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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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The hype behind "Made In Japan"
One of my colleagues was writing this for another forum initially, and it eventually blossomed into a whole other thread. We are not saying that JDM is better by any means; I have to admit that after visiting Japan, I can agree to witnessing a majority of what my teammate Colin was referring to when he was typing this up.
In the end, a lot of interesting views are in this post and I could not help but share.
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I was originally writing this as a short response to a post I read, but as I was writing it, the response just got longer and longer, so I decided to make it its own thread.
Most of the reason behind the hype of products being made in Japan is the fact that Japan (as a country) has a high regard for quality. They instill a strong work ethic from a young age (all of my highschool students went to cram school: school after school) and for the most part the entire country tries to do their best at whatever they do. Even people doing the most mundane of tasks do their jobs with pride. There is a guy who stands next to the train tracks and looks up and down the tracks all day long to make sure no one is going to fall (or jump) onto the tracks. All day. Looking at train tracks. Yet he does it with so much precision, because he takes pride in his work. In the end, him doing a good job makes the nation a better place for the rest of Japan's citizens. At McDonalds you will get the best looking and best tasting Big Macs (and FRIED apple pies) you will ever see and taste. Not only that, the service will always be polite and friendly.
So take this intense, country wide driven passion and pride for doing good work, bring it up from the McDonalds of Japan and take it to a company like Powerhouse Amuse. Knowing that the McDonalds workers of Japan take amazing pride in making hamburgers, one can only imagine the pride of Powerhouse Amuse's exhaust factory when making exhausts. You can be absolutely positive that the quality of the parts coming out of Powerhouse Amuse will be the best that they can produce. That's just how Japanese people are. They do their best.
That being said, Japanese tuners can only exist if the Japanese people can afford to buy the (admittedly) expensive products that the tuners produce. The 'quality' mentality of the Japanese people still applies here, as not only do they produce quality products, they also want to purchase quality products. Japan is filled with extremely high quality products whether it be from electronics to produce. A couple times a month I would buy myself a $5 apple as a treat for myself after a long day of work. Is a $5 apple worth it to most people? Probably not, but was it worth it for me? Definitely. Those apples were the epitome of quality and care. I just imagined the Japanese farmer tending to his apples everyday, making sure they were well cared for and growing nicely. Japanese people seek value in a lot of other ways, not just purely thinking about things in terms of monetary values. One way is that they enjoy blending form and function, which brings us back to JDM parts. Not only do the parts perform well, but they also look amazing. In the end, Japanese people like to be stylish and different and sometimes flamboyant, which is something definitely seen in the JDM tuning world.
That actually stems back to the hardworking Japanese work ethic I was talking about before. Due to the fact that there is a country widespread mentality of working hard, there is also a mentality of being a like-minded hive-mind of sorts where everybody is expected to basically be the same. This in turn makes Japanese people rebel in other ways such as the way they dress like this ganguro girl I saw in Osaka:
Or the Bosozuko cars that Japan is so famous for:
While everyone is taught to be the same, we all know everyone wants to be different. So to do that they express themselves in other, creative ways. That being said, the ones being different still follow the rule of doing things right. Whenever you see someone dressed differently, they are DRESSED DIFFERENTLY. Every aspect is taken care of from head to toe. The JDM goths look AWESOME because they are a whole package, not just a black T shirt and eyeliner like other nations' goths.
To wrap it all up, a lot of the reason why Japan is Japan is because of the work ethic and pursuit for perfection in whatever they do. This mentality can be both a good thing or a bad thing; all I do know is, imagine how great the world would be if each country blended in a form of the JDM work ethic into their own culture.
-Colin
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Here are two posts made by various S2Ki members. The main reason I chose to add these posts is because of the immense amounts of information that is put to use here.
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...That intense sense of pride the Japanese culture demands of itself is awe inspiring. Something prevalent in a lot of Asian cultures. Historically speaking, you have to understand, that up until a few generations ago the country was a Feudal based monarchy; left in ruins in the aftermath of WW2 and Allied occupation. There are people alive today that grew up in that system and survived the devastation and atrocities of war. Japan as a nation incorporated the "Kaizen" philosophy into their every day lives and in less than half a decade were able to take a country in ruin and turn it into a leading player in the global market and economy. Historically this is something that almost never happens in such a short period of time (less than fifty years). USSR, Most of Eastern Europe, Vietnam, Cambodia etc. One could argue the before mentioned suffered considerably less. In the case of Eastern Europe, most are still deeply entrenched in political and social turmoil. Japan has evolved and progressed as a society because of their strong values and nationalistic pride. Being a homogeneous culture and "forced" allies withthe leading superpower during the cold war was a huge factor too, but, I digress...
-David
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Refreshing to have such articulate posts on a subject which impacts our avocation so directly. I'm in full sympathy with those who cannot or will not spend big on parts and mods but I'm totally against the cloning of branded products. There are many reasonably priced options for modest budgets including buying pre-owned.
I'm old enough to be amazed at how far Japan has come in terms of embracing quality, as a culture. Interestingly one of the driving forces in this was an Iowa born American, W. Edwards Deming.
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A great read for those who are looking to learn something new or any of you History Channel gurus 
-Hunter
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