No, not the WWII Japan, but today's Japan. 

It seems that Japan has the lowest violent crime rates in the world (I realize that Japan uses physical punishment, because I remember once they spanked a US tourist and Clinton raised a big stink)

They are very productive and have one of the best economies... ie Nokia, Toyota, Toshiba, Samsung, etc.

They seem to  have the best health and the longest life expectancy... I have never heard of a Japanese diabetic.  I don't recall ever seeing an obese Japanese person either, except for sumo wrestlers.

They are very academically successful and motivated.

All this, without being involved in all the international drama... and without an "evil dictator"...

What are they doing that we aren't?

Let's see...
Intact family units with an authoritarian structure.
Respect for society's elders
Racial homogeneity
Eastern spiritual philosophy
The good of the group before the gain of the individual
Segregated roles for men and women in all aspects of life
A business ethic based on company-employee career commitment

I'm not saying whether any of thest things are bad or good.  They're just very different from America for a myriad of ethnic, cultural, and historical reasons.  We can certainly learn from the Japanese, but we can never turn Japanese!

My friend once told me they have beatings or something.. but then, he likes to say things when he really doesn't know, so.. Meh.

My friend once told me they have beatings or something.. but then, he likes to say things when he really doesn't know, so.. Meh.


I'm not sure if it's exactly "beatings", but they do use physical punishment... I don't remember the exact circumstances, but their police did something like that to an American tourist.. I vaguely remember Clinton making a big deal of it and Japan defending themselves by saying that when you are in Japan you are subject to their laws, not American ones.

No, not the WWII Japan, but today's Japan. 

It seems that Japan has the lowest violent crime rates in the world (I realize that Japan uses physical punishment, because I remember once they spanked a US tourist and Clinton raised a big stink)

They are very productive and have one of the best economies... ie Nokia, Toyota, Toshiba, Samsung, etc.

They seem to  have the best health and the longest life expectancy... I have never heard of a Japanese diabetic.  I don't recall ever seeing an obese Japanese person either, except for sumo wrestlers.

They are very academically successful and motivated.

All this, without being involved in all the international drama... and without an "evil dictator"...

What are they doing that we aren't?


The "spanking" was actually a caning in Singapore, a different country and culture.  In Japan they tend to look
toward the future health of the country as opposed to the weekly Dow Jones average.  Education is important
at all income levels and higher education does not depend on the ability to pay. The ability to work is not hampered by child care since there is ample government subsidized day care, as well as national
health.  Respect for the wisdom and experience of age is high on the agenda. They do not tend to be so en-
amoured by the whiz-kid. 

The good of the group before the gain of the individual


It'll be a long long time before the United States reaches that goal.

After WWII, Japan created a new constitution that prohibits a military-except a small self-defense military. They have learned the lessons of WWII. When you become the aggressor (China, Pearl Harbor, etc.) it comes back to bite you in the @$$ (Hiroshima and Nagasaki).  So, instead of pouring their money into the military (like the U.S. does), Japan pours its money into domestic programs and technology. That is why Japan led the way in technology. I think that U.S. can learn from Japan that you don't need an aggressive military. I am afraid that the U.S. will learn the hard way-like Japan that this invasion of Iraq is going to bite us in the @$$. But, somehow I doubt the U.S. will learn that lesson.




Cat

In addition to the factors alreadt mentioned is the fct that Japanese business plans for the future, like 50 or 100 years down the road instead the focus of our business leader, 5 years at most, but mostly tomorrow's Dow Jones.  It took 25 years following WWII for "made in Japan" to signify quality, but "they see'd their opportunities and they took 'em".

Let's see...
Intact family units with an authoritarian structure.
Respect for society's elders
Racial homogeneity
Eastern spiritual philosophy
The good of the group before the gain of the individual
Segregated roles for men and women in all aspects of life
A business ethic based on company-employee career commitment

I'm not saying whether any of thest things are bad or good.  They're just very different from America for a myriad of ethnic, cultural, and historical reasons.  We can certainly learn from the Japanese, but we can never turn Japanese!



Maxwell brought up some great points.

What are they doing that we aren't?

Like many countries around the world they have the U.S. defending them which allows them to spend very little on their military. They also have had the U.S. to buy and promote their excellent products around the world. Europe isn't interested in Japanese cars (or Korean for that matter). Japanese car makers are just recently making inroads into European markets. I occasionally read car magazines from Britain and their reviews of Japanese cars like the Lexus brand always get lukewarm reviews compared to precious BMW. Autos from Japan have been getting good reviews here in the States since the late '70s.

The Japanese work very hard and have had good economic success the last 30 years. Their unemployment rate is currently at 4.4% (ours is at 5.0 -- the lowest since 9/11/2001). Working 10-15 hours a day is something we can learn from them, if you think we should, but people here in software development, nasa, and healthcare, to name a few, already do that. I do know our auto industry learned from them about how to work better with parts suppliers and to have them keep and supply their inventories and not the auto manufacturer.

I'm also curious as to whether unions in Japan have any or much influence and whether or not their economy deals with regulations like Affirmative Action. Good or bad, for all the difficulties our economy experiences it is extremely resilient and strong.

Japan has no natural resources to export. They built one of the top 10 economies in the world by importing all the resources they need. Like all industrialized economies they need oil and they depend on the U.S. to keep that oil flowing to them. It's amazing how many economies in the world depend on the U.S military, and a healthy U.S. economy. In 20 years that may all change.

We can always learn from others but they're playing the same capitalist game we are. It was the communists countries in the '80s that learned the most and the hard way from the Japanese. Such as, how can an economy like Japan which imports all its raw material become one of the top economies in the world, yet for example, the Soviet Union was blessed with an abundance of natural resources and still their economy was one of the worst. Capitalism and Democracy win again.

Low crime rate. As for their low crime rate (good for them) it looks like 99% of the people in Japan are Japanese. Other factors could also give a low crime rate like the percentage of people between the age of 18 and 35. I once had a college instructor from Japan who said they adhere to certain culture and you behave in a certain way and if you had a problem with that then you just had to leave and go to someplace like South America where you'll be with other Japanese people who think like you.

They are very academically successful and motivated. Hey, so are we, and many countries in Europe and Asia!

Better health? They eat more veggies. Good for them. More vegetables and a little less meat is a good idea.

Yeah, but we have the fattest people in our country so when we get a hurricane, they won't blow away! :D :D