Perspective of Peter
Come Think of It There Are More Crows Nowadays
continued my conversation with casilda on the japanese and their future. what's ironic is that the traits that make them such world beaters in industry are exactly the same traits that get is getting them in trouble. they make such great products because they keep on trying to improve on something. this is true for all their products and their habits. they really go overboard when they adopt an idea or a thing. take tea drinking for example. what would have been a simple exchange and sharing of tea between host and guest has become a highly ritualized thing. or when they learn to adopt a technological process they work it until the thing is almost perfect.
the problem is that their system of adopting something and creating rigid formulas around it to keep from any deviation also kills creativity and initiative. this system called "kata" works really well to transmit information and practices without any changes far into the future. BUT it also prevents them from reacting quickly to exogenous, fluid events. take the kobe earthquake for example. the damage from fires from the gas lines was worse because no one had the initiative to turn off the the gas. they had to do major consultations with everyone involved to start doing anything.
another thing is that they have this "don't change what isn't broke" mentality. therefore they need to be really pushed from outside to make any improvements in their system. this worked really well when there were no foreigners in japan. but nowadays no one can keep the outside from coming in anymore. maybe only north korea, the hermit kingdom, has been successful but eventually even they will have to join the world.
ironically, the japanese might be rich as a nation, but its people are unhappy, stressed, and are no longer replacing their aged. what's the point when their kids will grow up to be neurotic and be just another wage slave to the system. they have very little organized outlet for their frustrations. compare that to the hawaiians who lived under 9 months of strict taboo/kapu behavior and but enjoyed 3 months of official break from it during their makahiki season.
another irony is that usually when someone has a lot of savings one feels good because he can spend it on desirable and enjoyable things. the japanese are one of the highest savers in the world. but they are still unhappy. why? they can't really spend it the way they might want because they don't want to raise the disapproval of their friends and neighbors. ostentatious wealth is looked down upon.
especially wealth that came suddenly like the rags to riches stories of a few of its entrepreneurs, are frowned on. unlike in some countries like the u.s. or china where rich entrepreneurs are lionized and become celebrities, in japan the establishment does all it can to bring them down. that's why it's very hard for anyone who is dissatisfied with being a corporate or government drone from striking out on his own. you get blacklisted when you start, and you can never go back, and if you do succeed the big boys try to bring you down. it's a lose lose situation for those who might want a different path in life.
and if you do leave japan for any length of time and then come back, they think of you as an alien. you might have learned to break your mental thought processes that made you a mindless drone in japan with no opinions, but when you come back from abroad you suddenly find yourself thinking like one again. it's very hard to break ingrained, hardwired thought processes. it is a scientific fact that repeated thoughts and habits are actually reflected in the physical brain by stronger neuron connections in the specific part of the brain dealing with that thought or action.
can the japanese actually just ignore what's happening to themselves demographically and socially and just go merrily along? they could if they are willing to give up being a superpower and have a simpler lifestyle, with decaying infrastructure and a population subservient to outsiders. but the powers that be in japan will never let that happen. thus they will do all they can to reverse these trends.
they also have a much larger fear and that is the growing power and dynamism of china, their old enemy. the japanese are in a state of fright because of what's happening right across the pond and the consequences for them. but what's worse is that they can't seem to do anything about it. so they can't ignore the problems internally and externally. they are in between a rock and a hard place.
one morning i asked casilda if the crows that scream us awake every morning have always done that. she said yeah they have, but come to think of it, "since i arrived 18 years ago they have gotten a lot louder, and there's more of them now. they seem to have crowded out the smaller birds too. i don't hear the smaller ones in the morning now like i used to."
hmmm... more numerous and louder crows, signifying death, decay, doom.
how appropriate i thought...
Come Think of It There Are More Crows Nowadays
continued my conversation with casilda on the japanese and their future. what's ironic is that the traits that make them such world beaters in industry are exactly the same traits that get is getting them in trouble. they make such great products because they keep on trying to improve on something. this is true for all their products and their habits. they really go overboard when they adopt an idea or a thing. take tea drinking for example. what would have been a simple exchange and sharing of tea between host and guest has become a highly ritualized thing. or when they learn to adopt a technological process they work it until the thing is almost perfect.
the problem is that their system of adopting something and creating rigid formulas around it to keep from any deviation also kills creativity and initiative. this system called "kata" works really well to transmit information and practices without any changes far into the future. BUT it also prevents them from reacting quickly to exogenous, fluid events. take the kobe earthquake for example. the damage from fires from the gas lines was worse because no one had the initiative to turn off the the gas. they had to do major consultations with everyone involved to start doing anything.
another thing is that they have this "don't change what isn't broke" mentality. therefore they need to be really pushed from outside to make any improvements in their system. this worked really well when there were no foreigners in japan. but nowadays no one can keep the outside from coming in anymore. maybe only north korea, the hermit kingdom, has been successful but eventually even they will have to join the world.
ironically, the japanese might be rich as a nation, but its people are unhappy, stressed, and are no longer replacing their aged. what's the point when their kids will grow up to be neurotic and be just another wage slave to the system. they have very little organized outlet for their frustrations. compare that to the hawaiians who lived under 9 months of strict taboo/kapu behavior and but enjoyed 3 months of official break from it during their makahiki season.
another irony is that usually when someone has a lot of savings one feels good because he can spend it on desirable and enjoyable things. the japanese are one of the highest savers in the world. but they are still unhappy. why? they can't really spend it the way they might want because they don't want to raise the disapproval of their friends and neighbors. ostentatious wealth is looked down upon.
especially wealth that came suddenly like the rags to riches stories of a few of its entrepreneurs, are frowned on. unlike in some countries like the u.s. or china where rich entrepreneurs are lionized and become celebrities, in japan the establishment does all it can to bring them down. that's why it's very hard for anyone who is dissatisfied with being a corporate or government drone from striking out on his own. you get blacklisted when you start, and you can never go back, and if you do succeed the big boys try to bring you down. it's a lose lose situation for those who might want a different path in life.
and if you do leave japan for any length of time and then come back, they think of you as an alien. you might have learned to break your mental thought processes that made you a mindless drone in japan with no opinions, but when you come back from abroad you suddenly find yourself thinking like one again. it's very hard to break ingrained, hardwired thought processes. it is a scientific fact that repeated thoughts and habits are actually reflected in the physical brain by stronger neuron connections in the specific part of the brain dealing with that thought or action.
can the japanese actually just ignore what's happening to themselves demographically and socially and just go merrily along? they could if they are willing to give up being a superpower and have a simpler lifestyle, with decaying infrastructure and a population subservient to outsiders. but the powers that be in japan will never let that happen. thus they will do all they can to reverse these trends.
they also have a much larger fear and that is the growing power and dynamism of china, their old enemy. the japanese are in a state of fright because of what's happening right across the pond and the consequences for them. but what's worse is that they can't seem to do anything about it. so they can't ignore the problems internally and externally. they are in between a rock and a hard place.
one morning i asked casilda if the crows that scream us awake every morning have always done that. she said yeah they have, but come to think of it, "since i arrived 18 years ago they have gotten a lot louder, and there's more of them now. they seem to have crowded out the smaller birds too. i don't hear the smaller ones in the morning now like i used to."
hmmm... more numerous and louder crows, signifying death, decay, doom.
how appropriate i thought...
posted by Mimi | 8:55 PM
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