Thanks for an enlightening post. Comparing the Chinese and the Japanese, which of the two cultures gives rise to the greater level of motivation to work that can stretch to 12 hour days and six day weeks? Does the 100 years of eating bitterness in China by comparison with the Japanese success in excluding Europeans, until the end of WW2 give rise to a difference in the level of motivation?
A related question: Is the US influence on Japanese culture since WW2, wholly positive?
Thanks for posting. I just heard Vinod Khosla talk on campus. He made the point that he’s made in many fora (such as Sebastian Mallaby’s The Power Law) - that truly disruptive innovation only comes from startup entrants, not from incumbents. Of course he is talking his own book as a venture capitalist. But still, I couldn’t help but think of some of the points in your book while listening.
If we look at the housing industry, the inability of the building industry, developers, planners and architects to provide affordable housing in Western countries may relate to the inertia that adhering to cultural norms enforces. By contrast, the simple expedient of allowing for mixed use in Japan, and the idea that a house should be lightweight and replaceable, has enabled the Japanese to adapt. Their regulatory environment is more permissive. They can come out of left field as a startup entrant. In the west the licensing of builders and the rigorous attention to standards and adherence to modes of housing in zones that are dedicated to single use is perhaps more stultifying than it needs to be. Owner builders are an endangered species.
Thank you for this piece, i finally got a copy of your book, i am very interested in the R&D space of Japan, and fortunate to work in some capacity in it. While i have already seen some, i am happy yo learn more about them.
Thanks for a very informative tour of Japan's recent history of industrial innovation and commercialisation.
Thanks for an enlightening post. Comparing the Chinese and the Japanese, which of the two cultures gives rise to the greater level of motivation to work that can stretch to 12 hour days and six day weeks? Does the 100 years of eating bitterness in China by comparison with the Japanese success in excluding Europeans, until the end of WW2 give rise to a difference in the level of motivation?
A related question: Is the US influence on Japanese culture since WW2, wholly positive?
Thanks for posting. I just heard Vinod Khosla talk on campus. He made the point that he’s made in many fora (such as Sebastian Mallaby’s The Power Law) - that truly disruptive innovation only comes from startup entrants, not from incumbents. Of course he is talking his own book as a venture capitalist. But still, I couldn’t help but think of some of the points in your book while listening.
If we look at the housing industry, the inability of the building industry, developers, planners and architects to provide affordable housing in Western countries may relate to the inertia that adhering to cultural norms enforces. By contrast, the simple expedient of allowing for mixed use in Japan, and the idea that a house should be lightweight and replaceable, has enabled the Japanese to adapt. Their regulatory environment is more permissive. They can come out of left field as a startup entrant. In the west the licensing of builders and the rigorous attention to standards and adherence to modes of housing in zones that are dedicated to single use is perhaps more stultifying than it needs to be. Owner builders are an endangered species.
Thank you for this piece, i finally got a copy of your book, i am very interested in the R&D space of Japan, and fortunate to work in some capacity in it. While i have already seen some, i am happy yo learn more about them.