collaborative people's mindset, the cheap labor (until the 1980s), and the collaboration between the well-educated civil servants and large corporations represented by Zaibatsu like Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, are all the crucial factors that made the country today. The collaborative style between the governmental and private sector was often referred as the 'Escorted Convoy' and was the essential enabler of Japan's economic growth.
However, today's Japan is suffering. It suffers not only from the damage of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in March 11, 2011, but also from the slowing economy since the 1990s and declining international competitiveness of the businesses. Its society also has the issues like high suicide rates, increasing unemployment rate among the youth, shrinking and aging population (esp. working population), and the widening gap between the rich and the poor. I believe these numerous challenges indicate that it's the time to review the way we are and to start rebuilding social systems which will be fundamentally different from what we had succeeded with in the past (I know this is extremely vague statement)...
The previous two entries on March 30 were mainly about the way the Japanese people work and what businesses they are engaged in. One thing I criticized was the 14-hour work in many Japanese companies because it actually is possible only by sacrificing 1) the quality of life for most of the full-time male workers and 2) the career opportunity of well-educated and potential women who could participate in society in many ways other than staying home to be housewives. When a man works for such a long time, he is not able to take care of any other things than his own work. This work style heavily depends on the others who take care of the other aspects of his life, which is a shame. Imagine that this has forced a large number of college-educated women to be housewives and reduced their opportunity to choose any other options, what a waste of talent is it?
In addition, the long work hour virtually makes it impossible women to raise kids while they're working full-time. A large number of women present their dissatisfaction that, although they're allowed to take the maternity leave, it virtually is impossible to raise kids and work on full-time basis while they're expected to stay at workplaces over 12 hours. These situation are unthinkable in the US and Europe. It is not difficult to imagine this has been influencing the low birth rate of 1.38 in the country. Women have to give up giving a birth in their 20s if they wish to continue their professional career.
Well, it's getting longer than I thought it'd be... and getting somehow messed up. I'd better take some time to re-organize my thoughts and write a better-organized entry. But the basic concept I wanted to deliver is that the work style in Japan has a variety of negative impact on society and the way people live in the country. The struggling Japanese business, I think, really have to work hard to change this and take the short-term pain of making it happen.
Then, what should I write about? Perhaps I can try summarizing what I have written in the last few entries, which are all about the challenges facing my beloved home country, Japan.
Japan is an interesting country. It's geographically far from the US and Europe, or the Western world, and the first country which developed as a so called 'modern' nation in the 19-20th century. Despite the fact that it had been a country of Samurai soldiers which was closed to the rest of the world until the 19th century, it rapidly increased its economic and technological presence in the international world. Overcoming the devastating damage from the WWII, the Japanese people rebuilt the country's society and developed it to the second largest economy in the world only in 20 some years after the war.
The recovery and growth of Japan was based on various attributes. The relatively large population which now stands at 127 million, the group-oriented and collaborative people's mindset, the cheap labor (until the 1980s), and the collaboration between the well-educated civil servants and large corporations represented by Zaibatsu like Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, are all the crucial factors that made the country today. The collaborative style between the governmental and private sector was often referred as the 'Escorted Convoy' and was the essential enabler of Japan's economic growth.
However, today's Japan is suffering. It suffers not only from the damage of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in March 11, 2011, but also from the slowing economy since the 1990s and declining international competitiveness of the businesses. Its society also has the issues like high suicide rates, increasing unemployment rate among the youth, shrinking and aging population (esp. working population), and the widening gap between the rich and the poor. I believe these numerous challenges indicate that it's the time to review the way we are and to start rebuilding social systems which will be fundamentally different from what we had succeeded with in the past (I know this is extremely vague statement)...
The previous two entries on March 30 were mainly about the way the Japanese people work and what businesses they are engaged in. One thing I criticized was the 14-hour work in many Japanese companies because it actually is possible only by sacrificing 1) the quality of life for most of the full-time male workers and 2) the career opportunity of well-educated and potential women who could participate in society in many ways other than staying home to be housewives. When a man works for such a long time, he is not able to take care of any other things than his own work. This work style heavily depends on the others who take care of the other aspects of his life, which is a shame. Imagine that this has forced a large number of college-educated women to be housewives and reduced their opportunity to choose any other options, what a waste of talent is it?
In addition, the long work hour virtually makes it impossible women to raise kids while they're working full-time. A large number of women present their dissatisfaction that, although they're allowed to take the maternity leave, it virtually is impossible to raise kids and work on full-time basis while they're expected to stay at workplaces over 12 hours. These situation are unthinkable in the US and Europe. It is not difficult to imagine this has been influencing the low birth rate of 1.38 in the country. Women have to give up giving a birth in their 20s if they wish to continue their professional career.
Well, it's getting longer than I thought it'd be... and getting somehow messed up. I'd better take some time to re-organize my thoughts and write a better-organized entry. But the basic concept I wanted to deliver is that the work style in Japan has a variety of negative impact on society and the way people live in the country. The struggling Japanese business, I think, really have to work hard to change this and take the short-term pain of making it happen.
