2017年11月14日

誰か日本に対して導火線に火をつける必要がある。

Someone needs to light a fuse under Japan
BY RICHARD SOLOMON
THE JAPAN TIMES
OCT 12, 2017

誰か日本に対して導火線に火をつける必要がある。


Rather than sticking to the tried and true, Japan needs people unafraid to take the initiative and lead the pack. | BLOOMBERG

tried and true:絶対確実な、確実に信頼できる
the pack:集団

Danny Risberg, chairman of both the European Business Council in Japan and of Philips Electronics Japan Ltd., wants Japanese to become fast, smart and independent decision-makers. “Japan is a great place with great people and great technology. It’s ready. It’s right. It’s ready to explode,” he says. “But, it just hasn’t gone there yet.” Risberg, a Japanese-American hafu who hails from California, shared with this author his personal views as to why this is so. 

hails: 出身[育ち]である

Japanese like to think, he says. They carefully review all options before making decisions. Having done so, they’ll go back to thinking about what to do some more. Then they repeat the process — several times over. After a further review, finally everyone agrees. A decision is made. They discuss a new set of rules for everyone to follow. “Once everything is decided, they do it. And they’ll keep doing it for a long, long time,” he says. If only they would think less and do more in a virtuous loop of thinking, doing, learning, fixing and rethinking, the nation would become fast and nimble. 

nimble: a nimble mind [brain, wit] 回転の速い頭.

This holds true for Japanese entrepreneurs, many of whom still want to build businesses the old-fashioned way. Typically they are middle-aged managers who, after gaining 25 to 30 years of experience at a large Japanese company, strike out in business on their own. “On incorporation, they want to build the factory first,” notes Risberg. They borrow money against their homes to do so, as risk capital is hard to obtain. Once in hock, they end up with huge debts by digging themselves into an ever deeper hole. “If it works, great! If it doesn’t, they’re stuck.” 

better-class homes:上流家庭
risk capital:リスク・キャピタル、危険負担資本 venture capital
into hock:借金状態で、苦境に陥って
stuck:行き詰まって, にっちもさっちもいかなくなって≪…がわからなくて≫ 困り果てて

Risberg knows something about entrepreneurship. Before joining Philips, he started, built and sold a few small product-oriented companies in Japan and the United States. Each time he plowed his windfall profits back to fund the next new venture. He took one of those startups, a concept-stage medical product company, to the U.S. with his partner. They built the business as a lean startup and sold it to Respironics Inc. In the end, Philips bought the company. Risberg stayed on as CEO for Asia-Pacific. 

plowed:plow money into new equipment 資金を新しい設備に投入する.
windfall:windfall gains [profits] 思いがけない利益.
lean:(合理化を進め)むだのない, スリムな

By example, he explains how entrepreneurship differs. A medical technology startup in the U.S. might raise three or four funding rounds as founders move from technology development to clinical research to securing intellectual property to getting medical approval and licensing to identifying target customers. If all goes well, they build a factory with the final tranche. Entrepreneurs learn and improve what they are doing from the results of previous actions in a fast iterative process, long before assuming large overheads. Such lean startup methods reduce the cost and risks of failure. “In the U.S., entrepreneurs fail fast,” says Risberg. In contrast, the process “is almost backwards” in Japan. 

differs:異なる
tranche:(取引などの)分割払い込み金; 一部分.

Why this is so is open to conjecture. It is natural to want to do things the way we already know, as each new decision comes from something learned in the past. This is especially true for what was learned long ago and passed down from generation to generation. Such deep-rooted shared beliefs are rarely questioned. 

conjecture:(不十分な証拠から)…を推測[憶測]する

One hypothesis suggests in ancient times survival required collective cooperation among people to successfully cultivate rice. Farmers were taught to subordinate self-interest for the greater good of the group. According to Japanese anthropologist Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, religious powers achieved this by spinning emperor-centered myths, ensuring “the transformation of a wilderness into a land of abundant rice at the command of the Sun Goddess, whose descendants, the emperors, rule the country by officiating at rice rituals.” 

subordinate:subordinate one's wishes to those of the group 自分の望みよりグループの望みを重視する.
anthropologist:人類学者
spinning:spin (him) a story [tale, yarn] of [about] A Aについて(彼に)作り話をする.
wilderness: the Alaskan [desert] wilderness アラスカの荒野[荒涼とした砂漠].
officiating:【宗教的な儀式公的な場などで】進行役を務める, とりしきる

The myths may have survived the test of time. Japan today runs smoothly and in a predictable manner. Those who upset social harmony too often become outcasts. Once agreed upon, Japanese people do only what has been collectively decided. And they continue doing it, regardless of effectiveness, for far too long.

stand the test of time:〔物・理論・原則・基準などが〕時の試練に耐える
outcasts:のけ者, 疎外者, 追放者

Risberg believes Japan needs to reform in ways rarely discussed. Structural reforms are surely needed, including labor, immigration, agriculture, health care and corporate governance reforms. But these have been discussed for years, without sufficient progress. He says action and people-based reforms are also needed. “Problems are simple to solve if you are thinking about them, taking action and then learning. On the other hand if you’ve decided everything in advance, you’re only going to do what you’ve decided,” he repeats. 

To encourage more thinking, doing, learning, fixing and rethinking, Risberg says Japan needs more role models who are “pegs that become successful, just before they would otherwise get pounded down.” Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani is one example. These are people who are unafraid to take initiative and lead the pack. 

pegs:Every writer has their peg. どの作家にも書き始めるきっかけというものがある
pound down:砕く、粉にする

Controversially, Risberg thinks that a true business failure is needed. Japan is too safe and comfortable. There are too many zombie companies kept alive by artificial low interest rates, pressure from banks and investors, and by those who believe in Japanese exceptionalism. While regrettable — nobody wants people to suffer — a big business failure involving billions of dollars and thousands of employees could not be ignored. It might provide the needed wake-up call for people to start thinking and acting independently, leading to innovation and growth. 

regrettable:遺憾な, 残念な, 惜しむ[悲しむ]べき

The disruptive thought caused me to recall a discussion I once had with Japan national rugby team head coach Eddy Jones. Jones told this author, shortly before heading off to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, that the inability of players to make quick and independent decisions under pressure was the reason his team had not won a World Cup game in 24 years. “If you ask them to do something, they just do it. And they’ll keep doing it regardless of what else happens,” he explained. 

disruptive though:破壊的考え方
do something:何かをする、行動を起こす

Over four years of training leading up to the big games, Jones taught players to become fast, smart and independent decision-makers. His coaching paid off, when to great celebration Japan unexpectedly beat South Africa. Here was proof that Japan, when push comes to shove, can successfully compete against the world’s best adversaries. 

Your studies have paid off. : 勉強の成果ですよ。
shove:突き飛ばす; 押しのける

This article expresses the personal views of Danny Risberg and do not necessarily represent those of the organizations he chairs. Richard Solomon is an author, publisher and spokesman on contemporary Japan. He posts Beacon Reports at www.beaconreports.net. 


二世のDanny Risbergが日本企業が今のままでなく、もっと思い切った行動をとるべきだと言っている。日本は農業国で、集団で事を行うような習慣になっているが、それでは殻から抜け出ない。保守的な集団姿勢を放棄して、もっと自由に議論して行動を起こすべきだ。日本人は優秀で、素質がある。今のままではもったいない。

水曜日。今日は海野塾がある。ではまた明日。

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海野 恵一
1948年1月14日生

学歴:東京大学経済学部卒業

スウィングバイ株式会社
代表取締役社長

アクセンチュア株式会社代表取締役(2001-2002)
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