The hype behind "Made in Japan"

[Bulletproof ECO]

Hey guys and gals, a good friend of mine Colin Chu who used to work with us wrote up a great post that I thought I would share with you guys!

I was originally writing this as a short response to a post I read, but as I was writing it, the response just got longer and longer, so I decided to make it its own thread.

Most of the reason behind the hype of products being made in Japan is the fact that Japan (as a country) has a high regard for quality. They instill a strong work ethic from a young age (all of my highschool students went to cram school: school after school) and for the most part the entire country tries to do their best at whatever they do. Even people doing the most mundane of tasks do their jobs with pride. There is a guy who stands next to the train tracks and looks up and down the tracks all day long to make sure no one is going to fall (or jump) onto the tracks. All day. Looking at train tracks. Yet he does it with so much precision, because he takes pride in his work. In the end, him doing a good job makes the nation a better place for the rest of Japan's citizens. At McDonalds you will get the best looking and best tasting Big Macs (and FRIED apple pies) you will ever see and taste. Not only that, the service will always be polite and friendly.

So take this intense, country wide driven passion and pride for doing good work, bring it up from the McDonalds of Japan and take it to a company like Power House Amuse. Knowing that the McDonalds workers of Japan take amazing pride in making hamburgers, one can only imagine the pride of Amuse's exhaust factory when making exhausts. You can be absolutely positive that the quality of the parts coming out of Amuse will be the best that they can produce. That's just how Japanese people are. They do their best.

That being said, Japanese tuners can only exist if the Japanese people can afford to buy the (admittedly) expensive products that the tuners produce. The 'quality' mentality of the Japanese people still applies here, as not only do they produce quality products, they also want to purchase quality products. Japan is filled with extremely high quality products whether it be from electronics to produce. A couple times a month I would buy myself a $5 apple as a treat for myself after a long day of work. Is a $5 apple worth it to most people? Probably not, but was it worth it for me? Definitely. Those apples were the epitome of quality and care. I just imagined the Japanese farmer tending to his apples everyday, making sure they were well cared for and growing nicely. Japanese people seek value in a lot of other ways, not just purely thinking about things in terms of monetary values. One way is that they enjoy blending form and function, which brings us back to JDM parts. Not only do the parts perform well, but they also look amazing. In the end, Japanese people like to be stylish and different and sometimes flamboyant, which is something definitely seen in the JDM tuning world.

That actually stems back to the hardworking Japanese work ethic I was talking about before. Due to the fact that there is a country widespread mentality of working hard, there is also a mentality of being a like-minded hive-mind of sorts where everybody is expected to basically be the same. This in turn makes Japanese people rebel in other ways such as the way they dress like this ganguro girl I saw in Osaka:



Or the Bosozuko cars that Japan is so famous for:



While everyone is taught to be the same, we all know everyone wants to be different. So to do that they express themselves in other, creative ways. That being said, the ones being different still follow the rule of doing things right. Whenever you see someone dressed differently, they are DRESSED DIFFERENTLY. Every aspect is taken care of from head to toe. The JDM goths look AWESOME because they are a whole package, not just a black T shirt and eyeliner like other nations' goths.



To wrap it all up, a lot of the reason why Japan is Japan is because of the work ethic and pursuit for perfection in whatever they do. This mentality can be both a good thing or a bad thing; all I do know is, imagine how great the world would be if each country blended in a form of the JDM work ethic into their own culture.

-Colin

- Jason

[Beans26]

Awesome post.

[bizzybear]

Cliff notes??

[MugenCRZ]

I thought the Bosozuko thing was mainly for outrageous bikes?

Tl;DR: Japan has unique and interesting subcultures, and they're very different from the subcultures in the west. The pictures show glimpses at them.

[Bulletproof ECO]

Typically in Japan Bosozoku travel pretty deep with bike "gangs" as they would call them, but the style transcends pretty much everything they do as you can probably tell!

- Jason

[CRaZy]

Dang that is a really good read.

[Bulletproof ECO]

Thanks!

The main motivation behind the original post was to shed some light on the Japanese way of not only producing parts, but the level of craftsmanship and pride they take in everything they do.

Many people have pointed out in the past that the Japanese made products tend to be a bit more expensive than some alternatives, but time after time in this industry you'll find that you do indeed "get what you pay for" in terms of craftsmanship, quality, and engineering that goes into these products.

- Jason

[Shatner]

I love that car. Except it needs wider tires. No hellaflush like VW Vortex.

[Daisy]

Thanks for sharing!

[Saulutations!]

Awesome post.