Part # 1: Cities and nature in Japan. Part # 2: People living in Japan. Part # 3: High power distance. Part # 4: Relatively strong group orientation. Part # 5: High degree of masculinity. Part # 6: A combination of rules / effiency / order / traditions, and innovation, for example process innovation and technological innovation.

2. Part # 1
Cities and nature in Japan

3. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html

4. Most of Japan's 128 million inhabitants live in a few
densely-populated parts of the country. By linking
those dense populations together - nearly 40 million
people in greater Tokyo with 20 million residents of
Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto - the railway helped to shift
business patterns, making day-trips between Tokyo
and Osaka possible.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/06/economist-explains-7

5. Impressivegardens
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sorakuen14st3200.jpg

6. http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Energy_Resources_Materials/Environment/What_China_can_learn_from_Japan_on_cleaning_up_the_environment_2191
2 events cleaned the air in Japan
Event # 1
A popular protest that forced government policy to change. The country’s first proper
environmental laws were passed in the early 1970s, when its first environment agency was
created.
Event # 2
The revaluation of the yen combined with the oil shock and the ensuing inflation. This
sudden change in Japan’s circumstances brought about an abrupt switch in its industrial
structure. The low-cost model was dead. Capital investment in heavy, polluting industry
began to drop. Energy had become more expensive, and new taxes made it more
expensive still. Companies adopted energy-saving and more efficient technologies and
started to make products, especially cars, suited to the new, cleaner times. Also at this
point, electronics companies, encouraged by the government, made big investments in
new high-tech gadgetry, which led the economy in a new direction.

7. Davies, Roger J. & Ikeno, Osamu: The Japanese Mind, p. 10
Japan is also a mountainous country and does not have a great
deal of inhabitable land; as a result, people had to live close
together in communities in which everyone was well
acquainted with one another.
The concept of harmony, or wa, became an important factor in
Japanes life, helping to maintain relationships between
members of close-knit communities.
Mountains

8. The geography of Japan is said to have a great influence on the
development of many of the country’s customs and cultural
values, a social theory known as geographical determinism.
First, Japan is an island country, and because of the dangerous
and unpredictable seas separating Japan from the Asian
continent, Japanese culture was able to develop in relative
isolation, free from the threat of invasion from other countries.
Thousands of islands
Davies, Roger J. & Ikeno, Osamu: The Japanese Mind, p. 9-10.

9. The 4 largest islands
account for 97% of
the Japan’s land area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan
Hokkaidō
Honshū
Kyūshū Shikoku

10. OgasawaraIslands
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1362

11. Part # 2
People living in Japan

12. Population of Japan
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html
http://www.economist.com/node/17492860
http://truenomads.com/interesting-facts-about-japan/
Year Population
2014 127 million people.
98.5% are Japanese.
2050 89 million people.

13. Japan is the worldwide poster child for aging societies.
The CSIS Global Aging Initiative predicts that by 2040,
nearly 45% of its population will be over the age of 65,
up from an already astounding 24% today.
In short, Japan is projected to have the highest old-age
dependency ratio in the world and, as a result, will face
monumental economic and political dislocations in the
very near future.
http://gsi.csis.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=78

14. http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html

15. http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/12/japan-graphics

16. http://www.economist.com/node/17492860

17. http://www.businessinsider.com/japanese-words-with-no-english-equivalent-2014-4
Some Japanese expressions
Doumo – Hello, thanks, and hello and thanks.
Ozappa – Working in broad strokes.
Bimyou – Subtly, not right.
Irusu – The “the lights are on but nobody’s home” fake-out.
Chu to hampa – Not quite one thing, but not quite the other, either.
Majime – Earnestness for the 21st century.
Otsukaresama desu – You’re probably tired, and I think that’s great.
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu – I hope things go well, even if I’m not
exactly sure what those things are.

18. Part # 3
High power distance

19. Japan is an exemplar of an authority-ranking
nation in which bowing was the preferred
mode of interaction for centuries.
The basic idea is that the subordinate bows
lower than the superior.
Martin J. Gannon: Paradoxes of culture and globalization, p. 35.

20. http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/why-japan-is-unique-part2

21. http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/04/27/race-against-the-clock-shinkansen-staff-have-just-7-minutes-to-get-bullet-train-ready-to-ride/

22. Japanese
workers
are polite
http://www.tsunagujapan.com/19-things-that-i-miss-about-japan/

23. In Japan, the status of teachers is high.
Hofstede, Geert: Cultures and Organizations, p. 334.

24. http://endlessinnovation.typepad.com/endless_innovation/2008/09/innovation-and.html
Master sushi chefs choose every
element of the menu for guests.
Susi
Omakase

25. In Japan, you are expected to receive a business card
reverently. You should grasp it with both hands, touch it
with the sensitive tactile pads of your thumb in tandem
with at least two fingertips of each hand, and give it a
careful reading.
In a still more reverent display, you'd involve all 5 fingers,
again of both hands, in the holding. The more tactile hands-
on attention you give the business card, the more respect
you show.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-body-work/201009/how-hold-business-card

26. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd7kwcVVw3w
If, in Japan, someone says ”I’m not totally happy
with your idea”, that means that person thinks
it’s the worst idea he/she has ever heard.
Edward de Bono

27. Selbst in Landesteilen, die vom Erdbeben
unbehelligt geblieben sind und in denen die
Menschen nicht aus Angst vor einer
radioaktiven Wolke aus Fukushima den Gang
auf die Strasse meiden, ist von “Atomkraft,
nein danke!” nichts zu hören.
http://www.nzz.ch/aktuell/international/japan--kein-land-der-atomkraftgegner-1.9907344

28. Part # 4
Relatively strong
group orientation

29. Japan’s special blend of collectivism focuses on
devotion to the group. Individualism is an alien
notion to the Japanese worker, whose personal
success is measured by the prosperity of the
entire organization.
Loyalty and devotion to the group is not an
option in Japan, but a given.
Levine, Robert: A Geography of Time, location 2894.

30. http://www.tsunagujapan.com/19-things-that-i-miss-about-japan/
Japanese people show
respect for other people

31. Face-to-face conversations are vital for the
Japanese, doing business with someone you
don’t meet regularly in person unthinkable.
Far more important than a good product is the
atmosphere and harmony (in Japanese: ”Wa”)
in the cooperation – in other words, no wa = no
joint project, however good the data may be.
http://www.ethlife.ethz.ch/archive_articles/090410_Globetrotter_Ostermeyer_Japan_tl/index_EN

32. Japanese consumers prefer their vacuum
cleaners quieter and less powerful with
smaller motors than the American vacuum
cleaners.
Tom Kelley: The Art of Innovation, page 166.

33. Individualists
and collectivists
among Japanese
adults
Matsumoto, David Ricki:
The New Japan, p. 46.

34. Individualists and
collectivists
among Japanese
students
Matsumoto, David Ricki:
The New Japan, p. 45.

35. Young people in the West generally try to
achieve independence from their parents
at a relatively young age.
In Japan, many young people remain
dependent until much later in life.
Davies, Roger J. & Ikeno, Osamu: The Japanese Mind, p. 22.

36. The nail that sticks up
is quickly hammered down.
Levine, Robert: A Geography of Time, location 214.
A well-accepted Japanese saying

37. The Japanese culture appreciates and
respects silence as part of a conversation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-berry/in-business-and-speaking_b_520379.html

38. Deutsche Manager wenden 60-80% ihrer
Arbeitszeit dafür auf, unternehmensinterne
Wiederstände beim Verlauf von Entscheidungs-
vorgängen aufzulösen, während japanische
Führungskräfte demgegenüber nur 20-30% der
Zeit in Anspruch nehmen.
Feldmann, Thomas: Kultur als Determinante der Wirtschaft? Unternehmensphilosophien in Japan.

39. Hofstede, Geert: Cultures and Organizations, p. 336-337.
With Japanese participants, the giving and
receiving of personal feedback appeared
virtually impossible.
The receiver of feedback felt that he must
have insulted the sender in some way.

40. People in Japan are often afraid that
they will act inappropriately, that they
will be criticized.
http://home.sandiego.edu/~pavett/docs/msgl_503/dim_of_cult.pdf

41. The longer the duration of the respondent’s
pause before offering a ”hai” (yes), the greater
the likelihood that he/she means ”iee” (no).
Levine, Robert: A Geography of Time, location 883.

42. http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/12/japan-graphics

43. Part # 5
High degree of masculinity

44. In Japan, a woman’s marriage chances
diminish if she has a career of her own.
Hofstede, Geert: Cultures and Organizations, p. 154.

45. Female managers are virtually
nonexistent in Japan.
Hofstede, Geert: Cultures and Organizations, p. 117.

46. Female
graduates and
post-graduates
in % of total
graduates
http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/09/female-graduation-rates?fsrc=scn/tw/te/mt/degreesofequality

47. https://twitter.com/davos/status/426041675459596288

48. https://twitter.com/wef/status/426043410026602496

49. Further inspiration
http://www.slideshare.net/frankcalberg/gender-diversity-9869793

50. Part # 6
A combination of
1. rules / effiency / order / traditions, and
2. innovation, for example process
innovation and technological innovation.

51. 3 examples of attention to cleaning in Japan
1 person cleans a street in Shizuoka city, Japan
http://youtu.be/QuWp3gTrpV0
1 person cleans a Shinkansen train wagon with 100 seats
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/04/27/race-against-the-clock-
shinkansen-staff-have-just-7-minutes-to-get-bullet-train-ready-to-ride/
Fans cleans up waste after a sports event
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/worldcup/world-cup-2014-
japanese-fans-clean-stadium-after-losing-21-against-ivory-coast-
9539793.html

52. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies
Many of the oldest companies
in the world are located in Japan.

53. Nobody wants to talk about shutting down
plants in Japan, because it is something
which is sacred.
http://www.inc.com/bill-snyder/carlos-ghosn-nissan-dont-fear-making-waves.html

54. Every class you would take in how to do business in a global
environment would say to respect local cultures. But had Carlos
Ghosn followed conventional wisdom, he might have failed. “You
cannot shut down a plant in Japan. You cannot dismantle the carry-
through in Japan. You cannot challenge the seniority system in Japan.
You cannot put younger people in top jobs in Japan.” I mean, the list
of what you [could not] do was huge, Ghosn said.
Still, Ghosn defied Japanese business etiquette. He cut 21,000 Nissan
jobs - or 14% of the total workforce – shut 5 domestic plants, and
auctioned off prized assets such as Nissan's aerospace unit.
http://www.inc.com/bill-snyder/carlos-ghosn-nissan-dont-fear-making-waves.html

55. Japanese companies have traditionally
adopted a lifetime employment system,
although this approach has recently been
collapsing.
Davies, Roger J. & Ikeno, Osamu: The Japanese Mind, p. 20

56. Example of tradition: Tea ceremony
http://youtu.be/K16i2rlW9l8
http://food.japan-talk.com/food/new/japanese-tea

57. When Japanese have meetings, the most
junior people get to give their views first,
so they can speak freely.
http://youtu.be/f9rtmxJrKwc minute 29.
John Cleese

58. 3 out 4 Japanese households have an electronic toilet
http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/20-common-features-of-Japanese-toilets

59. Vending
machines
are
common
in Japan
http://www.toptenz.net/10-interesting-facts-japan-probably-dont-know.php
http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/why-japan-is-unique-part3

60. http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/why-japan-is-unique-part3
There’s strong focus on
robot research in Japan.