Owning Failure Archives - understand-culture

The Exchange Takes the Blame

On October 1, 2020, a system failure stopped trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for the whole day. At 4:30 in the afternoon, its president, Miyahara Kōichirō, held a press conference with the group’s chief information officer, who answered the technical questions.

Asked whether responsibility would be discussed with Fujitsu, which had supplied the equipment, Miyahara said that the responsibility as market operator lay entirely with the exchange. He resigned at his own wish at the end of November.

The later investigation report found that errors in a product manual were the responsibility of Fujitsu, which had written it.

Two Hundred Yen

In July 2022, a network failure at KDDI cut off service for millions of au customers. KDDI took 200 yen off the bills of all 35.89 million subscribers under contract during the outage. Customers who had been without service for 24 hours or more also had two days of fees deducted.

At a press conference on July 29, president Takahashi Makoto apologized. The 200 yen, he said, carried the company’s feeling of apology.

Five-Hundred-Yen Vouchers

In 2014, customer data leaked from the education company Benesse. In September 2014, the company said that about 28.95 million records had been leaked. As owabi, an apology, it prepared a 500-yen voucher for affected customers, who could also choose to donate the amount to a children’s fund run by Benesse.

It Is My Responsibility

On February 24, 2010, Toyota president Toyoda Akio testified before a committee of the United States House of Representatives about the company’s recalls. He said: “My name is on every car.”

In the Japanese rendering of his statement published by the auto news site Response, he apologized deeply for every accident that Toyota drivers had experienced and said: Sore wa hitoe ni watakushi no sekinin de arimasu. “That is entirely my responsibility.”

Business Improvement Order

On September 22, 2021, the Financial Services Agency issued a gyōmu kaizen meirei, a business improvement order, to Mizuho Bank, which had suffered repeated system failures. Under Article 26(1) of the Banking Act, the bank had to re-examine its plans for renewing its systems and submit them by October 29.

In its own notice, Mizuho said it would strengthen the saihatsu bōshi-saku, the measures against recurrence, that it had published on June 15, and add points drawn from the failures that had occurred since August 20.

Apology and Measures

On January 23, 2026, Prudential Life Insurance held an apology press conference after more than 100 current and former employees had improperly received money. Its management apologized and explained the company’s saihatsu bōshi-saku, measures to prevent recurrence.

A public relations column in the business report of a Japanese regional bank gives the order for a written press release on such trouble. It opens with an apology, then sets out the course of events, the facts, the response to customers and the measures to come. For press conferences, the column warns against wording that sounds like an excuse.

The Vocabulary of Excuses

Iiwake (言い訳): an excuse. Explaining after a failure that there was no other choice, in order to justify oneself. Iiwake suru na: no excuses. A common rebuke to someone who has failed.

Kuchigotae (口答え): talking back. Answering a parent, teacher or boss argumentatively. Herikutsu (屁理屈): fart logic. Forced reasoning made to fit.

Chikara busoku (力不足): lack of ability. Used of oneself in apologies, as in watakushi no chikara busoku de, through my lack of ability.

A Box of Sweets

A Japanese person who goes to apologize in person often brings a kashi-ori, a box of sweets. A Japanese lifestyle guide calls this a custom unique to Japan, and notes the saying that “the weight of the sweets is the weight of the feeling.”

Very expensive sweets are avoided, because they can suggest an attempt to settle the matter with things. Another guide advises keeping the gift out of sight at first and handing it over only after the apology has been accepted.

Yamaichi’s Last Press Conference

On November 24, 1997, the president of Yamaichi Securities, Nozawa Shōhei, faced reporters at the Tokyo Stock Exchange as the firm announced it would close. In tears, he apologized and said: Shain wa waruku arimasen kara! The employees are not to blame!

Accounts of his exact words differ. Another version has him say: “We are the ones at fault, so the employees are not to blame.”

Written Apology

A shimatsusho is a written apology and reflection on a mistake, submitted promptly after trouble occurs.

A tenmatsusho is a different document. It reports the full course of events. It is generally an internal document, usually addressed to supervisors or the management department, and is submitted after the matter is resolved.