Panasonic and Japan’s Changing Culture Essay

Japan is a small island nation off the coast of Eastern Asia. Despite its size, Japan has proved to be formidable both economically and militarily. Since the expedition of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 opened up the past feudalistic and reclusive Japan, this nation has expanded and adopted many imperialistic policies as well as taken a more aggressive military stance. Japan has changed in many ways, but has also continued upholding traditional practices throughout 1853 and 1941.

Japan at the turn of the century was clearly trying to westernize and change is isolated society into one more intellectually and scientifically involved with the rest of the world. When the Japanese open their ports to the western civilization food and merchandise were not the only things being traded. When ports were open the western way of living was integrated with the Japanese culture which gradually changed the way the

Evidence of the cultural change that Japan experienced after WWII happened first in family dynamics. Children where no longer taught the ideas of a constitutional monarchy, but of democracy (O’ Donnell 3). From the state houses to school buildings, this form of government was implemented throughout the land and replaced the former concepts of the time. This change influenced the elderly the most. For years and years, these men and women were educated on the

and easier to produce, it was developed in Japan in 1919. Some factors that contribute to

William Edwards Deming is one of the most influential people known in today’s business environment. In the video called The Deming of America, it focuses on Deming’s approach to industry. After World War 2, Deming was tasked with helping Japan’s economy recover. Before Deming stepped in, Japan was making a slow effort to recovering. Other nations looked at Japan’s goods as inferior in quality. The term “Made in Japan” meant that the products were of lower quality and inferior. In a sense, Japan was being mocked and made fun of by major economic powers. Japan realized that if they wanted to make their country better along with the goods that they produced, they would have to make drastic changes.

Before the 80’s when people thought of Japanese imports, they thought of cars, TV’s, walkmans, and other electronics. Japanese pop culture is becoming increasingly popular and shows no signs of stopping. Now children are trying to learn Japanese and martial arts to be like their

Japan’s unemployment rate of about 4% opposed to the U.S. unemployment rate of close to 10%. Even the financial debt to GDP ration is an advantage, and debt in the private sector has not increased unlike the U.S. and European countries, (Time, 2009). In addition, since Japan is a huge exporter and with the U.S. demand going downward, the international balances and growth declined especially as the dollar value dropped and the yen surged. •

In 2013 and 2014, applicants for jobs faced greater competition. In Japan, statistics have indicated the average length that an employee stays at their job has changed slightly from 1985 to 2005. Hence this illustrates that individuals on average are not staying with a particular job for as long as they used to. This is due to the increase in competitiveness in the job market. The unemployment rate of Australia was 6.4% in January 2015 with the comparison of Japan’s at 3.7% in December of 2013. These percentages have a significant variance when stating the differences in population sizes, indicating that Japan has more job opportunities than Australia, as a much smaller percentage of their population is unemployed. Unemployment is higher in regional areas of Australia. The youth unemployment rate is 6.4% (Nov. 2014), whereas Australia’s youth unemployment rate is far higher at 13.20% (Sept. 2014) indicating that youth unemployment is fairly high in Australia illustrating the significant difference between Australia and Japan’s youth. The majority of Japan’s workforce is located in the area of business and engineering workers and manufacturing workers, whereas most of the individuals employed in Australia are in the service industries. This shows that the job sector is

As one may know, cultural aspects differ between a myriad of countries. In particular, Japan is a traditional yet historical society that is worlds apart from the familiar United States. Specifically, Geert Hofstede and Edward T. Hall conducted a study based on cultural influences in relation to the workplace as well as characteristics of a high context society. However, it is vital to recognize Japan’s business norms and customs, culture, and etiquette before one’s journey begins.

Assumptions about the Japanese workforce have turned out to be more myth than reality and some of the former strengths have become weaknesses in the new economy

     Another topic discussed is the changing role of women in modern Japan. Kingston argues that women have considerably contributed to the economic boom in the 1950s and 1960s by acting as a sort of “shock absorbers” to the economy by accepting “relatively low wages and limited benefits [thus helping] subsidize the favored core workforce of full-time, male workers.” (43) However, Kingston notes that “the popular stereotype of meek, submissive Japanese women has long obscured the reality of their lives, status, experiences and perspectives, and, by the end of the twentieth century, is no more than a condescending caricature at odds with contemporary reality.” (68) As evidence he cites and three-fold

Globalisation has had a profound impact on the Japanese economy influencing levels of international trade, business operations, financial flows, government policy, labour markets and even environment. This movement has been driven primarily by numerous TNCs, trade liberalization, and the deregulation of the financial system, and numerous strategies adopted by the Government and Economy, resulting in the creation of a 'new' Japan.

Since the end of World War II, Japan's economic strategy for growth was based on exports, that allowed the development of its powerful industrial sector. During the 1980s, Japanese automakers in particular were enjoying an unprecedented and largely unexpected period of prosperity. They managed to establish a successful domestic automobile industry and to gradually sell their products abroad. Thanks to their competitive advantage in producing cars with respect to foreign competitors, due to labor differences, technical efficiencies (lighter and fuel-efficient cars), better designs, and of

     The Japanese culture has allowed for very little diversity. This started very early in their history. The social controls used to eliminate diversity are the family, the power of gender, the poor treatment of minority groups, the corporate Japanese mentality, and the respect required by people in authority. However, due to globalization and the shrinking of the world, Japanese society is starting to make the change to diversity. The individualistic mentality shared by the new technology driven younger generation is putting pressure on the old Japanese status quo. The transformation is happening very slow, but as the population ages and the old conservatives are being replaced by the new liberals, the old way

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the audience to Japanese Innovation through a plethora of different sources including but not limited to books, news articles, and scholarly sources. The structure of this paper will consist of 6 main topics: 1. The history of Japan 2. Japanese