[agumonkey]

I never lived in Japan, I know about a few issues (from hikkikomoris, suicide rates to good old mafia) but there's something fascinating about that country. Tell me if I'm wrong but their sense of aesthetics, minimalism, precision is special.

I argued with a colleague who worked for a japanese import/export company, he said they were crude, dumb and sleazy.. mostly succeeding by hiring hard working foreigners. That's one viewpoint, but I've also seen documentaries about early semiconductor industry in japan, and while they lifted a few patents, they did do their own share of hard work to turn them into workable devices (to the point where Japan became a reputable country in the field, from audio to computing).

Same goes for animation, Akira was a masterpiece of detail. The gaming industry was great. Ancestral toolsmith (famous katana blacksmith process).. samurai code.

More recently the manufacturing paradigm (toyota/lean).

There's a lot to love from there.