Author: Darius Mehri
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 2018-07-05
Total Pages: 252
ISBN-13: 1501728792
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →In 1996, Darius Mehri traveled to Japan to work as a computer simulation engineer within the Toyota production system. Once there, he found a corporate experience far different from what he had expected. Notes from Toyota-land, based on a diary that Mehri kept during his three years at an upper-level Toyota group company, provides a unique insider's perspective on daily work life in Japan and charts his transformation from a wide-eyed engineer eager to be part of the "Japanese Miracle" to a social critic, troubled by Japanese corporate practices. Mehri documents the sophisticated "culture of rules" and organizational structure that combine to create a profound control over workers. The work group is cynically used to encourage employees to work harder and harder, he found, and his other discoveries confirmed his doubts about the working conditions under the Japanese Miracle. For example, he learned that male employees treated their female counterparts as short-term employees, cheap labor, and potential wives. Mehri also describes a surprisingly unhealthy work environment, a high rate of injuries due to inadequate training, fast line speeds, crowded factories, racism, and lack of team support. And in conversations with his colleagues, he uncovered a culture of intimidation, subservience, and vexed relationships with many aspects of their work and surroundings. As both an engaging memoir of cross-cultural misunderstanding and a primer on Japanese business and industrial practices, Notes from Toyota-land will be a revelation to everyone who believes that Japanese business practices are an ideal against which to measure success.
Author: Hiroshi Mikitani
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2014-11-10
Total Pages: 242
ISBN-13: 1119000602
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →"If you're as interested in Japan as I am, I think you'll find that The Power to Compete is a smart and thought-provoking look at the future of a fascinating country." - Bill Gates, "5 Books to Read This Summer" Father and son – entrepreneur and economist – search for Japan's economic cure The Power to Compete tackles the issues central to the prosperity of Japan – and the world – in search of a cure for the "Japan Disease." As founder and CEO of Rakuten, one of the world's largest Internet companies, author Hiroshi Mikitani brings an entrepreneur's perspective to bear on the country's economic stagnation. Through a freewheeling and candid conversation with his economist father, Ryoichi Mikitani, the two examine the issues facing Japan, and explore possible roadmaps to revitalization. How can Japan overhaul its economy, education system, immigration, public infrastructure, and hold its own with China? Their ideas include applying business techniques like Key Performance Indicators to fix the economy, using information technology to cut government bureaucracy, and increasing the number of foreign firms with a head office in Japan. Readers gain rare insight into Japan's future, from both academic and practical perspectives on the inside. Mikitani argues that Japan's tendency to shun international frameworks and hide from global realities is the root of the problem, while Mikitani Sr.'s background as an international economist puts the issue in perspective for a well-rounded look at today's Japan. Examine the causes of Japan's endless economic stagnation Discover the current efforts underway to enhance Japan's competitiveness Learn how free market "Abenomics" affected Japan's economy long-term See Japan's issues from the perspective of an entrepreneur and an economist Japan's malaise is seated in a number of economic, business, political, and cultural issues, and this book doesn't shy away from hot topics. More than a discussion of economics, this book is a conversation between father and son as they work through opposing perspectives to help their country find The Power to Compete.
Author: Ian F. Martin
Publisher:
Published: 2016-09-01
Total Pages: 248
ISBN-13: 9781937220051
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →From the sugar rush of Tokyo's idol subculture to the discordant polyrhythms of its experimental punk and indie scenes, this book by Japan Times music columnist Ian F. Martin offers a witty and tender look at the wide spectrum of issues that shape Japanese music today. With unique theories about the evolution of J-pop as well as its history, infrastructure and (sub)cultures, Martin deconstructs an industry that operates very differently from counterparts overseas. Based partly on interviews with influential artists, label owners and event organisers, Martin's book combines personal anecdotes with cultural criticism and music history. An accessible and humorous account emerges of why some creative acts manage to overcome institutional pressures, without quitting their bands. Ian Martin's writing about Japanese music has appeared in The Japan Times, CNN Travel and The Guardian among other places. Martin is based in Tokyo, where he also runs Call And Response Records.
Author: Alfred Parsons
Publisher:
Published: 2018-07-05
Total Pages: 244
ISBN-13: 9783337598525
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Author: Kenzaburō Ōe
Publisher: Grove Press
Published: 1996
Total Pages: 144
ISBN-13: 9780802134646
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Hiroshima Notes is a powerful statement on the Hiroshima bombing and its terrible legacy by the 1994 Nobel laureate for literature. Oe's account of the lives of the many victims of Hiroshima and the valiant efforts of those who cared for them, both immediately after the atomic blast and in the years that follow, reveals the horrific extent of the devastation. It is a heartrending portrait of a ravaged city -- the "human face" in the midst of nuclear destruction.
Author: J. W. Robertson Scott
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2017-07-04
Total Pages: 418
ISBN-13: 9781548303679
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →A concern arose to spend some time with them that I might feel and understand their life and the spirit they live in, if haply I might receive some instruction from them, or they might be in any degree helped forward by my following the leadings of truth among them when the troubles of War were increasing and when travelling was more difficult than usual. I looked upon it as a more favourable opportunity to season my mind and to bring me into a nearer sympathy with them.-Journal of John Woolman, 1762. I determined to commence my researches at some distance from the capital, being well aware of the erroneous ideas I must form should I judge from what I heard in a city so much subjected to foreign intercourse.-Borrow.
Author: Marc Peter Keane
Publisher:
Published: 2017
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781611720358
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Marc Peter Keane's personal journey through 100 Japanese gardens, looking at them with a designer's eye.
Author: John William Robertson Scott
Publisher: London : J. Murray
Published: 1922
Total Pages: 514
ISBN-13:
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