On October 8, 2017, Kobe Steel announced at a press conference that inspection data for aluminum and copper products had been falsified. Commentators wrote that trust in Japanese manufacturing had been shaken.
On March 4, 2022, Hino Motors disclosed improper engine certification for trucks and buses. A special investigation committee concluded that the cause lay in a company culture in which people could not speak up to those above them.
In 2019, the job site en-japan surveyed 11,286 of its users aged 20 and over. Those who had found a subordinate troublesome were asked why. 53 percent named many excuses. 51 percent named neglecting to report, inform and consult, hōkoku, renraku, sōdan. Among respondents in their thirties, this came first, at 56 percent.
A woman aged 28 wrote: “I want bad news as early as possible, but they hide it until nothing can be done, and in the end they always cause trouble for everyone.”
The film Odoru daisōsasen the Movie (Bayside Shakedown) opened in Japan on October 31, 1998. It earned 10.1 billion yen. In it, the hero, a police detective, shouts: Jiken wa kaigishitsu de okiteru n ja nai! Genba de okiteru n da! “The incident is not happening in the conference room. It is happening at the scene!”
Genbaryoku (現場力): the strength of the front line. A Japanese business training site defines it as the power to solve problems on site.
The 2018 white paper on manufacturing of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry adds that genbaryoku is not limited to the production floor. Every place where people carry out an activity can be a genba. The white paper says that this strength is thought to be akin to kaizen and suriawase.
A Japanese HR dictionary explains nemawashi with an example. An employee who takes a matter first to the company president, not to the direct superior, is sent back to discuss it with the superior. The superior may feel that his position was ignored, and approval can become harder.
For a meeting with many participants, the dictionary advises informing those concerned beforehand. The decision then goes smoothly.
Kaizen (改善): improvement. The Daijisen dictionary defines it as correcting what is bad and making it better. It adds that the word is known around the world as a symbol of Toyota’s production system.
Yokoten (横展開): horizontal deployment. A business glossary defines it as taking a case that succeeded in one department or business, with the know-how and technology gained from it, and applying it to other departments or fields.
When the Tōkaidō Shinkansen opened in 1964, its top speed was 210 kilometers per hour. In 1992, with the new 300 series trains and the first Nozomi service, the top speed rose from 220 to 270 kilometers per hour. On March 14, 2015, it was raised again, to 285 kilometers per hour. It was the first increase in 23 years.
At 3 p.m. on August 8, 2016, Emperor Akihito spoke to the nation in a video message. He said he was past eighty and fortunately in good health. But considering his gradually declining strength, he worried that it might become difficult to carry out his duties as a symbol with his whole being, as he had until then. He closed by saying that he earnestly hoped for the people’s understanding.
The message did not contain the word taii, abdication. It also avoided speaking concretely about the current imperial system.
The gozen kaigi was the conference of government and military leaders held in the presence of the emperor. A Japanese encyclopedia says that its deliberation merely endorsed proposals already decided by the liaison conference of government and military and by the cabinet.
By custom, the emperor only listened to the proceedings. Apart from questions, he did not speak.
In a report dated August 1, 2022, a special investigation committee described how Hino Motors had falsified engine certification data. Its summary says that developers could not speak up to say that fuel economy needed further improvement. They could not tell developers in other departments that the earlier figures had been inflated. At one development meeting, the fact that fuel economy fell far short of its target was not reported.
The news site Kuruma News summed up the problem in one phrase: ue ni mono ga ienai, unable to speak to those above.