roaniecowpony
Well-Known Member
Just my experience with the Japanese culture, they still have an authoritarian culture that affects how "things are done" in Japan and throughout their business lives. I lived there 7 years decades ago.Japan bullet trains are nice and convenient for getting around, their transportation system is one of the best I've experienced. Easy to develop when your military power is gutted and not allowed to fund or expand much until recently. Japan (Europe as well) also has highways you can stop along and buy squid pieces (I prefer the ticket ramen) and coffee to keep yourself awake so let's not pretend it doesn't exist.
America is a unique problem, our states are governed independently and as such aren't always in unison when it comes to interconnecting transportation or city planning for public transport/foot traffic. We do have some passenger train routes and bus stations though. The problem is mostly urban people trying to tell rural people how they need to live without actually understanding how difficult that would be to make happen. Not everyone is eager to own nothing and be happy about it.
I had forgot about that aspect of their culture until I was late in my career with Boeing and was dealing with the airlines over there directly. When they're given direction from their management, it's not a "why don't you see if you can get this done" task. It's an order, akin to a military order, with dire consequences for failing. There is no discussion unless the superior asks for it and that doesn't happen.
This has been a problem with their flight crews, because our expectation is a subordinate flight deck crew member will speak up when they see something going south. But they have this cultural thing about speaking up against a superior. Their culture isn't the only one, but it is a culture that explains how things can get done in Japan that you can't do here. Or certainly not easily here.
I'm sure we look like a bunch of anarchists to them.
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