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On Track or Derailed?
| Article
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10627 |
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Section : |
BOOK WORLD
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1993 |
2,675 Words |
| Author
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John Whittier Treat
John Whittier Treat teaches Japanese literature at the
University of Washington. He is the author of several works on
atomic-bomb literature, including Pools of Water, Pillars of
Fire: The Literature of Ibuse Masuji (University of Washington
Press, 1988). |
WORKING FOR A JAPANESE COMPANY
Insights into the Multicultural Workplace
Robert M. March
New York: Kodansha International
247 pp., $19.00
ON TRACK WITH THE JAPANESE
A Case-by-Case Approach to
Building Successful Relationships
Patricia Gercik
New York: Kodansha International
241 pp., $19.95
My house is full of how-to books. And not a few how-to videos as well. Part of the reason, of course, is that I do live in a house: As every first-time homeowner must know, electrical wiring is a mystery exceeded only by that of plumbing . . . so far, anyway. Stay tuned: Each winter brings new and higher proof of the old and inexorable principle of entropy, which inevitably leads to an inspired rush to the bookstore to find just the right manual for repairing the latest leak, rot, collapse, or mere slow fizzle. Is there a How to Find the Right How-to Book yet? Soon, soon.
American culture seems convinced of the dual proposition that (1) all manner of things ranging from bad marriages to stains in the carpet can and should be fixed, and (2) armed with the right information, such impediments to the perfect life are fixable by none other than you.
Not all cultures, however, share this conviction. Mexico and India, for example, seem to function perfectly well with all sorts of sputtering, perpetually half-broken machinery, the very sight of which might send those toothy, hyperactive fix-it types with their own Saturday-afternoon television shows into apoplectic fits. Japan, a country with a long and eminently sensible tradition of leaving jobs to the experts, is another example. I recall once admiring in a Tokyoite friend's garden how aesthetically the trunk of a small palm tree was wrapped with straw, a protective measure against the coming cold. "How do you do that?" I asked, foolish American that I am. "Do? Me?" was the puzzled response. "Why, Mr. Yamamoto does it of course." I didn't need to ask where Mr. Yamamoto learned his trade; the answer would naturally have been: "Why, from Mr. Yamamoto's father, Mr. Yamamoto."
The global
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