NHK’s morning drama Oshin ran for one year from April 1983. Its heroine is born into a poor farming family in 1901 and sent away to work as a servant at the age of seven. She endures harsh treatment and loses a son in the war. In the end, she builds a successful business.
The series averaged a rating of 52.6 percent and peaked at 62.9 percent. No Japanese drama has matched that peak.
Hansei (反省): reflection on one’s own conduct, with regret for what went wrong.
Hanseikai (反省会): a reflection meeting, held after an event or project to review it.
Nanakorobi yaoki (七転び八起き): fall seven times, rise eight. Recovering each time, however many failures come.
Taiichi Ohno, the former Toyota vice president regarded as the father of the Toyota Production System, published Toyota Seisan Hōshiki in 1978. In it he wrote that by asking why five times and answering each time, one can find the chain of cause and effect and the real cause hidden behind a problem.
Toyota employees are drilled in the method from their first days as new hires.
On March 27, 2003, the Japan Science and Technology Agency released a trial version of its Failure Knowledge Database. It held about 560 cases of accidents and failures in four fields of science and technology.
The project collected and analyzed such cases and organized their lessons as knowledge to be shared. It was supervised by the engineering professor Hatamura Yōtarō.
After a scandal, a Japanese company may appoint a daisansha iinkai, a third-party committee of outside experts. A guideline of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations describes its purpose. It investigates for all stakeholders and publishes the results, in order to restore the company’s trust and its ability to continue.
One type of committee analyzes the causes and, where needed, proposes concrete measures to prevent a repeat, saihatsu bōshi-saku.
The Japan Transport Safety Board investigates aircraft, railway and marine accidents. Article 1 of the law that set it up states its purpose. The board investigates the causes of accidents and of the damage they cause, and asks for measures based on its results, in order to help prevent accidents.
Article 18 adds that the board’s investigative powers must not be interpreted as granted for criminal investigation.
In October 2014, TV Asahi began broadcasting Shikujiri Sensei: Ore mitai ni naru na!! (Teacher of Blunders: Don’t Become Like Me!!). In each episode, a celebrity who once failed badly teaches a class in a mock school.
The guest teacher explains the lessons drawn from that failure, so that the students can avoid making the same mistake.
A guideline of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, in force since June 1, 2020, defines power harassment at work. Under psychological attacks, its examples include “repeatedly scolding a worker loudly and in an intimidating manner in front of other workers.”
The same guideline lists cases that do not count. One is warning a worker firmly, to a certain degree, after repeated lateness despite warnings.
Iwanu ga hana (言わぬが花): not saying it is the flower. Leaving something unsaid has more charm than saying it.
Kūki o yomu (空気を読む): to read the air. To sense the mood of a situation and act to suit it.
Hito o tateru (人を立てる): to put a person in between. In a negotiation, to let an agent or go-between step in between oneself and the other side. It also means stepping back so that another person keeps face.
On November 10, 2003, Japan’s National Personnel Authority issued guidelines on publishing disciplinary actions against national public employees. A notice gives an outline of the case, the penalty and its date, and the person’s department, rank and similar details.
As a rule, the notice is written so that the individual cannot be identified.