This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Toyota – The Japanese Perspective
The Japan Times had
a story in the Sunday 2/21 edition that discussed the problems that
Toyota faces in the United States. I thought it was an interesting take
on this story. It provides a window on how this is being perceived in
Japan. Some of it took me by surprise. For example:
The Japanese media primarily see this backlash as being culturally motivated.
Culturally motivated? What does that mean? Does that mean that the
public lashing that Toyota is taking in the US is actually because
Americans don’t really like Japanese people? What a bizarre perspective
on this.
The article suggests that Toyota’s problems might be part of some high stakes maneuvering by the US military:
The American government now effectively owns General
Motors, and thus has a stake in its revitalization. Certain
publications infer even more nefarious purposes. Shukan Port claims
that the U.S. is getting back at Japan for dragging its feet about
moving the Futenma air base.
This about an airbase? Americans have been driving their car
involuntary into bridge abutments in order to influence the outcome of
negotiations on a military base? The American government has whipped up
the furry by their control of the press and made this a piece in a very
big chess game? Give me a break. The word paranoia comes to mind.
This should make Toyota owners much happier. At least it would if it were true.
In the U.S., models subjected to recalls tend to have
higher resale value since it's assumed they've been checked thoroughly
and are thus safer.
The article dismisses the safety problems of Toyota’s cars with the following:
Automobile recalls are common, even in Japan.
Even in Japan? Does that mean there is an expectation of better quality
cars in Japan than in the US? Is that what Japan believes? Is that the
truth?
I loved this section. I can’t imagine a system that worked like this. Everything would be gray.
In Japan recalls are carried out in a low-key manner,
normally publicized with very brief articles in the back of the daily
newspapers. Unlike in the U.S., television as a rule doesn't report
recalls, ostensibly because they are considered business transactions
between manufacturers and consumers, but mainly because automobile
makers are major advertisers.
The article suggested that the media and customer response to the safety issues were going to cost the silly Americans:
Governors of four states where Toyota operates
factories have sent letters to the U.S. Congress defending the
automaker. Toyota dealerships in America employ 172,000 people. Damage
to the company's reputation places these jobs in jeopardy.
The Japan Times take on this does not add up to much. It shows that
this paper and presumably many other people in Japan don’t really
understand how we think and what we think is important. Japan became
America’s largest external creditor recently. How stable could that be?
»
- advertisements -
Creativity and art are definitely some of the main values of Japanese products from electronic gadgets to fashion. However one of the most popular products that Japan can claim credit for are their cars.toyota used cars|honda used cars|nissan used cars
While the USG is quite wrong in making a much larger issue of this than anything ever brought to light by Ralph Nader, Japan would have done the exact same thing had the circumstances been reversed. In fact, Japan DID do the exact same thing, regarding US beef.
Back when Mad Cow Disease was all the rage, there was a single instance of MCD surfacing in cattle in the US. This was in Washington State, was a single cow, and it was later shown that the cow had crossed the border (illegally...HA!) from Canada. Leo?
Japan banned the import of all US Beef.
In the meantime, Japan had had at least 17 cases of MCD reported up to that point...and Japan is hesitant to report anything negative about anything agricultural in Japan, so the real number may well have been higher.
In addition, here is something that added to the problem:
Japan regularly tests cattle for MCD. The lab that does the testing, which on most occasions finds nothing untoward in the randomly selected Japanese cattle, then delivers the deceased cattle to an animal feed manufacturer near the government lab. On one occasion the lab discovered the presence of prions and MCD in the brain of a tested cattle. The Japanese, often slaves to habit, still delivered the diseased deceased cattle to the feed manufacturer, who subsequently processed the carcass and sold the feed to cattle farmers all over Japan. As you may know, prions (more or less backwardly formed molecules that cause structures utilizing them---like brains---to reproduce useless neurons) are not destroyed even if the host dies, so the molecules responsible for MCD were dispersed throughout the Japanese food chain.
One Japanese news service reported this "error", but the effect on the beef industry in Japan was contained, and the onus was later thrown on to American Beef because of the single instance of a cattle with MCD in the US (which was studied and destroyed, in contrast to what happened in Japan). Thus, gaijin food was bad, Japanese food was best, and the Japanese agricultural industry---a powerful supporter of political parties---was kept happy. US Beef was banned for years (still?) from Japan and was one of the key issues handled by the former Ambassador and Bush chum Thomas Schieffer (of Texas Ranger baseball ownership fame, brother of CBS anchorman Bob).
Oh, and ask anyone who lives near a Japanese nuclear plant to comment on how quickly the Japanese government informs them when a radioactive leak occurs at a plant damaged by earthquake, fire, poor construction gone bad, or outright incompetence.
Zenophobia is known outside of the US, too.
Oh look! An idiot is parsing another idiot's news report.
There have been 32 deaths contributed to sticking gas pedals since 1999 and the government has launched an all out attack on Toyota? What about the thousands of unsettled cases Ford has on the Explorer? And what about the 905,000 Chevy Cobalts that have a reported steering problem or the 22,000 Chevy Corvette roofs that may fly off and kill the people in the car they land on? Or better yet what about all the Drug companies that kill thousands of innocent people yearly due to unannounced problems or side effects? Must be because Toyota isn't part of the UAW or Big Pharma! While Explorers were rolling over ejecting their passengers and Chevy Suburbans were starting on fire in people's garages and burning down their houses, Toyota and their Kaizen assembly lines were pretty much impeccable. Now that the government owns GM, Toyota looks like the only bad car out there. This reminds me of the Eagles tune " Desperado", nothing but an attack on Toyota to try and bully back some market share. However they forget to remember that most of the Toyotas today are built here in America by Americans and this will probably cost a lot more jobs from the line worker in Georgetown Kentucky to the master tech in Concord, NH. Ray Lahood has blown this way out of proportion with the media, but then again he has only been the transportation Czar for a year and before that he served for 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives from the 18th District of Illinois << Yeah Illinois.. Probably doesn't have any ties with the Unions either? Right! Instead of this witch hunt they ought to actually try and create a job or two instead of eliminate them or better yet try and produce something in this country that people are willing to buy.
Author is a symbol of American idiocracy. Go back to your American idol dude. Let me guess the next article you will write: "Buy and hold U.S. Dollars!"
Talk to your local auto parts store owner sometime, ask "what line of vehicles do you sell the fewest parts for?" The answer I got with no hesitation at all was, "Toyota, then Honda. And I mean a lot fewer."
I dont agree with the authors comment in this article.
The way I see the big picture:
Lack of sufficient demand for US treasuries are the key driver.
The Chinese began dumping UST since November, Japan is now the last big buyer left.
The last auctions for 10yr where 1st failure nd this coming week will show the same tendency. The bond market is short before a crash.
Toyota is being held hostage as much as possible, in order to pressure the Japanese goverment to fill the gap and buy UST.
Think about it for a minute, its common sense.
If criticism of Toyota over these recalls is US government-orchestrated propaganda, it's not working. I don't think it has changed anyone's minds about the company. My next car will be a Toyota (if they bring the iQ to the states) even though I think much of the criticism is warranted. Toyota did make cars with serious safety defects and they didn't react soon enough to correct the problems.
My take:
1. This is overblown from the US perspective
2. The government is playing this up, not because it owns GM, but because it's trying to kiss ass to the unions
3. Although not a big deal to America, THIS IS A BIG DEAL TO TOYOTA! The entire brand is based on quality (which has been slipping--and they knew it was slipping for a few years now). That's the reason people pay a premium for their cars. Their management has been absolutely fucking incompetent in the way they handled this, and they should be fired. They're destroying their brand with their idiotic attempts to not address issues in a timely manner, and flip-flopping on their excuses. THIS IS HOW GOOD BRANDS DIE!!!
4. The winners in this, if Toyota doesn't smarten up very quickly, will not be the American carmakers, it'll be the Korean car makers, who have made a concerted effort to improve quality.
All so very true;
For the love of God, look at how long this went on? I think Toyota has themselves to blame first and foremost.
American automakers quality has improved dramatically in the past couple years but I will agree with the negativity in the past.
The Japanese view can't be true because it originates outside the USA and the corporate controlled mass media. Right?
Thomas Friedman, IMO, is an idiot but I found the following article interesting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/opinion/31friedman.html
It appears Friedman has been questioned by foreigners about "political stability" in the USA at the Davos conference. He just can't understand why they would ask.
The view of the United States from outside the USA is increasingly at odds with the official view force fed the masses within our borders. Given this I keep coming back to the Clintons' famous dictum "Politics is Perception".
The question is how are these diverging perceptions impacting the role of the USA on the world's stage.
Negatively I am sure. But we still have the world's largest military and for good reason - - - if you happen to be an Anglo-American Oligarch.
Often times the clearest view of a country is from an outsider.
Questions about US political stability may be well placed. And it could get a lot more "exciting" than the Scott Brown victory.
This time, Smoot-Hawley can't happen overtly, in the legislature.
It has to manifest itself in the form of currency manipulation and media consent engineering.
Change the words, "can't happen," to the words, "does not need to happen," and I will agree with your assessment. I would not be suprised to see a Pearl Harbor or a Bataan Death March movie coming soon to a theatre near you. I will hope for a remake of King Rat, my favorite James Clavell book.
Toyota makes great cars - PARTICULARLY IF THEY'RE ACTUALLY MADE IN JAPAN! The quality began to suffer a bit as manufacturing moved out of the land of the rising sun.
The recent bad press is blatant protectionism. The US government is slowly alienating the whole world against her citizenry; and WE are the ones who will ultimately pay the collective, multifaceted price.
I think that the Japanese article's implications are basically correct. The way our two societies handle these recall issues are different based on our cultural differences. The Japanese people have more respect for their institutions and major manufacturers than Americans. Americans have more suspicion about their institutions and major manufacturers. Americans have more respect for the individual than the institution. These are tremendous cultural differences; and definitley play a part in ouir difference of opinion about corporation-caused danger to individuals. That said; the US Congress does seem to be working the issue to help the US car manufacturers gain back a little on the Japanese car manufacturers. But why wouldn't they?
Given that the Obama administration forced government ownership in GM and Chrystler, provided cover for UAW and its bondholders' stake in both corporations and the fact that the transplant automobile factories, primarily down South, are non-union, one can easily see that the problems at Toyota are perceived as "piling on". Rationally, the perception should have been seen as a political issue with the UAW and national security as the driving force - but I guess the Japanese, like everyone else, figure that a good soft-peddled "you're a racist" is a better sell than a soft-peddled "you're a fascist".
In WW III, who knows if the spies are from countries or corperations.
In "Only the Paranoid Survive" Andy Grove talked about the 10X situation when you get hit on the side of the head with a situation 10 times worse than anything you every imagined that you never saw coming. Every long lived corp. must ride these out to live on.
This is Toyota's 10X situation. If they face it and learn from it, they will blow past their competition and leave them in the dust.
In today's world of the empowered blogosphere every corp. is under constant scrutiny by everyone. People are pissed about being lied to about everything. They are starting to go after any entity that seems to be abusing them for the sake of profit or hiding the truth. Most Corp. and governments still don't get this.
Only those entities that wake up and deliver the new demand for quality and honesty will survive. Be glad that Toyota is going thru this now. If they respond well they will be ahead of the pack who are still trying to cover their butts.
As to how the paranoid survive I can attest to understanding why other people would make a peer a target. as of now, to what the landscape of the new world will look like for the corporations to inherit, i think science fiction can best tell us. To be king of the mountain you must be at the apex of power. Japan wants it's gold back. what have you of it?
surprised they haven't used this defense yet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsOCDdlVo9I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uzegl_CKw0&feature=related
Perhaps they understand this much better than brainwashed Americans themselves. BTW, I don't think the Japanese should worry too much about losing the US market - Americans are not going to be able to afford imported products for much longer anyways.
Japan remains a defeated, occupied country.
Perhaps the Japanese are getting just a bit tired of that status?
The author like most Americans doesn't get it. The Japanese do.
+1000
Now for some statistics that speaks for itself about whether this media attention on Toyota is over blown or not:
(according to what I heard on NPR)
22,000 deaths over 10 years (1999-2008) on Toyota/Lexus due to human errors
34+ deaths on Camry/Prius/Corrolla due to factory error
Why is there so much attention to Toyota and these recalls? Ford had more recalls and it came and went without congressional appearances. And as for Chrysler products... too many problems and lackluster quality to even try and list here.
Yes, i agree that this recent Toyota (overblown) press attention is due to the US MIL complex situation and have been mentioned this within previous posts here on ZH. For those of you who feel that mainstream American press is truly independant and does quality investigative reporting, you are so very much mistaken. As many ZH'ers know, the Rolling Stone does far better reporting on Goldman Sachs than does CNBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, Bloomberg, etc. Same with independant websites like ZH versus mainstream media... or the quality of Shadowstats versus _____.
---------------------
A small crack at looking into the US MIL and Japan:
Japan's defense minister said on Tuesday (Oct 13, 2009) that Tokyo would end its refueling mission in support of U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan when its mandate expires...
www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE59C0LQ20091013
---------------
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama pledged Friday to decide by May on where to relocate a U.S. Marine base on the southern island of Okinawa that has strained ties between the nations.
More than half of the 47,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan under a 1960 security treaty are on Okinawa, where residents have complained for years about noise, pollution and crime around the bases.
www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2010/01/29/japan_pm_vows_to_settle_us_base_dispute_by_may/
--------------
Of course there is far more to the ongoing situations between Japan and the USA. In the end i do indeed see this recent Toyota situation as a hostile move by the USA Gov against Japan as the USA defends whatever strongholds it has in the world via their MIL bases... and in forging alliances for refuelling and other needed items to continue waging war worldwide. Then there is the whole US Automobile Manufacturer Bailout nightmare.
Few Americans may realize just how active their military forces are within **many** parts of the world. The USA has already 'invaded' and conquered many parts of the world per se...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_military_bases
and...
www.alternet.org/story/47998
Oh I never saw this on every news channel.. ¿How come?
http://www.leftlanenews.com/nhtsa-investigates-ford-minivans-over-possib...
Following the recall of 1.1 million minivans last month for a faulty cruise control switch, Ford may be forced to recall another 205,000 vans due to a potentially faulty transmission. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration has opened an investigation involving 2004-05 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans.
Nice way to promote the bailout automakers.
Toyota has made excellent cars especially since the late 1960's. This recall is most unlike the company. The Japanese people are one of the most polite, civil, respectful and interesting of nationalities.
Adam Neira
Melbourne, Australia
The Japan Times is majority owned by the Japanese Government and controlled by the Ministry of Foregin Affairs. True.
> Culturally motivated? What does that mean? Does that mean that the public lashing that Toyota is taking in the US is actually because Americans don’t really like Japanese people? What a bizarre perspective on this.
It seems likely that the Japanese have a clear memory of the ugliness and stupidity of 1980s American Japanophobia, even if Americans have conveniently forgotten about it.
No recall has ever been the subject of so many US government press releases whipping up this degree of hysteria. The government ownership of GM is relevant here. Would a GM recall be publicized to this degree? I doubt it.
The recent posturing of defiance toward China is also relevant. Picking fights with our two biggest creditors, simultaneously--just a coincidence?
Plus I don't even believe half of the issues that are allegedly problems with Toyotas.
And now a congressional hearing? The whole thing is an in-your-face message to the Japanese auto industry, and it stinks. It's nationalistic, protectionist, underhand, hypocritical, sensationalistic, and fundamentally dishonest.
This would be an excellent time to buy a Toyota.
This thing is like a onion. Many layers of people blowing it totally out of proportion for personal profit.
Fords have been burning down for years, taking garages and houses with them, in much larger numbers, and no one makes a three ring circus out of it.
I for one consider myself an expert on japanese recalls - I am married to a japanese girl, and am constantly being recalled for something. In not too subtle of a manner either, so I have to disagree with any suggestion regarding that part of the article.
Just thinking...timing of "media fury"... Scott Brown election... danger of losing politboro level majority... mid-term elections... shoring up base... Naaah, back to ESPN.
GM went through 20 years of defective cars that killed and maimed countless americans. Presidents never intervened. This sh1t is such an obvious payback to the unions, its something straight out of Atlas Shrugged. Toyoda is the Hank Rearden of our day.
You can pretend it isn't happening because of your love for Obama, but don't expect any of us to believe it.
Thank you.
Amen to that!! Anyone who can't see what kind of bullshit is going on here in Amerika as been living under a rock for the last two years.
Bruce, as someone who lived 10 plus years in Japan, the article makes perfect sense if I put on my yukata and getta and have a read. In Japan, direct confrontation is avoided, and a complaint always comes via a circuitous route. Thus, the issue with Toyota quality simply MUST mean something other than Toyota quality, at least in the mind of the JT article writer.
The second issue is face. A vocal recall, rather than a quiet style Japanese recall, saves face for Toyota. The US announcements, especially Congresspeople's calls for the Toyota CEO to appear at a hearing, destroys face, for which a Japanese would feel compelled to fight back.
Third, at least in RW or mercantilist pubs like JT, the corporation comes before the individual, so what's a few deaths when the pride and prestige of a national symbol, which employs far more people than faulty Toyotas will ever kill, is involved?
Fourth, there is Japanese "exceptionalism" (aka arrogance), which exceeds even the We're Number One exceptionalism of the US. To put it simply, just about the first English word most Japanese learn is "unique", and the first sentence the word is used in is (improperly), "We Japanese are very unique".
It would be extremely rare for any Japanese to say that anyone anywhere can do anything better than a Japanese, so at least in speaking, there is an implicit assumption that Toyota is head and shoulders above any Ford or GM, or Rolls Royce for that matter. (My opinion is that this masks an inner inferiority complex, but that is a matter for extended debate involving a host of issues from geography to control to physical stature to views regarding the purpose of existence.)
I recall one time years ago when a colleague proudly should me an artists rendition of the Japanese Space Shuttle. It did not matter that at that Japan neither had a space shuttle nor even a workable rocket (the H2 kept blowing up on takeoff, or putting a satellite into orbit which could not communicate with the equivalent of Houston Control). The space agency's rendition of the Japanese Space Shuttle was an exact copy of the US shuttle, albeit with the red circle flag markings instead of the stars and stripes. I thought he was joking. He was not.
One of the reasons---in my opinion---Japan has failed in the last two decades is because of the inability of the Japanese mind to admit fault in any way other than to commit seppuku. Were they able to admit failure and try to learn from it (as they did back when "Made in Japan" was a joke), they might have moved on after 1989. Instead, they invented extend and pretend. Sadly, the US has now borrowed from Japan and will be lucky to do "as well" as Japan has after 1989.
i think chindit's dead on here. there's a famous notion out there that the asian mindset has 2 quite vulnerable pressure points: confusion, and embarrassment - especially embarrassment that might lead to that worst of all possible things, "loss of face". they canNOT allow themselves to be seen in the wrong. that's pretty much why it took them 60 years to (kinds, sorta) grudgingly make a (semi)-apology to all those korean women they captured for use as whores for their army. (google 'comfort women') it's why a visit to the a-bomb museum in hiroshma makes no - none whatsoever - mention of little issues like pearl harbor, korea, manchuria, nanking, singapore, unit 731....small little horrors like that. after all, it's not like they were doing human vivisection or turning loose plague-infected rats on *japanese*, right? (at least that was the case 15 years ago: i suspect it hasn't changed, although i could be wrong).
it IS fun to watch toyota struggle to square this classic japanese response to criticism with their equally important desire to keep selling their stuff to the largest, richest market in the world. if history is a guide, don't be surprised if they end up blaming...the koreans.
Having lived in Japan for 6 years, I agree with chindit13's assessment. There are very, very, very few product liability cases in Japan. Backdoor mediation, out of the public's view, is the expected approach. Direct confrontation just does not happen. There is also a well-understood "exceptionalism" about being Japanese as opposed to being a gaijin (outside person).
The Japan Times, published in English, is primarily a newspaper for the expat community so I anticipate that readers will see through the issues. The JT may be using this article to garner favors with the Japanese government (which controls access to the "press clubs" where the content and tone of new articles is set. Gaijin are not allowed). There is no "free press" in Japan.
The most important reflection of Japanese govt opinions would be found in the Japanese language newspapers.
chin saw when samurai's guard was open. thanks for the insight. i agree that the flaws of the nations due complacency was their destruction and this will lead to their downfall.
[IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/33uzuqo.jpg[/IMG]
Great summary of Japan. I live over here in Japan and everything you say is exactly as I have experienced Japanese people(im from the U.S). They think of themselves as some type of gifted people of superior stock and quality. But they are quiet and low-key about it...its almost as if its "a matter of fact" to them. In Japan, everything is better then the rest of the world. The dirt,water,trees,rice,meat,fish,grass,...its even a different sun that shines over here. I speak japanese, so I listen to them talk of these things as if they are all well known.
I have something sad to say. These people are currently being settup to be our enemies again on day....soon? Their pride and collective thinking makes them easy targets for TPTB manipulators of the world. These people over here are like mindless thoughtless drones that simply await orders and rules from "ABOVE". All it will take is a few popular TV announcers to declare "Amereka not friend no more" and they will run and join with China or whoever will buy their stuff.
I've actually tried many times to have discussions with Japanese people about these things. They'll give me the blankest stare....as if they were gazing into a black hole. I thought mindless American Idolers were bad.....
The singular 'advantage' of mono-culturism.
The Japanese are clones (less so than the Scandinavians) so no wonder they look at the people of the disUnited States as into a black hole.
It's just one big genetic family. Subject to the same disasters as any clonal body.
How many blond, blue-eyed Japanese do you see there?
Where does it say that a mongrel monoculture has an evolutionary advantage over a number of distinct sub-populations? Some of these distinct cultures might not last but one or two might out-compete the mongrels.
The problem for Homo Sapiens is that we are apes who can't adapt to societies of more than a few dozen. One solution would be for us to become more like bees than apes. Like the Japanese, maybe...
Or we can rape the world until we are smashed back into the iron-age, where we belong.
Funny, I don't remember Ford or GM CEO's being hauled before CONgress for making shitty cars.
"Buy GM, with the world's first and only warranty backed up my F16's, clusterbombs, and white phosphorous."
Anybody that couldn't see this coming a mile a way is willfully blind.
UNCLE SUGAR OWNS GM.
The Fedgod will do everything in it's power to see it succeed and it's competitors fail. It is that simple.
+1
this masks an inner inferiority complex - Perhaps the Japanese have been watching too much of Rocco Siffredi?