Why Japanese companies do so many different things

Post by AlotOfReading » Sat, May 23, 2026, 7:26 PM UTC

parineum wrote: post #400

AlotOfReading wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've worked for an American megacorp and the branch office of a Japanese company. The Japanese company felt a lot more humane on balance, though it doesn't express as well when I write it. The Japanese company had some rituals were a bit weird, but harmless/charmingly quaint like mandatory volunteer days, keeping a copy of the founder's precepts on my desk for executive walkthroughs. They also had some bad tendencies…

> The employer was constantly involving themselves with US national politics, but employees were expected to refrain from having political opinions of their own. During work hours or after work hours (for both)?

Post by cortesoft » Sat, May 23, 2026, 8:24 PM UTC

layoric wrote: post #297

cortesoft wrote: post #260

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> Most citizens would prefer stability to growth, but I think the tradeoff has a lot of downstream consequences. People want personal stability, which in our current society means a stable job. That doesn't have to be the case, though. Overall, economic growth is good for society as a whole, so it makes sense that a state should encourage it as much as it can. This means that what is good for an individual is not the…

> Overall, economic growth is good for society as a whole, so it makes sense that a state should encourage it as much as it can. The problem with basing the language in the aggregate, is implies that distribution doesn’t matter, and all modern economic models agree. This is a big problem for the reality of people living in ever increasing inequality. Money is a competitive resource, we use it to bid for real resource…

Post by AndrewKemendo » Sat, May 23, 2026, 8:29 PM UTC

jdw64 wrote: post #7

It’s always fascinating to see how Westerners idealize Japan on platforms like HN. It makes me wonder(i'm korean): how would a Westerner react if they saw me romanticizing the Mondragon cooperatives in Spain? They’d probably find it strange and out of touch with reality. This essay on Japan's corporate diversification and physical tacit knowledge is an interesting read. However, as an East Asian, my assessment is tha…

Post by evilos » Sat, May 23, 2026, 8:52 PM UTC

astrange wrote: post #394

evilos wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they live a far more deprived life It took me a minute to figure out the typo ("depraved" instead of "deprived") Japan compares much better to the US in terms of how much wealth the top 1% control. 24.6% vs 34.8% according to https://wid.world Graph here: https://imgur.com/a/UwWvaHW

Depends what you mean by "control". If you don't own a nice house, car, driver etc. but your company just happens to provide it as a perk, then you still have it.

Post by i_am_a_peasant » Sat, May 23, 2026, 8:58 PM UTC

rtpg wrote: post #298

dec0dedab0de wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look at the best pizza place in the world, the best burger maker in the world.. they are not in Italy or America, but in Tokyo. That's a bold claim. While I'm sure the average quality in Japan is significantly better than ours, I would put the best pizza places in Jersey, NYC, and CT up against anywhere in the world.

It’s all kinda silly because there’s a “quantity is quality” thing going on with pizza and a lot of “commoner food”. But Tokyo has a loooooooot of good food from various places, and a lot of people with money willing to spend 5 bucks a slice (for example). Or at least enough to sustain one restaurant. The contrapositive: what magical thing exists in Jersey that would not be exportable to Tokyo? I would bet that NYC h…