Before the Japanese cabinet approves a government bill, the bill is first approved inside the governing Liberal Democratic Party. This is the jizen shinsa-sei, the prior review system.
The usual view dates it to a letter of 1962 from Akagi Munenori, chairman of the party’s General Council, to Chief Cabinet Secretary Ōhira Masayoshi. One study argues that it began in 1955, when the party was founded and approval by its Policy Research Council became a condition for a cabinet decision on a bill.
Until 2009, the top civil servants of the ministries, the administrative vice-ministers, met on the day before each cabinet meeting, normally twice a week. They met to settle the items for the cabinet, such as bills, cabinet orders and appointments.
On September 17, 2009, the day after the Democratic Party of Japan government took office, the meeting held its last session, to confirm its own abolition. In 2012, the Abe cabinet renamed an existing liaison meeting of the ministries the Vice-Ministers’ Liaison Meeting.
Many large Japanese companies have a jōmukai, a meeting of the managing directors. Unlike the board of directors and the shareholders’ meeting, it is not required by law.
Japanese encyclopedias describe it as the place where matters that the board will formally decide are discussed in substance. There, nearly all important management decisions are made.
Hiyari hatto is the experience of a situation that could have led to an accident, or the discovery of such a situation.
Japanese guides to workplace safety explain it together with Heinrich’s law. Behind one serious accident lie 29 minor accidents, and behind those lie 300 irregularities.
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.
A ringi-sho is a proposal drafted at the lower levels of an organization and passed in turn to the relevant departments and sections. Each manager adds a personal seal, the hanko. Approval builds up level by level, and final approval rests with the head of the organization.
The political scientist Tsuji Kiyoaki studied the system in Japanese government. He criticized it because it spreads responsibility across many seals.
Nemawashi (根回し): going around the roots. In gardening, cutting the spreading roots of a tree one or two years before it is moved, so that fine new roots grow. At work, preparing a negotiation or meeting in advance so that it goes smoothly.
Sannin yoreba Monju no chie (三人寄れば文殊の知恵): when three people gather, they have the wisdom of Monju. Ordinary people who consult together in a group of three produce excellent ideas. Monju is the bodhisattva of wisdom.
Rentai sekinin (連帯責任): joint responsibility. A whole group answers for what one of its members did.
In April 1962, the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers launched a magazine for the factory floor, Genba to QC. In its first issue, Ishikawa Kaoru introduced the QC circle, a small group in one workplace that carries out quality control on its own initiative.
The definition describes managing and improving the workplace continuously, with everyone taking part.
Hōrensō means spinach. It is also made of the first syllables of three workplace words: hōkoku (report), renraku (inform) and sōdan (consult).
Around 1982, Yamazaki Tomiji, president of Yamatane Securities, started a “spinach campaign” in his company. His book on it, Hōrensō ga kaisha o tsuyoku suru (Spinach Makes a Company Strong), appeared in 1986. One account says the idea came from his father.
On a Toyota assembly line, a worker who notices a problem activates the andon and calls a supervisor. If the problem can be fixed on the spot, the line keeps running. If not, the line stops at a set position.
The system rests on three conditions. A worker can call. When someone calls, a person always comes. The person who called is not blamed.