nihonjinron

The latest drama in the Toyota recall story is now a lawyer called Dimitrios Biller. He is making the shocking, just shocking claim that Toyota withheld information from the authorities about its cars. The article is titled: EXCLUSIVE: Former Toyota Lawyer Tells ABC News, Automaker Hides Safety Problems.

Well, that's not hard to believe, is it? I mean a large corporation does some tests that show its product might not be safe, and so they don't share the information. I was looking around for information on this, and I found an old article from 1999 where I found this choice quote:

"They lie all the time," former NHTSA administrator Joan Claybrook was quoted as saying in a recent Los Angeles Times story. Industry officials denied it.

Joan Claybrook was head of the NHTSA agency from 1977 to 1981 under president Carter. If you search the internet for claims that Ford or Chrysler or GM have "withheld information" in the past, you won't be disappointed, there are many, many claims.

So, yeah, they lie all the time. Fine.

So should anyone be surprised to find out that Toyota might have withheld information. No. But still though, I don't want to presume guilt. I'd just assume presume innocence until the guilty verdict is given. But that isn't really my point. There are two things striking about this news story hack piece.

First, let's look at the source, I'm quoting from ABC's exclusive article:

About two years into his tenure, said Biller, he began experiencing mental issues, which he claimed was related to the stress of his internal battle with the company. "There was an onslaught of depression that I sustained while I was at Toyota," he said, but added that he believes he is much improved since leaving.

Biller faced depression over his internal battle with Toyota. Now, what was this internal battle about? The article explains:

According to Biller, when he was preparing information that showed possible safety issues with Toyota vehicles to provide to plaintiffs, as required by law, his boss told him to remember the "golden rule." When Biller asked what the golden rule was, he claims, his boss said, "Don't screw the client."

Okay. So let's imagine this situation. He dug up some information that would be dynamite for the plaintiffs and then threatened to turn it over to them. My gosh, after all, it's the law. We have to. Then, obviously, Toyota was like ... WTF ... so then the Biller begins to suffer emotional depression because he can't turn over the information to the plaintiffs and blames his depression on Toyota. The result?

Biller received a $3.9 million settlement when he left Toyota, and also signed a non-disclosure agreement.

And that's not blackmail? Am I misreading this, or did this guy basically blackmail the company into paying him nearly $4,000,000?

I don't know what I dislike most about this guy, that he was a cheesy lawyer hack fighting off plaintiffs for Toyota, or that he subsequently blackmailed Toyota after having promised to defend them, or that he then subsequently broke his agreement with them not to speak. In any event, that's three strikes against this guy in my book. But here he is on ABC speaking like an authority who knows what's really going on at Toyota.

Joan Claybrook says, they lie all the time. You telling me Dimitrios Biller didn't know that right form the start? Come on.

But this isn't what really riles me. Nope, not at all really. It's the racism. I don't know another word. I admit it can't properly be called racism. I don't doubt that neither the interviewer or Biller wouldn't hesitate to treat someone else like their equal regardless of skin color. So maybe a better word would be culture-ism or xenophobia or something. Yet watch the interview and pay close attention to how Toyota "culture" and finally in the climax, all of Japanese culture come into play:

The interviewer's first question is, "how would you describe the culture and the climate at Toyota?"

"Um ... from a legal standpoint I would describe it as a culture of hypocrisy and deception."

They lie all the time. Well, gosh, sure doesn't sound like apple pie and baseball to me.

Biller then goes on to state that Toyota never "fully disclosed all the information or evidence that Toyota was obligated to produce in litigation."

Yeah, right, we can assume that, after all we know -- they lie all the time. From this Biller then launches into a long list of claims that have never be substantiated or proven in court. Um ... innocent until proven guilty anyone?

Now, if you forward to the middle of the interview, you get this absurd description of Biller copying tests and stuff when a stunned supervisor walks in and tell him to stop and to never screw the client. Are you telling me that in serious cases like this there aren't teams of lawyers who discuss this? And that Biller would have just gone out and physically gotten the information and then started copying it and the supervisor would have just walked in on him? The whole story sounds bizarre -- like a Hollywood movie or something ... but I go astray.

At the end of the interview we get to the really good remarks. Biller states (emphasis mine): "You have to understand, Toyota and Japan does not have any respect for our legal system. They do not have any respect for our laws. Although they sell cars in the United States, they don't believe they have to abide by our laws. They think because we are an ocean apart, they can determine what their own laws will be when they sell their cars in our country. That is the mentality, it is a corporate arrogance that is pervasive."

Didn't you know, it isn't everyone who lies all the time, it's only the Japanese.

This is supposed to be news? How about an apology from ABC to everyone in Japan?

I'm wondering if this article, Tokyo man marries video game character, has any real purpose at all. The article gives the details about a man who marries a video character, then from this draws the conclusion (via the hand selected expert) that ultimately:

"There are many others who can't express themselves like Sal can, and those are the cases we worry about," says Ashizaki. What's important to note, Ashizaki says, is that Sal is a representative of many of Japan's young gamers. "Today's Japanese youth can't express their true feelings in reality. They can only do it in the virtual world," Ashizaki said. "It's the reverse of reality that they can only talk about what they feel to a friend in the virtual world."

Supposedly it is the strange antics of the main character in the story that help us make this realization. However, the person in question is obviously extremely social. He actually held a wedding for this event and a lot of his friends came and were entertained. So this was all just for fun, clearly. And guess what, the expert even notes this:

... what is healthy about Sal is that he can communicate with people enough to do an interview on CNN and webcast a half-serious wedding, Ashizaki said.

Right, and again many people showed up for his wedding as is seen in this youtube video, by the weird Japan expert, Lisa Katayama:

I suppose I should also note that even in English, this guy's comments were tongue in cheek. So I guess his actions were just an excuse to make some psycho-babble about Japan and the Japanese that might appeal to CNN's viewership. And the fact that the report is actually misleading doesn't matter? I reminded of all those CNN alerts I got over the Tiger Woods issue and when Michael Jackson died ...

You might actually accept the claims made by CNN's expert, and think that as this silly piece attracts attention to that issue, everything is fine, actually. I would say that his remarks could potentially apply to anyone on this planet who uses the Internet; just look at Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. So to the extent that the experts remarks might actually have some truth, it is not a truth unique to just Japan.

If you've an opinion please state it below.

Observe the following picture then answer the question that follows:

Quiz question: While driving around Japan you notice a number of cars seem to sort of hang into the opposite lane when they want to turn across it. Some call this cornering. Occasionally this is so bad, that you nearly have to stop your car or at least slow to a crawl to avoid smashing into the other car. Why does this happen?

Do whites have it better in Japan? Post your opinion in the comments section!

Now, I want to critique a passage from the essay, Japanese-ness, Whiteness, and the "Other" in Japan's Internationalization, by Etsuko Fujimoto. This essay appeared in the book Transforming Communication About Culture (2002), edited by Mary Jane Collier. The passage I am citing begins on page 10.

[Update April 12, 2007: Debito posted an entry discussing the issues raised here, and Alex Kerr responded very positively, saying he fully supports Debito's activities. Great! Only I still kind of wish Kerr wouldn't use the word "gaijin" ... ]

Here's something interesting. When discussing revisions to the Fundamental Law of Education in the Diet last November, Furumoto Shinichiro had a chance to question Bunmei Ibuki about his policies.

[I have modified this entry slightly and hope to revise more fully soon. It needs some cleaning up. I have continued to look into Ibuki in general and have a better idea now of what he is saying. 3-6-2007.]

I have several entries I want to make in regards to Bunmei Ibuki's controversial comments. This will be the first of them.

The following was said in NBR's Japan forum:

"In Japan, using blood type to predict a person’s character is as common as going to McDonald’s and ordering a teriyaki burger. The association is akin to the equally unscientific use of astrological signs by Americans to predict behavior, only more popular. It is widely believed that more than 90 percent of Japanese know their blood type."  (Source)

A Japan Times article states:

<blockqoute> "Public toilets have an open design because Japanese want to be able to see inside before entering," he explained, to make sure no one's lurking in the loo. And simple designs, without privacy walls, take up less space and are cheaper to construct. "I don't think it's a big deal for Japanese to be seen, as long as it's from behind and our faces aren't visible." </blockquote>