Well put.
As one who has spent a short time in Taiwan (About 4 months) and Hong Kong
(2 weeks), I can attest that most American Stereo types of those people are
way off. I've found that most Americans who spend time in Asia did so in
the military, always near military bases, around populations that tried to
cater to those bases. Never getting to know the rest of the people in their
everyday lives. For example, I would walk in downtown Taipei at 3 am from
the pub to my hotel via back alleys and sides streets. ( about 5 blocks)
around three times a week, And never felt any fear or danger. Try that in
L.A., New York, or any large American City !
Great people, great food, great computers, lousy electrical tape.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Boatright [mailto:jboatri@emory.edu]
Sent: Friday, September 17, 1999 5:38 PM
To: Herb_Goede@amsinc.com; spridgets@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Cars and Culture (No Real LBC Content)
I'm not sure what the point is here except maybe to make us feel better
about our car choices at the expense of making an entire people embarressed
about their history and culture. But OK, I'll play.
The little I know of Japanese culture is that on very broad terms, the
Japanese assimilate new ideas or processes, revise them, and make them
their own. Right up to 1945, their culture achieved this through conquest.
As far as I know, unique to other cultures, they as a whole re-evaluated
this and completely changed their M.O. The only examples I know of that are
similar to this would be the French and their revolution, though one could
certainly argue that even with all the bloodshed, their transformation was
much less universal and basic than that of the Japanese. The Germans and
Italians similarly had changes forced on them, but I don't think their
epiphanies were of the same magnitude.
But on to the cutsie examples:
"The nail that sticks up" is Chinese, not Japanese.
The Datsun Fairlady came out well before the MGB.
Much of the important automobile hybrid propulsion work appears to be
coming out of Japan.
Much of vision research is based on the efforts of Japanese scientists.
Mr. Honda was a character. His son was even wilder.
On the flip side, the Japanese certainly don't corner the market on copying
and improving:
Americans are the world's greatest practitioners of "the nail that sticks
up proverb". Ever hear of "The Organization Man"? Why did McCarthyism
flourish? What does the term "ditto-head" mean?
Our Constitution , federal laws, and state laws (except for Louisiana) are
based on British common law and rule of law.
"The Magnificent Seven" is a direct rip-off of Kurosawa's "The Seven
Samurai".
True, the Datsun 240 looks an awful lot like the Ferrari 365 GTB/4. But,
check out the Ferrari 225S and you tell me which LBC could be it's kissing
cousin (hint: B*g H**ley). Which came first?
The Miata was NOT a Japanese copy of the Lotus Elan. It is an American copy
of the Lotus Elan. Only Mazda was smart enough to fund the project after
its American copiers had presented it to all of the big 3. Assimilate,
revise, own. Seems to work.
Souless cars? Chevy, Ford, GM; 'nuff said.
---
On 9/17/99, Herb_Goede@amsinc.com wrote:
>Car Folks,
>
>It has been way too long without controversy. So here we go.
>
>In my opinion the Japanese can engineer and build good reliable vehicles.
>However, with a very few exceptions such as the first and last Mazda RX7s,
>Japanese cars lack the character of European and even American motor cars.
>My belief is that this is due to a fundamental characteristic of the
>Japanese culture that does not place a high value on being unique.
>
>There is on old Japanese proverb that states: The nail that sticks up will
>be hammered down. The result is a culture of copiers and improvers but not
>innovators. Even such significant cars as the Datsun 1800/2000, 240Z and
>even the Miata are revised versions of European sports machines - Triumph
>(pick one), E-type, and Elan respectively. Lets face it, the CRX would not
>exist if not for the Mini and the NSX is a Far-East Ferrari.
>
>Ready, aim, fire away.
>
>Herb G.
Jeffrey H. Boatright, PhD
Senior Editor, Molecular Vision
http://www.molvis.org/molvis
"Seeing the Future in a Very Tiny Way"
|