Travel Impressions: JAPAN – Another Planet

“ Absolutely, you must be there”, pronounced the CEO of a Quebec provincial financial institution to my total shock and surprise. I just finished my presentation plea for a contribution to enable me to join a special US mission to Japan. “To see what this Japanese biotechnology is all about”, as its leader put it. You see, the US started lacking behind Japan in biotech products and applications after its rocket-like start. Actually, this was not just biotechnology – one could not miss the flood of Toyotas, Nissans, Mazdas and other Japanese vehicles on US and world highways, for instance. After several decades of channeling Japanese managers and scientists to the USA, the US-Japanese Exchange Society started reversing its function in organizing the American visits out - into Japan.

“Let’s see what we can learn, copy or steal from this Japanese biotech success”, our group leader let out, illustratively rolling up his sleeves. Evidently, even these highly educated Americans were having a hard time recognizing that different systems on the globe could just work – well, differently ! It is difficult to accept ceasing to be No.1. As it happened, our exchange group consisted of about 14 “captains” of the US largest biotech companies, pharmaceuticals and such. And one little Canadian – me.

Genetically modified unique blue rose

Indeed, to be in the presence of all these big-gun VPs proved to be a unique experience in itself as we discussed our experience of every day’s grueling schedule visiting with selected large-scale industrial biotech operations in Japan – Meiji-Seiko, Ajinomoto, Kikkoman and others. Our sci-technical observations were uniquely supplemented by those of our Ameri-Japanese visit organizer among us who specialized in social studies focusing on the behavior of management groups. An example of one of our many encounters of the kind follows :

“This pharmaceutical production plant has 3,000 employees – way too many for its size”, was one observation. The plant was impressive, shining clean, even land-scaped. “How about yours - yours - and yours” was a question flying among the group members. “About 450 – 500 – even less” – sounded off answers of the American colleagues. How come such a discrepancy ?? - was the obvious pressing question of the day when it was realized that also their fermentation-tank rate of contamination/spoilage was about 1 in 300 there. American production plants at that time had to discard about 1 tank in 50 – a great deal of a loss of expensive chemicals and time. “Contamination resistant microbial strains !” was a suggested answer. Next day’s tour of that Company’s research facility thoroughly dissipated that myth. Nothing special about their rather conventional microbiology. Why so many employees ? “Oh-yes, we could do with perhaps even 250 employees. But we are committed to our employees, we cannot just let them go”, was an honest management answer.

True cradle-to-grave system. And those employees, mindful of this and devoted to the Company ran around polishing the production plant, they landscaped it for beauty and – cleanliness. It was that extraordinary cleanliness and employee devotion that protected those precious fermentation batches.

In short, it was the “cultural difference”, compared to rather messy American operations.
And that could not be copied or stolen.

In addition to that, another example of a similar difference was in ‘higher circles’. The gentleman that conducted our tour of a huge production plant obviously and impressively knew every machine and every bolt in it – we tested him. He was an Engineer who worked his way up to the Vice-Presidency of this 35,000-employee Company. In similar positions in the USA are almost exclusively professional “managers”, lawyers or accountants, hardly ever a technical person. Later, I read more about the Lawyer-per-Capita numbers in Japan that were 10-times (!) lower than in the USA.
Another conclusion can be summarized in what our Japanese colleagues told us about 'competition'. Their top managers from different companies shared all their experiences they gathered, particularly in the USA. And what about competition ? -
"We all need to make sure that Japan becomes No.1 - then in the marketplace it will be seen just who is the best amongst us".
Day after day of this type of extraordinary experiences in Japan opened our eyes.

There was nothing the Americans could “copy or steal” from the Japanese. The differences were so culture-based that the operation of such a society could not be duplicated under any other circumstances. What was left for the American system was – to get licked – and perhaps wait for some decades until the young Japanese soften up, getting “americanized” that way, and the Americans would toughen up and face up to another (economic) Pearl Harbor. Is that possible ??

The jury is still out on that which was eventually the unanimous conclusion of our little biotech group. In the meantime, the Japan society struggles through its ups and downs, reflecting the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ in their system.
This was one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life.
Japan in general, however, is a welcoming, colorful, marvelous and a unique country !

Different though – almost like another planet.

The Japanese tea ceremony is a ritual. There are many small meal-centered rituals that the Japanese have. Westerners' presence may become schizophrenically welcome-embarassing to them, we were warned. Better keep out of some places that seem like Japanese-only. We are there like the proverbial "elephant in a china shop".