What The World Can Learn From Japan
23rd July 2009
Put simply, that the little things do, in fact, matter. That’s according to Rebecca Allen, co-founder of Frontier Japan, an independent marketing agency based in Kamakura. As she explains, “The big picture is compiled of a thousand intricate details. The impact of tweaking each of the details can actually be a lot larger than we tend to think. A lot of little actions can - and do - make a difference.”
The Japanese ability to attend to details is often credited as one of the factors in making the nation the economic powerhouse it is today. As Allen’s co-founder, Japanese born Toshi Suemitsu says, “Going forward, details will be of increasing importance globally as the urgency of the environmental crisis begins to sink in, and the actions of each of us statistically insignificant individuals are called to account. The impact of our daily actions will weigh in on our future.”
Asked what she has personally learnt from 15 years living in Japan, Australian born Allen replies, “That we are part of a society just as much as we are individuals, and the importance of each is to be balanced at all times. In the West we learn to value our rights and have a very strong sense of self worth, but we tend to allow these to overshadow the health of the communal organism, of which we are but one part. We need to see ourselves as the tiny pieces of the puzzle that we truly are.”
“I have also learnt about minimalism. Saying less but doing more; promising less and delivering more; giving more than taking; that silence is often both the best question and the best answer. And that true beauty is not flashy, it's thoughtful.”
Masaaki Oka, Creative Producer at Office Nagase, whose main client is Sony (amongst others), says though he was educated in England and America, the most important thing he has learnt here is how the Japanese - especially those in the arts and design industries - tend to start their work from building up a story. “They tend to be very abstract and philosophical, even in business projects.”
“It’s always easy to team up with strangers if we have something to believe in. This ‘allegoric story’ is the belief system of a project. It seems it’s the way every one in the team can establish their goal and contribute their expertise to it. It could be the secret of the bonded teamwork of Japanese society as we all have our own interpretation of the project based on the belief system, and can focus on what we’re individually good at.”
Shinichi Kimura, the Sales Representative in Japan for furniture company Poltrona Frau, agrees saying, “Working in an Italian company, I’ve noticed that people in the West do not help each other like we Japanese do in our work. Generally speaking, people in the West just do their work and don’t care much about their colleagues, even when they are in trouble or need some help.” Kimura then makes a striking observation. “I’ve never thought about what the West can learn from us before. We have always been the ones trying to learn from the western world.”
Vibha Kagzi, currently completing an MBA at Harvard Business School, recently visited Japan with fellow classmates for a series of meetings with industry leaders. Asked what one of the highlights of her trip was she replied, “I like that what you see is what you get. I loved how there is no system of tipping, and how service is not compromised at all. In the US, they simply assume a 15% tip and the service levels across the continents are incomparable. The US has poorer service, compounded by an expectation for a high tip.”
Attention to detail, high levels of service, punctuality and the variety and quality of food products are all aspects the Japanese and visitors to the country love and admire, as well as its cleanliness. As Kagzi says, “The hygiene and cleanliness levels were amazing. The streets of Tokyo and the rest of the country were surprisingly clean. NYC and my hometown of Bombay are filthy in comparison.”
“I did though feel it was an overly sensitive culture. People are very conscious of those around them.” This is one the most common complaints mentioned about Japan - that people care more about what those around them are doing (irrespective of whether they know them or not) - as well as the rigid gender roles; ‘less spontaneity, more planning’; and that a protocol exists for everything.
“On the other hand I felt very safe in Japan. I didn’t once worry about being robbed or walking out late at night,” Kagzi continues. This though comes from Japan’s commitment to community living - people caring more about what those around them are doing (irrespective of whether they know them or not) - and serves to minimise crime. The heightened sense of awareness of the comings and goings of those in the community mean that unusual activity is easily spotted and reported, and the loneliness and isolation that often drives the crime in the first place is not present.
Japan’s community living is an inspirational model for the rest of the world. Though privacy and autonomy are celebrated in the West, it’s at the cost of connectedness and collaboration. The burden of keeping Japanese streets clean is shared by the community who uses them according to a strict code; the response mechanism in the event of a natural disaster kicks in at a local level: each community maintains its own stock of supplies; and “community news is passed from house to house on a regular basis in acknowledgment of the fact that the news affects each and every one of us, as we are each an integral part of the society we inhabit,” Suemitsu explains. The regular matsuri (festivals) are also a celebration of the spirit of the host community and serve to bring neighbours together.
As Allen expands, “It's also hard not to imagine the application of similar grass roots community collaboration having profound environmental and humanitarian implications going into the future.” Much of the world can learn from Japan’s community collaboration model to foster good relationships for future sustainable living.