How do the Japanese instill such high work ethics into their workers?

Question

You'll never see a GM/Ford or Chyrsler employee overworking to the point to death.

TOKYO - A Japanese labor bureau has ruled that one of Toyota's top car engineers died from working too many hours, the latest in a string of such findings in a nation where extraordinarily long hours for some employees has long been the norm.

The man who died was aged 45 and had been under severe pressure as the lead engineer in developing a hybrid version of Toyota's blockbuster Camry line, said Mikio Mizuno, the lawyer representing his wife. In the two months up to his death, the man averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month, according to Mizuno.

He regularly worked nights and weekends, was frequently sent abroad and was grappling with shipping a model for the pivotal North American International Auto Show in Detroit when he died of ischemic heart disease in January 2006.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080709/ap_on_bi_ge/japan_overwork_death

Answer 1

Could you blame the American worker for only putting a small amount of their time to the workplace?

Answer 2

The Japanese have always been a very loyal and proud race. They feel a great deal of pride in their achievements and accomplishments and up until they became North Americanized were the example of what a country should be like if it wanted to succeed. The North American worker comes to work late or has a buddy punch in for him whereas the Japanese worker shows up early for exercise  & fitness at work then starts working with a clear mind and strong body. North American workers come to work at times either drunk or stoned and know that they can't loose their job cause the union will protect them. The Japanese worker would never disrespect their employer, themselves or their family with such behaviour. The North American worker is always trying to find ways to get out of doing work whereas the Japanese worker is always trying to do more. Yes if only I could hire a bunch of Japanese workers my business would be so much better than it is now. But since I can't I have to do most of the work myself since no one else cares about the company like the owner unless of course you operate in Japan.

If we go back to anciet times and look at the Samurai they commited  seppuka and later the WWI and II kamikaze fighter pilots commited suicide by flying into ships while their planes were packed with explosives and had no landing gear. Talk about a commitment.

http://askville.amazon.com/difference-Ha...

Answer 3

Perhaps the question is why people have not been taught to provide balance in their life, work some, family some, friends some, personal objectives some.

When young people go to work without those balances, they are likely to live for one.

There is a process within Japan, where an employee is taken on permanently, and sees his own success as contingent on the success of his company, his honour contingent on the reputation of his company. That will turn a workaholic into a major addict.

I say addict rather than calling it a work ethic. This person is getting from work the only significant sense of their own worth... what else would one do?

Answer 4

it comes from their history i think.  asian countries have very good work ethic. they are influenced by different philosophies throughout history, like buddhism and Confucianism. also in china everybody studied very hard, because achieving well in school meant you could get a good job in the government. your money or status did not matter. i'm not sure exactly how it was in japan but i think it must have been similar. these cultures preferred attributes like good work ethic, honor, achievement in skills, rather than wealth.

europeen countries came from greed and slavery in the roman empire, and then the middle ages where only kings possessed and other workers did very little, did not excel in arts or crafts, did not seek improvement or anything, there were no technologies developed or much refinement in tools and stuff. then for some reason came along the renaissance, and art and creativity re-emerged, but again wealth became the most important thing, and hard working was more of a trait of the less fortunate, those forced to work for the wealthy that did not work.

you did not have to work hard to become royalty in europe, you just needed to be fortunate and possibly conniving and backstabbing.

personally i much prefer asian culture.... for most things anyways.

though that guy's work habits were clearly too excessive. i think it is also necessary to enjoy other things in life, like family and friends.

Answer 5

I believe most of their work ethic comes from the way they are raised and the culture they are raised in.  They value hard work and success but also strive very hard to achieve it.  

If this kind of thing is happening frequently in Japan, obviously they have gone a bit overboard.  But I think in general, many folks here in the US could do with putting in a better, more effective day's work.  Judging by how many people here in Yahoo answers are all looking for easy money, fast ways to get rich, etc., not to mention all the folks who fall for the scams, it sure seems like no one wants to earn their money.