Oh, yeah, after just short of a decade living there I came back with some very interesting insights on what it is to be an American, not all of them happy but some of them surprisingly so. There is less...structure here, and it makes many Japanese uncomfortable and a little adrift. We tend to think of it as freedom, they tend to see it as lack of guidance where guidance is called for.
The Japanese plan, and plan, and plan, and meticulously plan, and when finally they execute it is with astonishing efficiency and speed. Americans tend to wing it, far more wasteful of resources and replacing efficiency with brute power. In combined operations that has passed the point of frustration and achieved a sense of high humor on both sides. I recall a naval exercise when the concept of "patrol a sector" came up. I explained it as "the ship will go out there and mess around a little bit at random". My counterpart sucked his breath and said with mock seriousness, "Ah, we Japanese do not mess around," perfectly aware of the double meaning.
That can be good and bad, because initiative is sometimes stifled by a determination to plan. Just before I returned to the States there was a case that illustrates this. A very drunk businessman fell off a railway platform with a train coming and three young Americans - Marines - jumped down, threw him back up, and jumped back themselves in the nick of time, with the rest of the people on the platform watching with their mouths open. No one who knows them would accuse the Japanese of any lack of physical bravery, so it wasn't that at all. They were waiting for a consensus and a plan. Where there was no time for either they were at a loss.
But where there is...I watched them build a bank in my neighborhood. It was like a ballet, every move pre-choreographed and probably rehearsed, every component precisely where it needed to be, and the thing was up like magic before my eyes. Very, very impressive. Incredible discipline, incredible teamwork.
I have entertained perhaps a half dozen of my old Japanese friends here in the States since then, all highly organized tours because they have so little leisure that it must be planned meticulously in advance, which - see above - they're inclined to do anyway. What do they all want to do? Shoot guns, every one.
Your synopsis was very perceptive and helpful.
“The Japanese plan, and plan, and plan, and meticulously plan, and when finally they execute it is with astonishing efficiency and speed. Americans tend to wing it, far more wasteful of resources and replacing efficiency with brute power. In combined operations that has passed the point of frustration and achieved a sense of high humor on both sides. I recall a naval exercise when the concept of “patrol a sector” came up. I explained it as “the ship will go out there and mess around a little bit at random”. My counterpart sucked his breath and said with mock seriousness, “Ah, we Japanese do not mess around,” perfectly aware of the double meaning. “
I spent lot’s of time in Japan in the 80”s. I disagree with your premise. Japanese think they plan but culture gets in the way. They plan to do what they think the boss want’s done. Prime example Fukushima. It is now clear the junior TEPCo engineers knew what a mess they had but they wouldn’t diss the bosses who are idiots.
When I was in Guam Last Summer, I noticed that too.
Gun Ranges EVERYWHERE.
Ditto for Honolulu.
In both places they had Street Peddlers with Fliers and shove it everyones face.
Except for me, while I could have been an Austrlian, (another major tourist group) they knew if I were an American I would most likley tell them I could just go home and shoot my own.
The Gun Ranges Gouge the Hell out of the those people and make an absloute MINT!
On F.R.- Sun Surf and Semi-Automatics
With Cute Japanese Girls Shooting Guns- http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/us/to-some-tourists-hawaii-means-sun-surf-and-semiautomatics.html?_r=0
I was an observer for a Japanese Infantry Platoon when they were at Fort Lewis, WA, for an exercise in our urban training site. They were definitely more regimented in their planning but it lacked a basis in reality. In particular, their platoon leader briefed that a mission with multiple, separate moving parts would begin at a certain time. We stepped in and told them that that would instantly cause their plan to fail since one can never be sure that every part would be ready on time. This really threw them for a loop, but they adapted for the most part, kind of.
I came away from that experience not really being worried at all about a WWII redo. This ain’t your grandfather’s Japanese Army...
Yup!
Great post .. thanks !
After reading your post, I regret that I turned down a chance to go to Misawa AB and came to CA instead...not what I would even remotely consider a good trade under the current circumstances.
Great post btw...thanks for sharing your insight into Japanese culture and how it contrasts with American culture.