Hands On Knowledge Archives - understand-culture

Go and See

Genchi genbutsu means the actual place and the actual thing. A Japanese university bulletin says that a deep understanding of a situation requires looking directly at the facts on the front line, in the spirit of genchi genbutsu.

The same bulletin tells a story about Ohno Taiichi of Toyota from his years as a plant manager. He was famous for carrying chalk in his pocket. When a machine did not perform as expected, he drew a circle on the floor with it and gave an order: Soko ni tatte mite ore. “Stand there and watch.”

Show Them First

A maxim attributed to Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku is often quoted in Japanese business writing: Yatte mise, itte kikasete, sasete mise, homete yaraneba, hito wa ugokaji. “Show them, tell them, let them do it, and praise them, or people will not move.”

The wording differs from source to source. A Japanese university paper says the maxim was influenced by an older one attributed to the feudal lord Uesugi Yōzan, which also begins with showing.

A Nobel Prize Without a Doctorate

In 2002, Tanaka Kōichi, an engineer at the instrument maker Shimadzu, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He held neither a master’s degree nor a doctorate. He was the first chemistry laureate with only a bachelor’s degree.

At the time, his company rank was shunin, chief. He has said: “I myself did not think that I had been doing work worthy of a Nobel Prize.”

National Trade Skills Test

Since fiscal 1959, Japan has run the ginō kentei, a national system that tests the skills of working people against a set standard and certifies them in the name of the state. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare says it now covers 133 trades.

The test includes a practical examination. As a rule, the practical task is published before the day of the test.

Contemporary Master Craftsmen

In 1967, the Japanese government created an award for outstanding skilled workers, commonly called gendai no meikō, contemporary master craftsmen. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare describes it as honoring workers who have outstanding skill and are regarded as the leading figures in their field. In 2019, it chose 150 recipients.

Basic Act on Manufacturing

In 1999, Japan passed the Basic Act on the Promotion of Core Manufacturing Technology. The law speaks of jukuren monozukuri rōdōsha, skilled manufacturing workers who have mastered the necessary skills and the knowledge that goes with them. It notes that such workers are in short supply.

Article 13 calls for making effective use of the skills and knowledge of these workers, including former skilled workers.

Six Months on the Floor

According to the business magazine President, new employees at Toyota, in both administrative and engineering positions, spend about six months in factory and sales training. Only then are they assigned to their departments.

The Vocabulary of Seeing for Oneself

Sangen shugi (三現主義): the principle of the three actuals. Genba, the actual place. Genbutsu, the actual thing. Genjitsu, the actual facts. Problems are solved by observing the thing at the place, not at a desk.

Hyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu (百聞は一見に如かず): a hundred hearings are not worth one seeing. Seeing something once with one’s own eyes teaches more than hearing about it many times.

Tatami no ue no suiren (畳の上の水練): swimming practice on the tatami. Practice that is all theory and of no real use.

Stealing the Skill

In Japanese kitchens and workshops, newcomers are told waza o nusume, steal the skill. The expert does not walk the newcomer through the know-how step by step. He keeps working where the newcomer can watch, and expects the newcomer to master the skill over a long time. Cooks, craftsmen and technicians are among the trades that train this way. Sushi chefs say meshitaki sannen, nigiri hachinen: three years cooking rice, eight years shaping sushi.

In 2023, a debate on social media asked whether the method is outdated. A worker in the shipping industry wrote that those who say it do not teach because they have no theory of teaching.