Japan’s emergence as a modern industrial society was one of the key developments of the second half of the 20th century. At the end of World War II the country lay in ruins. However, postwar economic growth—the Japanese “miracle”—soon overcame the destructiveness of the war. By 1965 the Japanese economy was nearly four times as productive as it had been in the 1930s. At the beginning of the 21st century, the size of the Japanese GNP was second only to that of the United States and living standards were among the highest worldwide.
The dynamic growth of Japanese industry and agriculture was accompanied by the rapid urbanization of the country. All three developments had major implications for gender relations. The extended family of the countryside was replaced by the urban nuclear family. Rising material standards boosted life expectancy for both men and women (making for potentially much longer marriages), while the number of children born to the average woman fell sharply. The two documents that I would like you to read were written in the 1980s and address the issues of economic organization and gender structures in modern Japan (you can read them both by clicking here). In the first excerpt, Morita Akio, one of the founders of the Sony Corporation, discusses his influential approach to managing a large enterprise. The second document, by the feminist author and political activist Higuchi Keiko, explores the impact of recent economic developments on relations between men and women.
After reading the documents, I would like you to think about and discuss the following: How do the two selections provide information on the interplay between change and continuity in modern Japan? How does Morita’s advice combine the need to earn profit with the desire to reinforce key Japanese cultural traditions? To what extent can or should a modern corporation be a family? Do Morita’s ideas imply a criticism of management styles in other countries, such as the United States? Was the distinctive management style described by Morita a leading cause of Japan’s economic growth from the 1950s onward? What other factors may have been involved? Is Morita’s advice still appropriate for the 21st century? What developments since the 1980s might raise doubts about the applicability of Morita’s ideas today? According to Higuchi, how did gender relations begin to change in the 1970s? What caused these changes? Is economic growth the explanation, or were there other factors that were important? What does her article suggest about the growth of consumerism in Japan? To what extent do Higuchi and Morita provide evidence for the interplay between change and continuity in modern Japan? Your thoughts…
The dynamic growth of Japanese industry and agriculture was accompanied by the rapid urbanization of the country. All three developments had major implications for gender relations. The extended family of the countryside was replaced by the urban nuclear family. Rising material standards boosted life expectancy for both men and women (making for potentially much longer marriages), while the number of children born to the average woman fell sharply. The two documents that I would like you to read were written in the 1980s and address the issues of economic organization and gender structures in modern Japan (you can read them both by clicking here). In the first excerpt, Morita Akio, one of the founders of the Sony Corporation, discusses his influential approach to managing a large enterprise. The second document, by the feminist author and political activist Higuchi Keiko, explores the impact of recent economic developments on relations between men and women.
After reading the documents, I would like you to think about and discuss the following: How do the two selections provide information on the interplay between change and continuity in modern Japan? How does Morita’s advice combine the need to earn profit with the desire to reinforce key Japanese cultural traditions? To what extent can or should a modern corporation be a family? Do Morita’s ideas imply a criticism of management styles in other countries, such as the United States? Was the distinctive management style described by Morita a leading cause of Japan’s economic growth from the 1950s onward? What other factors may have been involved? Is Morita’s advice still appropriate for the 21st century? What developments since the 1980s might raise doubts about the applicability of Morita’s ideas today? According to Higuchi, how did gender relations begin to change in the 1970s? What caused these changes? Is economic growth the explanation, or were there other factors that were important? What does her article suggest about the growth of consumerism in Japan? To what extent do Higuchi and Morita provide evidence for the interplay between change and continuity in modern Japan? Your thoughts…
3 comments:
morita's management system invloves the work force as its primary body. the leaders consult the work force for suggestions and improvements. he also goes to say that the workers know that they are working for the benefit of the company, not themselves. the 'family' aspect of it can only be taken so far though. because it's a big business, people are going to come and go, so it should not be a burden of a corporate family, but rather a cooperative work force that knows each others' strengths and weakness. when they become a burden to the company, they can easily be let go because they are nothing more than a liability to the company. he says that the factories make sure that all their workers are able to work and are able to work at their maximum capacity. this just shows how determined japan is to get its economy up. morita's leadership was the drive that was keeping japan succeeding. an employer who makes it clear the lines of employment and the duty the young students have is a very good employer indeed. in the u.s. i don't feel like we have the empowerment speeches and guidelines set out for us. we're into the come in and make whatever you want of yourself environment, so we don't really have this high standard of achievement that i think the japanese have. [i'm not sure if i said that right. ><]
the article about women was interesting. i like the fact that women were branching out and finding places of work. i find it weird how rooted japanese society was though. men still kept their same patterns, but women were beginning to rethink their lives.
i think the change in continuity is that japan is still utilizing its ability to take western ideas and make them purely japanese and them enforcing the idea of japanese nationalism. this is just like when it became a super power in season four, now it's a super power again, but for it's economy not military.
like what you said during class.. these workers were not working for themselves.. they are doing it for the company and others running it.. unlike us here in the US we would rather be un-emplyoed for a year than work at a drive-thru window..
but i really enjoyed reading about women being able to find different jobs!! ha makes me happy to see this, its been a long tough road for women in this class but were finally making it! and beginning to think for ourselves.
I love how there is a familial feeling in Japanese corporations. In America there is a feeling of disregard or unhappiness in some work places, one that a good atmosphere would do wonders for. The idea that the people that you hire hold the future of your business is very true, and it seems to me that it has been working okay for Japan. The ideas on business are very simple, but seemingly sound. I love how women are getting bolder, and looking past their husbands and towards independence. This seems to be one step back towards the pre-farming days. At least something hopeful comes of this
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