Welcome to Japan Reference (JREF) - the community for all Things Japanese.

Join Today! It is fast, simple, and FREE!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Maciamo" data-source="post: 10463" data-attributes="member: 258">Is Japan abusing the rest of the worldSo true one more time ! I also feel that the Japanese take advantage of other (Western) countries under cover of extreme politeness and cultural differences. American or European companies in Japan engage mainly Japanese people (or at least half) and even send them to work in the mother country. Japanese company do exactly the opposite. They send their own staff to fill all the important (managment) positions in their branches abroad. To illustrate this, I know a Japanese working for Mizuho Bank (the world's largest bank) and who spent some time in their London branch; he told me he that all the staff there was Japanese.This is even more accentuated when we compare the proportion and size of Japanese companies in Europe and America (Sony, Hitachi, Toyota, Honda, Nintendo, etc.) with the actual foreign presence in Japan - except a few American securities and computer companies, thanks to the post-war special status of the US, not much. So it seems to me that Japan can just establish any major car or hi-tech factory in Europe and the US, keeping it as much a Japanese affair as possible, but on the other hand refuses to let Western companies do the same in Japan (it has been changing sa little recently, on condition that foreign firms have a partnership or a holding with a Japanese one, or just acquire one like Renault did with Nissan). They happily work abroad or for foreign companies in Japan, but don't let foreigner do the same with them. I wonder how other countries have been allowing this. Japan is making much more money selling its TV's, videos and cars in Europe than Europe is doing exporting a few Vuitton bags or some English marmelade to Japan (which are overpriced because they can only be imported at high cost, unlike Japanese cars made in Europe). Japan got a great deal with Western nations in this system and that may well answer to the Japanese "economic miracle" of the 1950's to 80's, when Japan had an overwhelmingly excedentary balance of payments. After all, they might well have won WWII to cut such an interesting deal. Not that I would like to change everything radically now, as it could sink Japan for good, but I believe that Japan has achieved its economic success thanks to the underlying racism in mentalities, that has preserved it from foreign infiltration and kept all its money in Japanese hands while it was exporting much more than it imported. Very cunning indeed, if not underhand.</blockquote>

Verification