Notes from Toyota-land: An American Engineer in Japan

by Darius Mehri, Robert Perrucci

In 1996, Darius Mehri traveled to Japan to work as a computer simulation engineer within the Toyota production system. Once there, he found a corporate experience far different from what he had expected. Notes from Toyota-land , based on a diary that Mehri kept during his three years at an upper-level Toyota group company, provides a unique insider's perspective on daily work life in Japan and charts his transformation from a wide-eyed engineer eager to be part of the "Japanese Miracle" to a social critic, troubled by Japanese corporate practices. Mehri documents the sophisticated "culture of rules" and organizational structure that combine to create a profound control over workers. The work group is cynically used to encourage employees to work harder and harder, he found, and his other discoveries confirmed his doubts about the working conditions under the Japanese Miracle. For example, he learned that male employees treated their female counterparts as short-term employees, cheap labor, and potential wives. Mehri also describes a surprisingly unhealthy work environment, a high rate of injuries due to inadequate training, fast line speeds, crowded factories, racism, and lack of team support. And in conversations with his colleagues, he uncovered a culture of intimidation, subservience, and vexed relationships with many aspects of their work and surroundings. As both an engaging memoir of cross-cultural misunderstanding and a primer on Japanese business and industrial practices, Notes from Toyota-land will be a revelation to everyone who believes that Japanese business practices are an ideal against which to measure success.

Genres: Japan, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Benjamin Grandfond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being convinced that lean is the best culture/movement/mindset/method to succeed as a company and as a manager, I was very keen on learning how it really was from the inside.

This book shows how hard the Japanese culture is in the work environment. I don't know if it is the westerners' eyes that only saw that the TPS put people growth first to make better products, or if it is the marketing of Toyota, but I am glad we didn't (did we?) import this face of the Japanses way of working.

Overall I found the book very interesting and I recommend it to those who practice lean. But keep in mind that it was like 15 years ago, during an economic crisis, within, I guess, a really shitty company.

[Fabrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always fascinating to learn about Japanese culture. And good to see how much (or how little) of TPS trickles down the Toyota group.

Good for Japan fanatics for better expectations management before moving there to work. And for lean practitioners to get a less rose-tinted view of what Japanese working culture looks like from the inside.

[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a memoir of a three-year stint for a foreign engineer working in Japan, for a subsidiary of Toyota. Along the way he immerses himself in the culture and provides analysis of several "recommended" books about Japanese working culture - most are lacking. I utilized the provided glossary of the Japanese terms and ideas expressed.

What was especially interesting about the work culture were the rules, in many cases unwritten, that he had to learn. He does admirably well in a culture he was not born into, even getting promoted when others are losing their jobs around him. Most Americans would not do as well in the socially conscious culture described; I personally would find the bullying and ostracism difficult to tolerate.

While not the best written memoir out there, it is candid and insightful at times. Recommended to any with interest in the Japanese working culture.

[Yang Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, very detailed, insightful book revealing Japanese corporate culture. As an asian, I can say that the description regarding the cultural phenomenon is authentic yet many facts still astonished me. Very interesting book.