"Made in Japan." Our fathers, who may well have fought in the Pacific theater in WWII, would derisively roll their eyes when reading this out loud from a label on a cheap piece of junk. "Serves them right" they might have mused, recalling fallen comrades in arms, "to be the lowly producers of the world's cheap junk."
When we grew up, probably 90% of our toys bore the label claiming Japan as their place of origin. Long before we became so dependent on foreign oil, our first serious trade deficit arose thanks to huge ships loaded with every sort of plastic or tin gewgaw which was assembled in that Asian island nation half a world away.
And that label implied cheapness, shoddiness, disposability, lack of quality. One would NEVER give someone else a meaningful gift that was made in Japan.
How times have changed.
At presstime, the economic roller-coastering of late has put many American companies in a state of crisis. General Motors in particular is in serious trouble, the very continued existence of this industrial giant being in real jeopardy.
Yet, Toyota, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Mazda, and Honda are all doing very well, thank you. And the reason they are doing so well is that "made in Japan" has come to mean something very, very different than it did when we Boomers were kids.
Where did it all begin? When did the "Made in Japan" label go from something to be derided to a stamp of the highest quality?
A date would be hard to pick. But by the mid 1970's, Japanese-made items like cameras were recognized by the rest of the world as being sophisticated instruments manufactured to extremely high standards.
There was nothing shoddy about a Nikon. Or a Pentax, a Canon, or an Olympus, for that matter.
The elder members of the Boomer generation were coming home from Vietnam loaded with goodies picked up very cheaply overseas. These goodies included Pioneer stereos, Seiko watches, and Nikon cameras.
The same kids who played with toys that their fathers sneered at now viewed items made in Japan in a very new light.
What Japanese-manufactured items would be the next hot tickets?
During the Korean conflict, Japanese automakers, who had been around since the early 20th century, were commissioned to manufacture army trucks. The much-needed business from the nation's conquerors was just the ticket to revive an industry that had been driven to near-extinction by the loss of WWII.
After the Korean armistice, the manufacturers cranked out tiny cars perfect for Japan's crowded roads and expensive fuel prices. Occasionally, one of these miniature vehicles would show up on American highways, to the amusement of WWII vets driving massive tailfinned land-boats.
By the 1970's, when all of those Vietnam vets were arriving back home, Japanese cars had gotten a bit larger and more powerful. They also had developed a reputation for dependability and durability. And they got good gas mileage when fuel prices began going haywire.
That leads to today. When my kids began looking at the possibility of purchasing their first cars (which would be affordable on a minimum-wage budget), I told them that dad would work on them for free as long as they were (a) Japanese and (b) fuel-injected. They kept up their end of the bargain, so did I.
Now, China is the world's laughingstock when it comes to cheap junk. Sometimes, it's not so funny when things like poisons get into foodstuffs.
But look for the world's most populous nation to sooner or later learn the lesson so effectively demonstrated by Japan: Quality is much, much more valuable than quantity.
Comments (4)
The reason “Made in Japan” has transformed from a derisive sobriquet synonymous with cheesy gimcracks into a symbol of high quality is largely due to the philosophy of William Edwards Deming. The beginning of the Japanese quality turn-around can be traced to 1950 when at under the auspices of the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers he introduced Statistical Process Control to Japanese engineers, manufacturers and business people. They recognized the wisdom and efficacy of his quality control philosophy and quickly adopted his methods. It took about a generation for the rest of the world (particularly the provincial USA) to shed the old negative Made in Japan connotation and embrace the new, but quality eventually triumphs and the rest is Ron’s subject. American business has been slow to learn from the example of Japan but circa 1983 Ford Motor Company gave his techniques a shot and by 1986 surpassed GM as the most profitable car company in America. His 14 points and 7 deadly Diseases for management are indispensible for any business especially manufacturing (if the Chinese adopt his methods, as Ron intimates, watch out.) If only American businesses had followed his examples we might have avoided the worst of the current calamity. Check out this link:
The Man Who Made Made in Japan Cool
Posted by Burt | October 10, 2008 6:04 PM
Posted on October 10, 2008 18:04
Wow - the new server has accurate CDT now. Kudos
Posted by Burt | October 10, 2008 6:06 PM
Posted on October 10, 2008 18:06
Thanks for the comments, Burt. And yes, the new server rocks in all sorts of ways! ;-)
Posted by Ron Enderland | October 10, 2008 6:17 PM
Posted on October 10, 2008 18:17
I remember made in Japan quite well. I remember it on my little transistor AM radio, the walkman of its time. Little plastic toys, everything!
It is also clear that our jobs were being threatened even back then. Eventually, Japan gave us a run in cars and certainly in TVs and electronics in the 70s and became king in the 80s.
Its China now. I wish we still made our own stuff. And we wonder why our economy has gone bottom up, huh? ;-)
Posted by Scott Irving | October 17, 2008 1:43 AM
Posted on October 17, 2008 01:43