In December 2023, Toyota chairman Toyoda Akio spoke about the certification scandal at Daihatsu. He said it came down to how employees are treated every day, and used an English phrase: “There is the phrase Bad News Fast.”
He then described what often happens to it in practice: “People are told, bring me the bad news. I was told that too, long ago. When I actually brought it, I was scolded.”
Gofun mae kōdō means acting five minutes early. A first-year newsletter from a Japanese junior high school defines it as gathering at the place of an activity five minutes before it begins. It adds that in the adult world, too, the rule is considered “the key to trust.”
The newsletter also does the arithmetic. When one late person delays the start, the time lost is the delay multiplied by the number of people.
On April 25, 2005, a JR West train derailed on the Fukuchiyama Line, and 107 people died, 106 passengers and the driver. Earlier in the run, the train had overshot its stopping position at Itami Station by about 72 meters and arrived there about one minute and eight seconds late.
JR West had a practice called nikkin kyōiku, day-shift education. After an incident, a crew member could be moved to day duty and retrained. The Kobe Shimbun calls it punitive training. It writes that the investigators’ report suggests that the driver may have been under pressure from the nikkin kyōiku he had been through.
Shin’yō (信用): trust, credit. The Daijisen dictionary defines it as judging, from a person’s past actions and achievements, that the person can be trusted.
Menboku (面目): face. A person’s standing, position and honor in the eyes of the world and of the people around. The dictionary gives menboku o tamotsu, to keep face, and menboku o tsubusu, to crush face.
Mentsu (面子): face, standing. The dictionary gives mentsu ga tsubureru, face is crushed, and mentsu ni kakawaru, face is at stake.
A Japanese training company’s guide to raising new employees divides reports into two kinds. The shūryō hōkoku, the final report, is required when a task is done. The chūkan hōkoku, the interim report, is made while the work is still in progress, to share how far it has gone or to confirm the method.
The guide says that the interim report lets the person who assigned the work see that it is moving. It can also stop a new employee who is heading in the wrong direction.
Watashi, shippai shinai node. “Because I do not fail.” It is the signature line of Daimon Michiko, a freelance surgeon, in the high-rated television drama Doctor-X, which began in October 2012.
At a premiere event, the lead actress, Yonekura Ryōko, said that the line is actually hard for her to say, because she herself always fails.
In fiscal 2016, about 130,000 trains ran on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen. Their average delay was 24 seconds per train. The figure includes delays caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes, heavy rain and heavy snow.
Jizen hōkoku (事前報告): a report to the people concerned before something happens.
Jigo hōkoku (事後報告): a report of the result after something is finished. A Japanese business magazine notes that a report after the fact is often acceptable, but that a report in advance is safer when a deal changes or needs confirmation.