Returning to Japan

Why don't we think much about the Japanese any more?

Back in the early 1980s, America, especially Michigan, was utterly obsessed with Japan, whose auto industry was seen as threatening ours. There were best-selling books about the Japanese style of management. A man named Vincent Chin, who wasn’t Japanese, was beaten to death by a couple of louts who feared he was stealing their jobs.

We simultaneously hated the Japanese and felt we had to try to be more like them.

So in 1983, I spent almost a month in Japan as a reporter. I was fascinated by the place and its culture, but haven’t been back since. However, I’m about to spend a couple of weeks there (maybe longer, if the orange menace tries to prevent me from coming home) and will be sharing some observations with you, especially my wonderful paid subscribers.

You may not get a post from me every day (so much sushi to eat; so little time) but I’ll be writing.

Arigato, y’all.