East Coast Kahuna

Made in Japan

What do you think of when you see the words, "Made in Japan"? Do you think that this product would be well-made, with few defects? Were you unhappy when you fould out that your Toyota, Nissan or Honda was no longer manufactured in Japan?

I remember when "Made in Japan" products were just one step above trash. I remember Japan-made toys frequently breaking. Once I had a toy sword - when it broke, I found that the handle of it was made from old beer cans! Even as recently when I was in high school (late 60s, early 70s) the Datsuns (what Nissans were called then) and Toyotas were the cheapest cars that you could buy. And never mind the cars from Honda - they were just a motorcycle company making tiny cars that resembled a large boot.

My only trip to Japan was in 1970, when my high school band (Iolani, not Punahou!) went to perform at the world's fair, Expo '70 in Osaka. At that time, one dollar gave you 360 yen. Which meant that the 100 yen coin (which was a little smaller than a US quarter) was worth a little less than twenty-five cents. Now the 100 yen is worth about eighty five cents, or 117 yen for a dollar. So the yen is worth about 3 times as much relative to the dollar in 35 years.

How did the Japanese improve so much after World War II? They brought in experts from the US to teach them, like W. Edwards Deming - who helped them focus on quality. They were willing to do what a lot of US businesses were unwilling to do. Japanese businesses prospered.

Now there are many Japanese tourists who visit Hawaii for a cheap vacation. You see an abundance of signs in Japanese in the tourist areas (shopping centers, hotels and tourist attractions). Almost like all of the Spanish signage in New York. Anyway, all these tourists buy souvenirs made in China.

Back to the subject of "Made in Japan" - weren't all those recalled laptop batteries made for Dell and Apple from Sony in Japan? Considering how many batteries were manufactured, were there really all that many failures. The press is having a field day bad mouthing Japan since they don't have much chance otherwise. Would they have been able to manufacture these batteries elsewhere with the same performance and price?

posted by tjh14850 @ 3:05 PM