Japan, the country that nobody understands
I love Japanese culture, probably because I’ll never be able to figure it out. Japan is like an onion: below the surface there are layers and layers that you simply had no idea they existed.
Over the years, and after visiting the country so many times, I made some observations on some of the Japanese contradictions that fascinate me so much. Here are my favorites.
Technological Paradox
Japan is a country that has a mixed tracked record embracing technology. On the one hand, the Japanese are leaders in many industries such as robotics, sensors, cameras, mobile infrastructure and bullet trains.
On the other hand, cash is still used everywhere, photographic film is usually found in convenience stores, LPs and CDs are commonly sold throught the country (no much love for streaming) and paper notebooks and spreadsheets are still used in many companies and institutions.
It puzzles me that even when the Japanese build something truly state-of-the-art, such as bipedal robots, they seem to fail at launching a proper consumer product.
The awesome Honda Asimo, for instance, has been in development for more than three decades and probably has cost billions of dollars in R&D without giving birth to any commercial robot yet. Was it worth it? Why Honda, an automobile manufacturer, keeps insisting on researching bipedal robots for such a long time? It doesn’t make any sense.
Maglev trains seem to follow the same pattern. Japan unveiled the first experimental magnetic levitation train in 1972 and since then it is testing and perfecting the product, with a commercial launch only scheduled for 2027. From research to product, 55 years will have passed. This might be a new record on the largest ammount of money invested in a product still in development.
Don't get me wrong, I love the current Shinkansen and its impeccable track record of comfort, reliability and zero fatalities over 50 years. But I am sure Japan could have come up and built a real passenger Maglev (not the one in the track test) decades ago if they really wanted to. Japan had the money, the technology and the need for a faster transportation system integrating their metropolises.
Why haven't they? If the research somehow found out the Maglev was not viable economically, why wait many decades and build it now? Why not invest the same tens of bilions of dollars and build a Hyperloop? The Japanese maglev does not make any sense in 2027. It probably won't even be fast enough to compensate the investment.
Maybe disruptive products are not meant to be launched in Japan to avoid disrupting society's harmony? Who knows.
Honne and Tatemae
If you’ve ever engaged with a business partner in Japan, you’ve probably witnessed oddities such as contracts that take forever to be signed, endless business meetings with smart and kind executives that never produce any real results or the absence of the word “NO” in the negotiations.
To make sense of all of this, we need to go to the heart of japanese culture and grasp the meaning of two important words: Honne and Tatemae.
Honne (本音) refers to someone’s real feelings and opinions, the literal truth. It is not something one is encouraged to show in public, especially during business dealings. Japanese people show their true feelings only to their closest friends and family.
Tatemae (建前) is a persona that Japanese people show in public that represent how they are expected to behave in a specific situation, regardless of their personal opinions about the matter. When “practicing” tatemae politeness is always used to avoid confrontation.
Honne and Tatamae are no secret to the Japanese society so people tag along to ensure harmony is maintained. However, for foreigners, it is really difficult to accept those polite smiles and encouraging words heard from your potential business partner during the last 20 meetings are just bullshit. The company and your interlocutors never had the intention to close a deal with you but they “cannot say no”.
Tatemae behavior does not make any sense in a business setting and, over the years, I’ve seen precious resources (lawyers, time of top executives, etc) being wasted just to maintain the appearances. It shocks me.
The best defense against tatemae is alcohol. One pro-tip is to invite your contacts to a Karaoke bar after hours to, maybe, understand what they are really thinking.
Sleepy Bosses
For some strange reason, most Japanese bosses on old school companies sleep at least a minute during hour long meetings. But they seem to capture everything you have said even with their eyes closed.
Some have theorized the naps during meetings is a sign of endurance and respect, as it proves to the subordinates and colleagues that the boss has been working overtime but still is able to attend a meeting. Don’t feel offended if this happens, it is actually a pretty awesome cross-culture moment.
My theory is that the Japanese have a darwinian tendency to sleep faster than other humans, judging by how quickly, creatively and deeply they can sleep on crowded trains and subways.
A feminine country?
Maybe the atomic bombs dropped in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed the way on how the Japanese perceive masculine behavior (as a positive trait). In a society obsessed with honor and shame, the samurais and kamikazes of the past needed to be forgotten.
The Japan of today seems to be much more feminine than a hundred years ago. The fashion, the politeness, the way of doing business, the impeccable organization and the spotless cities suggest, IMHO, the oeuvre of strong feminine traits.
Someone once said to me that every Japanese company must have a cuteness department, because nothing can exhude too much testosterone in the land of the rising sun. It does not only need to look feminine but also cute, or kawaii (可愛い).
One can observe countless examples of this kawaiiness in daily life: from the dozens of police mascots across the country to cute product packages to Shinzo Abe dressed as Mario at the Rio Olympics closing ceremony. Cuteness seems to be everywhere and is an intrinsic part of the post-war Japanese culture. Perhaps, the Yakuza remains the only link to the glorious macho past.
However, despite all the feminine traits collectively exhibited by Japanese society, the country continues to be the most chauvinistic developed country where women are still treated as second class citizens by a patriarchal elite.
Japan may be feminine but it is far from being feminist.
Twisted sense of humor
The Japanese people are, for most of the time, reserved and formal to a level not seen in most cultures. So it comes as a big surprise what happens with their TV shows, which are absolutely insane (and delightful to watch)!
To be able to enjoy Japanese shows you must stick to the following rules: #1, forget your western or even asian references at home; #2, develop a twisted sense of humor borderline to wacky.
Then you would be ready to truly appreciate gems such as Sokkuri Sweets, where contestants must bite into everyday items to guess if they are in fact sugary confections. Participants are shown a shoe or a door handle or pasta, anything. And it may or may not be candy.
Tore! is a TV show where contestants need to answer seven questions on a given topic within 60 seconds before being completely mummified alive and dumped into a coffin.
If that isn't enough try other concepts such as "Spread your Legs", where one girl spins a wheel, another girl sits in some sort of torture device, and another manipulates the device. Whatever number the wheel lands on determines how wide the chosen girl’s legs will be spread apart.
Or "Blow the Cockroach", where two cute girls need to blow into a transparent pipe to avoid swallowing a live cockroach!
All these shows brilliantly mix politically incorrect and wacky concepts with innocence, cuteness and a very twisted sense of humor. I am a fan.
